Rise of the Alchemy God

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In the capital of the Long Empire, in a corridor of the royal palace, a maid was pushing a cart with various covered dishes on it.

The light footsteps of the maid barely echoed along the marble corridor.

The echo of her movements blended with the solemn silence of the great walls as she gracefully advanced towards a door that, beyond its heavy, intricately carved wooden panels, hid an inner garden.

Gently pushing the door, the maid entered a small hidden paradise, colored green by various species of flowers and animals.

The garden, though not too large, radiated a perfect calm.

Flowers with pastel-like colors bloomed along the paths, and small fish darted in the clear waters of the fountain, unaware of the presence of the person sitting on the edge, observing them distractedly, lost in her thoughts.

The maid moved delicately, careful not to disturb the serenity of the moment.

She reached a shaded corner and carefully set up a small wooden table, adorning it with a steaming cup of fragrant tea and a plate of biscuits.

After completing the task, she approached the girl sitting by the fountain, almost reaching her ears, and with a neutral expression, she said:

"Young lady, I've brought you some tea."

"AH!"

The girl, with golden hair and eyes like emeralds, jolted at the maid's sudden voice and ended up falling into the fountain.

The maid, still with a neutral expression on her face, tilted her head and asked:

"Young lady, why did you throw yourself into the fountain? Are you feeling hot? If you'd like, I can prepare a bath," she said, with an apparently confused expression.

The girl, struggling to climb out of the fountain, looked at her wet dress and then at the maid's confused expression.

"Haa..."

She sighed and simply shook her head, while seemingly circulating Qi through her body.

"No, Fei Yi, I'm not hot; you just caught me off guard," she said, as the air around her warmed slightly.

Water vapor started to rise from her robe, and within seconds, it was no longer wet.

The maid, hearing her princess's words, thought for a moment and then said:

"I understand. Then I deserve the death penalty," she said with a neutral expression.

"..."

Long Yue, hearing these words and seeing the neutral expression of her maid, didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Finally, shaking her head, she approached the table the maid had prepared and sat down, asking:

"I heard that my brother left on a journey to the north, to the White Tiger Kingdom. Is that true?"

The maid, standing nearby, nodded and simply said:

"Yes, His Majesty the Emperor has sent the young master Jian on some tasks in the White Tiger Kingdom."

Hearing this, Long Yue's expression changed slightly, and for a moment, she said nothing.

Then, taking a sip from her cup, she said:

"I see."

She didn't have a good relationship with her father, the Emperor, as he had mostly neglected both her and her older brother, and she didn't have a favorable opinion of him.

Especially after an incident many years ago that led to her mother's death.

To her, the imperial palace was a cage, full of memories she didn't want to remember, so she fled from it whenever she had the chance.

She had tried to enroll in a sect so she could move there, but her father denied the idea, saying it was dangerous and unnecessary.

In his view, there was nothing that the sects had that the imperial family didn't already possess.

From the strongest and most experienced cultivators to masters of all kinds, all her needs could be met here.

At first, she thought he was doing it genuinely for her safety, as the imperial family didn't lack enemies hidden in the shadows, ready to strike.

But as time passed, she believed this less and less.

For her, the events that led to her mother's death were still fresh in her mind, and staying here was a constant reminder of those events.

Clearing her mind of these thoughts, Long Yue turned to her maid and asked:

"By the way, regarding the incident a few months ago, do you know if any action has been taken?"

Having been hit by the wave of spiritual energy released from the portal, she had lost consciousness and remained unconscious throughout the incident.

She only knew that she woke up the next day in the Phoenix Sect and only then learned of the creature that emerged from the portal and the battle between the creature and her older brother.

She wondered what her brother had been doing in the Phoenix Kingdom.

She was sure she had erased all traces of her escape.

She had decided to move from the capital to another city to avoid being easily tracked, but during her journey, she ended up getting involved in the incident.

In the end, she tried to leave, but her brother found her and brought her back to the family castle.

Although her brother seemed fine when she met him, she could tell that wasn't the case at all.

She knew how strong her brother was, so she understood the gravity of the situation.

It was impossible that her father wouldn't take action after such a creature appeared out of nowhere in the empire.

The maid nodded her head as she said:

"Yes, His Majesty has scheduled a meeting after the end of the competition to be held in three months, and from what I've heard, he has also summoned the masters of the three great sects of the empire."

She answered with her usual neutral expression.

"The competition? Do you mean the annual alchemy tournament?"

The maid simply nodded her head.

The annual alchemy tournament was one of several yearly events held in the Long Empire.

Among the many, in terms of importance, it was second only to the martial arts competition held every five years, where all the sects of the three empires regularly participated, sending their best disciples.

Coincidentally, this year also hosted the martial arts competition, not far from the alchemy tournament.

If she had to choose between the two, Long Yue would prefer to see the martial arts tournament, as it would give her an idea of what level her peers had reached.

Alchemy wasn't among her interests, and although she could produce a simple pill or two, it was more due to the fact that, as the emperor's daughter, she was required to specialize in various fields, one of which would eventually become her future in a sense.

Alchemy was one of those fields.

She wasn't forced to continue learning it, but at least some basics were necessary.

Thinking about alchemy, she remembered an event that happened shortly before the incident in the Spirit Forest.

She had been in the market of City Dino in the Phoenix Kingdom, trying to buy a herb that would have been useful during her journey, when she ended up bidding against a boy wearing the robes of an outer disciple of the Phoenix Sect.

Remembering that boy, her mood darkened slightly as she muttered something like,

"He made me waste too much money."