Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

The Matriarch didn’t know what surprised her more: the fact that Alex had just learned his third Time Dao, or the fact that he had learned four Daos in such a short time.

She had herself only learned three Time Daos in her entire life, leading up to the Celestial Realm. The fact that an Immortal now stood side by side with her in the number count was… infuriating? Bewildering? Exhilarating?

The Matriarch didn’t know what she was supposed to feel, as nothing like this had ever happened before in her life.

“How is this possible?” Ningzhu asked. “How can someone learn three Time Daos in one sitting?”

“This is most confusing,” Kangli’s husband, the Golden Eagle, spoke for the first time. “Don’t you think this is too… coincidental? He just happens to learn four Daos?”

“What do you mean?” Kangli asked.

“Just that it should be impossible to learn four strong Daos in such a short time,” the eagle said. “I’m not saying he’s faking it somehow, just that he had everything lined up for himself, learning every aspect of the Daos he needed to learn, all so he could show off right now.”

Ningzhu eyed the eagle from the side. He hadn’t heard something that could’ve been more bullshit today than this.

“Show off? To who?” he asked. “The only ones who would know what he’s learning would be us, the Vermilion Birds. And he only just happened to arrive here on the way back from the Dragon Continent.” Read full story at NoveI(F)ire.net

“We don’t know that,” Kangli said.

“But we do. I’ve talked with him and I know he just happened to come here,” Ningzhu said.

“He could be lying,” Kangli added.

“Alright, stop it, you two. You cousins shouldn’t be fighting about this,” the Matriarch said. “And if this young man did plan on this, then that is even more surprising. To understand so much Dao and yet stop himself from learning it all for now is far more difficult than you’re giving him credit for.”

The eagle shrunk a little, not wishing to argue with his mother-in-law.

“And more than that,” the Matriarch continued, her attention moving away again. “He’s learning another Dao.”

Ningzhu sensed the Worldly Laws, his heart skipping a beat as he learned that.

“Seriously? Five? Five Daos at the same time? How is he doing this?” he asked.

“We will have to ask him later,” the Matriarch said. “But for now, you have work to do.”

Ningzhu glanced at her for a second before his attention moved elsewhere. “I see. They’re here.”

The Matriarch nodded. “I didn’t expect this phenomenon to generate this much interest from outsiders. Go and handle them. Tell them… the Palace is shut for outsiders at the moment. Tell them we have many of our youths gathered for an event where they are learning Daos in preparation for a breakthrough.”

Ningzhu’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t think they will believe me,” he said. “They can sense the Worldly Laws are here for just one person.”

“They don’t have to believe. As long as they don’t learn what is happening, I am fine with that,” the Matriarch said.

Ningzhu nodded and left to go outside where everyone was beginning to gather.

The Matriarch then focused on Alex again, sensing the Dao he was beginning to learn. And once again, she found herself in utter disbelief.

“The Dao of Temporal Swiftness,” she said in a raspy voice. “My god! He’s learning another Time Dao.”

“WHAT?”

“A fourth one?”

The other two were surprised as well.

The Matriarch felt herself unable to form words anymore. How could she even explain what was happening? She didn’t understand it herself.

This was the fourth Time Dao he had learned.

Four to her three.

In this regard, he even had her beat.

* * * * *

Scarlet’s face was a mix of shock and glee. She was shocked at just how many Daos Alex was learning, and was gleeful for the same reason.

Her mother, on the other hand, showed no emotion other than astonishment. She understood Time Dao far better than Scarlet did herself, so the various Daos Alex had learned were enough to shock her to her core.

She could tell that Alex had learned four Time Daos, including this one. There was an extra Dao in the middle, but she didn’t know what it was. Even if it was a useless Dao, the fact that the other four were Time Daos was enough to make this an unprecedented event.

She couldn’t understand how it was possible for someone to learn so many Daos at once. Had he come prepared?

“Is it over?” Scarlet asked, sensing the severe lack of Time aura in the Worldly Laws. There were some still in the maelstrom they formed, but inside it, the laws that Alex would learn were now devoid of it.

Scarlet’s mother breathed a silent sigh of relief.

“It’s over,” she said. “He’s learned all the Time Dao he can learn. He—”

She froze suddenly, sensing something.

“Mother?” Scarlet looked at her.

Scarlet’s mother’s face paled in horror as she sensed the thing.

“He’s done with Time Dao,” she said. “But… he’s still not fully done learning all of his Daos.”

The Worldly Laws had weakened since the time they had come down, now mostly learned by Alex, but there was still more to go.

Even after five Daos, Alex wasn’t done yet.

* * * * * *

Alex felt his Dantian fill up again and again he let the Qi move through his body. Just a bit more. He was so close.

He focused on the Dao he was learning. He had to focus on only one thing at the same time, so this was what he chose.

He had learned five different Daos by now, the last one being the Dao of Temporal Swiftness.

But still, there was more he could learn.

At least, one more.

This was the toughest one of the bunch since he hadn’t fully understood it. But then, this was what the Worldly Laws were for. This was where he learned all that he was missing.

So, one last time, Alex focused his attention into the Worldly Laws. And this time, he attempted to learn the Dao of Spatial Distortion.