Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Death had a strength beyond human comprehension. At the very least, it was beyond Alex’s comprehension. She had shown herself to be capable of using something as difficult as Sword Heart, and that was only because she was fighting against someone so much weaker than her.

What if she had more? What if she had reached a step beyond Sword Heart and entered the realm of Dao Sword? What if she had gone even beyond that and reached the step known as being One with the Sword?

Even if Alex was incredibly wrong about her talent in the sword, and she only did know Sword Heart, it was still far stronger than what he was capable of.

Alex didn’t know how strong her sword had to be before it could be comparable to a Celestial’s attack, but she was much closer to it than Alex could ever hope to reach in a short amount of time.

“Death is the strongest person I know of,” Alex said. “She is likely the only one who can break through the prison wall.”

“And do you think she’ll help you? Do you think she’s of the mind to do anything to help you leave?” the old man asked.

“I don’t know, but she’s my only option if I don’t want to waste millennia cultivating in order to leave,” Alex said.

“Think for a second, boy. Do you not think she would’ve left already had she had the power?” the old man asked. “Why would she stay here, lurking through the desert for thousands and thousands of years if she could leave?”

Alex paused for a moment. “Does she want to leave?”

“Of course,” the old man said in an exasperated tone. “She’s an outsider. Every outsider tries to leave once they come.”

Alex’s eyes widened slightly. He had always believed Death to be different from the normal residents of Hell, and was even of the mind that she did not originate from this world.

Still, having a confirmation that she had in fact come from outside of Hell made the fact fully settle.

“How long has she been trapped in this world?” Alex asked. He couldn’t imagine how long one would have to be stuck in Hell to completely lose their mind. Wanting to leave and yet never being able to.

How many eons had the woman tread the world of Hell?

The old man paused for a second, looking away from Alex. He sighed. “60 thousand years or so,” he said. “It hasn’t been that long.”

Alex turned to him with a stunned face. “60 thousand years isn’t that long?” he asked.

“To me it isn’t,” the old man said. “I remember it like yesterday. Hard to forget such a thing, after all.”

Alex was fascinated by the man’s words. “How old are you, seniors? From what I have heard, you were a teacher to the Hell Emperor, and he was here some 300 thousand years ago.”

“I don’t remember,” the old man said. “I have lived so long that I don’t experience time the same way everyone else does.”

“You also weren’t a Saint until recently, were you?” Alex asked.

The Grand Elder of the Endless Night sect, despite his tremendous age, had been a True Realm cultivator his entire life. Unable to free up his dantian, he had never had access to his Spiritual sea, which meant he didn’t have a good memory until then either.

Everything before the years when he had reached the Saint realm and beyond was not something he could so easily remember.

Alex understood all of that, after all from his understanding of the events, it wasn’t until recently that they had even managed to start using Qi to cultivate.

The old man gave a strange look, not really answering Alex’s question.

Alex narrowed his eyes. Were his assumptions wrong?

“You were born in Hell, weren’t you, senior?”

“I was,” the old man said.

Alex nodded. “Do you mind if I ask about your horn? Most people here do, but I don’t see a horn on you.”

The old man touched his forehead for a moment before bringing down his arm. “I never had a horn. From what I can see, you need to be around Sunhearts from a young age to have horns.”

“You didn’t live around places where Sunhearts were kept as a child?” Alex asked.

The old man shook his head and chuckled, as if he remembered a fond memory of the past. One which he did not want to share with Alex.

Alex waited for the man to say something, but when he didn’t, he continued the conversation.

“I’ve been wanting to ask this for some time, senior, but how are you making any Qi of a higher grade than True Qi in Hell?” Alex asked. “The Intent around here should degrade everything back to True grade immediately.”

“We have our ways,” the old man said.

“You won’t tell me?” Alex asked.

“Will you tell me how you can cultivate?” the old man asked.

Alex thought for a moment and shook his head. He didn’t want to reveal more to the old man than he already had.

“I had heard that you only recently started being able to cultivate. Was that wrong?” Alex asked.

“How recently do you mean?” the old man asked. “If it’s after we rebuilt, then yes. If not for our ability to help people become Immortals, the Endless Night sect would’ve long since been a forgotten thing of the past.”

“So it’s only after Death came and attacked you?” Alex asked.

The old man nodded solemnly.

“If that’s the case, then something has been bugging me this entire time, ever since you told me about the Hell Emperor,” Alex said. “How did he cultivate? Where did he get the Qi to become a Celestial? Surely not spirit stones, right?”

“The Hell Emperor had some spirit stones,” the old man said. “But those would’ve never made him a Celestial. What he used to become a Celestial was his physique instead; a physique that could absorb Yang to form Qi in his body.”