Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

The lightning wings behind the Sky God soldier vanished, and he let out a deep breath as he relaxed his body. With a flick of his wrist, he grabbed the pieces of flesh that were now Alex and pulled them up to where he was.

He had absolutely no hope of the Soul Space still remaining there, but he had to check anyway.

His eyes went to the black sword first, a look of surprise flashing across his face. “It survived all those attacks? That’s a good sword!”

He then turned his attention to what was left of Alex and let his Divine Sense enter his body to see if the Soul Space was still there.

To his surprise, it was.

The man’s eyes opened wide in glee as he realized all of his pain and effort hadn’t been for naught. He could now gain the World Tree all for himself.

’I can use it all for myself. I don’t even have to share it with the others,’ he thought, deciding to betray his small group of Sky God soldiers that had come together in the first place to betray the Sky God.

Their original plan had been to sell it to someone who could afford it, but this might be a better idea now.

’I need to go into hiding as far as possible from here,’ the man thought. ’Maybe in the Fiend’s Sanctuary?’

That was far enough away.

Just as the man decided that, however, he sensed something in the pile of meat before him. Something he nearly missed.

An Immortal Soul.

The man couldn’t believe it. ’He’s still al—’

His thought was thrown into shambles as the pile of flesh turned into Alex so quickly that he didn’t even have time to react.

Alex instantly grabbed his sword and struck at the man with all the power he had in him, hitting him in the chest now that he had no armor to protect him.

The sword struck true, hitting the man before he could put up any defenses.

However, at the last second, a sudden barrier sprang up around the man, stopping Alex’s attack. His sneak attack was all for naught.

The man flew a few steps back before stopping, watching the glow around his body fade with widened eyes. His life-saving talisman had protected him while he had let his guard down.

Never again.

Without the armor, the man was forced to use his defensive technique, causing a layer of green aura to form around him like a barrier.

He stared at Alex, noticing the redness of his skin, but the lack of the changes from before.

“You nearly had me there,” he said with a grin. “Without my talisman, I might’ve died. But your strength is fading already. It’s no longer as strong. Can you still fight me?”

Alex breathed slowly, feeling the fatigue take over him. He had also run out of a large portion of his Qi. Forcing his body not to heal while only his spirit was alive had caused a portion of his Qi to lose connection with him, preventing it from returning to his body when he healed once again.

Thankfully, none of that mattered anymore.

“I already got what I wanted,” Alex said, pointing at the man. “You don’t have another life-saving talisman, do you?”

“What does that have to—”

A blinding light shot forth from Alex’s body, suddenly turning into a massive fiery bird before the man’s very eyes.

The man, assuming it was an attack, prepared his defenses, only for the bird to remain in the air as its own entity. Slowly, the man realized his mistake.

The fiery bird wasn’t an attack taking shape. It was something alive.

And it was powerful.

Ray opened his beak wide and breathed out a blast of fire that shot forward with intense pressure. Being entirely Sun Fire, the blast tore through the man’s defenses before burning into his body.

The man screamed in pain for just a moment before his vocal cords charred. He could feel his airway and lungs burning away. The liquid in his eyes evaporated, and most of his skin turned crisp.

The Sun Fire was so strong that even his soul completely burned away, leaving behind nothing but a husk.

Ray stopped, staring at the remains of the burned man.

“He’s dead, master.”

Alex gave a curt nod. “Good,” he said, grabbing onto the falling body. “My risky play worked out in my favor.”

Ray nodded. “Had he been stronger, he might have survived. I would’ve definitely struggled if he were in the Divine Manifestation realm.”

“You didn’t, and that’s all that matters,” Alex said, placing the corpse into his Soul Space. “You should return as well.”

Ray nodded and returned to his Soul Space.

Alex called over Whisker and the rest. The blood beasts flew back into the Blood God’s Manual, and he stored them away.

“Are you okay, brother?” Whisker asked.

“Yes,” Alex said, rubbing Whisker’s head. “You did well.”

Whisker returned as well.

Alex was left alone in the sky as he considered his next step. His final gambit had worked out well for what little options he had. While Ray could kill Celestials within his Soul Space, outside of it he was far weaker.

Still, Alex had hoped that would be enough to kill the man so long as he didn’t have any external defenses, and it was.

He looked down at the city and saw the city-wide barrier that had already been activated during their battle. No one had come to stop them, likely because of the Sky God’s soldier.

However, things might change now.

“I should leave.”

Before he could, he saw a few people flying toward him. He was ready to run at once, but upon noticing who it was, he stopped.

It was the prince.

’Damn! You’re telling me I could’ve just held out a minute more and it would have been over anyway?’

That was annoying.

“Younger brother!” the prince shouted before he even reached him. “You are needed urgently.”