Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Having gone around the mountain and still unable to find a way in, Alex, Whisker, and Shumi were left scratching their heads.

“Brother, we’ve tried going above and through the mountain, so what about below it?” Whisker asked. “I can move underground and check if there are any openings there.”

Alex considered Whisker’s suggestion for a bit, hesitating to find anything credible within it. His spiritual sense expanded at once, encompassing the entire island, searching for any caves or crevices that could lead to a tunnel system, but he found nothing at all.

“There’s no opening to a cave, so if the only way was underground, then that would be stupid,” Alex said.

“But we don’t have any other ideas, right?” Whisker asked. “We can at least cross out the possibilities. That’s my purpose anyway, is it not?” While it was true that Whisker, as a Seeking Mouse, was made for this sort of task, Alex found it hard to let him do anything considering the massive birds that would be coming down to attack him each time.

“If he can find something, we should let him,” Shumi said. “If you’re worried about the birds, I can deal with them. They’re all made of fire and are particularly weak to my Yin attacks.”

Alex thought for a moment longer and sighed. “Alright, fine. I could do it myself, but you’re much better than me at this anyway.”

“I won’t disappoint you, brother,” Whisker said with a wide grin. “Here I go.”

He jumped off Shumi’s shoulders and dove into the ground as if it were no different from water. He quickly disappeared underground, and Alex could sense and see the things that Whisker could.

Every bit of information Whisker received in that moment, Alex received as well.

Almost immediately, a single bird came down from the sky, massive in size. Shumi slowly pulled out her thin blue sword, Yin energy seeping out from her body in that moment, moving into her sword.

A faint hint of blue mist rose from her sword at the same time, taking the shape of an illusory flower. The petals of the flower suddenly pulled themselves out, turning into copies of the sword’s blade, each one thin and icy blue.

Shumi stabbed forward, and over a dozen different ice blades shot out like arrows, sticking into the body of the incoming bird. The bird cawed once before the ice dismantled the fire that was its body, almost immediately making it disappear.

This was the second time she had used this technique, and this time around, Alex got to sense the strength of her attack.

It was about the same as his.

Immortal Spirit 1st realm.

Alex wasn’t sure if he should’ve been surprised or not upon seeing that. Her cultivation base was higher than his, as it appeared, which made sense considering he had lost so many years.

When the bird vanished, another one didn’t appear right away, giving them some time to dawdle.

“Can I ask what your cultivation base is?”

Shumi turned around, a simple look on her face. “Immortal

Transcendent 1st realm.”

Alex paused for a second. “Immortal Transcendent?” he asked, taken aback. “You have a Battle Power of 9 as well?”

Shumi’s eyebrows raised. “As well? Does that mean you are the same then?”

Alex nodded. “I have a Battle Power of 9 as well. And coincidentally, I’m in the Immortal Transcendent 1st realm as well.”

Shumi’s eyes widened slightly. “For how long?” she asked.

“Since I reached this realm? A decade,” Alex said.

Shumi rolled her eyes when she heard that. “You’re lucky, it seems. I’ve been stuck at it for the past two centuries.”

Alex froze for a long moment. “What? Why?”

“My Origin is inaccessible at the moment,” Shumi said. “My Spirit Quelling Mist has covered my Origin entirely, not letting go. It’s been two centuries since I reached this realm, and I’ve been unable to continue in my cultivation. I spent so long searching for an answer to what was happening to me before I came here. I’m hoping the Moon Goddess can help me fix it here.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “The same happened to me too,” he said. “You said ‘Spirit Quelling Mist’? I’m guessing it’s something like my Yellow Fog.”

“If you mean the gray mist that is within my spiritual sea, yes,” Shumi said. “Yours is called Yellow Fog? That doesn’t sound godlike at all.” Alex stared at her with a blank expression. “Well, forgive me for not having records to tell me what I have and don’t,” he said. “It’s yellow and it’s fog, so I’ve been calling it Yellow Fog this whole time.”

Shumi smiled a little. “I suppose I might’ve named it something stupid like Gray Fog myself if I didn’t know its true name.”

Alex couldn’t help but smile as well. “So, is your… mist letting up around your Origin?” he asked. “I think mine is growing weaker.”

“A little, but I still can’t start absorbing my Creation,” Shumi said.

“Which is what?” Alex asked. “If you don’t mind telling me.” Shumi thought for a moment before answering. “There is a plant that is long since extinct now. The only thing we have remaining is a dried-up root. Many have tried to form a tree out of it and failed. Even in failure, the Creation they received has turned out to be an incredible treasure. As such, I am to do the same and hopefully form a Creation from the entire tree.”

Alex grew curious now. “What is the tree called?”

“It has no name,” Shumi said. “If it once did, it’s lost to the annals of

history. The only thing anyone can tell me is that the tree used to contain an extremely potent Yin aura, and as such, they wish for me to form it as a Creation.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed. “A tree with a strong Yin aura?” he thought as he recalled the gnarly spiraling image of the tree he had seen back on one of the earlier platforms.

Just then, another bird let out a strong caw, grabbing both of their attention as they needed to deal with it once again.