Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

“Please rest for some time while I prepare the records you wish to look at. While I do like to sort them in order, some records find themselves in certain other places based on the topic they contain, so it will take some time before I manage to find them all,” the Wine God explained.

The welcome party had come to an end and it was time for everyone to leave the hall.

Alex was shown to the guest quarters where he was to spend some time cultivating the wine he had consumed. The wine was more than just a means to make him drunk and was truly an incredible cultivation resource that one didn’t get just anywhere.

While it was fermented and thus most definitely a wine, the wines that the Wine God made should truly be called elixirs.

Alex found his cultivation speed increasing a fair amount as he cultivated while under the effects of the wine. His cultivation continued for a few short days before he was finally alerted to the fact that the Wine God was done preparing a certain few of the records he needed.

Alex walked out of his room and followed Wineshard through a series of hallways that led deep into the palace. After a short walk, he saw his master and the Wine God standing before a massive wooden door, awaiting their arrival.

Once they saw Alex, the Wine God pushed open the door, revealing a massive chamber inside, with a series of staircases that both went up and down. As Alex walked in, he saw a massive multi-storied library that extended far up into the ceiling and far down into the earth.

Lit up with warm lantern lights, the library somehow seemed like a cozy little nook in the palace, and yet at the same time, the library itself was larger than the palace outside, far deeper and taller than would be physically possible if not for the formations that were constantly at work.

’Space expansion,’ Alex thought, sensing just how taut the expanded space was. It was at such a limit that any more than this and the space itself would unravel.

Alex looked around, unable to imagine the sheer knowledge that was wedged in between these shelves. All of humanity could enter the dark ages again, and this alone would be enough to bring it all back to light.

“This way,” the Wine God said, taking Alex and Bladedance down a couple of flights before pushing on a bookshelf, revealing a hidden room behind it.

The room itself was small, enough to fit maybe 4 people in total. Inside were a couple of couches with some footrests, a small table in the middle, and floating lamps all around.

“Please wait here while I bring you the records I have prepared for you,” the Wine God said, leaving.

Bladedance walked in, sitting down on one of the couches. She propped her legs up on the footrest and leaned backward, staring at the ceiling that was barely above her.

Alex walked in as well, turning around to look at the back of the shelves. The wooden boards at the back made it impossible to see the books, and surprisingly, Alex couldn’t see much with his senses either.

It was almost as if…

“The shelves are lined with Heavenly Silkthreads,” Alex said in a small voice.

“They are,” Bladedance said matter-of-factly.

Alex frowned. “I thought the Wine God wanted people to learn this information. Why hide it then?”

Bladedance looked away from the ceiling. “It’s a safety feature.”

“Safety?” Alex asked.

“The knowledge he has here is more than just enlightening,” she explained. “It’s enviable. Merely reading through the names entices greed in the people that visit here. It’s no different than an open treasury, and one knows what happens to treasuries that are left alone.”

“So he’s worried people will steal it?” Alex asked. “Wouldn’t they steal it anyway if they knew the items there are good?”

“Yes, but which ones?” Bladedance asked. “Are you going to go through each one and see if it’s worth taking, or are you going to steal everything?”

Alex paused for a moment. The correct answer was certainly to steal everything. Going through it one at a time was time-consuming, mostly since one couldn’t use their senses.

Bladedance could read his thoughts. “If you are going to steal everything, are you willing to make an enemy of the Gods for it?” she asked.

Alex shook his head.

Bladedance nodded. “That’s why. Steal one, and one could hardly accuse you of something. You could even return it immediately after reading it. But steal all, and you have suddenly brought forth the ire of all Gods, Sages, and Reverends. And you don’t even know what you’ve got.”

Alex slowly nodded. “I see. So he’s using the lack of information as to what these books are as a way to keep them from being stolen. At best, a person could only take a few and hope they got something good, but in a library this massive, the chances that one gets anything good from a few books is impossible.”

Bladedance smiled. “Only Moonspirit knows where the good stuff is. That is why you wait for him to bring it here,” she said. “Besides, he genuinely does give you the opportunity to read anything you want, so do you really want to bother stealing it yourself?”

Alex shook his head.

Moonspirit walked in a moment later, carrying a thick stack of books. “My apologies. I’ve kept you waiting.” He placed the stack on the table, slamming it rather loudly.

Alex stared at the stack with a slightly raised eyebrow. “That’s quite a number of books. I wasn’t expecting this many.”

“Well, you can’t fault me for being thorough,” the old man said with a gentle smile. “Please start with these. I’ll get the rest once you’re done.”

Alex turned toward him. “The rest?”

The old man paused. “Yes,” he said. “These books are only on the topic of Half-God. I’ll bring the ones for the other topics once you’re done with these.”