Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

There were nearly no villages this close to the core region, so Alex and the old man had to find shelter in rocky caverns that were filled with beasts in the night.

They fought off the beasts that were there and made that their place for the small duration it would take Alex to consume the Elixirs fully.

Whisker stayed nearby, protecting Alex, while the old man kept an eye on Death, making sure she didn’t go too far away.

There was a weirdness around the core region of Hell where beasts were so focused on reaching there that they didn’t stop to try and attack anyone that came by. It was as though their instinct to go there overpowered their instincts to kill others.

So, Death had a fairly simple time making it through this part of the desert.

The old man also made his way to a nearby city from time to time, gathering information on Death. One day, he returned with news.

“My sect has started actively searching for her. They should soon find her and then come kill her.”

Alex was still in the middle of training when he heard that. “What? Were they not searching until now?” he asked.

“I had mistakenly thought so, but it seems they were not. They had spent the past few months training the battle formation I gave them,” the old man said. “It stands to reason that, motivated as they are, even they would fear Death. They wouldn’t come without being absolutely certain that they could kill her.”

Alex frowned. “Then that means they are fully prepared to kill her or die trying.”

“I fear they will succeed.”

Alex wondered if he should leave right now. Should he go, he would have unconsumed Elixir still within him. But would that matter? A bit of Elixir wasn’t going to make much of a difference against Death.

But still…

Alex took a deep breath. “Just keep an eye on them and see if you can divert their attention. I should be done soon, then I will try to help you too.”

The old man sighed and nodded, leaving Alex to continue his cultivation.

Alex couldn’t make his cultivation speed faster than it already was, but when he was certain his physical strength had reached the level of Immortal Spirit 9th realm from all that he had absorbed, he stopped.

He wasn’t sure how much higher he would need for that strength to be considered at the Divine realm, but he was certain it would be a lot.

He found the old man and asked him about the situation.

“They haven’t found her, but they’re getting close,” he said. “The sect lies right at the edge of the core region, so they tend to travel around it to reach places. One of these days, they will see her.”

Alex nodded. “Where is she?” he asked.

“A little past the core region in that direction,” the old man pointed. “She hasn’t moved a whole lot.”

Alex looked in the direction. He knew where she was, but what was he going to do now? The sect was going to find her any day now, and he had yet to find out anything that could help her.

What was the point of going to her anyway?

And yet…

’She’s my only way out of Hell. I can’t give up on her.’

Alex made the decision to go find her. He prepared to fight her again, which meant finding another weapon to use.

Every single time he fought against Death, he always ended up with a destroyed sword. It was probably his intention to fight her even when he couldn’t that was the reason for most of them being destroyed, but he couldn’t help it.

He had been trying to train, after all.

Although his reason for going after her now had somewhat changed, he still needed a sword.

Alex went through his Soul Space, searching through swords one after another, disappointed at how easily each one of them was destroyed by Death. In his search, he came across the strong sword again — the one that was sharper than all his other swords, but did not take in Qi at all.

’But I’m not using Qi,’ Alex thought. ’And it’s stronger than anything else I have as well.’

At this point, if this sword was destroyed too, there was nothing Alex could do. So, he pulled the thin-bladed silver sword out and left.

He flew with the old man, thinking of what they could do. “Do you think I should go inside her mind again?” he asked.

“You won’t die, right?” the old man asked. “We don’t have time, so might as well. See if you can find something.”

Once again, the old man killed Alex and threw his corpse over at Death. The moment Alex healed, he entered Death’s Divine Sea again.

Alex searched through the emptiness, hoping to find anything that could help him, but sadly, there was nothing. After a long search, he once again plunged into her Divine Sea and died.

When he came back alive, Death killed him immediately once again.

Alex was prepared for that, of course. He had gone through the same thing again and again. The moment he came back to life the next time, he pulled out the sword. It was in his hand just as he died again.

He had planned for that too.

That meant he was ready to attack her the next time he came back to life. He had always been too slow to attack her, but perhaps, after improving his physical body so much, he had the speed he needed.

He hoped he was fast enough now.

Attacking Death right after one of her slashes was the best method of counter attack he had come up with.

Alex swung his sword instantly, throwing a slash directly at Death at the right moment. He hoped she would be too late to stop it.

The attack reached Death, to Alex’s surprise. She had truly failed to block it.

’Huh?’ Alex was taken aback. Had he actually done it? Had one of his attacks actually reached Death?

All the other times, she had easily destroyed it with a flick of her wrist, but this time, it hit her. Perhaps, all the days of improving his body cultivation hadn’t been a waste. He had become fast enough to take advantage of a mindless Death’s shortcoming?

For the first time in forever, something had hit Death.

Of course, that did nothing to her. It was Death. She didn’t even have a scratch.

But this was a needed improvement for him. Things were going somewhere.

Alex prepared to block her attack next.

He would see now whether or not this sword could handle Death’s slashes. If it could, this would change everything for him, giving him a chance to actually fight death.

If it could not, then he had no idea what else he could do.

For now, he waited for the slash.

He waited for it… and waited a moment longer.

The slash didn’t come.

Alex looked at Death in confusion, and to his shock, saw confusion reflected in Death’s eyes.

She wasn’t attacking.

Something… had changed.