Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

After the sword was compounded and refined, he had to design the sword now.

The design was the only thing left to do other than put the Qi lines into the sword, and he couldn't put the Qi lines into the sword before designing it as the changes in the sword's physical appearance would change the Qi lines internally as well.

So, he had to design it first.

This was the part that Alex wasn't as knowledgeable about and was the part that Madhammer had said he was bad at. However, that was primarily because of Alex's lack of practice and exposure to such designs before.

Now that he had come across many types of swords and other weapons, he was sure that with a bit of training, he could do it. Designing the sword was mostly just him heating up the metal and then using his Dao of Malleability to pull on it, changing its shape as per the commission.

Madhammer's eyes narrowed immediately, noticing Alex's Dao of Malleability. Given how little Alex had talked about training to make a sword, he was surprised Alex had that Dao. It was not a dao that people generally learned on their own.

Madhammer believed Alex had learned more about artifacts than he was letting on. Perhaps, there was even a reason why he refused his offer. Maybe he had received a much better offer than his.

He considered that possibility.

Alex found it surprising how easy it was to do what he was doing. Perhaps because he only had Saint Qi when he had worked with something like Starforged Tungsten, making the Goldsteel mold to his vision was incredibly easy.

He added the waves on the edge and the spikes on the other side as the commission had asked for. He used the Dao of Sharpness to make the edges sharper. The sword was coming to a shape.

Madhammer nodded the entire time Alex worked, very pleased with what he was doing. Alex moved on to placing the Qi lines into the sword. This was a delicate task that required him to move his Qi through the sword in dozens of different directions, following a path as written on the talisman.

He needed to be very careful that he didn't accidentally overshoot here or somehow cause the Qi lines to not form a symmetry with each other. Even in artifacts, there was symmetry.

Alex found himself curious once again why symmetry was such an integral part of cultivation. Was there a reason why things worked better when they were in symmetry?

He had asked these questions to people like Bai Jingshen and Senior Yang and had gotten no answer at all. They didn't know it either.

In the end, Alex could only ignore it.

Despite being distracted by his thoughts, Alex's ability to separate his focus into multiple tasks had reached such a frightening level thanks to his training in making multiple pills that he made no mistake in placing the Qi lines into the sword in the correct placement.

Once he was done, he immediately lowered the temperature of the sword, making it go from a dull red color to a bright metallic golden color. The Goldsteel used in the sword shined through.

"He didn't even have to quench," the man whose job Alex had taken commented on what he had done.

"Of course," Madhammer said. "He perfectly refined all impurities from the metal previously and the speed at which he cooled the metal basically tempers it much better than what quenching does. You can do the same if you learn Dao of Heat."

The man nodded.

Alex took the sword up, a brand new weapon that he had created. He turned around, looking toward Madhammer. "Does this satisfy the customer's request, senior?" he asked.

Madhammer couldn't help but smile upon being asked that. "It more than does that," he said. "Hand him the sword. He'll handle the rest. Come, I'll get you some new tasks of your own. Let me see how much I can push you."

Madhammer gave Alex a section of his own in the shop, a tiny one, but a section nonetheless. He started asking Alex to make various weapons, each using different types of metals, to get him used to everything.

Alex learned while he was there as much as he could, ignoring even the need for cultivation until he was forced to due to his lack of Qi.

Finally, he was done with it. Alex's time in Madhammer's shop lasted for a little more than a month. He stood before the man, bowing toward him in great respect for what he had taught him. The man was no master of his, but he was the closest thing to that for sure.

"I truly wished you accepted my offer," the man said. "But I won't hound you for it for refusing."

"Oh, what offer is this?" Silvermist, who stood next to Alex, asked curiously. He had come to take his disciple away now that he was done with training.

"His talent lies more than you can imagine, brother Silvermist," Madhammer said. "If he wants to, he can be a great Artifact master as well."

Silvermist raised an eyebrow. "You know, I'm not entirely surprised. He is quite talented, isn't he?" Alex could only give a small smile in return.

"My offer is still available for you. Come at any time you want to," Madhammer said.

"Thank you, senior."

Madhammer chatted with Grimsight for a while longer as this would be their goodbye for quite some time. After they finished their chat, the group walked away.

They left the city, making their way to another city where Alex rested for a few days. After that, he was back to traveling the many locations of the Molten Hearth continent.

Their travels took them from the peak of a mountain range to the bottom of a lake. Alex even saw a Divine Beast who was as tall as a mountain. It was a sort of large crustacean monster that lived by the sea. When Alex first saw the true size of one of them, he was more than surprised. He had never seen a beast as large as this.

The Black Tortoise was more the size of a hill than a mountain.

He was then told by Silvermist and Grimsight that, unlike humans, beasts and plants could grow without limit, so long as there was also no limit to their cultivation.

The size of a mountain was quite large for a Divine beast, and this one was only as large because it was a larger beast in general.

Alex had known that beasts grew larger and larger as their cultivation base increased, but they could also change their sizes, so the largest he had seen whose cultivation base he was certain of was Pearl.

That encounter had been one of the many memorable events of his time in the Molten Hearth Continent. And then, over 2 years after coming to this continent, it was time for them to leave.

Only, it seemed there was one more stop in their journey just yet.

"I timed for us to come here so we can go visit the healing festival that should be starting in just a few months," Silvermist said.

"Healing festival?" Alex asked curiously. "Where is that?"

Silvermist grinned. "God's Origin."

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