Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

“She’s getting up.”

“Don’t get distracted. Use the array.”

“I’m using it. Maybe you’re not using it.”

“Shut up and focus.”

The group of people in the air immediately fell into disarray when they saw Death slowly get up.

“No, we can’t let her,” the sect leader shouted, flying down immediately to where his spear was and grabbed it. Even as he did, though, lacerations began appearing around his body.

“Ughh!”

Death finally made a sound.

Her eyes moved toward the sect leader before her. “Do I know you?” she asked with a confused look. “You look familiar.”

“You… you can speak again,” the sect leader said with some surprise. His breathing grew ragged.

Death ignored him, looking down at her hand where she held the sword. Her eyes widened slightly. “How…”

She looked next to the sword, seeing Alex with his arms extended, holding the other end of the sword. “How do you…” she wanted to speak, but there was a constant stream of annoyance coming toward her from the other side.

Her head snapped toward the group flying in the air. “Stop!”

Her words were neither a request nor a command.

It was the law.

The hundred or so elders in the air suddenly froze, their Intent shattering at the face of the single word. They immediately felt a head-splitting ache, every single one of them, and fell from the sky.

Only the sect leader stood by with nothing happening to him at all.

“That’s better,” Death said, slowly standing up. She looked around her for a moment, taking in the surroundings.

“Shit, am I in Hell?” she asked, before immediately answering herself. “Right, I remember that.”

She closed her eyes, going through what she could remember. “. I arrived at Hell. An old man took care of me. There were people who attacked me.”

Her eyes opened and she looked at the sect leader before her.

“You were there too, weren’t you?” Death asked. “I remember you. You were younger. You… protected that old man.”

She surveyed the situation again.

“Were you trying to kill me?” she asked.

The sect leader’s breathing got steeper and steeper.

Death’s face fell. “How long has it been? How long have I been mindless?” she asked.

The sect leader gulped. “60 thousand years.”

“60…” Death was surprised. She hadn’t expected such a long time to have passed already. “What have I been doing in this time?”

Her words were solemn, as though she already knew the truth. She only needed him to confirm what she already knew.

And the confirmation hurt more than she had thought it would.

“I see,” Death said. “And you were all here to stop me?”

The sect leader nodded.

The sword in Death’s hand vanished. “I do not blame you for what you had to do. I would’ve done the same in your situation. No, I’ve done the same. Return to where you came from. I will not return to how I was before.”

The sect leader nodded slowly, failing to bring out a single other word in response. He could do nothing but nod and slowly move away from Death, leaving her alone.

* * * * * * *

When the people fell from the sky, Alex felt the array upon him vanish instantly and relief flooded back through him. He slowly let go of the sword and got up, his eyes focused on Death.

He stared at her with awe in his eyes for a while before he remembered about Godslayer. He opened the seal to his Spiritual sea back up.

Godslayer’s voice came out loud and urgent through his mind. “You have to give her the— oh, you gave her the sword.”

“I did,” Alex said internally, watching the outside situation. “What’s happening? Why does my sword help her? And why did you say it was her sword?”

Before Godslayer could answer, they both saw the sword in Death’s hand vanish.

It hadn’t vanished as an item would, going back to one’s Soul Space or Storage bag. But instead, it had dematerialized, slowly growing transparent until it didn’t exist.

“What… what’s going on?” Alex asked.

“She took back the sword,” Godslayer answered.

“What does that mean? That wasn’t normal at all.”

“Remember what she was missing?” Godslayer asked. “She was missing a soul.”

“And? She got it back somehow?” Alex asked.

“That sword was her soul.”

It took Alex a moment to process what was just said. “Huh?”

“That was her soul,” Godslayer repeated. “More accurately, that was her Creation.”

“Her… Creation?” Alex asked with both a surprised and confused look. “What… what do you mean that was her Creation? That wasn’t a real sword?”

“Did it ever act like a real sword?” Godslayer asked.

Only then did all the weirdness around the sword make sense to Alex. The unbelievable durability, the incredible sharpness, and the inability to take in Qi.

Of course the sword couldn’t take in his Qi. No other person could ever use someone else’s Creation.

Alex believed Godslayer’s words now. The sword he had been carrying all this time had been Death’s Creation.

However, that only brought up more questions.

“Who is she?” Alex asked. “Why were you in her Creation?”

“When she and the rest captured me, they tried to kill me. But as you know, I cannot be killed in any way at all,” Godslayer said. “So, out of necessity, she decided to give her life to protect the others. She put me in her Creation.”

“A Creation isn’t a good vessel for a sword spirit, but it is the perfect vessel for a soul. And I was trapped in there for a long time. She gave me up to the Sky God so that I could be kept away.”

“But then, you know the rest. The Sky God’s disciple stole her things, and I was one of them,” Godslayer answered.

Alex listened to those words, slowly realizing something.

“She… captured you?” he asked. “But weren’t you captured by…”

His eyes went back toward Death as pieces of the puzzle fell into place in his mind.

“Alex, you’re in the presence of a Celestial and a God,” Godslayer said.

“That is Bladedance, the Sword God.”