Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

“It was us,” the Moon Goddess answered Shumi. “We were the ones that broke the old world.”

Shumi was stunned into stillness, her mind failing to comprehend what the god had said. She took in a deep breath as the words fully registered and looked toward where her silhouette lay.

“You did it?” she asked. “You broke the old world?”

The Moon Goddess returned an affirmative “yes,” her voice filled with sorrow and shame. Shumi could practically feel that guilt coming off of her. Either she had done something that she hadn’t wanted to, but had to, or she had tried to do it for some other reason and ended up with that result.

She could only ask to find out.

“How did it happen?” she asked. “Why did you break the previous world?”

The Moon Goddess seemed to shrink in size as she prepared to answer. “It was not our intention to break the world,” she said. “We were just trying to help everyone. The world was dying, and we needed to do something. Maybe we could have done something else, but this was the only way we saw fit in the past. When we did, however, we failed to realize just how much we didn’t understand about the old world.”

Shumi remained silent as she listened to the god. “You broke the world while trying to help people?” she asked. “What were you trying to achieve that would’ve helped the old world?”

The Moon Goddess’s attention wavered for a moment, seemingly looking away. Shumi followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at Alex for some reason. Shumi looked at Alex too, but saw nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. He sat there, eyes closed, seemingly in cultivation.

Shumi’s heart skipped a beat when she realized what was most likely happening. She hadn’t even thought of it until now, but Alex may have accepted the Sun God’s power. If he had done that, then it was over.

The man she had known from before was now gone, replaced by a god of the old world whose soul had to be filled with nothing but regret. A part of her grieved right there at the loss of the man that she had come to love over the past few days.

But she also knew there was nothing she could’ve done to help him. Whatever was happening was outside of her power. And right now, her own survival mattered more than anyone else did.

If Shumi learned anything about herself during this small expedition of hers, then it was the fact that while she did care about other people and wanted to help them, she was genuinely selfish as well.

They all mattered, but she came first to herself. Always.

“Moon Goddess?” she called out. “What were you trying to do in the old world? What was so important that you ended up triggering an event big enough to break the world apart?”

The Moon Goddess turned back toward her, a look of confusion on her face. “The world was dying. Qi was dying,” she answered, her face continuing to carry the same look as before. “As such, we attempted to bring Qi back into the world so life may flourish once again. But… something was wrong with the world. We did not foresee it. We… we shouldn’t have done that. All we ended up doing was destroying what remained.”

Shumi’s eyes widened in surprise. She knew about the degrading Qi. She knew that it continued even now. To this day, the only single temporary fix to the degrading Qi had been the World Tree, but that had been destroyed in the war. And now, there was nothing left.

Unless… there was a way to return it.

“Moon Goddess, what must be done to bring the Qi back?” Shumi asked. “What can I do?”

“I must bring the world back together,” the Moon Goddess said. “I must-“

Her words froze instantly, and her head snapped away in Alex’s direction again.

Shumi turned to look at Alex once again and saw him with his eyes open, his hand stretched out. The moment he did, the fire barrier around them vanished in an instant.

The Moon Goddess turned back toward Shumi.

“There isn’t much time,” she said suddenly, her words carrying a hint of panic. “If you don’t take me in now, all of this will go to waste.” The Moon Goddess’s words grew louder and more demanding.

“Shumi! You must accept me now,” she said. “Accept me, or everything we’ve worked toward will go to ruin today.”

*****

“You broke the old world,” Alex said, realizing the truth now. “You were the one that destroyed it, and now you want to take over my

body to fix your mistakes?”

“That is all we can do,” the Sun God said in an anxious tone. “We made

the mistake, so we must be the ones to fix it.”

“Not with my body,” Alex said, anger lacing every word. “You want to help everyone? Fine. Give me your power and I will help you. Otherwise, get the fuck out of my body.”

The Sun God remained silent for a while before he spoke up again. “It is too late. I am now connected with you. You cannot get rid of me

anymore.”

Alex grumbled slightly, but quickly calmed down. “I understand,” he said. “I sort of guessed it by now, which is why I must act now. Before

you transform, I must do something.”

“There is nothing to be done,” the Sun God said. “It is too late!”

Alex scoffed at those words. “Or so you think. Had you taken over someone whose Unity was low, it might have been over. But since you took over me, the truth is far from it.”

The Sun God seemed to be genuinely confused.

“You are correct,” Alex said. “You and I are now thoroughly connected.

That allows you to take over my body. But that works the other way

around too.”

Alex focused his attention on his dantian.

“Since I am in control right now, I can use your power too.”