Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Shumi wasn’t sure how to feel about it all. She was used to adoration and reverence, but it had always come from people willingly giving it to her. Forcing people who didn’t even know who she was just did not sit right with her.

It didn’t take Alex much to realize what she was thinking, so after clearing it up with Shumi first, he told everyone who Shumi had become.

Everyone except for the artifact spirit was surprised to hear that Shumi was now the Moon Goddess.

“What about you, brother?” Pearl asked with an excited look. “Whisker said you gave him the Undying Physique, so are you a god as well?”

“No.” Alex couldn’t help but sigh as he spoke. “I ended up failing, sadly.”

“What?” Scarlet asked. “Why?”

“Well…” He paused for a moment before shrugging. “I guess I should tell you all.”

He explained everything the group had missed since he entered the mountain and arrived upon this hill. He left out the part about the dual cultivation, but aside from that, he held back close to nothing.

The three beasts and two humans stared at Alex with wide eyes, not a single one having realized how close he had come to dying. He would’ve died minutes ago and they wouldn’t even have realized.

Pearl was the first to break the silence that followed. “I can’t believe it. The Sun God had brought you here to take your body? I thought you were going to be the Sun God.”

“I thought the same,” Alex said.

“We were all under the assumption you would become the Sun God, weren’t we?” Scarlet asked. “Even the patriarchs talked about it as if

you were going to become a god. I don’t think they knew about it either.”

Alex nodded. All the patriarchs had treated him quite well after learning that he was to become the Sun God. As Alex thought about it, the ones that hadn’t treated him any differently were the two

progenitors in the Black Tortoise Palace.

They had been rather rude to him at that time. Alex could only wonder now if they had been so rude because they knew he wasn’t the Sun God, that the real Sun God would return at a later time. Had that been the reason for their attitude toward him?

Alex continued the story, explaining how he used the energy in the end and then sealed away the Sun God.

Scarlet’s eyes were the widest at this point, her head snapping back toward the beast far away that hadn’t gotten close to them at all. She had known that was the Three-Legged Crow, that much she had already gained from Alex beforehand.

However, she had only just now realized, along with everyone else, that the Three-Legged Crow was bonded to Alex.

Considering that the Three-Legged Crow was one of the Primordials through whom the Vermilion Birds descended from, it was understandable why she was so surprised.

Scarlet pointed to the bird, words failing to come out of her mouth. “The Three-Legged Crow is bonded to you? Does that mean he’s going to stay with you?”

Alex nodded. “Most likely,” he said.

“The Golden Crow is bonded to you. Seriously?” She still couldn’t believe it.

“Well, he’s not really the Three-Legged Crow anymore, just a remnant,” Alex said. He turned toward the crow far away and made a simple gesture to call him.

The crow flew up to the side of the hill where they were gathered, just 30 meters down from the top. The crow landed next to him,

bowing his head.

“What can I do for you, master?” the crow asked.

“Compared to the original Three-Legged Crow, how strong would you say you are?” Alex asked.

“Not strong at all,” the crow said. “On my own, even a Divinity could destroy me.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. Even he hadn’t thought of the crow to be that weak.

“What do you mean by ‘on your own”?” he asked.

“I mean when I am not using the energy left behind by my brethren,” the crow explained.

“Ah! The energy of the Flying Raindragon and the Midnight Phoenix,” Alex said. “What if you were using said power?”

“Then no Celestial could ever stop me,” the crow said proudly.

Everyone else, including Shumi, was surprised to hear how strong the crow really was.

“But I must warn you, master,” the crow continued. “When the two sacrificed themselves, they did so with the understanding that I would use their power for the sake of the trial and finding the new vessels of our parents. I cannot use this power anywhere else but in the trial. If I am to leave this place, I become as weak as I previously

mentioned.”

“I see,” Alex said, nodding.

Scarlet shrugged. “I never cared about how strong he was,” she said. “He’s our ancestor. There’s a lot we can gain from him through knowledge alone.”

The crow shook his head. “I suggest you don’t rely on me for that

either,” he said. “While I know a few things, the majority of my memories are not with me. I cannot help you as well as you might think I can.”

“Really?” Alex asked. “Do you remember why the two gods destroyed the world then?”

“Partly,” the crow said. “We ran out of Qi, and what we did have was breaking down, so the two gods came with an idea to improve everyone’s life. Doing so was supposed to help Qi recover, so they tried to do something to the planet. But instead of it working, the planet cracked apart, turning into many pieces.”

“Improve everyone’s life to get more Qi? How does that work?” Alex

asked.

“I don’t know,” the crow said. “I don’t even know if they explained it to

us or not. But we trusted them, so we accepted our duties.”

The crow appeared somewhat sorrowful.

“Not that we had much choice,” he said. “If we didn’t find a way to get Qi to return, we would’ve died shortly after anyway.”