Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Alex tossed the storage bag toward the woman.

“You defeated me. You’ve won it.”

The woman took the storage bag and looked inside. She brought out the Elixir jar and opened it to dip her finger inside. With a taste, she could tell this was genuine Elixir.

“I’m not sure I deserve this,” the woman said. “I only won because of my sect’s battle formation. Even then, I struggled.”

“I was looking for a strong fight. I did not care how I got to it,” Alex said. “Thank you for giving me that.”

The woman smiled a little. “Would you like to keep fighting?” she asked. “I improved so much with just a single spar. I’m sure you’ll find improvement should you fight some more too.”

Alex thought for a bit. It was a decent proposal, but he shook his head.

“I need to keep moving. I’ll search for others that are strong,” Alex said.

“Why don’t you go back to the sect and ask the elders?” the woman suggested.

Alex paused for a moment, confused as to what she was talking about. Then he understood.

“Do you think I’m from the Endless Night sect?” he asked.

The woman nodded slowly. “Are you not?”

Alex chuckled a little. “Sadly, no. I tried to join them, but I was rejected,” he said.

“How…”

The woman didn’t understand. It made absolutely no sense to her as to why the Endless Night sect would ever reject a person this powerful. Was he evil perhaps? She didn’t find any inkling of such a trait in how he had acted. Or did they just not know how strong he was?

“Were you from the Endless Night sect? I heard they are the only ones who have Qi.”

“I am still a disciple of the Endless Night sect,” the woman said.

Alex raised an eyebrow. “You can be part of two sects at once?”

The woman laughed slightly. “No, I am not part of this sect. I am simply the wife to the sect leader here. This is my home, but I am a disciple of the Endless Night sect.”

Alex nodded. There wasn’t much else he wanted to know about the sect since they had already chosen to reject him from joining. Since he couldn’t join as a disciple, there was no chance of him getting back to them.

“Would you mind telling me where I could meet the next strongest sect?” Alex asked. “I have been to the Hundred Flame sect before this.”

“There is one downriver called the Falling Noon sect. On the other side of the river, you’ll find the Sky Mist sect. They are equally strong, comparable to our Last Extolite sect.”

Alex nodded. He was ready to leave, but he had one last question.

“The Extolite who built this sect. What happened to him?” he asked. There were apparently so many strong individuals during the Hell Emperor’s time, none of whom should have left the world.

Alex wondered where they were now.

“Dead,” the woman answered.

“I’m sorry, he died?”

Alex hadn’t expected that. He had met Immortals who considered themselves young at 40 thousand years old. The Hell Emperor had been around just 300 or so thousand years ago.

Surely the last one of all should have survived, shouldn’t he? There was no Heaven to demand them to keep getting stronger or die.

The woman nodded, seemingly confused as to why Alex was even surprised.

Alex didn’t know what to say.

“How did he die?”

“The Scarlet Rain,” the woman said.

Alex paused for a bit. “Huh?”

“The Scarlet Rain,” the woman repeated, this time a frown forming on her face. “You do know what that is, don’t you?”

Alex slowly shook his head.

“You don’t know about the destruction of the Hell Emperor’s empire?” she asked.

Alex got very curious then. He got closer toward the woman. “Please continue. I am quite interested.”

“Um, The Scarlet Rain was the incident where the elders of the Endless Night sect were all killed in a single night. All upper members, Extolite and warriors, were killed with none surviving at all. Only the Grand Elder survived and he rebuilt the sect from the ground with what disciples that still remained behind.”

“It is said that so many people had died that day their blood rained down from the sky throughout the night in a red shower,” the woman said.

Alex narrowed his eyes. “All of the Extolites died in a single day?” he asked. “When? How?”

Even as he asked that, Alex knew what the answer would be.

“Death,” the woman said. “Death appeared during an important meeting of the sect leader and elders and killed them all. This was many years before even my time, so I’m not sure how long ago it was. Over 50 thousands years ago surely.”

Alex mulled over the information, very much fascinated by it all.

“You really didn’t know?” the woman asked. “I was sure everyone who joined a sect would have to learn the history of the desert, how the Hell Emperor came to rise, how he died in his attempt to leave this world, how Death destroyed what was left of his empire, and how the Endless Night sect rebuilt itself stronger than ever.”

“Well, that should show you just how little I know,” Alex said. “Anyway, thank you for the information. I shall take my leave now.”

Alex turned and walked away, going to the river to head downriver to where the next sect was. He would train the way there, take a break at night, and then arrive at the sect tomorrow morning.

For now, Alex could only wonder about what he had just heard.

As far as he was aware, Death tended to ignore civilization altogether, never massacring entire villages or towns. So why had she killed the Extolites and the warriors?

Did it have to do with who they were? Or was it just unfortunate timing for them?

‘Most importantly,’ Alex wondered, ‘Just how strong is Death compared to everyone else that she can destroy an empire overnight?’

What did it take to become that strong?