Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Once Alex fully came to the decision that he would likely be spending a long time in this place, he told Pearl as much before he left. Shumi also wrote in her letter all about how she had succeeded, but would have to remain back for the time being.

Neither knew how long they would have to spend in this place, but at minimum, they estimated it would be a few years.

Pearl left the mountain and would soon leave the island as well. With Ray watching him, he would be safe all the way back until he was outside. It would’ve perhaps been better to let him teleport out, but Ray couldn’t isolate people in that way, so everyone would end up being able to teleport. So, Pearl had to take the long way out.

Once Pearl left, Alex began clearing things up inside the mountain. Alex took the Three-Legged Crow’s corpse into his Soul Space. Unfortunately, the crow’s corpse held no Soul Space of its own. If it had, Alex could only imagine what sort of items he could receive from it.

Alex then talked to the older Alex and Emily. “I think it is time that you two get some spirit roots too, so you can start cultivating,” he said. “We’ll do that as soon as I’ve got the hang of things outside.”

The two of them nodded before Alex put them back into his Soul Space.

Shumi gasped in surprise when she saw them disappear. “How… how did you do that?” she asked. “Where did they go?”

“Oh!” Alex only then realized that she didn’t know about his Soul Space. “They went into my Soul Space.”

“Soul Space?” Shumi asked.

Alex nodded. “It’s really large. Do you want to go in?”

Shumi grew extremely curious as she slowly nodded.

Before Alex could say anything, Scarlet called out to Whisker.

“Yes?” Whisker answered her.

“Come and be the guide for Sister Shumi here,” she quickly said.

Alex turned toward her, noticing that she had been paying attention to their conversation.

“Guide?” Whisker asked. “Where to?”

“Into my Soul Space,” Alex said.

“Oh! Okay. Come with me, Sister Shumi.”

Shumi couldn’t have grown any more curious now. She nodded and turned toward Alex. “What do I have to do?”

Alex shrugged. “Nothing,” he said. “Just… try not to use your Spiritual Sense or Intent very much. It places a burden on my soul.”

Shumi nodded. “I understand!”

“Then, here you go.”

With a wave of his hand, Shumi disappeared into his Soul Space, along with Whisker. After they were gone, the only ones left on that hill were Scarlet and Alex. Ray had long since vanished to place his attention back on the trial as well as Pearl.

Alex looked at Scarlet, his eyes narrowed. “Why are you smiling?”

“I’m not smiling,” Scarlet said with the biggest smirk she ever had. “Stop that.”

That only made Scarlet laugh out loud. “I’ve never seen you so interested in any woman before. There were so many families in the Southern Continent that tried to tie you down with their beautiful daughters, and you never once reacted. And now… you’re clearly treating her differently.”

Alex hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Yes,” he said. “Because I like her. I really do.”

Scarlet’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh, I thought you were going to deny it. Really?”

“Of course,” Alex said. “Why? Do you think it’s unwise?”

“No, I’m just surprised,” Scarlet said. “I thought you were going to remain alone forever. Not that there’s anything wrong with it.”

“I like her, and I want to be with her,” Alex said. “But that’s not going to happen anytime soon. Once we’re gone from here, she’ll return back to the demon realms, and I’ll have to go to the human realms. So,

while we have time, we want to spend it together here!”

Scarlet nodded slowly. “I’m happy for you,” she said. “Do you want to

tell the others right now or keep it a secret?”

“We’ll tell them in due time,” Alex said. “Assuming they haven’t realized

already.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Scarlet said with a smile.

“Maybe. Let’s wait for a-“

Alex’s entire body grew limp for a moment as he staggered. He caught himself right before he fell, but he was still down on one knee.

“Alex?” Scarlet called out in panic. “Are you okay?”

“N-no?” Alex said with a grunt as he grabbed his head. “It’s… It’s acting

up.”

“W-what? What’s acting up?” Scarlet asked, unable to understand.

“The World Tree.”

*****

Shumi looked around Alex’s Soul Space with a look of genuine incredulity. She couldn’t even begin to understand how it was possible for someone to have such a thing in their Soul Space.

There was life growing here, actual life with sunlight. She looked to the side and saw the tree that shone brightly like the sun itself. She could barely make out its silhouette even.

“What’s that?” she asked in a daze.

“That is the Nine Yang Divine Tree,” Whisker explained with great enthusiasm. “It’s like a small sun in this place, and it’s what we use for

sunlight to grow all the plants.”

Shumi couldn’t imagine such a thing. She looked around, her eyes scanning the place. Because Alex had told her not to use her Spiritual Sense, she had kept it all to herself. As such, it was some time before

she fully turned and saw the massive tree far in the distance.

“What’s that?” she asked with a curious look. “It looks familiar.”

Whisker turned around. “Oh, that is-“

Shumi realized right away. “The World Tree?” she asked. “How is this…

how is this possible?”

She didn’t even wait for an answer and immediately flew toward the

tree.

“Don’t get too close, sister,” Whisker spoke, following behind. “It’s

dangerous.”

Shumi didn’t listen, however, and arrived next to it. She stared up at

the massive tree, slowly touching it.

As she did, she heard a voice from the tree speaking directly into her

mind. The voice of a truly excited child.

“MOTHER!”