Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Alex looked toward the incoming bird and immediately used a Heaven’s Impact on it. The bird died before it could come anywhere close to the ground.

Shumi was halfway to attacking when she froze, realizing she wasn’t needed. She turned around slowly, a little confused. “What did you do?”

“Spiritual attack,” Alex said simply. “Those birds are weak to it and can hardly survive. Were you not aware?”

Shumi shook her head while still holding a look of awe. “I’ve never had to fight them. I mostly sneaked through with my Yin Veil,” she

explained.

“If you can use a spiritual attack, that might be easier than actually attacking them,” Alex said. “Anyway, we should start moving. Whisker is going further away now.”

Shumi nodded and followed Alex, who went after Whisker, making sure no other bird managed to sneak attack him while they were distracted. Whisker had yet to find anything, and Alex doubted he would. Still, he had to let him search just in case.

“Did you look at the images on the islands while coming here?” Alex asked. “There were ones with trees toward the start,” he said. “Do you think the tree you were trying to form as your Creation might have been one of them?”

Shumi gave a strange look. “I wouldn’t know,” she said as a matter of fact. “All we have is its root. I couldn’t tell what the tree looks like based on just the root, can I?”

Alex supposed she could not. Could he do that? He couldn’t think of any trees with potent Yin at all, so the Alchemy God likely didn’t know of that tree either. Maybe the Book of Countless Ingredients had it, but he wouldn’t know that until he got his hands on that book.

“It’s just a guess on my part, but that root of yours might have belonged to an ancient Yin God tree,” Alex said. “I have heard from a credible source that a Yang God tree and a Yin God tree existed in the past. Many of the Yin Gathering trees are believed to have come down from that tree.”

“A Yin God tree,” Shumi repeated with a thoughtful look. “Maybe it is that. Maybe it isn’t. I’m not sure it really matters.”

Alex shrugged. “I suppose it doesn’t.”

“How credible is that information of yours anyway?” Shumi asked. “Does it come from some old record?”

“No, it comes from someone who lived during those times,” Alex said. He paused for a moment, wondering if he should reveal the existence of the Guardian Tiger and the Tree of Life, but decided not to. At least, not outright.

“Someone living?” Shumi asked in surprise. “Who?”

“Do you know about Hell?” Alex asked.

“Hell?” she asked, giving a confused look.

“The demons might still refer to it by its original name. The Immortal Prison realm,” Alex explained.

“Ah! I have heard of it,” Shumi said. “One of the three Immortal realms that is under no one’s control. What of it?”

“If you ever have the time, you should visit there,” Alex said. “There might be a few beings that look forward to meeting you.”

Shumi narrowed her eyes. “The Immortal Prison realm? I don’t know if I would want to go to such a location, considering it’s said to be impossible to escape from that place.”

“Nigh impossible,” Alex said. “You just need someone who can open a way to the Void and help you navigate your way out of there.”

“Navigate through the Void?” Shumi asked with a small scoff in her words. “Who can do something like that?”

Alex turned, a wide grin plastered across his face. He needed to say no words.

Shumi’s expression faded slowly as she realized what he was saying. “You can?”

“I was stuck in Hell for quite some time,” Alex explained. “I had to learn a way out of there, and so I did. Anyway, someone there wants to meet the Moon Goddess, which is why I asked you to go there if you had the time.”

Shumi didn’t know what to say. “Sounds to me like if you’re not the one taking me, I won’t be able to make it out of there at all,” she said. “Isn’t that right?”

Alex nodded in the end. There was logic to her words.

Shumi looked up at the sky and prepared her attack once again. This time, two birds made their way down.

Alex took care of one of them immediately, using the Heaven’s Impact to kill it before it arrived. Shumi stabbed above, the many ice blades skewering into the other bird, killing it as well.

“They’re going to start multiplying soon,” Shumi said. “If things get out of hand, we should ask the little mouse to abandon its task.”

Alex nodded. There was still some time before things became overwhelming, so they could go around leisurely for now.

“How long did it take you to go from becoming an Immortal to your current cultivation realm?” Alex asked her.

“Hmm?” Shumi reacted, momentarily not understanding his question. When she did a moment later, she answered, “It’s hard to say. My cultivation sessions have had long gaps in between because I’ve had to go on parades and training sessions and whatnot. If I had nothing else to do but just cultivate, maybe I could go from being a new Immortal to Immortal Transcendent 1st realm in about 200 years if I were given the same resources as before.”

“200 years,” Alex considered. “Would you redo it if given the chance?”

Shumi narrowed her eyes. “Of course not. Why would I?”

“What if, in doing so, you would get the chance to get more than a single Creation?” Alex asked.

“More than a single Creation?” Shumi asked.

Alex nodded. “I have a way to let you reset your cultivation base back

to Immortal Ascendant 1st realm. At the same time, I have a technique that allows you to form multiple Origins. If I were to give you that chance, would you do it?”