Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

After spending a day or two more together, Alex and the rest decided it was time to get back to their important tasks.

Scarlet and Pearl had to cultivate. He had to deal with Godslayer’s issue, and Bai Jingshen had started talking about leaving soon since he was now in more of a hurry to find different Creations or ways to get Creations for Alex.

Scarlet and Pearl both went into Alex’s Soul Space, where they could cultivate in the cultivation chambers as it existed right now. With a nearly thirty-times faster rate of cultivation, they could cultivate for months in the few more days Alex had in the Vermilion Bird Palace.

Alex should have listened to Bai Jingshen’s words and disappeared, but he couldn’t leave just yet. There was at least one more thing to do here, which involved Scarlet’s mother.

He had promised to share his alchemy knowledge with her, and he was quite curious to see how the beasts handled making pills altogether. Maybe he would even learn something.

“The later we are, the worse it will be for you,” Bai Jingshen said. “You need to get straight to Transcending. You have eight Origins to fill up after all, and those will take a long time. There’s a reason most beasts start Transcending right from the Immortal Origin Realm.”

Alex sighed. “I understand, Brother Jingshen. But I gave her my word, and I must do this. It will just be a few days.”

Bai Jingshen frowned a little. “Then I must leave on my own. I have to deliver the Matriarch’s letter. Be safe. I’ll come get you in a few days.”

“No, that’s fine. We can come back on our own,” Alex said. “Pearl apparently already has the emergency Teleportation Talisman set up, so we can use it if it is an emergency.”

Bai Jingshen thought for a bit and nodded. “Since Pearl is an official White Tiger, it also won’t cost you much to teleport around the place. Alright, you can return on your own, so long as you can stay safe. It will give me time to research more of the library with my wife.”

Alex nodded in thanks. Then, he remembered something. “Actually, there was something I was hoping to get your help on.”

“Something important?” Bai Jingshen asked.

“Could end up being important,” Alex said. “You know of the beasts in my Soul Space, right?”

Bai Jingshen nodded along.

“I need to find a place for them. The place is a little ruined now, and with the trees growing more and more, they don’t have a place to stay. It will be beneficial for both the beasts and me if we get them out of the Demon Realm.”

Bai Jingshen raised an eyebrow. “That’s not a bad thought,” he said. “Also, don’t you have others in there? Humans. Should I find a place for them too?”

Alex shook his head. “I will find a place for the humans in the Human Realms. I just believed it would be good for the beasts to remain in a Beast Realm.”

Bai Jingshen thought for a moment and nodded. “I’ll see what I can find. There may be such places available still.”

“Thank you.”

Bai Jingshen left them, returning to the White Tiger Palace. With his departure, Alex left to complete the last thing he still had left to do in the Vermilion Bird Palace.

He went to find Scarlet’s mother, but when he did, he also found her grandfather.

“Senior Ningzhu, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Alex said.

“Ah! I was waiting for you,” Ningzhu said. “If you aren’t busy, we need to go somewhere.”

Alex paused for a moment. “Does the Matriarch wish to meet me again?” he asked.

“No, the Matriarch has entered closed cultivation. Before she did, however, she gave me a task to complete. So, here I am.”

Alex grew curious as to what the task could be. He left with the old beast, moving through the sunstone hallways of the palace, taking a path he hadn’t yet been through.

It was in the direction of the Matriarch’s chambers, but at some point, they took a different turn, so he was now in an unfamiliar location. This pathway seemed even bigger and better than the ones he had taken before.

There were more colors here, more tapestries on the wall, more furniture along the way. Gold and silver covered many of them, with torches along the way burning with Eternal Fire.

Alex came out of the palace into an inner courtyard with a giant opening at the center just like there was with the White Tiger Palace. Only, this place didn’t seem as well-visited as the others were.

Colors of red, yellow, and blue marred the grass in the courtyard, illuminated directly by a raging Phoenix Flame at the very center. The light of the flame burned so much brighter, so much hotter, that Alex could feel it all the way from where he was.

“What… what is this?” he asked, somewhat confused.

Ningzhu smiled, not answering just yet. Instead, he gestured for Alex to get closer.

Alex did as asked and most likely would’ve even without the bird’s invitation. He got closer toward the flame, feeling its heat on his face. The heat burned him, and even as it did, it healed him as well.

To be able to burn his skin, the fire was already commendable in strength, but to heal him faster than his own body could, that surprised Alex.

As he got closer, his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the flames, and he finally saw things more clearly.

The flame burned eternally on the back of a giant statue of a Vermilion Bird with its wings stretched out to the side. It made the statue look alive, as though the phoenix was using its flames.

Alex had a feeling he knew who that was.

“That statue, is that…”

Ningzhu answered. “Yes, that is the statue of our Progenitor, Feng Luoshao,” he said. “And that on her back, burning eternally, is her undying Phoenix Flames.”