Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Alex sat in front of Ma Rong's grave for nearly 15 minutes, simply having a one-way conversation with his master. As this was most likely the last time he was going to get to talk to her here, he wanted to make the most of this conversation.

Alas, it was time to leave. There were people waiting for him, and he had already angered the heaven by what he did with the Demon Realm. He could force himself to stay much longer if he wanted to, but he decided not to do that.

"I must leave now, Master," Alex said softly and quickly went from sitting to being on his knees. He bowed slowly and deeply. "Thank you for everything you did for me. Goodbye."

Alex stood up and turned to leave. He stopped and turned around one last time. After a bit of thought, he used his True Metal Dao to create a barrier around the grave with the most Intent he could muster at the moment.

That would keep the grave protected for a long time. Hopefully, long enough that when he came back again, the grave would still be here.

Alex flew back to the broken island within minutes, landing on the boat where everyone was at the moment. The broken island had been taken over by the ocean already.

"Here are your swords. I think we found them all." Scarlet handed over the swords Alex had used during the tribulation.

"Thank you." Alex took the swords and put them back into his Soul Space.

"Should we ask how big your Soul Space is now?" Bai Jingshen asked from the side.

"Not if you don't want to feel demotivated," Alex said. "You already saw the size before anyway."

"That I did," Bai Jingshen said.

"Here." Scarlet gave Alex a small talisman. "This is information about my mother. She's a well-known alchemist in the Land of the Blessed Sun. You should not go there within the 800 or so years we still have left to stay here. But if you do end up getting there before that time, contact her. She will help you."

"Don't contact anyone else," Bai Jingshen said. "You don't know what they will do to you if they find out about Pearl. Keep him protected."

"I will," Alex said.

"Also, here are a few pill recipes that I could remember. Unfortunately, unlike my mother, I'm not an alchemist, even though she tried to teach me some," Scarlet handed over another talisman.

"Thank you, Scarlet." Alex looked at the few recipes she gave him and put them into his Soul Space. Along with the recipes Bai Jingshen's wife had given him, Alex now had about 15 Immortal pill recipes in total. Hopefully, those would give him some aid in the Immortal world.

Bai Jingshen brought out a talisman as well and handed it over to Alex. "I have recorded a technique for you here. Do not bother learning it now, it will be useless to you. Learn it when you are in the Immortal Origin realm as this technique pertains to something you do in the Immortal Origin realm."

"Oh? What is that?" Alex asked.

"You'll find out within that talisman," Bai Jingshen said. "Remember, use it when you are safe and alone. The message there will be delivered just once and then all remnants of that talisman will be destroyed."

"The technique was something my master gave me, and I'm giving it to you now. Understand its importance."

Alex's eyes went wide as he understood the origin of the technique. It was something that belonged to none other than the Godkiller.

Alex nodded furiously. "I'll do as you say," he said. "I have other information to get to when I have the time to think through things clearly. I'll use this at that time."

The Alchemy God's Intent in his mind had removed another one of its layers, revealing new information and techniques to Alex that he couldn't wait to get to as well.

Bai Jingshen nodded. "That's all from me. I cannot help you too much."

"I understand."

Alex went to talk with his master, martial uncle, senior sister, and the rest, saying goodbye. Then, he arrived in front of the two he had told to not leave.

His clone and Emily.

"You told us to wait. Is something the matter?" the older Alex asked. "Did you forget something?"

"No, I did not forget anything," Alex said. "Instead, I wanted to ask you something. Do you want to come to the Immortal world?"

The older Alex and Emily looked at each other, and then back at Alex.

"If we wanted to go to the Immortal land, we would've gone with sister Hannah and the rest," the older Alex said. "We already made our choices. We do not want to burden you."

"It's no burden," Alex said. "I can take you with me."

"Maybe," Emily said. "But you will have to take care of us all the time. Won't you be starting from the lowest level in the Immortal realm? Things will be difficult for you. No, we already made up our minds 50 years ago. We're not going."

