Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

"I'm flattered your majesty remembers me," the girl said, bowing a little. The two other women that were next to her watched their conversation with an awkward look on their faces, not sure what they were supposed to do here.

They had a job to do, but it didn't seem possible to do given the situation.

Alex turned to look at the two other women, who while didn't look like it, were certainly older than him by many years. Most likely centuries.

"Greetings, sisters," he greeted them and the two women quickly greeted him back. They said something to Su Railin and all of their faces grew stern at once.

"Your Majesty, what are you doing here?" the girl asked.

Alex took a look around. There wasn't much to see from where he was, but the thick fog around him gave him an idea of where exactly 'here' was. Still, he acted like he didn't know.

"Where is this place exactly?" he asked her.

"You don't know?" the woman asked him.

"Why should I?" Alex asked them.

They looked at each other, somewhat unsure of what to do. One of them had already secretly sent a message to their sect master and other elders who would arrive here soon enough. But until then, it was their job to find out things.

"This is the Ice Mist Palace. Did you sneak in here, Your Majesty?" Su Railin asked. "This isn't a place you could have randomly stumbled upon."

"Is that so?" Alex asked. "Well, I randomly stumbled upon this place. May I leave now?"

The three gave side glances to each other before looking back at Alex. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait here until our sect master comes back," the oldest of the three said. "We can't just let you leave without figuring out how you came here. It's a matter of the sect's security. I'm sure you can understand."

Alex smiled. "Oh, I can understand," he said. "But there shouldn't be much confusion if the three of your sisters were paying attention." He pointed to the cave opening behind him. "I came out right through there."

"But you never entered," the girls said. "How did you come out of there?"

Alex sat down. "Well, you have all the information. So you might as well guess," he said. "Since I am your prisoner, I'll be here on this cold floor, and wait for your sect master to show up."

The girls grimaced at him calling out for their apparent lack of hospitality, but they weren't sure they could allow him anywhere else. This was a sect that only the girls were allowed in.

Men could never wander here.

Still, they got him a chair and brought some warm drinks to keep him occupied. Alex sat quietly, waiting for the others to show up.

They went silent in waiting, but Su Railin seemed to want to say something. "Your Majesty, is it true that the path to the Central Continent won't open again?" she asked.

Alex looked at her. "It is unlikely it will open in the near future," he said. "If it does, it will need to be done by the emperor and I don't think it will happen."

He looked up at the somewhat sad look on the beautiful face of the girl and felt a pang of guilt. "You must've missed the chance. My apologies," he said.

Many in the Ivory kingdom had missed their chance to go back. She was one of them.

"It is alright," she said. "It's been over 50 years, so there isn't much to gain by going back. Still… I would've loved to do so."

Alex nodded. "Did you have family back home that could've come to this world?" he asked.

"No," the girl said. "I am the lone daughter of my parents and they were never that technologically adept, so I doubt they played the game. 50 years later, they must've already passed away. I just hope that whoever took my place loved them the way I did, and took care of them."

"I'm sure that they did," Alex said. "The one that took your place would have been your clone. As long as there wasn't something to miss on this side, their thoughts and emotions would've been the same as yours."

"If you loved your parents, then she did too. If you wished to take care of them, she did too," he said. "You might've missed your parents, but they never missed their daughter at all."

Su Railin wiped away a single tear that slid down the side of her face, before chuckling a little. "I'm not sure if that is supposed to make me happy or sad," she said.

"How about just content knowing that your parents were not alone?" he asked.

"Yeah… I can do that," she said with a wide smile. "Thank you for your words, Your Majesty."

Alex nodded.

A few minutes later, a small group of women came up to where he sat in the mist, at the edge of the sect. As they got closer, Alex could see the four women.

"Your guys sure took your time," he said, placing down the cup of warm tea and standing up to meet them.

"Your Majesty, thank the Phoenix you're okay," Yao Ning said. "We were afraid you were stuck in there for good."

"I wouldn't miss the chance to get scolded by you, Elder Yao," Alex said and turned to Liang Shufen. "Although, Elder Liang, you should be more worried when your King goes missing."

Elder Liang just chuckled. "Are you made a spectacle of learning the dao, I knew you couldn't be kept inside. Besides, you had a plethora of ways to come out even if you were stuck."

"Well… not a plethora, but I did have a few," he said. "Anyway, this is a nice little place you have here, sect master Bing. It's a shame I had to take the backdoor to get here."

The woman looked stunned, same for the Queen as the two of them most likely understood what it meant for him to come out this way. Still, they couldn't help but doubt it.

"Your Majesty, did one of the tunnels lead you outside?" Bing Zhenshuang asked.

"One of the tunnels, yes. But if you're asking if it was a tunnel on the other side that curved its way toward here, then no," he said. "What we were told before entering the tunnel was true. All pathway leads to the center."

"Then…" the Queen looked in shock at Alex as the possibility in her mind became certain. "Then you reached the center of the cave?"

The question came with shocked glances from the three girls who had waited by him. Su Railin's eyes went wide at the feat that she only remembered being completed once.

Alex looked at the queen and nodded. "I did," he said.

"How… was it?" she asked him, unable to hold in her curiosity. In the millennia she had spent in this place, she had used this tunnel that remained open permanently to enter and learn Yin inside.

As such, she had had a much higher opportunity of learning Yin or reaching the center. And yet, she had never been able to do that.

"Hmm… it was…" he paused. "Would you rather I tell you how it was or would you go there by yourself one day and see for yourself?"

The woman shook her head, having seemingly given up on the possibility of that ever happening. "Not a single person has ever reached the center, your Majesty. Not a single other person aside from you," she said. Her words made apparent how amazing a feat this was.

"Is that so?" Alex asked. "Surely that isn't true." His eyes moved to the sect master's shocked look as he said that.

She saw the look and felt a chill go down her spine. She knew that he knew what she tried to hide the most.

"It is certainly so, your Majesty," the Queen said, oblivious to the meaning behind his words. She was too shocked and surprised to have noticed anything else. "So please, tell us what it is like inside. I would very much like to hear about it."

Alex thought for a bit and started explaining it. Those who didn't wish to hear could cut off their hearing with their Qi, so he had no problem answering them.

The women listened curiously and once Alex was done, they were a little disappointed.

"There is nothing inside? Just a bunch of runes on a wall?" the Queen asked.

"I'm afraid so," Alex said. "That's why I didn't want to tell you. There isn't much to look forward to inside. But, if you are there to learn about Yin then it is an incredible place still."

"I see," the Queen said. She felt… betrayed about the whole thing. And somehow, she didn't feel disappointed about it all. Almost as if she knew this already, from somewhere.

The girls showed the same expression.

Only the sect master showed no sign of disbelief or surprise. She knew how it was all along. Her niece had already told her.

"You three," the sect master said. "Not a single word of this to anyone else. If anyone finds out, I'm punishing you three."

"Yes, sect master," the three said quickly.

Then the sect master turned around to Alex. "Your Majesty," she said. "I'm sorry, but I cannot let you stay in the sect for much longer. You will have to depart."

Alex shrugged. "Sure," he said. "But please answer this. When exactly did you learn about the center of the Cave of Frost yourself?"