Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Cold breeze blew atop the ship, the wind playing through Alex's black hair. His eyes opened as he slowly came out of what felt like a very long trance.

The sun shone far off in the sky, shading a figure that stood next to Alex.

The man had a tall, slender figure, wearing a bright white robe, with black hair billowing in the wind. His features were not something Alex could see in that moment, hidden with the sun directly behind the person.

Alex could barely make out the man's lips moving as he spoke something that seemed to be drowned out by the silence.

And yet, he heard the words as clearly as if they had been spoken to his soul.

The Sun's Talon.

Alex blinked and the figure disappeared. In his place now stood Battlesage, who stared down at the mountain range. Alex stood up slowly, slightly disoriented by the experience.

The three words still rolled around inside his mind, trying to find a meaning he could pursue.

The Sun's Talon. What did that mean? What did anything have to do with that beast world?

And why did he know inherently that he had to go there no matter what?

Down atop the rubble that had once been a mountain, Bladedance stood up from where she had sat down for so long, having now completed her cultivation, taking away every bit of energy left behind by the tribulation.

Her body was also fully healed, not a single one of her scars from the tribulation leaving a mark on her skin or her soul.

She stood atop the mountain for one second, and then the next second, she arrived on the ship.

Alex turned just in time to catch her appear out of thin air, teleporting next to him without the use of any teleportation technique. He could almost tell how she was doing it too.

He was sure she was pressing her Intent into the world to make things happen that shouldn't.

That was how she had made him tell the truth as well.

Intent.

He needed to improve his understanding of the world that opened through this one single word.

"How many days has it been?" Bladedance asked. "I've lost track of time."

"8 days and 5 hours," Alex answered. Even though he had entered a trance, it was almost impossible for him to lose track of time. With his understanding of the Dao of Time Awareness so good now, the entirety of the world itself would have to forget what time it was for him to do so.

"8 days, huh? That was a quick cultivation session for me then," Bladedance said. She looked around the ship, noticing fractures along the deck, the bent walls, as well as other damages.

"Was that me?" she asked.

"That was me, senior," the White Tiger, Bai Mingwen, said. "I should've known to move further away from here, but I stuck around to see what I could gather from this one opportunity."

"Well, as long as you didn't die," Bladedance said. "What about the other beasts? I remember there being 3 more when I was in the middle of the tribulation."

"They have returned," the White Tiger answered. "They were sent here by the other three clans to find the source of the commotion your tribulation made, senior."

"I see," Bladedance said. "Alright, let's not waste any more time now. I have only 2 and a half weeks to cultivate, after which I must leave. So let us return."

It would once again take them some time to return, so Bladedance sat on the deck with Alex and Battlesage coming to sit down beside her.

Bladedance turned toward the white-haired old man, who still looked around the world with clear excitement. "I will be leaving soon. Do you want to come with me?" she asked.

Battlesage paused for a moment, his answer not ready. He hadn't even considered it to begin with.

"I… I don't know," he said. "I'm happy to go if I should. Should I?"

"The beasts do not care much about the humans here, and Alex here will be distracted half the time if he were to have to think about you each day," Bladedance said. "It will be much better for you if you left with me to a human world where you could be among other humans and see more of the world with some freedom."

Battlesage considered the option, and he genuinely did think it would be better to leave.

"The next realm also has Soulmother and Moonspirit, both of whom can help me if I ask them to," Bladedance said. "They are good people, so the world is safer as well."

"The Sacred Lotus Dominion?" Alex asked. "I think I know who Soulmother is. She is the Beast God, is she not? That's what I remember the Archery God calling her. But I haven't heard of Moonspirit before."

"You've met Killshot before?" Bladedance asked before narrowing her eyes. "Was she part of the group that made the decision?"

"She wasn't against it," Alex said. "The only ones that were vocally against sending me to Hell were the Alchemy God, the Weapons God, and the Artifact God."

"I can't even begin to imagine why Goldsteel would want to protect you in that situation," Bladedance said. "But it doesn't surprise me about the other two, given what I know. Moonspirit is the Wine God. Among all the other gods, I would call him the most scholarly. Sometimes, you almost forget he's a cultivator even."

"The Wine God?" Alex asked.

"He makes the best of wines," Bladedance said. "And all of the wines he makes are good for you in one way or another. He cares mostly about learning new things and discovering what may not have yet been discovered, and cares little about everything else. If there's one person we could trust to have no stake in any upcoming war, it would be him."

"I see," Alex said. "Then, maybe he won't mind much about my existence when I inevitably go to the Sacred Lotus Dominion in the future."