Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Pearl greeted the old White Tiger as respectfully as he could.

The White Tiger, Bai Fulin, looked at Pearl with curious eyes. “An evolved White Cat? Did you say he was your Great Grandson?”

Bai Jingshen nodded.

“How old is he? Was he born in the lower realm while you were there?” she asked.

“He’s the grandson of my daughter I had with my 7th wife,” Bai Jingshen said. “He evolved back in the lower realm. It has been over 1500 years since then, and he only just arrived today.”

The female White Tiger seemed fascinated by this information. “Your daughter was not a White Tiger, was she?” she asked.

Bai Jingshen shook his head.

Bai Fulin’s eyes rose in surprise. The chances of a White Tiger giving birth to another White Tiger was quite low. And the chances of a beast with trace amounts of the bloodline of the White Tiger giving birth to someone that then gave birth to a White Tiger was even lower.

That was part of the reason why the White Tigers took so many wives and concubines, why they had more children than they would care to count, all so the minute chance of a White Tiger being born through them could come to pass.

“It’s a shame he lacks the stripes,” Bai Fulin said. “There’s a chance he’ll be bullied by the purists.”

“Let them,” Bai Jingshen said. “My great-grandson is not someone that will be so easily bullied.”

Bai Fulin laughed. “You’ve really changed since you went down there.” Something flashed before her and a pill bottle appeared. She turned to Pearl.

“Forgive this great-aunt of yours for not having something prepared. These aren’t much, but have them,” she said, handing over the pills to Pearl.

Pearl took them and thanked the old woman.

The White Tiger then turned her eyes toward Bladedance.

“Aside from that, you have a rather strong Human with you. Care to introduce her to me?”

“Oh, this is… senior Bladedance. She’s the Sword God.”

Bai Fulin’s eyes narrowed instantly the moment she heard the words. “Sword God? Her?” she asked.

“Got a problem with that?” Bladedance asked.

“Forgive me if I’m mistaken, senior, but I was certain that the human Sword God was a man,” the White Tiger said. “Has there been a change we were not aware of?”

“No, I was the one before him,” Bladedance said. “But don’t worry, he won’t be alive for too long once I get my hands on him. So, you can think of me as the definitive one.”

“Oh?” Bai Fulin seemed intrigued. “You are welcome to stay at our palace for a short time. I shall let the patriarch learn of your arrival. He will meet with you soon to discuss further details.”

Her eyes went through the rest of the ones present there. “The rest are your guests, nephew, so I will leave them to you.”

She turned to Pearl. “It was good meeting you, child. Come find me if you need anything. Do not be shy.”

“Thank you, Aunt Fulin,” Bai Jingshen said, sending her off.

The female White Tiger disappeared, leaving the group in the air.

Whisker jumped onto Pearl’s back. “What did you get, brother?” he asked.

Pearl opened the bottle. “Healing pills, it says on the bottle,” he said. “9-veined too.”

“Not bad,” Alex said from behind.

“Well, this might be usual for your group, but it’s not for most people. It would be a treasure to just about any Immortal, so Aunt Fulin is only trying to give you what she thinks is the best,” Bai Jingshen said.

“No, I understand, grandpa,” Pearl said, placing the pills into his Soul Space.

Bai Jingshen then turned toward the group. “Well, since we’ve been vetted, let us head down.” The rest nodded and the ship sank down toward the streets of the city.

They landed on an open field and got down from the ship. Down at street level, the palace stood before them like a celestial cathedral, its size alone covering half the sky for the residents of the city.

The surroundings felt cheerful, almost festive, as beasts of all shapes and sizes roamed it. There were a few humans too who seemed to be in the city, and a lot of half-beasts that looked like humanoid beasts.

Bai Jingshen showed them the way, taking them deeper into the city. They watched the surrounding buildings and were surprised to see quite a few shops open all around.

Even though they were beasts, they still had shops and jobs. They worked hard every day.

Alex saw several beasts dressed in clothes of white and gold, almost as though it were a uniform.

“Are those part of a sect?” Alex asked.

“Not exactly a sect,” Bai Jingshen explained. “They’re part of the Palace Guards. It does work like a sect where you are a disciple for some time before you become an actual guard, but you also get much more help here than you would from a normal sect.”

“You are either a guard or a disciple guard, and you can usually differentiate it by the presence of the White Tiger insignia on their clothes, or the double golden lines around their seams. A disciple guard would only have one.”

Alex looked around. There were many beasts with single golden lines around their seams, and a few with double. Just looking at them, he realized that most of the disciples were in the Immortal realm, while the guards were those in the Divine realm.

“There’s quite a few of them here,” Pearl said. “Can anyone become a palace guard or do they have to work for it?”

“They have to work for it. It’s actually quite hard to get in since a part of the requirement is the strength of your bloodline too. Not many make it in. Those who do, though, prosper quite a bit.”

“It must be quite lucrative to become the guard of a palace this amazing,” Alex said.

“Lucrative, yes, but not in the sense that you might be thinking of,” Bai Jingshen said. “Those that become the guard are given the chance to become a White Tiger.”