Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

The old man’s regret was clear on his face.

Alex wondered how long he had been keeping this regret in his heart. Sixty thousand years, was it? Every single day he thought about Death or heard about her actions, he would be reminded of what he had done.

He was constantly reminded how he had brought death to all of his people.

Alex didn’t know what to say to the old man. Should he console him right now, or ask him to continue? Neither felt right.

As the silence deepened, Alex finally spoke up.

“Do you suggest that I don’t go for her then?” he asked.

“No,” the old man said. “Quite the opposite. If it is possible, I want you to save her.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed. “That’s quite different from what you’ve been telling me to do all this time,” he said.

“Yes, but that’s because I thought you were going to get yourself killed,” the old man said.

“But I can’t die.”

“I know. That’s why I changed my mind,” the old man said. “I’m sure there are still ways to kill you, but if you’re confident you can survive Death, then go for it. You are an alchemist and a healer, so you may find something I didn’t.”

Alex nodded. “I have to.”

The old man nodded as well. “But if you are going to do it, you’ll need to do it quickly.”

“Quickly?” Alex asked. “What’s the hurry?”

“Death has been a trouble for Hell for a long time. And after the recent incident with her and my sect members, they have begun preparing to fight her. If they find her first, they will do all they can to kill her.”

“Kill Death?” Alex asked with a chuckle. “If it was so easy, someone would’ve done it already, wouldn’t they?”

“They couldn’t, because no one could get close to Death. But I’ve now given them a battle formation that can not only get them close to Death, but also trap her. After that, killing her is as simple as throwing her into the pits of the beasts in the Core region of Hell. Even Celestials with Qi will struggle to fight their way out of those millions of beasts. So even someone like Death will surely die.”

Alex looked at the old man with a blank look. “You gave them the battle formation?” he asked.

“I did. I had to,” the old man said. “Death is losing her mind more and more. After that day when she killed my sect members, she roamed the desert for a long time doing nothing. Not one dared to go after her, and she didn’t come after us either.”

“She fought back when beasts attacked her and when people got too close to her, but for the most part, she remained by herself, roaming the desert, likely in hopes of finding a way out.”

“She always avoided large groups of people, but that has changed over time. She no longer avoids large groups of people at all, and will kill them if she finds them in the desert. She still avoids actual settlements, but it is unclear how long before she stops doing that.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed. He had seen something like that happening with how Death always diverted her route when there was a village or city ahead of her.

“How does she sense people?” Alex asked.

The old man shrugged. “She said something about her sensing Intents. I’m not entirely sure how that works though. I only know that she has two instincts she runs under at the moment.”

“First, she will kill anyone that gets too close to her, likely because she senses danger from them all.”

“Second, she avoids large groups of people or settlements, because somewhere in the back of her mind, she still has hints of inhibitions stopping her from killing wantonly.”

“Sadly, her first instinct seems to be growing in power as she’s roamed the desert, and soon she will lose whatever instinct she has left to not kill others.”

Alex couldn’t help but frown as the situation seemed difficult for him. He wasn’t sure if he could heal Death in such a short time.

“Can I ask you to stop them for me?” Alex asked. “I will try to heal her as soon as I can.”

“Stop them from getting revenge against the countless deaths our sect has suffered?” the old man asked. “I’m sorry, but that’s not possible. The sect master himself is leading the charge, so they’ve already started searching for her, I’m afraid.”

“Hmm…” Alex thought for a moment. “Then I’ll have to search for her quickly.”

The old man nodded. “And I’ll help you. I would rather the girl get healed than killed. All of her kills are on me, not her.”

Alex turned toward the old man. “You’ll really help me?”

“Of course,” the old man said. “Speaking of which, we should leave this village soon and start our search. Do you know where to start looking for her?”

Alex shook his head.

The old man frowned. “Well, then we’ll just start where we can. We’ll have to start tracking news of where she’s been to. Someone should have seen her or the devastation she leaves behind.”

“I’ve been asking around in the villages, and no one has seen her in this direction.”

The old man nodded. “I haven’t heard anything either. We’ll need to search elsewhere then. Go to a different village.”

Alex accepted that. “Where should we go first?” he asked.

The old man paused for a second. “You’ve met her recently. Where was she headed?” he asked.

Alex quickly crouched and drew a map on the ground, visually explaining all that had happened to him and the places he had visited.

The old man looked at the map in deep thought.

He created a larger circle than the map itself, crossing through a few villages. “We go around like this. Whatever city or village we come across, we ask. There should be no doubt that at least some of them will have the information we desire.”