Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Alex had succeeded in grafting a spiritual root onto a person.

He had previously amputated spiritual roots or altered them to heal someone, but never had he successfully added an extra root into a person.

Now he had.

And the possibilities scared him.

Anyone could be given a spiritual root, just as anyone could have their spiritual root stolen. If the information of what he had done were to reach anyone with power and influence, he would be in a lot of trouble.

’I have to keep this information a secret from everyone else,’ Alex thought. Should people find out, it wouldn’t just be a problem for him, but for everyone—especially if the information got into the hands of the wrong person.

The old man slowly stood up from the bed as feeling returned to his body. He checked his navel area, astonished at how clearly it had healed with no scars remaining.

“We have alchemists in our sect that can make healing pills too, but I’ve never seen one that works this well, and this fast,” the old man said. “We could’ve really used your help.”

Alex turned toward him with a weird look on his face. “I’m pretty sure you knew I was good at alchemy. I made sure that information was passed along to you via one of your sect members. They assured me that it did.”

The old man paused before putting on an awkward smile. “Now that I think about it, I was given that information. I should have acted on it.”

“Why didn’t you?” Alex asked. “Did you think I was boasting?”

The old man took a deep breath. “No…” he said after a bit. “I just… I was tired of having my hopes and expectations shattered by every outsider.”

Alex waited.

“I helped the Hell Emperor in hopes that he would help take me away when he left, and yet he left all on his own, forgetting about us.”

“I helped the young girl because she needed help, and yet she ended up killing all of my friends and subordinates.”

“Outsiders have been nothing but a source of disappointment and sadness in my life. When I heard about you, especially that you were merely an Immortal, I simply didn’t care at that point.”

The man looked up. “Truth is… I don’t think I care even now.”

Alex stared at the old man for a while, letting the silence between them deepen.

“Do you want to leave this world?” Alex asked.

The old man paused for a moment before slowly nodding.

“Do you want to leave with me when I leave this place?” he asked.

The old man chuckled. “If you can, sure. But I’m not going to place my expectations on you. I’m done having my hopes shattered.”

Alex smiled. “You won’t regret placing them on me. I cannot promise you when I will leave. It might be soon in a few years, or it might be hundreds of thousands of years later when I become a Celestial. What I can promise you is that when I leave, should you still wish to leave, I will take you with me.”

The old man stared at Alex for a long time before putting on the warmest smile Alex had ever seen on the old man’s face.

“You are a kind man.”

Alex could tell the old man hadn’t seriously expected him to be able to do what he said he would. Alex saw that he could do nothing else except prove how wrong he was.

Alex gave the old man some spirit stones for him to cultivate with. He was fully lacking in Qi, so he needed to absorb a lot before his dantian was full. Once it was full, Alex helped the old man use his new root.

Since the old man hadn’t used Fire Qi, Alex had to make sure he didn’t accidentally burn down the hut. As it turned out, that thought was unnecessary.

Despite it being the first time, the old man easily controlled his Fire Qi, creating tiny wisps of flames around him. He was like a child just then, fascinated by simple lights. He didn’t stop training until the sun came up.

Then, they left the village and headed to another one.

The old man was a little slower, training to use his Fire Qi even as he was flying. Alex had also given him the Flame Mastery Scripture, so he had to learn that while he had the time.

Over the next two days, the old man trained as much as he could, while Alex and Whisker also trained with the formations. fre eweb\(n)ovel(.)co(m)

Alex had begun carving directly onto thin metal plates to test how well they could make things. What Alex wanted the most was a formation that would pressure his mind, all the way until he couldn’t handle it anymore.

He needed that sort of strength against the Seal that kept regenerating no matter how much he destroyed it. At this point, any thought Alex had of slowly whittling away at the Seal was fully gone. This was not a Seal that could be gotten rid of bit by bit.

He still didn’t understand how it was that the Seal kept regenerating, as though it had endless energy. How did it have endless energy?

They arrived at another village and stopped by it. As always, the old man went to see what was wrong with the village and if he could help them.

Alex, on the other hand, asked them about Death.

One of the men answered. “Death? Yes, she was here close by. One of our people saw her.”

Alex’s eyes widened. “You did? When? Where?”

“About… three weeks ago?” the man asked.

“Three weeks. Yes,” another answered. “She was two dunes from that tall cliff.”

“Where did she go?” Alex asked the man. “Just the direction is fine.”

“I believe she headed that way,” the man pointed in a certain direction. “That was three weeks ago, of course.”

Alex thanked the man and found the old man to tell him the information.

They had found Death’s trail.