Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Chapter 2099  Arbiter

Silvermist seemed more annoyed than ever in his life, like a child who had been told that he wouldn't get to play with his favorite toy. He turned to look at Grimsight, seemingly making him do all the thinking here.

Grimsight sighed, he too feeling annoyed at having to be the one to deal with this, but given that he was the cause of it, he would do it.

"To tell you the truth, you could tell me you were the scion of the demons themselves and I wouldn't care about it. Neither of us would. We would be surprised, sure, but that would be the end of it. If not Brother Silvermist, at least I have seen enough at this point to not care about what new thing I come across."

"Having said that, I do understand that you will not feel safe around me with how much I can see. So, if it makes you feel safe, both I and Brother Silvermist will swear whatever oaths you make us swear, so long as they are within reason. Would that suffice?"

When presented with such a choice, Alex could only wonder if it would even be helpful. There were ways to break oaths —not that he knew how exactly— and given these people's status, the chance that they had a way was high as well.

 "Is there something else you can do on top of just the oath?" Alex asked. "I'm sorry if I'm asking too much, but I just want to feel safer around the two of you if I am to join you for the Competition."

Grimsight narrowed his eyes, staring at Alex with a deep sense of curiosity.

"You're worried we might break our oaths?" he asked. "I'm not going to lie, you are right to worry. It is difficult, but it is not impossible."

That did not help Alex feel any better. In fact, them knowing it was possible meant they could look for ways.

"In that case, I have a way," Silvermist said. "Although it is pretty absurd that I'm going to have to waste a pill over this, I suppose I have no choice."

The man pulled out something from his storage bag, a small box, seemingly made out of a sort of crystal. He twisted the box counterclockwise and the top came off with an ease.

On the inside was a single pill on top of a soft and smooth fabric.

Alex looked at it and immediately his mind went erratic. Every single experience, every single instinct, and every single bit of the Alchemy God's Intent he had within him at the moment told him that what he was looking at was more than just an ordinary pill.

The pill itself had a soft purple color to it, marked by 9 lightning marks. On top of that, however, there was also a sort of aura coming out from the pill. A dull, but definite aura.

And the aura almost gave it a feeling as though the pill was a person instead. A mortal, but a person nonetheless.

He was sensing a budding soul.

"Pill Soul!" Alex couldn't help but say the words out loud, awe and admiration flowing in every syllable he spoke.

"That's right," Silvermist said, feeling proud. "Is this your first time seeing one?"

Alex nodded vigorously. "Did… you make this pill?" he asked, looking up at Silvermist.

"But… that would mean you are a… Peerless Alchemist," Alex said, shock filling him once more.

Silvermist grinned, finding joy in other's shock. "Did I not mention that before?" he asked. "If you were to be my apprentice, you could learn to make pills with Pill Souls too." n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Is it different from how Pill Veins are made?" Alex asked.

Silvermist grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Alex nodded, but whether he would learn or not would have to wait. For now, he gestured at the pill that the man had pulled out and asked, "What is that pill for?"

"This is an important pill, so listen up. I swear every word I speak for the next 5 minutes will be the truth and nothing but the truth," the man said, immediately swearing a heavenly oath. Alex felt the world tremble slightly as the oath came down and settled onto the man. He hadn't expected the man to say an oath this early on.

"This is the truth. This pill is called the Divine Arbiter pill. You eat it right before speaking an oath. What it does is, when you speak the oath, the energy from the pill strengthens that oath, making it difficult to break it."

"Breaking an oath by itself is nearly impossible. Adding this much energy on top of it means that it is just that much more impossible. You should know how strong pills with Pill Veins are, and this one has a Pill Soul. Even Celestials could eat this one and it would affect them greatly."

"Not only that, but the pill also makes it so that if you do somehow end up breaking an oath, it will punish you from the inside. Even regular plows could get you to regress in the cultivation base. A pill of this strength, the only outcome here is death."

Alex listened to the words with a stunned expression, taking in every single piece of information without leaving anything out. Pearl was the same to the side and listened to everything as well.

"So you will eat this pill and say the oath?" Alex asked. "That's it? You don't need to do anything else?"

"Nothing else. Just eat and speak the oath. Of course, they have to say it quickly or else the pill's energy will begin to dissipate. But, with a pill of this quality, I doubt time matters anyway."

Alex nodded. "Oh, and of course, I won't be the one eating the pill," Silvermist said. "I don't have the eye to see things that Brother Grimsight does, so only he will be eating the pill and speaking the oath. Does that make sense? I will speak regular oath though, if that will help you feel better."

"That would indeed make me feel better," Alex said. "So long as senior Grimsight includes in his oath to not spread around what he knows and to always tell me what he has found out about me, I will accept it."

Silvermist smiled.

"Oh, and of course," Alex added. "He can never attack me regardless of what he finds out."

Silvermist smiled. "Brother Grimsight won't attack anyone who doesn't try to attack him or me first. He has spoken an oath for that."

Alex couldn't help but give a look of surprise. He hadn't expected the man to have such an oath already.

"Is there a reason for that?" Alex asked.

"There is, but I can't tell you. It's private," Silvermist said.

"There's no problem in saying it," Grimsight said with a shrug. "I killed too many people in the past. Some deserved it, but many… many were just doing what they needed to do."

"I began hating myself around the time the war began reaching its end for what I had done in my past. As a result, I swore an oath to never attack someone else unless I know that they absolutely deserve it."

"Since it will make you feel safe, I will swear an oath for you as well. Heaven knows if nothing, I'm good at swearing oaths."