Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Whisker sat next to a wall in a room full of hundreds of people. These were all disciples or elders of the Endless Night sect, here to learn directly from the Grand Elder.

Recently, the old man had gained a new level of enthusiasm and excitement for his future, and seemed to believe that he was going to leave Hell very soon.

It was unclear if he believed it, or hoped for it to be the case. Either way, after finding out how hard Alex and Bladedance had been working for the past few years, he was ready to give away all of his knowledge to the younger generation, so he may leave without any guilt in his heart.

The teaching he passed on today was on runes and their sizes. Depending on the size and coverage of runes in a script, they functioned differently, so he explained everything in detail.

Whisker had learned it all long ago, but he was still excited in learning it all, if not for himself, then for Alex.

The class lasted for 8 whole days before it came to an end. “I won’t see you all for a while, so keep training,” the old man said as the class came to an end.

Whisker jumped onto the old man’s shoulders and walked out with him.

“Have you talked with Alex yet?” the old man asked.

Whisker nodded. “I’ve got the permission.”

“Great. Then let us leave.”

The old man met with the sect leader for a few minutes, and after telling the man what he was going to do, he left.

It had been a few years since the old man had returned to the sect, so he had been itching to go out again, to help all the people who would need his help.

He, the Giftmaster, needed to go around Hell to help those in need. And this time, Whisker was to accompany him.

The first village they came across was just half a day’s walk away from the sect, but it was also in quite a dangerous location. While it was close to the core region, it was far enough away that beasts showed up every day.

The people living in this village were strong, but they still needed help. So when they learned of the Giftmaster’s arrival, the villagers were excited.

They invited the old man in, served him with great pleasure, and then showed him the various formations that were set up in the village.

“You made these?” Whisker asked as they reached the formation plates.

“A long time ago,” the old man said. “I actually don’t remember how long ago it was. A century or two ago, maybe?”

“And it needs maintenance?” Whisker asked.

“There are a hundred reasons these formations could stop working,” the old man said. “Sometimes the yang produced from the decaying sunhearts is too hot and ends up melting the metal around the runes just enough to weaken it. Sometimes, because of the constant heat and cold of the surroundings, cracks form around the metal.”

“Sometimes there’s rust due to moisture. Sometimes they let in kids who don’t know better and they ruin something. Whatever the case, I need to check on it and make sure it’s working perfectly. If not, these people will face danger soon enough.”

Whisker nodded. “Why couldn’t you send one of the disciples from your sect to take a look at this?” he asked. “They’re talented too, right?”

“They should know what to do,” the old man said. “But I still like doing it by myself.”

“Are you the only one who does this?” Whisker asked.

The old man nodded.

“Do you like doing it?” he asked.

The old man thought. “I’m not sure. I do feel happy helping others, but more than that, I feel like this has become a hobby for me. As you may have heard, back when Hell was becoming… Hell, everything was going apocalyptic. Beasts roamed everywhere and humanity was on the brink of collapse, barely surviving.”

“That was when I figured out about Sunhearts and used them to empower formations. After that, I roamed all of Hell for hundreds of thousands of years, helping everyone I could. After such a long time, I just… I don’t know how to stop.”

The old man seemed to grow nostalgic at the thought. “After I leave, I do not know how I am going to spend the days when I don’t have these to look forward to.”

Whisker remained silent for a bit. “You may not have these in the future,” he said after a while, “but you will have a lot more. I have no doubt your time will be occupied by a variety of things to do.”

The old man smiled. There wasn’t much to fix with these formations, so after checking everything, he was done. He stayed a few days in the village still, interacting with the people.

At night, he and Whisker exchanged their knowledge: one teaching the other about scripts, and the other teaching about Alchemy. When they were bored, they fought a great deal of battles in the crystal-like artifact.

After training with the old man for so long, Whisker was getting better and better by the day. The old man still won every 9 out of 10 games when he really tried to.

But the fact that Whisker could win just that one game against a seriously fighting old man meant he had made a lot of improvement.

Once they were done with their time in the village, they left for the next, where they too would do the same. And then, they would move on to the next one.

Whisker and the old man roamed one village after another, going through thousands and thousands over the course of a dozen or so years.

And then, after a decade and a half of visiting and helping the villages, the old man was finally done for now.

And so, he and Whisker, finally returned to the sect.