Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Outside of the First Claw of the Talon, 13 Celestials were gathered in the mansion belonging to one of the Celestials of the Sun’s Talon: Blackheart Cedar King.

The Cedar King was a large man with a muscular body that seemed to be sculpted from onyx itself. He was one of the very rare Celestials that did not come from a human, demon, or a beast, but rather from a plant called the Blackheart Cedar.

Several large Blackheart Cedars covered the outside of his mansion, all formed from his Creation, which was his own species. He went by the name ‘Blackheart’ or ‘Fang Yuzhu’ as well, but most only knew him by his title, the Cedar King.

The Cedar King sat in a large seat, surrounded by 12 other Celestials, of which 7 had come from the Land of the Blessed Sun and 3 from the Twin Scar Realm. The final 2 Celestials were from the Sun’s Talon realm.

From the Land of the Blessed Sun, the ones who had come were the White Tiger Patriarch, another White Tiger ancestor, the Snake half of the Black Tortoise Matriarch, along with another Black Tortoise ancestor, a single Azure Dragon ancestor, and a Vermilion Bird

ancestor.

The final Celestial from the Land of the Blessed Sun did not belong to one of the four families. Instead, it was the Queen of the Royal Family of the First Insect Island, known as the Radiant Queen.

From the Twin Scar Realm, two of the Celestials belonged to the Whitehead Monkeys, the royal family that were known as the Rulers of the Second Scar.

The other Celestial was a dragon from the royal family that were known as the Rulers of the First Scar, belonging to a species of beasts called Winterborn Dragons.

From the Sun’s Talon realm, one of the Celestials was a Nightshade Stork, a bird of black and blue feathers carrying a strong poison. It was said to be a descendant of the Midnight Phoenix.

The other Celestial was a Redhorn Hippo, which was said to lack the blood of any Celestial, which made its presence as a Celestial among the group that much more impressive.

They were all gathered in the mansion to discuss their next step regarding what they were going to have to do about the trial.

“The longer we stay and discuss, the less time we have to figure out anything,” Xuan Qukuang, the Black Tortoise Matriarch, spoke up. “Our people have already confirmed that they cannot pass the ninth trial, so only we can head in and see what is happening.”

“I concur with the Matriarch,” the other Celestial from the Black Tortoise family, a tortoise by the name of Xuan Laizhin, said.

“You still haven’t explained what the danger is of this trial remaining up,” the Redhorn Hippo, who went by the title of the Red Juggernaut, said.

“Senior, Juggernaut is correct,” the Cedar King added. “You wish for us to risk our lives, but you have not explained why it is that you are in such a hurry. Forgive me if I’m speaking out of my turn, but your actions over the past few weeks have been enough for us to understand that you are not here just to examine the trial that has appeared out of nowhere.”

The Snake Matriarch narrowed her eyes, finding it hard to speak out loud.

The Azure Dragon Celestial was a very old ancestor, belonging to the generation before even their Patriarch. He rarely spoke in the group, but this time he spoke up. “Fellow Celestials, I believe this isn’t the time to be secretive,” he said, his words targeting the two heads of the Heavenly Families. “You should at least say something so that our fellow Celestials may be free to decide whether to help us or not.”

“Brother Guanming is correct,” the Winterborn Dragon said. He had a serpentine body similar to that of the Azure Dragon, only his scales weren’t as blue and instead were of a lighter shade. Despite appearing similar, however, the two dragons couldn’t be further apart.

While the Azure Dragons were born of the Flying Raindragon and the Roc, the Winterborn Dragons were descendants of the Flood Dragon.

Before anyone else could say anything else, the White Tiger Patriarch had made his decision. “If you wish to learn it, I shall tell you the truth,” he said, causing everyone to grow silent as they turned toward him.

“We believe that this trial is no ordinary trial,” he said, looking toward the group. Only he and the Snake Matriarch knew what their true purpose for coming here was.

When they had learned about the disaster that had struck the Sun’s Talon realm, they had immediately thought about Alex and how this might be related to him. As such, the two had asked the other leaders to help them search for him.

The main objective of the task had been disguised as fixing what was wrong with the teleportation to and from the Sun’s Talon realm, and while that was also something they intended to do, their hidden reason was to check Alex’s whereabouts.

They were more or less certain that he would become the Sun God, which was why they needed to be certain of his safety. That was why they had come here. And now, they had to reveal it.

He looked at them all and spoke up. “We believe that this trial was set up by the old gods that were, attempting to determine the next gods. And there may be a candidate who has made his way through the trial. We seek to enter the trial to find this candidate and see to it that they receive their deserved inheritance.”

Many eyes went wide upon hearing what the White Tiger Patriarch had said.

“A god?” the Red Hippo asked. “Surely you don’t mean one of the

humans-“

“No, not a false god,” the Snake Matriarch added. “A True God. If you need us to be specific, then we will tell you outright. We’re looking to save the next Sun God.”