Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Alex walked into the world that lay at the edge of infinity. He hovered in the sky in this world where there was no sky, his face now lit up in colors of purple and silver, time and space the only things surrounding him.

Bladedance entered next, her eyes moving across the realm. The world here was a mystery to her. Her senses were of no use, her instincts were of no use.

Even her Dao was of no use. In this world, Qi hardly had any use at all, and Heaven was even more absent.

She gulped slightly, a sense of nervousness as well as excitement she hadn’t felt in ages creeping back into her.

Should she get lost in this world, there was a chance that she would immediately be ripped apart by the spatial distortion, torn to shreds by space being pulled on one side and pushed on the other.

That was a blessing.

One could only wish for a swift death, for the other possibility was to be lost in this world forever, to die a slow death.

She looked toward Alex. She trusted in him enough to not get her killed.

“Try and see if you can open a way back,” she told Alex.

Alex nodded and attempted to cut through the Void to open a gate outside. As he swung, the attack blasted open another door next to them that revealed the red sand on the other side.

Alex smiled. “It works!” he said with an excited look.

Bladedance nodded. “Alright, we can move now.”

Alex let the hole close, taking back his spatial aura that had been keeping it open all this time. As he did, both the way back out disappeared.

Alex sensed the area around him. Outside of Hell, his senses spread without limit, but since this was the Void, as soon as it reached the range where space distorted, it was destroyed from him.

He could still only see what was going on in his vicinity. And now that the opening to the Void had closed, the stabilized space and time around him were beginning to deteriorate as well, mixing back into the chaos of the combined auras.

“We should move,” Alex said.

There were two ways to move in the Void. One was to force one’s way through the auras to try and get somewhere. The second one was to surrender oneself to the aura.

Neither was a particularly good method considering the downsides.

Forcing through the Void meant pushing away all aura that would be harmful, but also could be helpful.

Surrendering oneself to it meant they would be a leaf, floating in a raging river, unsure where they would end up or if they could ever even swim to the shore again.

The best method that Alex knew was to use both—to force one’s way when it became dangerous and to make use of the opportunities that came to them.

Alex began traveling, his senses constantly active and searching around him. He avoided any aura that would cost him time or take him forever to travel.

Bladedance followed behind him at every step, making sure he was fully alongside her.

Alex swam through space and time. While this was only his first time navigating this place, he felt as though he was always meant to be doing this.

Nearly a century of doing nothing but simply learning about time and space made one feel that way.

‘The space curves around here. I should take the left channel. There is little distortion and time is relatively quick as well,’ he thought, recognizing the situation before him.

‘That space should end at a distortion. I cannot go there.’

‘That’s an expanded space, but time there is also sped up very much. It should take me less overall time if I go through there.’

Alex understood every current he came across, every wave of this magnificent sea.

And still, after traveling for what felt like a few hours, he was confused. A certain part of him, one that had just started to understand a very special spatial Dao, had a feeling that he was going nowhere.

He had traveled, but he was still in Hell.

‘Why? I should have traveled. Why can I not leave?’ he thought.

“What’s happening?” Bladedance asked, noticing him frozen there.

“I’m not sure, but I think we’re still in Hell,” Alex answered.

“In Hell? While in the Void? How is that possible?” Bladedance asked.

“I’m sorry, Master. I must’ve missed something important. It’s like we’re in a maze, constantly drawn back to the same world no matter how much we travel. Like our very essence is being pulled on by…”

Alex paused, his eyes slightly widening.

“What? What’s going on?” Bladedance asked, noticing that he had noticed something.

“Gravity!” Alex said, his eyes shining. “It’s gravity. The Void has gravity.”

“Gravity?” Bladedance asked. “What do you mean?”

Alex’s eyes narrowed. “Of course, it makes sense. Gravity is known to bend time, making things move differently. It must do the same to space as well. The region of Void we’re in is being bent around Hell. That’s why no matter what we do, we cannot escape this place.”

“Then? What do we do?” Bladedance asked.

Alex turned around, looking at the other aura. “We go against the flow. We move away from the region where time and space flow so much.”

Bladedance didn’t understand what exactly he was talking about. “Will that work?” she asked.

“We have no option,” Alex said.

Bladedance nodded. “Very well. Let us go then.”

“No, Master,” Alex spoke up. “I’m sorry, but the journey before us will be full of distorted space and whatnot. I must ask you to enter my Soul Space.”

Bladedance stood still, staring at him. She saw determination in his eyes and nodded.

“Alright, I’ll listen to your judgment,” she said. “Send me in.”

Bladedance disappeared from the region, going away with the rest, leaving Alex alone in the Void.

Alex felt the aura of gravity pulling him in a certain direction and smiled. He looked the other way and left, moving away from Hell.