Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Over the next few days, Alex and the group stayed by Zi Mengyao’s community while deciding what to do next. They were training against the small group of people in that community, but since the three women were stronger on average than most of the people there, several members of the community did not appreciate their presence.

They hadn’t outright said anything to Alex at all, but he was able to understand their emotions based on the looks they gave him.

”800 stars would be amazing,” Ronron said after one of her battles as she sat on the sand beside Alex. ”But I don’t think we’re going to get it, are we? Might be better to just leave.”

Alex nodded a little. ”Getting to the center won’t be much of an issue if it was me alone, but you guys don’t have the skills I do. You will lose more stars going there than you would by using the Marker.”

Ronron nodded. ”Can nothing else be done?” she asked.

Alex scratched his head a little. ”I could try finding this Su Nian person and asking him for permission. Or maybe you guys could join the community for the next year.”

Ronron shook her head. ”We can’t join that community. As Sister Zi said, we would be forced to swear an oath that would make us fodder to throw at other incoming people toward the start. We would only get to use the Marker a few years in.”

”We could ask him to make some changes to his conditions,” Alex said.

Ronron considered it for a moment. Before she could say anything else, a man walked toward them.

Once he arrived, he stopped before them, his arms crossed in clear dissatisfaction.

Alex looked up at the man. ”Can I help you?”

”How long are you four going to use us without giving anything in return?” the man asked. ”Sister Zi is kind, so she doesn’t force anything upon you all. So, I have to be the bad guy here and do so for the sake of our community. If you have any decency, you’ll join our community right away or see yourselves out.”

Alex looked up at the man without many changes to his emotion. Zi Mengyao had left the community for some time, so the man was making use of that opportunity.

”May I ask how we are hurting your community by staying around?” Alex asked.

”How? Are you joking?” the man asked. ”You are leeching our stars every day. Every day, you four challenge us one after another, and you ask how you are hurting us?”

Alex blinked. He supposed that was true. The communities were created to stop people from being challenged multiple times in a row, so that they could help each other and cultivate in peace.

Alex hadn’t exactly helped them do that.

A moment later, he nodded.

”You are correct. We should do something,” he said. ”Let Sister Zi return, and I’ll discuss something with her.”

The man panicked a little for a moment, but held onto his stance. He gave a quick nod and returned.

Ronron turned toward him. ”Are we leaving or joining?” she asked.

”I don’t know yet. I’ll talk to Mengyao first and see what she thinks of our plan.”

Liz and Helen were done fighting some time later and understood the general situation after talking to Alex. They didn’t challenge anyone else since that was what the people had come to hate.

Zi Mengyao returned some time later, bringing back 3 other people to join the community. They wouldn’t be forced to join right away and would instead be given a week or two to temporarily be a part of the community before making any decision.

Once she had the three settled, Alex called for her.

”Is there something you needed, Brother Dawnblade?”

Alex nodded. ”I’m going to go meet with Su Nian soon. Maybe talk about us joining their community for a year or so.”

The woman narrowed her eyes. ”Is that what you’ve decided after all these days?” she asked, sounding a little disappointed. ”If you’re okay with starting at the bottom, being forced to swear an oath to throw yourself at any outsiders to keep them from getting to the center, do what you want.”

Alex could hear the frustration in her voice and couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. ”I have no such plans. I’m merely going to discuss that we be allowed to make use of the Marker. We will leave afterward.”

”He won’t let you,” she said.

”We don’t know that. That’s what the discussion is for.”

”Trust me, I’ve tried discussing with him. He doesn’t care. He is strong enough to ignore every single person out here save Sentinels. And those people could never challenge him in the first place,” Zi Mengyao said. ”Your attempt at discussion will only end in failure.”

Alex didn’t say anything immediately. He thought of the situation for some time before saying, ”Do you want to come with me to the discussion? I might end up succeeding, who knows. If I do, you could use that momentum for your own community.”

Zi Mengyao looked around at her own people. She had come to be responsible for them after all these months.

”Also, you sound like you’ve met him before, so they will let you go there. If I tried, I would have to trudge through hundreds of them before getting anywhere close.”

Zi Mengyao sighed in the end. ”I don’t think you will get anything out of this, but I will help you. When do we leave?”

”Right away.”

Zi Mengyao talked to her people for a few minutes, explaining what it was that she was going to do. Alex did the same to the three.

”I should be back in a few hours. We can decide whether to stay or leave for another place after that.”

The three accepted his words.

”Alright, Brother Dawnblade,” Zi Mengyao said, walking over. ”Let us leave.”