Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

The first suggestion Rosemist gave Alex was Fire.

She had long known about Alex’s lack of alchemy flames, or any sort of special flames, so she suggested he acquire one.

Alchemy flames were so common among alchemists that she was surprised when she learned he didn’t have any. She had heavily encouraged him to get some kind of alchemy flame as soon as possible, but after discovering that he had the True Fire Dao, she had stopped.

No regular alchemy flame could surpass the True Fire Dao, after all. But now the situation had changed. Alex had the opportunity to make a Flame his Creation, so she suggested it.

Alex didn’t immediately reject her idea. In fact, he quite liked it. “Any suggestions on what flames I should get? Mind you, they can’t be worse than the True Flame Dao, or at least they need to have effects that I cannot currently perform.”

Rosemist had a few flames she could name off the top of her head.

“There’s something called a Spectral Yin Flame that allows a person to fight off evil influences on others. It doesn’t harm the person but only targets the evil intent upon them.”

Alex raised an eyebrow in surprise. “That’s nice. Where can I find it?” he asked.

Rosemist shrugged. “I don’t know, actually. I’m just suggesting it.”

Alex paused and then laughed. “Go on, what else?”

Rosemist named various other flames such as the Sapphire Ice Flame, Cerulean Mist Fire, Purple Dawn Flame, and so on.

Alex learned about them all, but none truly caught his interest. “Do you know what the strongest flame is, more powerful than anything else?” he asked.

Rosemist stopped for a moment to think. “I do, but I don’t believe that would be helpful to you,” she said.

“Why not?” Alex asked, curious.

“The strongest flames of the past were a pure yang flame known as Sunfire and a pure yin flame known as Midnight Flames,” Rosemist explained. “But you have no chance of obtaining either of those because they have long since gone extinct.”

Alex was intrigued. “Why is that?” he asked.

“Because they belonged to two Primordials. Sunfire belonged to the Three-Legged Crow, and the Midnight Flames belonged to the Midnight Phoenix.”

“Ah!” Alex understood the reason. “Two Primordials. Both gone for a long time.”

Alex sighed. He would have loved to find those two flames, but he didn’t feel disappointed. “What else is there?” he asked. “What’s the strongest currently existing flame?”

Rosemist nodded.

Alex sighed. He would have loved to find those two flames, but he didn’t feel disappointed. “What else is there?” he asked. “What’s the strongest currently existing flame?”

“The current strongest?” Rosemist thought for a moment and then answered, “That may just be Phoenix Fire.” An idea seemed to come to her at the same time. “Pearl is a White Tiger. If you ever end up visiting his people, you should use their connection with the Phoenix to ask for a chance to understand their Phoenix Fire. That should help you.”

Alex smiled upon hearing that. “Phoenix Fire, huh?” he thought. A way to heal and burn as needed. That wouldn’t be so bad. “It’s not an alchemy flame, but it will work.” And he wouldn’t even need Pearl. If enough time passed, he could just ask Scarlet for it.

“Okay, what else? Not just flames,” Alex said.

Rosemist gave a bunch of other ideas, which Alex rejected swiftly. Anything that could be replaced by an artifact was an instant rejection from him. Anything else was heavily scrutinized, but even then, he ended up rejecting most ideas.

With Alex rejecting so many of her ideas, Rosemist took her time coming up with more. She had to think of things he wouldn’t simply dismiss.

Alex thought as well, and together they sat in the cave, basking in the purple and silver light emanating from the Voidgate before them.

Alex slowly looked toward the gate, the swirling colors inside. For a moment, he wondered if he should appoint one of his Origins to accept the Space aura. If he did that, then he would need to use a second Origin to accept the Time aura, as he couldn’t just choose one and neglect the other.

And then, naturally, the next idea formed in his mind.

‘What if I put them in the same Origin?’ he thought.

Not a Space Origin or a Time Origin, but a single one.

A Void Origin.

“Could I… make a Creation out of Void?” Alex asked, his heart beginning to beat faster as the idea took shape.

Rosemist lost her train of thought the moment she heard the question. “Of course not,” she answered. “How could you—”

She paused. Why did she think he couldn’t do it? Her understanding of people and their experiences with Void had given her a prejudice against the idea even before hearing it.

“A person capable of sensing Space is rare, and rarer still is the possibility of them learning its Dao. A person capable of sensing Time is even rarer, and the possibility of them learning Time Dao is nearly nonexistent.”

“One who is capable of both?” Rosemist looked at Alex. “I fear you may be the only person in existence.”

Alex looked at her. “Does that mean it’s possible?” he asked. “Can I turn the Void into a Creation?”

Rosemist looked flustered. “I don’t know,” she said. “It’s never been done as far as I can tell. I don’t see why it would be impossible for you, but the demands you will face when you attempt this will be unfathomable.”

Her eyes were fixed on Alex now, her voice cold. “You need to understand that the Void isn’t just Space and Time. It is all space and time. All Space Dao and all Time Dao intermingle there. You will need to learn a lot more about it before you can absorb the right aura to make a Void Creation.”

“If you are capable of doing that, though, it is most certainly possible,” Rosemist said. “In fact, I urge you to. Unlike the Sun, there is no inherent danger here. And the benefits are incalculable.”