Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Han Mengli arrived at the Shadow Manifold realm, a world that might’ve been his home had his parents survived. They were born in Bloodhaven, home to the Blood God, but had joined under the Dark God, so they would no doubt have come here to join the cult.

Thinking he could maybe find his father that way, Han Mengli chose to join the Dark God’s cult, although technically he had never left it to begin with. After arriving at one of the cult’s branches and explaining, he was told that he could join after a few simple tests.

Those people were already accepting more members to help them with the war, so rejoining would be as simple as showing a few skills to prove that he could be of help.

His friend, the blood-haired young man, decided to join the cult along with him, now choosing to forego his previous name and call himself Steelheart.

“Brother Han, you should give yourself a daoist name too,” Steelheart said as they waited for the registration.

“I don’t think I need to,” Han Mengli said. “I already have a name.”

“So do I, but a daoist name is not just about having a name. It’s about anonymity and about giving yourself a blank slate to start with,” Steelheart said. “Han Mengli was a slave and will forever carry that history with him. But your daoist name won’t carry that burden. They won’t have to hear your name and know you were a slave before. I’ve seen the way those Blood God’s people looked at me on the ship. They think we’re below them.”

Han Mengli thought for a moment and nodded. “Since you say so, would you mind if I copy part of your name?” he asked.

Steelheart gave a weird look. “How do you mean?”

Han Mengli smiled. “Since you’re Steelheart, let me be Steelmind.”

Steelheart kept a strange expression for a few seconds before laughing out loud. “That makes us more than just friends, you understand that, don’t you?” he asked. “This makes us closer than blood brothers.”

Han Mengli, now Steelmind, smiled. “I’m fine with that.”

Steelheart and Steelmind joined the cult and were soon embroiled in the cult’s everyday life. Steelmind joined the artifact group, where he quickly began working on not just making more weapons and armor for war, but also different artifacts.

After Darkwater’s destruction, the Dark God’s people were working on another ship, this time much better than the last one. All branches of the cult had begun working on the ship in parts, while the main ship was being assembled somewhere else in secret.

The complexity that came with making a ship was so great that Steelmind had to learn on the go and improve himself accordingly. Even working as a simple forger didn’t work in this case, as only those who could refine the materials to the greatest degree were allowed to work on it, and Steelmind was barely keeping up with that requirement.

Steelheart joined the forgers group at first but was quickly overwhelmed by the work and left the group. He moved through a few other sections of the cult before landing in the scout group, where his talents shone.

His job entailed gathering and sending critical information between the Dark God’s cult and any of the other armies. He was still far too weak to actually do it, so until he had the capability, he stuck to traveling within the Shadow Manifold realm to transfer messages around.

He was taken to various locations to train, so Steelmind didn’t meet him as often afterward. His own workload was increasing, so he didn’t have time to worry about that.

The Dark God’s cult carried a massive library of techniques and knowledge that anyone could use, and with the credits he was earning from working there, he was slowly expanding his own understanding.

He was learning better techniques for himself, learning about many more types of materials, and, most importantly, he was gaining information about artifacts, which he most desperately wanted.

Learning about artifacts required more knowledge than just that of forging. Not every artifact required him to melt metals. Some were made of wood, some of cloth. Some had Qi lines in them, while some just worked with formations instead, so he had to devote some time to learning about formations as well.

There was also information about scripts that was helpful in creating artifacts, but that was knowledge the Dark God’s cult did not possess. He would be hard-pressed to think of anyone who had that knowledge, to be honest.

Scripts were mostly used by the demons, so unless he got a demon to explain it to him, he would never learn it.

Years passed slowly—decades and then centuries. His talent in cultivation didn’t even matter over such a long period of time, and he soon got closer to becoming an Immortal.

After working in the forge for so long, he had gained enough knowledge about heat and heat conduction, and the weapons gave him more understanding of metals, allowing him to gain a few Daos before he became an Immortal.

With the help of that, after what should’ve been nearly two millennia since he was born, Steelmind broke through to the Immortal realm.

That came with very little fanfare, as the only one who congratulated him on it was Steelheart, who himself had reached the Immortal realm during one of the scout trials three centuries ago.

“I’m leaving soon, brother Steelmind,” Steelheart said. “I’m going to the frontlines.”

“But… you’re only an Immortal. Isn’t that dangerous?”

“I’m mostly a messenger, so it will be fine. The actual scouts have the more dangerous job,” Steelheart said. “Besides, it looks like they were ordered to get everyone to join the frontlines. Your group will soon likely be swamped with more workload as well.”

Steelmind frowned. “Really? Is the war getting worse out there?”

“Yes, but that’s not the reason,” Steelheart said. His next words were a whisper. “It isn’t announced just yet, but I have reason to believe that the Dark God may have finally returned after his long disappearance.”