Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

"3 parts white, 2 parts red, and…" he looked at the flower, carefully judging the shade of red it was. "And… a bit of blue and yellow."

He had an artifact next to him that was gifted to him by the Gold King when he told him that he was going to be learning how to paint.

It was an artifact to accurately combine colors and pour it out in a non-sticking ceramic bottle for Alex to use. It added in the combination of the paint as he wished and created the paint that flowed out into the ceramic bottle.

Alex dipped his paintbrush into the color and pulled it out before placing it in front of him, right next to the flower in his vision.

'That needed a bit more yellow,' he thought and used the color to paint the flower. A normal man wouldn't be able to judge the difference in the shade either way and a cultivator would have no idea that the flower was supposed to be of a different shade.

The only one that knew that he had made a mistake was Alex here, and he didn't care much about his mistake as he was trying to learn. There were hundreds of other flowers to continue learning from.

He drew the painting for a few more hours, with his two elders sitting by his side, waiting for him to stop. When he finally did, they praised him for it. 

"That is amazing, your majesty," Yao Ning said.

"It is so accurate that it barely looks any different from reality," Liang Shufen said.

"Alright, you guys can tone down on the praises," Alex said. "I know it's good, but it's not a masterpiece yet."

Even though he said that he was still quite happy to see his painting. The progress he had made in the past week had been absolutely ridiculous. Especially after learning about colors and how different types of strokes created different types of lines, he had improved a lot.

Alex turned the formation on the canvas and saved the painting from any accidental damage by creating a shield around it.

"Are you done, your majesty?" the Gold King walked into the garden.

"Ah, King Tan," Alex spoke. "Yes, I was just getting done."

The Gold King came to the painting and nodded a few times before smiling. "As expected of Your Majesty. Your paintings have improved so incredibly  quickly."

Alex smiled. He could tell that the King was being genuine in his praise.

"Thank you, King Tan," Alex said before putting away the painting. "Why did you come here? Was it to see my painting?" 

"While I am excited to see your painting, that is not the reason why I have come here, your majesty," King said. "I was wondering if you still planned on selling anything in this auction or not."

"The time is getting close to when the auction houses need to stop taking in anything more so they can set up the list of items that they will be auctioning," the King asked.

"Stopping?" Alex narrowed his eyes in surprise. "I was under the impression that the auction was going to last for the whole month and one could join any time they could."

"While it is true the smaller auction houses will be taking items throughout the month, the bigger ones have such expensive products that they need to advertise it so that the people that come do arrive with their money."

"They don't like to be surprised with a random item that is presented in the middle of the auction that they are not aware of," the king said.

"I see. While I am the type to never know what an auction house is selling beforehand, I can understand that there are people that need to know about it," Alex said. "Very well. I will head over today with a few things to sell."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," the King said. "I will prepare my people to escort you."

The King turned around to leave, but Alex called out to him.

"King Tan," he quickly said. "I do not know if this is my place to speak or not, but… are you alright?"

The King turned around and gave a half-hearted smile to Alex. "I'm alright, Your Majesty," he said.

Alex stared at him for a while before saying, "You don't look alright. If you aren't feeling well, I might have a pill or two that might help you. Do you need some?"

"I'm…" the King sighed. "I'm just tired, that's all."

"Hmm, you look not as good for someone that's just tired," Alex said. "Here, take this pill just in case. It will cure almost any disease out there."

The King looked at the pill that he was being handed over and couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Thank you for trying to help me, your majesty," the king said. "But I'm not that kind of tired."

Alex was a little taken aback. "What kind of tired are you then?" he couldn't help but ask.

"The kind that is done with all the responsibilities. The kind that needs more than just fame, title, and power in his life."

"The kind that no longer wishes to be a King."

The King's face was all smiles when he said that.

"Wh-what?" Alex asked with a surprised look.

The King nodded. "I've been a king for a long time, your Majesty. And because of that, I haven't been able to make a family of my own. My peers are fine with that, but I am not."

"I am tired of being a King and all the restrictions that come with it. I am simply done with it all. The next time His Royal Majesty leaves his closed cultivation, I shall have him relieve me from the throne," the King said.

"Anyway, You don't have to worry about me, your Majesty," the King said and walked away.

Alex was left behind with a surprised face, along with the two elders who were equally as shocked. They had all thought that the king was unenthusiastic about everything, and it turned out they were right.

'He doesn't want to be a King anymore?' Alex thought. He could imagine why he would not want to be one after being one for such a long time.

There were many restrictions to being a King on this continent. Not only did you have to have a cultivation base lower than the Saint Transformation realm, you could never marry someone or have children with them.

The strong restrictions were fine for a youngster that was a king, but after millennia, these people that had grown old became less and less enthusiastic about being a king.

As a result, Alex could see why the Gold King had said what he had said. He no longer wanted to remain a king.

'And he can't even just quit,' Alex thought. 'He has to wait for the Dragon Emperor to take away his authority.'

Alex couldn't help but sigh on behalf of the gold king.