Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Alex had expected a cave on the inside, a dark room even. So when he noticed that he had arrived at a valley surrounded by tall mountains on all sides, with bright sunlight landing at the center, he was very much surprised. He quickly sensed Time aura being employed around here as well. After focusing on it for a few seconds, he figured out that it was to slow down time as much as possible. However, the aura felt… fleeting at the moment.

He worried. How many days was he going to end up wasting on the outside while he looked for something inside?

"Leaving things out in the open like this, won't things degrade over time?" Alex asked.

"Oh no. We have a powerful time-slowing formation working full time to make sure exactly that doesn't happen," the man said. "We wouldn't dare let any of these treasures go to waste. They are quite important to us."

Alex nodded. "So, if you're employing that time formation, how many days will pass before we get out? I hope it's not weeks."

"No, no," the sect master quickly answered. "The formation stops working whenever someone comes in here. It's currently paused and will resume when we leave this place. We should be quick about it, though. Come let me show you the pile you will be choosing from."

Alex walked with the sect master, realizing that had been the 'fleeting' feeling he had felt about the aura. It was stopped and was on the verge of dissipating.

The valley that was the secret realm was a large open grassland, with granite pedestals spread around the place in neat rows and columns. There were hundreds and thousands of those, none of which seemed to hold any actual treasures. In fact, Alex couldn't see a single treasure anywhere within here. Looking closer, he noticed small storage pouches in all directions.

"Do those storage bags hold the actual treasure?" Alex asked.

"Yes, they do," the sect master said and pulled out something. "Here is a list of Immortal treasures. Look which one you like and I will let you test it out."

Alex stared at what the sect master had brought out, a rather sturdy talisman, and peered his mind into it. Immediately, he saw thousands upon thousands of treasures listed within it. There were so many that he couldn't even properly read it all. He went through the names one by one, which included a small description or two of what the object actually did.

[Sealing Jade Mountain: Can temporarily seal a cultivator within this mountain.]

[Thousand Mammoth Mask: Provides one with the strength of a thousand large elephants.]

[Dark Call Horn: Summons dark fog around the cultivators which disrupts the Spiritual sense for all caught within the fog.]

[Stone Zither: Creates attacks that carry with it the Dao of Earth]

[True Blaze Fan: Creates attacks that use Dao of Fire and Dao of Wind]

[Brazen Star Cauldron: An impressive cauldron used for Alchemy and other purposes]

[War Sage's Enchanted Drum: A Drum that elevates the power of all allies in a war]

[Eloquent Sparrow Wings: Gives a cultivator wings and improves their flying speed]

The list went on and on. Alex was gobsmacked by what he saw. Each treasure by itself would be incredible for an Immortal cultivator even at higher realms than he was. And there were so many gathered here. He just couldn't make a pick. He read some more.

[Resplendent Snow Storm Petal: A white petal that can be turned into a blizzard of petals to attack. Can only be used once before it needs to recharge.]

[Wolf Transformation Pill: Transform into a Wolf-Human hybrid. Only works on Humans.]

[Phoenix Hair Pin: Surrounds the target in Phoenix flames that can either heal them or harm them.]

[Gray Nether Flames: Flames that turn anything it touches into ash]

'Oh! A flame. Should I take it?' Alex wondered. At the very least, he could look at what it was like. The pedestal on which the flame was kept was written on the talisman, so Alex walked over to it.

"What caught your eyes?" the sect master asked as he walked along with Alex.

"A fire," Alex answered. "It's called the Gray Nether Flames. If it suits me, I might think of taking it."

"Go ahead," the sect master said.

Alex took the storage bag and looked inside. There were a couple of things inside to his surprise. A storage bag held more than just a single item. There was a staff inside, a copper coin, a sort of rug, and finally a lantern which held the flame.

Alex pulled the lantern out and saw the dull gray fire that seemed to burn in a way that stripped away the color of anything its light shined on, turning it all into shades of gray. There was a talisman attached to the side of the lantern and Alex read it.

[Gray Nether Flames: a very hot flame, capable of burning most things to ashes. It spreads around the burning item instantly, but cannot transfer from one item to another as it burns that item too quickly.

It is a mediocre version of the fabled Midnight Flames which is capable of burning everything such that not even ashes remain.

Good for attacks. Terrible for anything where you do not wish to burn something instantly.]

"Oh…" Alex said, a little disappointed.

"What's wrong?" the sect master asked, reading the description by himself. "Oh, not a very good flame for an Alchemist, huh?"

Alex nodded. "It is quite a powerful flame, but also completely useless for me," he said with a sigh. "Sect master, do you perhaps know if one can learn two types of flames at once?"

The sect master thought for a bit and shook his head. "I won't say it is impossible, but… it is very difficult," he said. "To learn a flame to begin with, you need to strip away all understanding you have of a normal fire and begin thinking of your flame as all that exists."

"Basically, you are training your Intent around Fire to a point where Fire itself means something else to you. That is the same for water or wind."

"If you were to learn this flame, and then try to learn another one, more chances than not, you would end up stripping away your Intent of this flame to make room for the other one."

Alex listened to those words and nodded. "So… I can try, but I would be wasting my time for the most part since what I truly need is another flame for my alchemy."

"Yes," the sect master said. "I know how talented you are. I know you try to hide it too, which I do not know the reason for, but I won't ask. Even then, training one's Intent to that level takes time. A lot of time."

"And in the end, even with your talent, the chances that you can learn to use two different types of flames at once is… negligible. It's better if you just don't try in the first place."

Alex simply listened, saying nothing in return, and nodded. It appeared he would have to choose something else.

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