Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy
chapter-2001

The 13 elders looked at each other, trying to discern what they were supposed to do here. They were more than surprised by Alex's claim of joining the sect just to leave. One of them was even impressed by his boldness.

"I read that you came from a lower world. Is that incorrect?" the old man with the mole, who seemed to be the leading figure there, asked.

"I did," Alex answered.

"So your family should be there, shouldn't they?" the old man then asked.

"No," Alex answered. "One of my older cousins broke through earlier, so when it was time for her to leave, all of my family went along with them."

The few elders appeared surprised. "Do you know where they even are? If they left with your cousin, they could be anywhere."

Alex nodded. "That is why I need to go to the other realms," he said. "I need to find them."

"How are you certain that they are not here?" the old man asked.

"I asked the senior who received me at the Interrealm Teleportation formation if someone else from my world had come here in a while. He said no," Alex answered.

"Oh! So you plan on asking around that way? Smart," Elder Shang said.

"That's a lot of realms to go through," the old man said. "Not counting the beasts, there are 27 realms they could be in."

Alex was surprised at the number but didn't show it. It appeared that the man wasn't aware that he was, technically, fully human. Given where he had come from, the man must have assumed that he was part Demon as well.

"I suppose, yes," Alex said. "That's a lot of places to go around," the man said with a frown. "I don't wanna call it impossible, but it feels impossible, don't you think? You have to travel to 26 other realms. You will be gone for a long time to reach all those worlds. While that time means nothing to us, to you that's a long time where you will not be training at your best capacity. "I'm sorry, senior, but I will not join this sect if it will come in the way of my search for for my family," Alex said and bowed. "I'm sorry for wasting all of your time."

The old man sighed after seeing Alex's determination. "We just can't let disciples join the sect and leave as they wish. I am sad to see you go, but there isn't much I can do."

Alex nodded. "Thank you for listening and understanding my problem. If there is nothing more, I will take my leave."

The old man nodded.

Alex turned around with a sigh in his heart. He had expected this to happen. What sect would let him go so easily once they had them join? He had some hope, but alas, reality was what mattered.

He stepped toward the courtyard to outside and—

"Stop, junior," someone spoke out loud suddenly.

Alex stopped and turned around. The person who had called him was the other older woman from Elder Shang, with frosty white hair. She turned and glared at the old man before gesturing for Alex to return.

Alex was a little confused and walked back. "Can I be of some help, senior?" he asked.

"Can you give me your arm for a second?" she asked.

Alex was taken aback by the request. "My arm?" he asked.

"Don't be shy. Come here," she said, beckoning him forward.

Alex wondered what she was trying to do. Put some sort of charm on him to stop him from leaving? Maybe check what his age was? He wanted to refuse, but then it was a Divine realm cultivator being polite to him.

If she wanted to, she could probably force him to join the sect even without any of these things.

Alex walked up ahead, arrived in front of the old woman, and raised his right hand toward her. The Tree-turned-human, who sat behind this old woman, slowly came forward as though she wanted to look at his hand too. She came close, curiously looking at his hand and then him, as if wanting to examine him.

"Sister Sunheart? What are you doing?" the old woman asked.

"Oh! Ah, no. Nothing," the woman said, quickly retreating to where she had been sitting before. A flustered look appeared on her face as well as a look of confusion.

'What's up with her?' Alex wondered. The old woman took away his attention immediately as she grabbed his arm by the wrist and closed her eyes.

Seeing where she grabbed him, Alex expected Qi to enter his body. Was she testing how good of a body he had?

"Strong muscles. You are a body cultivator," the old woman said.

"I am," Alex said. The woman hadn't done anything but just grabbed his arm. That had just been her observation upon grabbing his arm. What was she trying to do exactly?

The woman took a deep breath and suddenly everything around Alex seemed to calm down at once. The soft breeze around the courtyard no longer made any noise, and the people around him barely gave off any aura either.

It was as though the world had stopped for a moment to let the old woman proceed with what she was doing.

The woman took a long and deep breath and her eyes opened.

Alex couldn't help but gasp when he saw the old woman's eyes. They were somehow beautiful and yet, horrifying.

What were previously regular eyes with a brown pupil were now the color of a blizzard with no distinction between the sclera and the iris. All of her eyes were frost-colored like her white hair, the slight blue tinge of which gave them an otherworldly feeling which made Alex queasy upon looking at it.

At the same time, he felt eyes popping all around his surroundings. He looked around to see what was happening and saw nothing anywhere, but the feeling he got was as though he was being viewed in all directions.

Alex felt as though the woman was looking deep into his soul. It was a very eerie feeling.

Almost as if to make the situation even worse, a tinge of purple aura emanated from the woman, making the hairs on Alex's neck stand on its end.

He recognized the purple aura almost immediately and pulled away his hand on instinct alone. The woman's grip was too strong to get his hand away from her though, so he was still caught.

The other elders gave a surprised look seeing Alex try to get out of the hold but they had no way of understanding why at all.

Alex let his fear subside and calmed his heart, accepting the fact that the woman was using Time aura somehow. He could almost believe it was a type of Time Dao itself. He had felt this aura somewhere before, so it wasn't new to him. It hadn't been from his aunt or Scarlet. And it certainly hadn't been from the Ancient Battlefield back in the northern continent.

Which meant, there was only one possible answer.

The Nine Wells of Time.

'Is this…' Alex thought as a single possibility came to him.

Divination.