Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Alex arrived at another sect he had previously been to. He was ready to get back to his training, but things had clearly changed in the time he had been away.

The sect members gathered before their sect, their sect leader out among them; he had fought her the last time he was here. However, this time there were many others that he didn’t recognize.

Their robes were of a different color entirely, mostly black in color.

Alex’s eyes narrowed. He recognized those robes.

“May I ask why members of the Endless Night sect have come here today?” he asked as he walked up to the group.

There were about 10 or so Endless Night sect members, each one of which was no doubt older than him.

The man leading the group appeared to be a shorter man with long hair tied to his back. He had a few rings on his fingers, and he pointed toward Alex as he spoke.

“So you must be him,” he said. “The Red Death.”

Alex jerked his head back a little.

“The Red Death?” he asked. “I do not recall ever being named that.”

The man appeared confused. He turned toward the sect leader and questioned her.

“That is him, senior,” the woman said. “He only recently gained that name, so that must be why he doesn’t recognize it.”

The man turned around.

“I see,” the man said. “What is your real name?”

Alex remained silent.

The man nodded. “If that is how you wish to do it.”

He brought out his talisman and read through it. “Red Death, otherwise known as the Crimson Wanderer, the Blood-soaked Warrior, the Elixir Gifter, the Red Phantom — you are hereby charged with the following crimes.”

“Impersonating an Endless Night sect disciple.”

“What?” Alex spoke immediately. What was going on here? Criminal charges? “I’ve never impersonated anyone.”

The man ignored his words.

“Spreading Elixir without the consent of the Endless Night sect.”

Alex couldn’t believe it. How was that even a crime?

“And the biggest of all, the massacre of the Hell Warrior sect.”

The man put down the talisman and put on a look of pure disgust. “You twisted, evil man. What did they ever do to you?” he asked.

Alex was already frowning. They were trying to charge him for crimes when two of them weren’t even aware of what he had done. As for the last one, perhaps that was the only true crime, and maybe even the biggest one.

“They attacked me first,” Alex said. “They attacked me to imprison me and get information out of me.”

“And you killed them for that?” the man asked.

“Yes,” Alex said, even almost with a hint of pride.

The man shook his head. “Even the young disciples? Those young children had just joined the sect. Have you no remorse?”

“I— what?”

Alex tried to make sense of what he was just told.

“Wait a second, I killed all of those who attacked me, but there weren’t many weaker ones that tried to kill me. I may have hurt those on the sidelines that were using their array, but I did not kill them.”

“Who are you trying to lie to?” the man asked. “You killed everyone. Elders, disciples, even the workers. You went into their rooms and killed them. I saw those corpses with my own eyes. Those horrible corpses.”

The man’s voice seemed to tremble as he remembered them. “What made you become a beast like this? Were you never taught the way of a Warrior?”

Alex looked at the man, trying to determine if he was lying. But from what he could see, the look of anger, hatred, and disgust he carried was genuine.

Either the man was a master of his emotions, capable of easily duping Alex into believing what he said.

Or, the people of the Hell Warrior sect really were massacred.

But he was not the one to have done it.

‘So someone had to have taken advantage of their situation and got rid of them,’ Alex thought. ‘And they put the blame on me.’

He looked at the man from the Endless Night sect. “Part of what you have is true,” he said. “But part of those are wrong.”

“What part?” the man asked.

“I fought the sect outside of their sect walls and killed those who came to attack me. I killed their Grand Elder, and then their Sect leader. As soon as those were dead, the others had no intention to fight me, and I left.”

“I do not know what happened afterward, but I did not kill anyone else. Especially not by going through each room to kill them,” Alex said.

The man looked at Alex for a long time. The sect leader next to him came up to him and spoke in a whisper in his ears. Alex couldn’t hear what she was saying, but her words were making the man put on a contemplative face.

He looked at Alex for a while before asking, “What state was the sect in before you claimed you left?”

“I had destroyed the outer walls,” Alex explained. “We fought at the gate, so maybe damage to the locations close to the outer wall, but there couldn’t have been more damage than that.”

The man nodded. “And what about the treasures you stole from their sect?” he asked.

Alex shook his head. “What treasure?” he asked.

“Their weapons, treasures, and Sunhearts — it’s all gone. Were you not the one who did it?” the man asked.

“What need have I to kill others for Sunhearts?” Alex asked. “Ask these people. I’ve been handing away jars of Elixir for over a year now. If I wanted Sunhearts, I would just sell them.”

That alone seemed to make the man think about the situation more than he had before.

“This might be more complicated than I expected,” the man said. “I do not think I can deal with this with what resources I have on me.”

“Okay. What now?” Alex asked.

The man thought for a moment and nodded. “If you are as innocent as you claim, come with us to prove it. We’ll take you to the Endless Night sect.”