Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

The truth was going to get out sooner or later anyway, so there was no reason for Alex to lie to Momo right now, only for her to be told the truth and feel even worse.

So, Alex decided to tell her the truth.

"Here's the thing, Momo," he said. "There was a rule that was put into place for your test that you weren't aware of."

Alex explained the whole deal, causing Momo's tears to stop for the time being. She was simply in shock, not realizing that they were fighting for something deeper in the end.

"80%?" she asked.

"That was the minimum," Alex said.

"And everyone who didn't get 80% failed entirely?"

Alex nodded.

Momo grew concerned. "My pill isn't here anymore. Doesn't that mean… I failed too?" she asked.

"You did," Alex said. "But I'm here to tell you, it doesn't matter. You are worried about the pin, and I understand. I am too. But you have no idea how little it matters in the face of you learning a Dao or finally calling the Pill Clouds."

"Those are the things that truly matter in the end. I'm going to pass anyway, so you have nothing to worry about."

Momo sniffled, still struggling to push down her sadness. It wasn't easy to reconcile with failure when victory was so easily attainable. All she had to do was focus, and she couldn't do it in the end.

"Look at me," Alex said, forcing her to look up. "How did you feel when you realized you had learned a new Dao?"

"I felt… good," Momo said.

"Right, channel that feeling. How do you feel now that you know you can call Pill Clouds?" Alex asked.

Momo couldn't help but let out a small smile. "Happy."

"That's all you need to feel," Alex said, patting her head a little. "Good job."

Momo didn't think she would so easily let go of the sadness she felt at the moment, but it had lessened a lot right away and would continue to do so over the next few days.

She couldn't feel bad for more than that.

"Thank you, Master."

"Am I interrupting something?" someone asked just at that moment.

Alex turned and saw the Alchemy God. The man had walked in instead of teleporting, so he hadn't noticed his arrival.

"Not at all, Your Majesty," Alex said quickly and bowed a little in greeting. Momo did the same.

The Alchemy God walked in closer. "How do you feel, young lady? Are you hurt? Do you need any pills?" he asked.

"No, I am fine, Your Majesty," Momo said.

The Alchemy God smiled. "That's good. Here." He tossed something, and it landed next to Momo. A storage bag.

Momo took the storage bag and saw that her cauldron was inside. "Ah, thank you for bringing this to me."

"I had my people check, and they found no noticeable damage. It should be fine," the Alchemy God said. "You have an incredible cauldron."

Momo nodded. "All thanks to my master."

Alex couldn't help but smile.

"Right, you do have an incredible master," the Alchemy God said and turned toward Alex. "I wish to talk with you on a small matter. Should we move elsewhere?"

"A talk, Your Majesty? Is my disciple not privy to this information?"

The Alchemy God shrugged. "I don't mind her listening in if you're okay with that," he said.

"It's okay, Your Majesty. How can I help you?" Alex asked.

The Alchemy God walked up to the two and sat down before them. "I wish to talk about her points from this competition," he said.

Alex got a little confused. "About her points? Isn't it 0?" he asked.

"It can be," the Alchemy God said. "Or it can be more than everyone else. Sadly, she has completed all of her tests in such a way that she is either going to completely win or completely fail."

Momo's eyes widened. She didn't speak up only because it was the Alchemy God. Anyone else, and she would've spouted thousands of questions right away.

"I'm sorry if I'm mistaken, Your Majesty, but didn't Momo's performance just now disqualify her from the overall competition?" Alex asked. "She should have received 0 points." Discover exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire

The Alchemy God sighed when he heard the question. "That, I fear, is the issue at hand," he said. "Because of the rules, I do not know where I should rule your disciple's test, so I came to ask your opinion on it."

Alex slowly shook his head. "I still do not understand what the issue is, Your Majesty. As far as I was aware, my disciple is disqualified for not producing an 80% pill."

"That is precisely the issue," the Alchemy God said. "Your disciple made a pill with 100% Harmony. It was destroyed, yes, but she did create it. The presence of the Pill Clouds is proof of that."

Alex didn't know what to say. Could the pill count even if it did not survive in the end?

"And yet," the Alchemy God continued, "the rule can also be interpreted as requiring you to have the pill in hand by the end. And honestly, I do not know what to do at this point. What do you think I should do?"

Alex wasn't sure why the Alchemy God was coming to him with this issue. He was only a participant, after all.

"So, because the rule is vague, my disciple can either be considered disqualified or as having won the entire thing," Alex said.

"That is indeed the case," the Alchemy God said. "So, what do you think?"

Alex couldn't make the decision so easily. The instinct to say yes right away was burning deep within him, but he needed to be careful here. He needed to get his facts in order and also worry if the Alchemy God was playing at something.

Why would he come to him in the first place?

Still, he needed to answer. Thankfully, he had come to a reasonable solution.

"I believe the best thing to do here is see how the participant took the rule to mean," Alex said and turned around to Momo. "Momo, when you first heard of the rule, what did you think you were going to have to do?"

Momo was taken aback by the sudden questioning. "Umm…"

"Just answer truthfully," Alex said. "Whatever it was you thought at the time."

"I believed we had to fully make the pill," Momo said, being truthful. "I never even considered such a technicality to be possible at all."

Alex smiled and turned toward the Alchemy God. "I believe that should settle it, Your Majesty," he said. "The rules should be fair for everyone and ignore any unintended technicalities."

The Alchemy God looked at the two for a second and burst out laughing. "I did not think I would be hearing a talk on disregarding technicalities from the two of you of all people. Weren't you happy using such technicalities to win in your previous tests?"

Alex found it funny too. "Unlike previously, we were not the ones who found this technicality, so I don't believe we're being hypocritical here or anything," he said.

The Alchemy God nodded. "That you are not," he said. "Then, as per your own instruction, I shall conclude that young Zhe Moyang has, in fact, been disqualified from her competition, thus earning you 0 points."