Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

”What’s wrong, Master?” Ray asked, noticing the frown on Alex’s face.

”My Qi. It’s not strong enough to create Qi lines,” Alex said, his mind racing to think of what he could do. He thought of condensing his Qi until it reached the Divine rank and then using it, but judging from how difficult it was, he doubted even Divine Qi could be of much help to him here.

”Can I be of any help here, Master?” the bird asked. ”I will do what I can.”

Alex stepped back, considering. The Three-Legged Crow’s corpse was still to his left and could be used, but he couldn’t see how Ray could ever form Qi lines. It wasn’t just strength that was needed when it came to forming Qi lines. Experience was about as important, if not more so.

And given just how little understanding Ray had about making artifacts, he could not pass the opportunity along to him.

No, he had to do something else.

For a brief second, Alex thought of bringing the Artifact God out as well. However, a part of him told him that even she would be unable to do it. Not when the sword had already cooled so much and was so hard to pour Qi through.

His memory of how Steelmind struggled remained at the forefront of his mind, giving him a clear idea of how difficult the metal was to work with when it wasn’t fully heated and manipulated.

”Is my strength not enough?” Ray asked again upon seeing Alex’s silence.

”No, it is more than enough. It’s just that you can’t control it as clearly as is needed. Only someone with experience can do it,” Alex said. Even as he did, a thought came to him just then.

”Hmm, so we need to find a way for you to control the aura I can,” Ray said.

Alex’s eyes narrowed as he looked back down at the sword. ”Don’t I already?” he asked as he knelt before the sword again. ”Surely there is more to it than just the name.”

Ray looked confused as he watched Alex place his palm next to the sword. ”What do you mean, Master?”

Alex smiled slightly. ”They call it Primordial Energy for a reason, surely. Let’s see if it works.”

Alex closed his eyes, his consciousness reaching for Heaven up above, asking for its aid. The God Energy in his Dantian that had been filling for over a century since he arrived at the Sky God’s palace was all put to use right then and there.

A part of him felt it was a waste to use it all since he wouldn’t be able to regain it anytime soon. It was more than just a waste, in fact, since he could have used it in his fight against the Fire God.

However, the other part of him, the part that understood the necessity of its use under the current circumstances, won out.

Instantly, Heaven came to his aid, and the Primordial Energy inside his body surged through his veins, flowing through him with a power that Alex had never sensed before. Even back then, when he had used it to cut the fabric of space and time, he hadn’t used this amount of Energy.

This was nearly triple what he had back then, and Alex kept not a single drop, using it all on his sword.

The Primordial Energy flowed through him and then into the sword. The moment it came into contact with the sword, what had previously remained incredibly obtuse and obstructive suddenly melted away as the Energy flowed into it.

The ease with which it happened was so great that Alex almost believed that this had been the right answer all along. This was what the sword, or rather, the metal wanted.

Whatever the case might be, Alex was happy to see the Qi lines forming, more or less under his command. The Primordial Energy itself acted on its own as well, doing exactly what Alex had wanted it to do, though that only aided in forming the Qi lines and didn’t entirely make the Qi lines itself.

From the base of the sword all the way to the tip, the Qi lines formed and converged perfectly.

Alex stepped back, gaining a hollow feeling all of a sudden. His Soul cried for something lost, the world seeming to lose its saturation. It was as though the sweet drunkenness he had been in this whole time had been taken away from him, and the sober him was forced to confront the terrible world he had turned a blind eye to.

Losing the Primordial Energy was an absolutely horrible feeling.

Alex knew he would gain more soon, but he wanted it all right away. He could not even begin to understand what he would do if he didn’t get it soon enough.

”Master? Are you okay?” Ray asked, noticing the change in Alex.

”Yes, I’m—”

Alex slapped himself, stopping halfway through the answer.

Ray was taken aback. ”Master?”

”Yes, I’m fine,” Alex finished his answer. ”Sorry. I... I had to use my Primordial Energy, and I nearly lost myself there. God, this is a horrible feeling. Is this what addiction is?”

Ray simply kept watching.

Alex took a few deep breaths, calming himself. The feeling lingered, but he got better at handling it. And there was a tiny stream of Primordial Energy filling his Dantian anyway, the understanding of which helped him better cope with the lack of it.

Once he was more like himself again, Alex looked back at the sword, a feeling of satisfaction taking over him as he saw the finished sword.

It was still quite hot and still glowing somewhat, so anything else he needed to do had to happen right now.

There were only two more steps remaining, the first of which had to happen right away.

So Alex wasted no time and quickly reached for the half-merged spirits inside his Spiritual Sea and brought them out. The moment they arrived outside, he placed them both into the sword.