Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy



The Zhan Family manor house looked no more extravagant than any regular manor house that Alex had seen. In fact, it was even more moderate in comparison to most. And yet, it held an air of nobility to it that made Alex feel like he had truly come to the house of someone big.

A few people stood where the carriage stopped. One of them was an old man with a bald head and gray mustaches. He wore a creamy white robe and held a smile on his face.

The man was Zhan Laoyin, head of the Zhan family.

The Crown Prince got off the carriage first and directed a wide smile toward the Zhan family head.

"Senior Zhan, it has been a long time," the Crown Prince spoke. "My apologies for not coming sooner."

"Your Highness, there is no need to apologize," the old man said. "I'm just happy to see you again."

"Sisters, brothers," the Crown Prince bowed to the people standing around the family head, who were mostly the family head's children or nieces and nephews. Almost every one of Zhan Laoyin's generation had died by now, so he alone was present there to accept the guests.

Alex walked down, along with the rest and the family head bowed deeply.

"Welcome, Your Majesty," Zhan Laoyin spoke. "I'm honored by your presence."

"Thank you for having me, Senior Zhan." Only after Alex's reply did the man look back up. He smiled slightly and welcomed the other two elders too. He then gave a small nod toward the Crown Prince's bodyguard, and then they were off into the room.

The insides of the Zhan manor house were no better than what it was from the outside. Decorations filled the hallways with gilded lantern holders, paintings, engravings, and whatnot. But none of them stood out.

The hall they were taken to was slightly better looking with a high ceiling made of glass that let in plenty of light. Paintings and tapestries hung around the room's walls, with a soft fire burning in the hearth to the side.

Several people sat in well-cushioned seats, with Alex and the Crown Prince being given the best seats of all. Zhan Luoyang sat close to the Crown Prince rather than her father, surprising Alex a little.

Most people in the room remained silent while the three people with authority in the room conversed with one another.

The Zhan Family head seemed to want to know about Alex and he also seemed to learn about the Crown Prince's recent activities. They talked plenty, and only occasionally would someone butt in to answer something that the family head couldn't immediately answer.

"Not counting sister Luoyang's pills, our biggest source of income has been the herbs and flowers we grow in the back garden," one of the women said when asked about the financial situation of the house. 

"Right, right," the family head said. "People don't want to plant alchemy ingredients around here since most expect to buy it when it comes from the Emerald Kingdom, so there is a bit of a market here. Of course, we also sell many spirit fruits and those do quite well too."

The talks stretched for a long few hours with only the three talking. Many left and many came to see them, but there weren't many others involved in the talk.

Alex got to try the spirit fruits that the family sold and was surprised to find out how delicious they were. They were nowhere near what one could find in the Dragon's Palace, but this fruit would still be considered very much acceptable.

To call it suspicious would be to call a storm windy. It was so much more than just suspicious.

'What is she trying to do? What is she trying to hide?' Alex wondered. Was she plotting his death? Did she know something about him and was trying to blackmail him in the night?

Many thoughts went through his mind, but most of all, one thought remained true.

He wanted answers.

So, he would do as she said. He would prepare for what was coming. 

If it wasn't a trap, he would have nothing to worry about.

But if it was a trap, then she would realize that she had trapped a beast, one that would destroy the trap and kill whoever set up the trap.

Alex did everything he could to prepare, other than telling the elders about what was going to happen. If he did, Yao Ning would no doubt call him impulsive. And she wouldn't even be wrong.

At least, he was thinking through before jumping, even if he didn't know what he was jumping into.

The wait was the most boring part of the entire ordeal, and even that was not as bad as other times as he wondered what was going to happen the entire time.

Midnight had long since passed and the manor was as dead as it could be with everything and everyone asleep.

Then, Alex heard the faintest of tapping on his door.

'I didn't even sense anything,' he thought before slowly walking to the door and opening it.

Luoyang stood outside in a white night robe, holding onto a lantern that wouldn't be necessary for a cultivator.

"It will be better if you hide all your aura," she told Alex.

It was then that Alex realized that she was almost completely mortal to his senses. Not only that, he couldn't even sense her using his spiritual sense. There was some sort of artifact she was wearing that stopped her from being sensed easily.

He could tell there was something wrong in that location now that he saw her stand there, but had he not known, his spiritual sense would've moved past her easily. 

'Interesting,' he thought and took in his cultivation base until he felt no different from a mortal as well. His Immortal Concealment technique could've done the task as well, but it wasn't as good at concealing all aura ever since he had reached the Saint realm.

It only made it difficult for others to tell his cultivation base properly.

"So, what are we doing?" Alex asked her.

The woman glanced around. "If you will follow me, Your Majesty." She started walking. "Please don't make a lot of noise."

She walked on ahead and Alex followed her. They had only made it to the back door of the manor house when Alex saw someone standing by the door, almost completely hidden in the darkness.

Alex prepared himself for a trap to be sprung at any time now.

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