Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Alex felt useless.

He had thought there would be so much more he could do, and yet there was nothing else he could. He didn’t have any pill that could help Pearl. He didn’t have the spiritual energy to find Pearl’s soul to increase its speed of acclimation. He didn’t have anything.

Qing Tianchui’s blood core was deteriorating every minute and before long, he too would die, becoming useless. Additional blood aura would do nothing at that point.

Alex looked toward Pearl, sensing the lack of improvement to his body. At least, the only thing left now was for his soul to catch up. At the speed it was going, it would take another day at least.

A day of eternal torment that Pearl would have to suffer through. Alex wondered only now if Pearl’s previous evolution had been just as painful. Considering he had no other bloodline back then, he believed Pearl to have a safer evolution. Even if it was painful, it couldn’t have lasted as long.

But then, the soul performing Soul Confluence back then was also weak, so maybe it wasn’t as easy. Only Pearl could answer, and he rarely liked talking about his time during evolution.

Alex turned toward Qing Tianchui, watching the blood dragon’s look of pure concentration. From the start till now, for the sake of his son, Qing Tianchui had not wasted a moment of attention, focusing on Soul Confluence the entire time.

For someone who had only just done it today for the first time, it was an incredible feat. It could only have been possible out of love and fear for one’s offspring.

Alex couldn’t help but smile internally. While one could argue whether this was truly Qing Tianchui or not, there was no doubt at this point that this was Pearl’s father.

Qing Tianchui’s beast core was weakening at a steady rate. Alex feared, based on some quick calculations, that he would last maybe 8 more hours at best. Considering Pearl needed another whole day, this wasn’t enough.

“There has to be something I can do, Alex thought. He just couldn’t give up so easily. And yet, naught came to his mind. He sagged where he sat, now only hoping that his estimation of Qing Tianchui’s upcoming demise was gravely underestimated.

Hours passed, and Pearl continued enduring. A normal evolution process, one that was handled by the progenitors, would have waves of pain that came and went. A beast would be in trance most of the time, and the pain they felt would go unnoticed by them.

However, because they had no such luxury, Pearl had to keep himself awake and cultivate each instant to bring his body and soul closer and closer. The moment he stopped cultivating, everything would be over. So, even as his body was racked with pain for the past days, he had been cultivating non-stop. This was way more than what would be required of any beast during an evolution, and Pearl had handled it amazingly.

But how long could he endure? How much longer could he keep cultivating?

“Brother, something is wrong,” Whisker said, the first of all there to notice the change that Alex had noticed a long time ago.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Jingshen asked, his body perked up. He had come to the assumption that everything was fine. All Alex needed to do was give Qing Tianchui more blood aura when he was out of it, and that would be enough. He hadn’t noticed the degrading blood core.

Alex didn’t blame him, though. He merely only noticed because they were all technically connected to his soul.

Alex took a deep breath and explained the situation, hiding nothing behind. He told them about how long Pearl would need, how long

Qing Tianchui realistically had, and how he was entirely out of ideas. The simplest fact that Soul Confluence hadn’t resonated had completely ruined all of their expectations and even the hiccups they had expected.

Alex was doing his best to not think of the outcome that was very much possible now, and letting hopeful thoughts cloud his foresight.

Everything would be alright. It always did.

The rest were much more pragmatic, it seemed.

Scarlet and Whisker gasped at the news, their faces changing into a terrified rictus.

Bai Jingshen’s face looked like a smoldering fire that would come alive with the slightest touch. He kept his expression in check, taking deep breaths to not let his rage consume his mind when that was all he had

to offer.

“Explain clearly the situation,” he said. “What will happen if the dragon dies before Pearl is evolved?”

Alex hesitated for a moment, all his attempts at not thinking of the outcome washed away with that one question.

“When Pearl’s father dies, Pearl will be left with no one to help aid his soul. Since significant progress will not have been made, Pearl will be left with a soul that does not match the body. That will come with a type of pain I cannot explain, and since he will have no way of changing that, the pain will be constant.”

Bai Jingshen sucked in cold air.

Alex continued. “His pain will suffuse into everything he does, from cultivation to fighting to just living, slowly ruining every aspect of his life, that is if the pain isn’t overwhelming enough to kill him in days.”

“That’s not happening,” Bai Jingshen said, more a proclamation than a wish. “My grandson won’t die.”

“You can do it, Pearl!” Scarlet said from the side. “We believe in you.”

“Yes, brother. You can do it,” Whisker said as well.

Alex turned toward Pearl, his own thoughts and wishes mixing into

his bond, flowing to Pearl.

“Just hold on, Pearl.”

While everyone looked at Pearl, Bai Jingshen stared at Qing Tianchui.

“How long before his core is destroyed?” he asked.

Alex turned around, taking a moment to catch the question that was asked. He sensed the Azure Dragon’s blood core. “Maybe an hour if we’re lucky. The instability is already there, so it’s just a matter of random chance now.”

Bai Jingshen nodded and then asked one single question.