"Even if it means you can meet the others once again?" Alex asked.

The older Alex gave a sad smile. "We'll be dead by the time we meet them again. Isn't that true? We don't have much to live. Just a few centuries at most."

"Yes," Alex said. "But I have just acquired a way where you can spend days and years pass on the outside. You'll have to remain in seclusion for a couple of years, and by the end of it, you can meet everyone once again."

The two clones gasped in surprise after hearing that. "Is that… possible?" the older Alex asked.

"Yes," Alex answered. "That is if you want to. Make your decision."

Alex waited.

The husband and wife began speaking in whispers for a while, trying to come to a decision. As they talked, someone else began speaking.

"Aunt Emily," Lilin said. "Do you have any reason to remain in this world? Anybody, you must stay behind for?"

Emily looked back and saw Lilin standing next to her husband and daughter. She had her own family. The young girl she felt bad for all those years ago was no longer a little girl.

The older Alex looked around, seeing everyone who encouraged him to go. His family awaited him within the stars. This was an opportunity he would sorely regret if he missed.

The two looked back at each other and without words came to the decision.

"We'll go!" the couple said at once.

Alex smiled. "Say your goodbyes. We'll be leaving soon."

The older Alex and Emily went around saying theirowngoodbyes before they were all finally free to leave.

"How do we go?" the older Alex asked after saying his goodbyes.

"I will store you in a small world," Alex said. "Stay together, and do not resist."

The two of them stood side by side, and as everyone else watched from the side, they vanished all of a sudden.

"What did you do?" Scarlet asked. "Your Soul Space?"

Alex nodded.

"Won't they die there?" Scarlet asked. "Mortals will have a difficult time hanging around in the—"

"Don't worry. They are fine," Alex said and looked into his Soul Space with his inner eye.

The older Alex and Emily stood around on top of a mountain, surrounded by tall grass and thick trees.

"Where are we?" he asked softly.

The sky was dark, like the advent of twilight. He looked to his right and saw the sun as though about to set. Only, it wasn't setting. The sun wasn't a sun, but a tree, and they could both feel its warmth.

The giant Playground was next to it, casting a large shadow in another direction.

"What is this place?" Emily asked.

"You're in a secret realm," Whisker answered from the side, arriving next to them at some point they hadn't realized. In his palm was a medallion that Alex had given him before sending him in.

"Come on, let me take you to where you'll be staying for the foreseeable future."

They stood atop the seal on the 3rd mountain, which opened upon Whisker's command. All 3 of them were teleported into the inside of the mountain where the Timeless Palace remained.

"Stay here. I'll come back later."

Whisker flew out, leaving the place as soon as he had entered.

The married couple looked at each other, and then at the place, and knew that this would be the place they would be spending the majority of their time for the next few years.

Outside, Whisker appeared in a flash. "Done! How long was I gone?"

"About 10 minutes," Alex answered. "You'll have to go there later after we gather some food and living amenities for them."

Whisker nodded.

"Time for us to leave then."

Alex reached the sky and summoned the portal that would take them to the next realm.

"Grandpa, Grandmas, everyone! I'll miss you all."

Bai Jingshen and his wife gave Pearl big hugs. "We'll miss you too."

"I'll miss you all too," Whisker spoke quickly.

"We'll miss you too, Whisker," several voices said from all around.

Bai Jingshen said something secretly to Pearl one last time before sending him toward Alex.

After one last wave, Alex put both Whisker and Pearl into their Beast Space and then looked at everyone standing in front of him.

His eyes filled with tears, but his face was wide with a smile.

"I'll see you all again. Goodbye."

Alex floated toward the sky, dragged up by the maelstrom in the sky. And when that Maelstrom swallowed him, he was gone.

Alex had ascended to one of the many Immortal Realm.

[End of Volume 5: Path to Immortality]