Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

With the Qi that helped the beasts reach the God realm breaking down to Celestial Qi, there was nothing left for the Primordials to use to keep going. As such, they had been slowly dying. The Gods and the beasts came together to find a way to return Qi to the world.

But something had clearly gone wrong in the process, which resulted in the world breaking apart. What that something was, however, the Golden Crow did not remember.

“When the world broke apart, your single hope for survival was gone, wasn’t it?” Alex asked.

The crow nodded. “With that failure, our deaths were more or less guaranteed. The gods themselves had used up so much strength at that time, and then when it all broke apart, they used what was left of them to create the Heavens.”

“Once the heaven was created, they were weakened and couldn’t live anymore, which is when they called over the few of us and had us do a few things.”

“I know there were others before me that were given some tasks, but I don’t remember if I ever knew about it or not. As far as I remember, only the three of us were given the most important task, which we fulfilled.”

The group remained silent for a bit, each one lost in their own thoughts. After a brief moment, Alex spoke up.

“Why did you help the gods?” Alex asked. “Were you in some way returning the favor? Or did they force you? You had to know that after the world broke apart and the gods created heaven, there was nothing else left for them to do to fix the Qi, right?”

The crow made a slight shrugging gesture. “We knew. We felt responsible for it, which is why we were ready to accept our duties. It was mainly for our need for survival that the two Gods did what they

did. And in a way, it is our parents asking us for a favor, so we could not refuse. What else were we even going to do, considering we were going to die anyway?”

Hearing the crow made Alex wonder how the gods and the Primordials must’ve felt on the day when the world broke apart. So much hope was placed into that one event to return the Qi to the world, and yet… It failed.

‘It failed?’ Alex thought as something struck him. “The power wouldn’t be used up if they failed, in which case nothing would’ve happened. Whatever the gods had done, it had succeeded. The breaking of the world must’ve been the side effect.

Alex couldn’t help but wonder what the gods had tried to do that would cause such a disaster. Had they tried to fill the planet with energy to bring about more life? Or was there something else he wasn’t thinking about?

No matter what it was, the crow didn’t know, so that was it for him as well.

“Oh, do you know what this power is called?” Alex asked.

“What power?” the crow asked.

“This energy that is inside me now,” Alex explained. “This unique energy that the Sun God used to have.”

The crow had a blank stare on his face. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” he said.

“It’s the energy that the gods used to do nearly everything,” Alex explained.

“They used a unique energy?” the crow asked.

Alex realized he was going to get nothing more out of the crow. He turned to the rest next.

“Do you all have anything else to ask?”

When presented with the opportunity to ask a Primordial questions, the beasts grew ecstatic. The humans, though, showed no signs of excitement.

Whisker spoke first. “What type of energy is currently in this place? I’ve never sensed something like this before.”

“The Flying Raindragon and Midnight Phoenix burned away their bodies to create this energy, so it is in between a state of being aura and Qi. When it becomes Qi, it becomes God Qi, as we called it in the past, but it is very unstable and becomes Celestial Qi in less than a fraction of a second.”

“So only Celestial Qi is here?” Whisker asked.

“No, I have used up all the Celestial Qi to run the trial,” the crow said. “But since there is no need for the trial anymore, this place should have more Celestial Qi very soon.”

“Oh!” Whisker said with a hint of surprise and began looking around

the place.

“Keep the trial running for now,” Alex said quickly. “We don’t want

anyone coming here right away!”

“As you say, master,” the crow said.

Pearl spoke up next. “What’s your name?” he asked.

The crow gave a blank stare. “I… don’t have one,” he said. “None of us

have ever needed a name.”

“You’ve got to have a name,” Pearl said. “I can’t just call you Brother

Crow, can I?”

The crow shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

Alex raised his eyebrows. “How about-“

“Brother, don’t!” Whisker quickly said.

Shumi looked at them with a strange expression.

Pearl turned toward Shumi. “You don’t want him naming anyone. He

named me Pearl because I have white fur.”

“And he named me Whisker,” Whisker said, gesturing to his face.

“I’m Scarlet,” Scarlet said. “Go figure.”

Shumi chuckled.

Alex looked at the three. “You guys like your names, though.”

“We’ve grown used to them and have come to like them,” Scarlet said. “But that doesn’t mean you have a good naming sense. Your naming sense seems to only come alive when it’s time to name techniques.”

Alex wanted to argue, but he gave up. “Alright, what should we call him then? You guys came up with a name.”

Scarlet nodded and turned toward the other two beasts. Quickly, they conversed among themselves, and when they were ready, they turned

toward him.

“We’ve come to a decision,” Scarlet announced. “Henceforth, he shall

be named Ray.”

The crow raised an eyebrow. “Like a sunray?” he asked with a wide smile. “Hmm, I don’t mind that. I guess I’m Ray.”