Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Alex left Pearl to his own excitement and went to chat with Godslayer again. It had been a while since the sword spirit had gained any information, so he was happy to see that Alex had come back with more information.

Alex told him most of what he had learned, including the fact that the tree was the Tree of Life.

“One of the 3 Demonic plants?” Godslayer asked in surprise. “Now that’s something I didn’t see coming. I would’ve never expected that to be a thing at all.”

Alex nodded slowly. “That was in fact the case,” he said. “I’m still quite surprised that we managed to find something like that in the middle of Hell. I would have never guessed that in a million years.”

“So, you’ve come in contact with two of them now, right?” Godslayer asked. “That leaves the last one, but I don’t believe anyone knows where it is. At least, we didn’t in my time. Maybe Bladedance knows?”

“I don’t really want to tell her what tree this was,” Alex said. “Even if she has no intention of harming it, the fact that there will be others that will do so still exists. Those were the same people that destroyed the World Tree, so I have no doubt some of them may yet want to destroy this as well.”

Godslayer agreed. “Keep your info with you. Also, finish absorbing more of this Sunheart. I do not yet understand what that has to do with you, but if the tree says it will be beneficial, then it likely will. After that, we can begin planning on how to leave.”

Alex nodded. That was the only thing he was still a little disappointed about.

In the course of a day, he had met a Sword God in the Celestial realm, a Demonic Plant blessed by the Moon Goddess, and one of the Primordials themselves — and yet not a single one of them seemed to have a way to help him escape this world.

That was indeed very frustrating.

“Keep my body safe,” Godslayer said. “When it is time, you’ll have to merge it and Midnight’s body just as we will merge too.”

Alex nodded. “I will do my best to prepare.”

Godslayer went back to sleep, not to be awoken for a long time again. He needed to hibernate as much as he could in order to slow down both his and Midnight’s death.

Once the seal formed back around the Spiritual Sea, Alex turned toward the old man.

“What did you talk about with the tree?” Alex asked. “Can you share?”

“It… told me a few things that I needed to hear,” the man said with a gentle smile. “It asked me a bit about why I did what I did, and I answered it. And then, it told me about the Hell Emperor.”

Alex narrowed his eyes.

“The Hell Emperor? What about it?” he asked.

“It said that he did return for us,” the old man said. “But he had become stronger back then and understood that he could not take us back with him. Doing so would’ve brought a lot of destruction to the many lives in Hell. It would’ve taken him a lot to tear a hole through the wall, and that would only be bad for everyone involved.”

Alex gave a surprised look. “Is that so?” he asked. He had guessed the man had been busy with the war, but it seemed he had not forgotten.

“The Hell Emperor could not come,” Bladedance said from the side. “That destruction might’ve been part of it, but another part was that after he escaped, he relayed his findings to the Council of Gods. There, the gods realized that Hell wasn’t a prison, but a world clinging onto the edge of a cliff for its survival.”

“The previous Sky God made the decision that no one else was allowed to be sent here. They still did from time to time, but those people were dealt with.”

She turned toward Alex. “Which was why I was surprised that you were sent here. I can understand the bastard Purplerain not following rules, but I didn’t expect the Storm God to follow through with the plan as well.”

“It wasn’t just him,” Alex said. “He was the one that formed the seal around me, but there were another dozen Gods and Reverends there that made the decision as well.”

Bladedance’s eyes narrowed. “They must’ve put a lot of faith into this prophecy of yours then,” she said.

Alex scoffed. “And still they made a mistake.”

“What mistake?” Bladedance asked.

“They sent me to Hell because they believed Hell to lack Heaven, so I would not be able to do anything. They wanted me away from the equation, but they never realized that Hell was still part of it.”

Bladedance frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Heaven still exists in Hell,” Alex said. “It can’t do much more than just watch, but it still exists. It’s there, observing everything we do. And so, they never truly threw me away from the equation. They made a mistake.”

Bladedance’s eyes slowly widened. “No… that can’t be…”

“That is the truth,” Alex said. “They can’t let me live, and they can’t let me die. They tried to throw me to a place where they could keep me from affecting fate, but Heaven exists here as well. They failed. All they achieved was trapping me in this world for no goddamn reason.”

“Is that true?” she asked, her gaze focused on him.

“You can use your Intent on me, senior. You will find I speak no lies,” Alex said. “I’m sure the gods thought they were doing the correct thing, but they lacked information, no different than how they lacked information about the prophecy too. They acted hastily, and now they’ve achieved nothing.”

Bladedance fell silent for a long time, taking in every word he said. She thought it over and over, until she firmed up her own thoughts and made a decision.

She turned around.

“If that is the truth, then I will help you leave.”