Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

The Dark God’s return was announced a few weeks later, invigorating every person within the cult. The workload increased, but somehow it didn’t feel like it. Everyone worked extra hard to win the ongoing war against the demons.

Steelmind worked just as hard as everyone else, becoming more and more proficient at making artifacts. Time slowly passed, the years feeling like days. His search for his father had hit a dead end long ago, and at this point, he had to give up on the idea of any of his family being alive.

He received messages from Steelheart from time to time, and while time may have distanced them, he still considered the man a brother and looked forward to seeing him again.

News of the battlefield seemed to be all that he heard these days. Clashes between the Sword God and some Divine realm general of the demons would be in the news one day, and the next day he would hear about the battle between the Whip God and someone else.

Millions would die in the Sacred Lotus realm one year, and then another million would die in the Divine Sanctuary realm the next year.

Even though no one knew when exactly the war had started in the past, it was certain that it was growing bigger and bigger. He had a feeling it would end soon now.

Steelmind was in the Immortal Origin realm, in the midst of deciding what he wanted to be his Creation, when he first saw the Dark God. The deity had returned from the battlefield after nearly ten thousand years, only now showing his face to his people.

No one truly understood where the man had gone, but people thought he was a changed man now.

Steelmind saw him just once, an older man who seemed to have lived generations more than Steelmind ever could. He was older, his hair fully gray, wrinkled skin covering his entire face.

He wore a simple robe, making him look more like a beggar than a god. And yet, the aura he carried could not be denied as belonging to a deity.

When he appeared, the sky went dark, and he alone hovered in the air, visible to every person in the Shadow Manifold realm. And he made a decree.

Henceforth, he was laying his claim upon this world and changing it.

The Shadow Manifold realm was going to be named Fiend’s Sanctuary.

That was the only time Steelmind ever saw the Dark God, the god his parents had believed in.

Years passed, and Steelmind chose a Creation for himself—a crystal hammer.

The crystal he created the hammer from was a piece of material considered the strongest naturally occurring substance, known as Celestial Diamond.

Steelmind hadn’t managed to draw out the exact properties of the Celestial Diamond, but he had drawn enough that he could use the hammer to forge whatever weapon or armor he wished.

From Immortal Ascendant to Immortal Origin, it had taken him six thousand years to cultivate.

From Immortal Origin to Immortal Transcendent, it took him eleven thousand more years.

From Immortal Transcendent to Immortal Spirit, where his hammer first appeared as a piece of crystal, it took him over twenty-five thousand years.

Part of the reason it took him so long to cultivate was his own lack of talent. Another part was the lack of resources, especially in the cult, where everyone fought for the slightest bit of Qi available.

It was well-known at this point that drawing too much from a Spirit Vein killed it, so almost every Immortal and higher-grade Spirit Vein was now protected to prevent excessive Qi release.

As such, everyone’s cultivation base advanced slowly in those days. And it certainly didn’t help that Steelmind’s days were mostly spent just working on the various tasks given to him.

Steelmind got more news during that time—more deaths, more clashes between humans and demons, another god’s death, another god’s rise.

He heard about the Sky God setting up interrealm teleportation formations throughout the many worlds. If that were completed soon, they would no longer need to build so many ships. People could just teleport between realms.

He also heard about the Dark God and his battles. Wherever he fought, there were many casualties on both sides, but he seemed not to care about that.

People had also begun calling him differently now. He was no longer the Dark God, but rather the Fiend. Steelmind didn’t know what brought on the change of name, but in the thousands of years since his return after disappearing, his new name was what most knew him by.

While these news were good to hear, and he did like keeping up with what was happening in the battlefields, he very much wanted to learn more about Steelheart instead. The man had been gone for so long and had only sent two messages in total.

In one of those messages, he was in the aftermath of a battlefield near the Eternal Isles, and in the other message, he was about to leave for a spirit realm called the Six Crown realm.

That was nearly fifteen thousand years ago. Steelmind hadn’t the slightest clue if the man was even alive anymore.

He waited patiently, until one day, Steelheart himself showed up before him.

Steelheart had grown in the time since Steelmind had last seen him, his cultivation base now reaching the late Immortal Spirit realm. The man had changed quite a bit over time, both physically and in his countenance.

Steelmind was about to greet him, but Steelheart didn’t even give him the time. Steelheart grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Brother, we need to leave now,” Steelheart said.

Steelmind froze for a moment. “What… what’s going on?” he asked.

“The entire cult is about to explode into chaos, and I have news that there’s going to be a civil war between a few factions within,” Steelheart said.

“Civil war?” Steelmind asked in surprise.

Steelheart nodded. “The Fiend is dead. Our god is dead. And there’s nothing keeping this cult together anymore.”