Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

"That is an interesting proposition," Alex said to the Dragon soul. He made an expression of contemplating the offer in front of him, but there was no way he was going to accept it.

He was only thinking of how to lightly reject.

Even if there was a chance that he would never reach the Immortal realms on his own, which he knew with his talent was nearly impossible, there were still far better choices for who he would go to the Immortal lands with.

Scarlet was the first obvious choice with their bond, and then Bai Jingshen. However, if Pearl reached the Immortal realm before either of them were to leave, then he would go with Pearl.

There was no reason to accept the Dragon's offer right now.

After thinking for a bit, Alex asked the Dragon something. "How long do you plan on staying in this realm?" he asked.

The dragon thought for a bit and frowned. "To be honest… I do not know how long it has exactly been since I came here," he said. "Wait a minute."

He spent a short time counting the number of years where he had to work on the trail. "I have been here for nearly 75 thousand years. Maybe a little less," he said.

Alex couldn't help but let his feeling of shock show through his face. "75 thousand years?" he asked with his eyes widened. He put the numbers together and came up with something. "You came here with the 2nd Azure Dragon?"

"Yes!" the Dragon said with a surprised look on his face. "You know when which ones came?"

"I know they change every 15 thousand years, and the next cycle is going to end in less than a thousand years," Alex said. "Another Azure Dragon should come then."

The Dragon soul nodded. "That is correct," he said.

"So… do you leave with the current one?" Alex asked, trying to discern the features in the soul's expression. He wanted to see if he had any knowledge of the outside world.

Especially when it came to the life and death of the Azure Dragon.

"No," the Dragon soul said. "I leave after 105 millennia. That is the deal I made before I came here."

"Deal?" Alex couldn't help but ask. "May I ask what sort of deal it was?"

"A simple one," the Dragon soul said. "Because I lost my body already, I needed a new one. As such, I was made to make a deal where if I remained here for 105 thousand years and tested the human's alchemy knowledge, I could go back and have the Azure Dragons make me a very strong body."

"Oh, is that why you agreed to this?" Alex asked with an understanding look. Internally, he couldn't fathom that someone was going to stay somewhere for 105 thousand years just so they could get a new body.

That was such a long amount of time that Alex couldn't even comprehend it entirely. He hadn't even lived for a hundred years, and the Dragon soul was waiting a hundred thousand, just as a soul.

"Yes," the Dragon answered Alex. "With the resources I have, I could never make a body for myself that would fit me. But the Azure Dragons? Oh boy, do they have the resources?"

Alex slowly nodded. "Is that so?" he said. "Your world sounds amazing, senior. But if it's going to take you 30 thousand years more to leave this place, I do not know how you could take me with you. I would either reach the Immortal realm myself by then or die trying."

The Dragon paused and then grimaced at the thought. "You are correct," he said. "I guess I didn't think of how long a Saint realm cultivator could live."

"It's okay, senior," Alex said. "Thank you for thinking about me at least."

The Dragon said nothing and simply nodded. "I suppose we have nothing else to talk about then. I will return to handling the trials—"

"Actually, senior!" Alex quickly interjected. "I have something else to ask of you."

The Dragon stopped in his tracks and looked at Alex. "What do you need to ask?"

Alex hesitated a bit, but he had to ask this. "Are you able to leave this place as you want?" he asked. "Maybe go outside for some time? I was wondering if—"

"If I could help you?" the Dragon asked before shaking his head. "Ignoring the fact that I am but only a soul, and that I am an Immortal in a lower realm, I have also spoken an oath to forever remain in this place and never intervene in the matters of the mortals."

"If you are in need of help, then I am afraid that I cannot help you."

Alex frowned a bit. "Even if the matter doesn't pertain to the mortals. Can you still not help me?"

The Dragon frowned a little. "I can never leave this place. That is the main obstacle here. No matter the type of conflict you are in, I cannot help you."

'Dammit!' Alex said internally. It seemed he wouldn't get any help in regard to the Azure Dragon's death.

"Thank you anyway, senior," Alex bowed a little as he had nothing else to say.

"Are you still going to take part in the trial? You seem good enough to pass it all."

"Even if I'm good enough for it, I plan to sit through it all," Alex said.

The Dragon soul chuckled a bit. "Why did you even come here?" he asked. "If you knew you were good enough for this, I don't see the point of you coming to the trial. Is it to show off?"

Alex laughed along with the Dragon at the question. "Show off? No," he said. "As I said, I am not from the Eastern Continent, so this is my first time coming to this trial. I simply wanted to see how it was handled and what sort of tests were held here."

"Is that so?" the Dragon asked.

"Yes," Alex said.

"But you knew you were going to do well, didn't you?" he asked.

"I didn't doubt it," Alex said. "Besides, my reason for coming here wasn't just for the Alchemy trials. I actually wanted to see how far I could go for all the trials, except the music ones."

"You want to test yourself on the other 5 trials?" the Dragon asked with a surprised look on his face. "That's quite daring. Are you good with the other professions?

"Not as good as I am in Alchemy, but I can say I'm decent," Alex said. "I'll have to see how well I do there."

The Dragon nodded. "Good luck on getting it all white then," he said. "I will leave you to it now."

The Dragon disappeared and arrived back outside where he started giving out other various trials to the many that were inside.

Alex looked at the talisman on his hand once the Dragon left him. He had tried to pay some attention to it while the Dragon was there, but it seemed impossible to fully focus on it with the Dragon looming over him.

Now, however, he could finally read through the entire talisman and see the pill he had obtained from the trade between the two.

The Forbidden Immortality Pill