Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Alex walked around the flat-topped mountain until he got closer and closer to Whisker. By now, he could sense the location where Whisker was, to a giant tree in the distance, but somehow the tree was blocking his senses.

Was Whisker inside the tree?

He notified Pearl and Scarlet of what he was sensing and thinking, and once he got close enough to the tree, he began speaking aloud. “Whisker? Are you there?”

He had been talking through their bond for some time now, but it hadn’t worked at all. He was beginning to wonder if Whisker was somehow unconscious or near dead, which was why he couldn’t talk to him.

Before those thoughts could come up within him again, Whisker jumped out from behind the tree, landing on a bush nearby before walking out.

“Brother?” he called out in an excited voice when he finally saw Alex. “You’re here!”

Alex smiled, relieved to find Whisker healthy and without harm.

“Haha! I finally found you,” Alex said with a relieved smile. “You had me so worried there, Whisker.”

He walked toward Whisker, but he was only halfway through when he heard a loud caw from the bird up above. A massive fire bird fell down from the sky, its blazing wings leaving a trail that pointed directly toward Whisker.

It was coming down to kill him.

“Shit!”

Alex brought out his sword without a moment’s hesitation and

jumped before Whisker, ready to attack. But before he could actually swing his sword, a flurry of blue light erupted from the tree where Whisker had been, the attacks flying directly at the bird.

The blue lights struck the bird, turning it into a pincushion, which immediately made the fire within the bird die and disappear entirely. Alex was left stunned as he couldn’t even tell where the attack had come from.

Had the tree used an attack? He couldn’t sense anyone else.

Just as his mind raced to come up with an explanation, a figure floated down from the sky in a graceful fall, her ice-blue robe fluttering in the wind as she did so.

Alex saw the face within the veil, the white hair, the two skin-colored horns-and perhaps more importantly, he felt the connection that formed between them when she appeared before him.

“Shumi!”

Shumi landed before the two, putting away the thin blue sword in her hand. She then finally looked toward Alex, and as soon as she did, she was surprised as well. She couldn’t hide it even behind her thin veil.

“It’s you,” she said slowly, unable to hide her emotions from her words. “Dawnblade, was it?”

“Alex. That’s my name,” he said quickly. “Or Yu Ming, if you want to call me that.”

“Yu Ming? Really? After all this time?’ he scolded himself internally. It was like he was intentionally trying to stir up memories within the woman before him, memories that likely didn’t exist within her.

“Just call me Alex,” he said in the end.

“I see,” Shumi said softly. The last time she had met him, she had tried to kill him, so she felt awkward standing before him at all. But then, she was also interested in learning who he really was, what these feelings she got were.

Her eyes lowered toward Whisker on the ground. “Come. You need to stay with me.”

Whisker nodded, walking out from behind Alex, and quickly climbed onto Shumi’s shoulders.

Alex narrowed his eyes. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Brother, the birds can’t find me while I’m with her,” Whisker quickly said. “Their senses don’t work on her at all. My senses don’t either.” Alex only belatedly realized that while Shumi was standing before him, he couldn’t sense her at all. A thin veil of Yin covered her entire body that killed his senses the moment it got close enough.

The feeling made him freeze up, as the only other person he had ever sensed something like this happen with was his master. Her situation was the same as his master’s, which was why he believed Ma Rong to have been the previous incarnation of the Moon Goddess.

Alex calmed his heart, pushing away the part of his mind that made him try to figure out if she was still Ma Rong or if she was a different person. It was just not something he thought he was ready to do right

now.

“You’re the same,” Shumi said suddenly.

“I’m sorry?” Alex looked up, confused. “The same as…”

“Me. I can’t sense you either,” she said.

“Oh! Yes. I do with Yang what you do with Yin,” Alex said. “We’re two

parts of the same coin after all.” He paused for a moment. “You have

the Moon Goddess’ body, right? I’m pretty sure, but I would just like

to confirm again.”

“The Moon Goddess. Goddess of the Seven Moons. Goddess of Evernight. The Seven Paths of the Night. Lady of Ice. Whatever you want to call me, I’m that.”

Alex blinked. There were so many names for the one goddess? Why

were there none other for the Sun God?

“I’ll just call you Shumi, if you don’t mind?”

Shumi nodded. “Can I call you just Alex then?”

“Of course.”

Shumi hesitated for a moment, her fists clenching and loosening as she tried to speak again. “Um, can I ask you something too?”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Don’t hesitate. What is it?”

Shumi still hesitated for a moment longer before speaking. “You’re a

god too, right?”

“Uhh… I have the Sun God’s body. I don’t think I am the Sun God yet,”

Alex said.

“The Sun God? That’s the other god’s name?” she asked, seemingly

curious.

Alex was taken aback. “Were you not aware of the Sun God?” he

asked.

Shumi shook her head. “The records of my people don’t speak of a

second god. They only speak of the one god. The Moon Goddess. It wasn’t until after I met you during my visit to the human world that I even learned that you existed. I tried finding out more about you, but there was nothing at all. Are you sure you are a god?”