Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Alex tried again and again to find the actual truth, but the one he learned had been the truth.

Over 1400 years had passed since he had left Hell. Over 1600 years had passed since the Alchemy tournament.

It had been nearly 1800 years since he had last seen any of his family members.

“No…” he said, letting out a hollow, haunted gasp. “This… this can’t be. How…?”

Bladedance seemed to understand that something had gone wrong in their travel. “Explain to me, what is going on?”

“I… don’t know, master,” Alex said, slight panic filling his voice. “You were correct. It has been over a thousand years. It has been 1400 years since we left Hell. But… I was sure it hadn’t been more than just 50 years in the Void.”

“We did spend 50 years in that room,” Bladedance said.

“No, not that. 50 years outside. Just a few days inside,” Alex said. “I remember finding those wounded people dying in the Void. I saved them, and then I left. Not even a day later, I was out.”

Bladedance frowned. “Then why did you tell us to get into the Timeless Palace? You knew it would take time before we got out.”

“I didn’t,” Alex said, flabbergasted. “Why do you think I did?”

“Because you did,” Bladedance said.

“Yes, you said that,” the old man said. “I even asked you if I should start working on the lower chambers to try and change them, and you said you didn’t want anything messing with the Timeless Palace since we would have to spend some time there.”

“That’s not possible,” Alex said. “I never said that.”

The old man shrugged. “You can ask your beasts too.”

Alex wasn’t sure what to think. He quickly called out Pearl and Whisker, both of whom arrived on the mountaintop as well. They had only just arrived and were looking through the scenic beauty, but their focus was pulled away as Alex started asking them questions.

“You two, how many years has passed since we left Hell?” Alex asked.

Pearl shrugged. “50 or so years inside the Soul Space?” he asked.

“You said it would take over a thousand years. How many years has passed?” Whisker asked.

“I said that?” he asked.

Pearl nodded and so did Whisker.

“Are you sure it was me?” he asked.

“You told us that through our bond, so I don’t know who else it could be,” Pearl said.

Alex turned toward Bladedance. “Master, I promise, I never said that.”

Bladedance nodded. “Or so you think,” she said. “It is possible that you truly have said that and have no recollection of having said that.”

Alex was taken aback. “Are you saying I’ve lost my memories?” he asked.

“Maybe,” she said. “Let’s take a step back. Explain to me exactly what happened before you came out.”

Alex nodded. “We entered the Void, and I found that I needed to understand gravitational aura as much as the other two in order to get out of the Void. I escaped Hell’s region in the Void and followed the closest other gravitational pull.”

“I realized later that it was the sun and left the area. While leaving, I came across the wounded men and women, who I saved. After I saved them, I traveled for a short time again and found a region where the Void opened to the outside world all on its own.”

“After that, I must’ve fallen unconscious and then I woke up here in this mud bath.”

Bladedance heard his words carefully, taking in every detail. “Explain that last thing again; the part where you escaped Void.”

Alex nodded, repeating it all over again.

Bladedance frowned. “That doesn’t sound like a Voidgate.”

“It wasn’t a Voidgate,” he said.

“But I heard those women,” she said. “They said you came out of the Voidgate.”

“They must’ve been mistaken,” Alex said.

“Or you are.”

Bladedance disappeared, moving back to the sect where she had walked away from. Alex followed her, this time flying to her instead of teleporting.

Bladedance’s sudden arrival caused the women to panic and be on guard.

“Do not worry, I’m not going to hurt you,” Bladedance said. “Did you find my disciple next to the Voidgate?”

Alex arrived right afterward.

“We-we did,” the elder said.

“Are you certain?” Bladedance asked.

“Certain. Very certain,” she said. “Our girls were there when he fell out of the Voidgate bloodied. We put him in our healing chambers because of that.”

“Bloodied?” Alex asked. “I was wounded?”

The women nodded.

“I don’t remember that, master,” Alex said. “I’m pretty sure when I walked out, I had no wounds on me.”

“Take us to the Voidgate,” Bladedance said and the women complied.

After a short walk, they arrived at a location that led to a secret realm. The secret realm was a forest and at the center was a massive tree arching over a Voidgate.

Around the Voidgate was a patch of grass with tiny flowers growing all over it. Two women stayed on either side of the Voidgate as guards.

“Did he come out from here?” Bladedance asked and the other women nodded.

She then turned to Alex.

Alex shook his head. “I… I remember seeing trees, but the land was barren. There was fog all over and I remember seeing rocks.”

“There are no rocks here. And we tend to the land so we always have flowers growing,” the woman said.

Alex couldn’t really understand anything, so he jumped into the Voidgate before anyone could say anything else.

He flew into a channel in the Voidgate that connected this gate to another. Alex was sure he had never seen such a channel before.

The constantly cracking world and chaotic region of the Void that he remembered escaping out of Hell was not this.

Nothing about the two could be compared at all.

Alex walked back out of the Void, causing the others to be surprised.

“You might be correct, master,” Alex said. “I… I think I am losing part of my memory.”