Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Beyond the dark barrier lay a majestic obsidian palace, covering a landscape so vast that Alex could hardly see it all. Black crystals jutting out of giant rocks lay the foundation for the palace, mixing and merging through the caverns that went deep into the seafloor.

Bioluminescent organisms covered a majority of the region, be they giant corals or shells or some glowing algae. Giant banners floated within the water, covered in the image of a tortoise wrapped by a snake.

Alex held no words for what he saw before him. It was a sight that he just couldn’t take his eyes away from. Despite having been to three other Heavenly Beast palaces, he had not grown accustomed to the grandiose palaces that he got to see.

Thousands of beasts surrounded the palace, no different from the White Tigers where they stayed surrounded by a regular city. Except, there wasn’t any city here, at least not one that looked visibly different.

“I’ve never seen an underwater paradise before in my life,” Alex couldn’t help but say. “Do other places such as this exist?”

“As grand as our Black Tortoise Palace?” the Matriarch asked with a slight chuckle in her voice.

Alex panicked a little, wondering if he said something wrong. “No, I meant an underwater city built like this. I’ve heard about there being kingdoms in the ocean here, are they the same as these, with houses built like this?”

“There are many. There are as many cities underwater as there are above it,” the Matriarch explained. “The humans have them too, don’t they? I’m sure there are cities built underwater in the Eternal Isles.”

Alex wasn’t aware of that. All he knew about that immortal realm was that it only had islands and no continents, and a majority of the ocean

was filled with terrifying beasts whose cultivation base far surpassed the regular humans there.

And that it was home to the Ocean God.

“I haven’t been there, so I can’t say for certain,” Alex said, his eyes moving around the place. The beasts seemed to not care that he was standing there. Anyone who could come through the barrier wasn’t their enemy after all.

“What do you think? Do you like it?” the Matriarch asked.

“Quite a lot,” Alex said. “But do you mind if I ask why everyone is ignoring us? Or rather, ignoring you. The other patriarchs were surrounded whenever they walked outside.”

The matriarch leaned toward Alex, a mischievous look on her face. “That’s one of the benefits of being in my human form. So long as I have this artifact that conceals my aura, no one can recognize me at all. Not even my children know what I look like in my human form.”

Alex raised an eyebrow as he stared at the matriarch with a look of wonder.

“Anyway, stay here for a few seconds. I’ll see you sometime later,” the woman said, drifting away from him. She stopped before she got too far and turned around. “Oh right, and one more thing. You never saw what I look like.”

She gave a serious look before turning around and disappearing from where she stood, barely disturbing the water at all.

Alex stood in the spot for a good few seconds before realizing that he had been left alone in this new place. But, a few seconds later, he saw a group of snakes and tortoises moving toward him at a rather quick расе.

They all arrived before him, each one one half of a Black Tortoise. The snake at the front was the leader of the welcome party, staring at Alex up and down. A strange look of recognition flashed on the snake’s face.

“You are the Sword God’s disciple, aren’t you?” the snake asked, its words feminine.

“I am, senior. My name is Alex,” Alex said, recognizing the snake a beat later. “Was it you who came to check on my master during her

immortal tribulation?”

“My name is Xuan Lingkai. I am here on behalf of our Matriarch to welcome you to the Black Tortoise Palace.”

“Thank you.”

“If you will follow me, I will take you to meet the Matriarch,” Xuan Lingkai said. “She’s been waiting for your arrival for some time.”

Alex wasn’t sure how else to respond except to nod and go with them. He had been brought here by the Matriarch herself, but she hadn’t revealed it to anyone, so he was going to have to meet her for the first time once again.

He suppressed his laughter and moved through the water to head into the deeper regions of the Black Tortoise Palace. With the other beasts surrounding him, his arrival was like a procession passing

through the palace.

Lingkai was no larger than Alex in her snake form when she moved close to Alex and started asking some questions.

“How did you meet her?” she asked.

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Meet who?”

The snake let out a sigh. “I keep hoping she slips up sometimes and she never does. Anyway, she wishes to learn how soon you can get to working, or if you need some more time to get ready.”

“Are all the preparations made?” Alex asked.

“In a way,” the snake said. “We’ve been gathering as much blood as we

can for the past three years. No blood essence, of course. We’ve collected thousands and thousands of liters of blood, and we’re hoping that will be enough for both the tests.”

“Both tests? Do you mean there are two?” Alex asked.

The snake turned toward him. “Were you not aware?”

Alex shook his head. “I hadn’t been told. How do the tests differ?”

“The first one is simpler. We have a descendant whose bloodline at the moment is rather weak. Once his soul heals, he can improve his bloodline on his own, but that would take years. With your technique, it should take little to no time, is what I’m hearing.”

Alex nodded slowly. “Yes, that should be correct. And the second

test?”

“The second one is to test if your technique can improve the chances

of someone with a weak bloodline evolving into a Black Tortoise. I look forward to that test myself.”