The Saint Alchemist and Anya started talking and soon went into talking about alchemy. Before they knew it, they were discussing their understanding of Alchemy.
The Saint Alchemist got to see just how vast Anya's knowledge of alchemy was, and at the same time, Anya got to see just how deep the Saint alchemist's knowledge was.
There were subjects about which the Saint Alchemist knew way more than Anya could ever hope to on her own.
The entire crowd was entranced by the two of them speaking, especially those that knew about Alchemy.
"We should stop it here, senior. We should let the contest end," Anya said.
"Oh, right, right," the Saint Alchemist said, a little saddened that he didn't get to continue talking about Alchemy. He then turned towards the young girl who was still hooded and asked, "little girl, do you still need to keep hiding?"
"Ah, I forgot," the girl said and took off her hood. She looked towards the Saint Alchemist, then to her Grandmother. She then turned to Ning and put on a massive smile on her face. She excitedly started waving at him as if she couldn't wait to get to him.
The Saint Alchemist turned back to look at Ning. He knew that teacher from the Five Professions academy was quite good, but his knowledge didn't feel as profound as the little girl's grandmother, so he ignored him.
"Would you mind telling me your name?" he asked.
"It's Dahlia," the little girl said.
"Dahlia… I see. That's a nice name," he said.
He then took out a black box and handed it to her. "Inside is a very rare ingredient that I found on one of my many journeys. I hope this helps you in ways it could never help me," he said.
Dahlia's face lit up when she saw what was inside and immediately thanked him. The Saint Alchemist simply smiled and told her to keep on working hard.
He then moved on to his disciple. "Since I will be handing out my everything to you, I hope you don't mind not getting anything right now," he said.
"Seni— Master, You took me in as a disciple. That is the best reward I could ever hope to get," the young man said.
The Saint Alchemist smiled. "What's your name, young man?"
"It's Bertel, master," he said.
"Bertel, I hope you can learn everything I will be teaching you," the Saint Alchemist said.
Bertel was in a daze as he looked at the Saint Alchemist with massive eyes. He couldn't believe what was currently happening.
The Saint Alchemist turned around to Tsado and said, "Thank you for holding this competition. I shall return after the following competition is over to give 3 sets of lectures for your alchemy hall. Until then, I would like to take my leave."
"Of course senior," Tsado said. "I will be patiently waiting for your return," Tsado said.
"Alright," the Saint Alchemist said. "Come on, Bertel."
Bertel woke out of his daze and said," Yes Master,". He then started flying to follow the Saint Alchemist.
"WAIT!" someone shouted just then.
Bertel who was barely a meter in the air stopped and looked around to see who was speaking right now.
Ning walked upfront from the stunned crowd.
"Is there something wrong, fellow Daoist?" the Saint Alchemist flew down to confront Ning.
"Oh, sorry about that. I needed to talk with the young man back there," Ning said with a smile.
The Saint Alchemist felt a little defensive and asked, "I'm his disciple now, so can you ask me instead?"
"If you can answer it, sure," Ning said with a smile.
The Saint Alchemist felt weird but still nodded to let him ask the question.
"Oh, I just wanted to ask where your disciple got his Silver String Pill making technique," Ning said.
The young man's face suddenly went pale when he heard that. He started fidgeting, not sure what he should do right now, so he ran behind his master and hid.
"Silver String pill-making technique?" the saint Alchemist asked with confusion. "What's that? I've never heard of something like that."
"It's understandable why you might not have heard of it," Ning said. "After all, it's not a very well-known technique. So, may I just question your disciple a little."
"No, master. I can't answer him," Bertel shouted.
The Saint Alchemist was more confused now that his disciple was starting to act suspiciously. He thought for a moment and said, "if my disciple doesn't want to answer, then I won't force him at all. I hope you can understand that, Fellow Daoist."
"Of course," Ning said. "Thank you for your time anyway."
"Goodbye," the Saint Alchemist said to the crowd and flew away. Bertel also flew up not before taking one last glance at Ning with eyes full of fear. Then, his eyes moved to Dahlia for a split second before he looked away and flew the same.
"Ooh," Ning said just after the two of them left. "It doesn't hurt at all right now. I wonder if my mind became strong or if that Bertel was weak," he thought.
"What's going on, master?" Anya said seriously. "Is there something wrong with that young man?"
"Oh no, he's a fine young man, nothing wrong. I just wanted to learn a little more since it seems like I found one of the ones that I'm supposed to find soon," he said with a smile.
"Anyway, come. It's been a while since I've seen you guys. An entire year actually," Ning said.
"Grandmaster, I missed you," Dahlia said as he hugged Ning. She had only ever heard of him before meeting him a year ago for a brief period. However, that brief period was all she needed to like Ning.
He was like the cool uncle one kept hearing about that did turn out to be just as cool.
"I missed you too, senior Ely," she said.
"How are you, Dahlia?" Ely asked.
The four of them got to talking before Anya took the two of them to their place of stay to talk some more.
"Wait, why weren't you on the tower?" Ning asked.
"I was invited, but then I saw you flying up there and didn't want to risk it at all," Anya said. "While the robe you gave me might keep me hidden from divine senses, I don't know what little trick you have in that little system of yours."
"Oh right, that's why I didn't notice you," Ning said. "Anyway, you should have let me know. I could've just teleported you here."
"Huh?" Anya exclaimed. "What part of 'surprise' makes you think I should have let you know we were coming?"
"Ah right, it was a surprise. I forgot," Ning said as he smiled.
"Hehe, Grandmaster was so shocked when he saw you, grandma. His face was brilliant," Dahlia said.
"Sister Ely's face wasn't that different either," Anya said with a chuckle.
"Hey, I was surprised too okay," Ely said.
"Right, right, I should have looked at her too, but the old man was standing in between so I couldn't see," Dahlia said.
"Her face was pretty shocked too," Anya said.
"Aww, I can't believe I couldn't see it," Dahlia got a little dejected. The three girls started talking with each other, and soon Ning started feeling something warm inside of him.
Some of the people he truly cared about were right in front of him, with him. This made him remember the good times he had, those years he spent with them.
The few months he spent in Klavia getting to know the people, the time he was a doctor in Anya's house, the little time he spent with Famir and the others, the time when he spent on Klavia again, then the time he spent in the Seven Lights academy with Anya and her family.
These were the memories he cherished the most and he was reminded of what he cared for the most. Spending time with people he loved.
There weren't people like that in the Southern Continent or the Central Continent, aside from a single person. As the girls talked he kept thinking about something.
The girls had forgotten he existed for a moment there.
"So, where are Tanya and Sonya? Are they both still teaching in the academy?" Ely asked.
"Yes," Dahlia said. "With grandma leaving, there needed to be someone to take care of the Woodlight Mountain, so both mother and aunt Sonya stayed behind."
"I see," Ely said. "What about your brother and cousins then?"
"I told them to come, but none of them are interested in Alchemy like me and mother. We inherited that from grandma," Dahlia said. "Well, not like they could take part or anything. They are too old for the competition."
"Ah right, I forgot about that aspect of the competition. Still, they should have come," Ely said.
"It's fine," Anya said. "It's not like the formation is going anywhere. They will come when they have the time. Then they can explore the whole world as they wish."
"That's true," Ely said. "Still, it's always nice to have more people than less, right Ning?"
She turned around, but he didn't answer at all.
"Ning?" she called.
"Huh?" he asked.
"What's wrong? What's in your mind?" she asked.
"I…" Ning didn't know if he wanted to say it.
"Come on, you can say it," Ely said.
"I… I think I want to go back to the Northern Continent to live out the rest of my remaining days."
