Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

"I… suppose that option has left me then," Senior Yang said as he looked at Alex and Pearl. He thought of something else to say when the snake spoke up.

"Are you sure he is involved?" he asked. "Make sure to understand thoroughly what you are dealing with before you make assumptions. Heck, don't make assumptions at all. Have proper proof and evidence."

"I don't have evidence yet that he is responsible for anything," Alex said. "Which is why I say he's most likely involved in the things. Still, I have evidence that suggests this notion."

"Well, the most important evidence is the fact that a sword that belongs to his family was found dug into Pearl's mother," Alex said. "He also attacked the Western Continent, so I don't think he's a good person altogether. I do still plan on finding proper evidence before I do anything. If I learn that he isn't responsible for anything then you can use his help to leave, senior."

"I can see that you are not aiming for an answer, which is nice. Having a preconceived notion of what you want as an answer can sometimes hamper your search for proof more than the parties involved themselves," the snake said.

"I will let you deal with the Dragon Emperor as you please," senior Yang took over. "I owe the White Tiger this much for all the help he's provided me."

Alex nodded in thanks. "Sorry for being disrespectful for a moment there senior. This thing is just too important for me," he said.

Senior Yang shook his hands, gesturing to forget about it. "Forget about it," he said. "Let's move on. You were the one that initiated us coming back I hear. Do you require something?"

Alex nodded. "I need guidance on what to do," he said.

The senior frowned a little. "On your cultivation base? On your dao?" he asked. "Surely you didn't come back for just that."

Alex shook his head. "Although I wouldn't mind hearing your opinions on that, what I really want help with is something else," he said. 

He took out a talisman, surprising senior Yang. "Your Soul Space!" he said in surprise. "You can access it now?"

"Yes," Alex said. "I became able to a year ago. I've been practicing using it every— no, that's not of importance right now. Please take a look at this."

The man took the talisman Alex provided and looked at it superficially. His eyes narrowed when he realized that it was a vision-recording talisman. He could only wonder what it was that Alex was trying to have him see.

He closed his eyes and used his spiritual sense to read it. 

Hao Ya and the snake looked at him for a moment, trying to discern any reaction. Seeing nothing, Hao Ya turned toward Alex. "What are you showing master?" she asked.

Alex simply put up his palm for her to wait. 

A few more moments later, the man put down the talisman, his eyes unfocused, his mind in a daze. He tried to speak multiple times, but his words didn't exit his mouth. His mind worked too much for his mouth to catch up to.

Finally, he managed to string together a few words and speak them out. "Is this real?" he asked.

Alex nodded. "It's very much real," he said.

"Where did you find this?" the man asked.

"My Soul Space," Alex said.

"I thought so," the man said in a low voice, not focused on Alex and the others at all. He tugged on his long long, twisting a lock in his fingers as he lost to thought once more.

Hao Ya couldn't hold back her curiosity anymore. "Master, what is going on? What is it that you saw?" she asked.

Senior Yang tossed the talisman toward her, not even paying any attention, letting her look at it. Hao Ya quickly looked at it and gave a confused look. "What is this? I don't understand," she said. She had no way of knowing what she was looking at.

"What is it? Let me see," the snake walked up close and looked through the talisman.  He put down the talisman with a slightly questioning look. "I'm not good with plants. Which ones were those?" 

"It—"

"No, don't answer," Senior Yang quickly said, stopping Alex in his tracks. He quickly looked at him. "How many more know of this?"

"Everyone in this backyard," Alex said. "I did not dare show any of it to anyone else."

"Good," the man said. "Have your beasts speak an oath to never tell anyone else about this."

"No," Alex refused.

"No?" the man looked surprised that Alex had refused him once again. "I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation, boy. If any information about this is leaked in any manner, you will be dead if you're lucky. If not, you'll be a puppet to someone stronger to make use of what you have."

"I'm not going to force either Pearl or Whisker to swear an oath just for my sake," Alex said. "I trust them fully. They will never betray me."

"They don't have to betray you to have the information leaked," the man said.

"And that would put their lives in jeopardy if they have any oaths," Alex said. "So I won't force them to make any. I'll rather deal with the consequences myself."

The man looked at Alex for a long second before smirking a little. "If you understand what this will mean for you, then it's alright. Do what you want," he said.

"Thank you, senior," Alex said.

"Master, are you gonna tell us or not?" Hao Ya asked.

"No, I'm not," senior Yang said. "Luhei, please leave us alone. I'll talk to you later once I'm done thinking through things."

The snake was a little surprised to see such a reaction. The last time he had been this serious was a year and a half ago when someone from the Immortal realm had arrived.

After the snake moved away, Hao Ya left next. Then Alex took back both Pearl and Whisker and in the end, only the two of them remained.

"I'm hoping you know what I should be doing next, senior," Alex said.

"Not yet," the man whispered, almost to himself before saying. "I will need to look at it directly."

Alex remembered the pain the last time the man had looked into his Soul Space. It hadn't been a fun experience.

"Do it, senior," Alex said. "I'm ready."

Senior Yang paused and looked at Alex. "I… don't think you understand what I'm talking about," he said.

Alex paused. "What do you mean? Aren't you gonna look inside my Soul Space?" he asked.

"Yes, but I can't choose where to appear inside your Soul Space," the man said. "And it's so massive that I can't cover everything."

Alex frowned. "Then how are you planning to look at it?" he asked.

"Simple," the man said. "I'm going to go into your Soul Space."

Alex gasped in surprise. "You're going to directly enter my Soul Space?" he asked.

"Yes," the man said. "But you'll have to be ready this time around. It will be very painful, and the pain will all be spiritual. If things go wrong, there is a chance, however minuscule, that you will die."