Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

A woman in blue robes walked out of the gate and quickly located Alex. She seemed older in age as if she had reached Immortality at a later point in her cultivation life.

Her face could be said to be beautiful, but then again everyone looked pretty after entering Immortality, so she was more average than Alex thought she looked.

"Show me the invitation," the woman said to Alex, who handed it over. She checked the talisman for a moment and nodded.

"I am Lu Zhimu, an elder of the sect," the woman said.

"It is great to meet you, Elder Lu," Alex bowed a little in greetings.

"Come with me," the Elder said, taking Alex with her into the sect.

Passing through the gate led one directly to a large slope downward. Alex and the woman began climbing down the steps while Alex looked at the rest of the sect.

The entire sect was laid bare in front of him from where he stood. Below him was a large valley with many buildings that seemed to belong to the sect. Beyond the valley were many mountains spread in all directions.

Alex tried counting, but he could tell there were mountains beyond the mountains he was currently seeing, so there was no point in counting.

"When did you become an Immortal?" the woman asked out of nowhere.

"A month ago," Alex answered.

The woman nodded as if the answer was acceptable to her for some reason.

They arrived at the bottom of the valley and the woman took Alex to some building that was close by. Alex looked around as he walked, slowly recognizing some patterns.

Some people wore robes that were green, blue, and a mixture of the two. From what he could tell, blue robes were worn by elders, green were worn by outer sect disciples, and the mixture was perhaps for the ones in between.

The woman took Alex to a room where she made him sit in a room while she went to get something. She returned a while later with some sort of book with a few people following behind her.

Alex saw that the others that had come were elders as well, except for one. A younger girl wore a green and blue robe, which meant she was not an elder, but a higher-ranking disciple, most certainly an Inner sect disciple.

"Before we begin enrolling you into our sect, there are 2 very important facts that you must know," the woman said.

"First, we are the Poison Fighter Sect, known for our Poison Fighting physique. To be part of the sect, you must learn this physique within a year of being here."

"You will be expelled if you fail to do so within a year."

"Secondly, You will be tested each year publicly by giving you some minor poison to consume. If you fail to withstand that poison by any chance, we will do nothing to help you. You must prepare for pills to heal you on your own."

Alex was a little surprised at how emotionless the woman sounded, but he didn't give it much thought and simply nodded.

"Do you agree to join the sect despite learning these two pieces of information?" the woman asked.

"I am," Alex said. What reason did he have to worry about poison?

"Great, let us begin then," she said and began writing on the book in front of her.

"What is your name?" she asked.

Alex was a little taken aback. It had been a month since he had come to this world, and yet this was the first time his name had been asked by anyone. He could not help but smile because of that.

He had also been told to not use his name if he could afford to, and instead use a Daoist name.

"Dawnblade," Alex answered. "That is my Daoist name."

The woman paused for a moment and looked at Alex with a weird expression on her face. "A Daoist name? You do not feel comfortable giving us your real name?"

"I left behind my name when I became an Immortal," Alex said. "It is a new life for me, so I'm deciding to use a new name for that."

The woman seemed to have no qualms with that explanation.

"Where are you from?" she asked.

"3rd Major Spirit Realm," Alex answered.

She seemed a little confused about the name for a bit and looked toward one of the elders who stood beside her. The man answered her inquiry with his spiritual sense, which Alex couldn't listen to at all.

"Ah, 3rd Major Spirit Realm. Yes, those," the woman said before writing it down.

"Do you have any family in this world?" the woman asked.

"None," Alex answered.

"You came to this world alone?" she asked. "You didn't bring anyone?"

Alex shook his head. "I had no one to bring," he said.

"I see." She wrote something else into the book.

She asked a few more simple questions before asking Alex to pour his Qi into the book. Alex complied and did as she asked.

"Congratulations! You are now officially a disciple of the Poison Fighter sect. Disciple Zhi here will show you around the sect and answer any questions you may have. She will also be in charge of you for a whole year, so if you are concerned about something, you may ask her the questions."

The young female disciple who had come into the room moved forward and smiled. "I am Zhi Naibao. Come with me, brother Dawnblade."

Her appearance was better than average, and the way she held herself told Alex that she was quite a proud individual as well. Unlike the others here, Alex could sense her cultivation base quite clearly and could tell that she was in the Immortal Origin realm quite certainly.

How far into the Immortal Origin realm was something he would need to work on a little more.

"Please take care of me, sister Zhi," Alex said as he got out of the chair.

Alex greeted the rest of the elders and left the building with the female disciple.

Zhi Naibao seemed very reserved and showed almost no personality that Alex could read. She kept to herself while they walked out of the building and made their way to another one.

"Where are we going, sister Zhi?" Alex asked.

"To the Disciple hall," the woman answered. "You will get your admission stipend, and get the book for the Poison Fighting Physique."

Alex nodded.

The girl seemed to go back to not talking much at all. Alex looked around the place, seeing the many disciples who went about their daily lives.

"How is this sect-like, sister Zhi?" Alex asked. "Are the disciples friendly or competitive? Is there some sort of ranking among the disciples?"

"There is a ranking," the woman answered.

"Oh! Combat based?" Alex asked.

The woman shook her head. "The ranking in this sect is based on the poison you eat and survive," she said.

"Poison?" Alex asked. "Surviving poison puts you in a ranking?"

"Yes," she answered. "There are thousands of different official poisons recognized and used by the sect. The higher the grade of poison you eat and survive, the higher you rank."

Alex was quite surprised. "Do people die while doing these things?" he asked.

"All the time," the woman said.

Alex could not believe how callous the woman sounded when she said that. He looked around at the sect and wondered if he had perhaps chosen the wrong sect to join.

'That elder did say that you could die,' Alex thought and sighed.

They arrived at the Disciple Hall, a large building with a line of disciples waiting to get what they were there for. The woman cut in line, going straight to the front where an elder was in charge of handing out disciples their things.

"New admission. Needs his stipend, a pair of robes, and a copy of the physique book," the woman answered.

The elder looked at the woman and then at Alex. He quickly checked the formation in front of him. "What is his name?"

"Dawnblade," the woman answered.

The elder checked for Alex's information and stood up to hand him his things.

Alex was given 20 Immortal spirit stones, 8 Immortal Cultivation Pill, 3 Immortal Healing pills, 2 pairs of robes and a book.

He was also handed a few talismans that he had to read to learn more about the sect's laws and rules.

Alex took it all, but before he could take the book, he was made to stop.

"You must first make an oath that you will not share this physique skill with anyone else, not even your fellow disciples."

Alex was a little taken aback at the fact that he had to swear an oath, but hearing what oath he was going to take, he was not concerned at all about saying it.

He quickly spoke the oath, swearing to never share the physique skill with anyone else. When the oath was made, Alex was finally handed his book.

Alex took everything and put it into his Soul Space.

"Was I not supposed to get the 2 kilograms of poison this time, senior?" Alex asked the woman.

"That you get from the Poison Hall," the woman answered and took Alex away.

At the Poison Hall, Alex saw many more disciples waiting in line toapparentlybuy poisons. That surprised him a bit.

The woman took Alex to another elder who provided him with the 2 kilograms of low-ranking Immortal poison.

After he had received that, Alex finally received everything that he needed to become a member of this sect.