Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy
chapter-2048

Alex and Pearl made their way through the maze, not to find things that were within it, but to find a way out of it.

Alex kept a mental note of the entire map of the maze as he walked through it, just in case the map of the maze itself was the text that he had been looking for. It took a week for him to be certain that it was nothing more than a regular maze.

Alex and Pearl found a few newer things that they hadn't found on their last visit, but nothing they found was as interesting for either of them to make them stay there.

So, they continued searching for a way out.

At this time, Whisker had made his way through the junkyard so he could look for things that Alex may have missed. Alex also wanted him to go through the Graveyard next, but on second thought he decided not to do that.

He had searched everything he could there, so it was better to search new grounds.

The Trueheart Plaza would be Whisker's next target. Hopefully, he could go in without being noticed by anyone.

Alex focused on the maze for now, a majority of it already visible within his mind. Every single route he took, every single distance he walked, he placed into his mind, making a mental map of the entire thing.

It was quite draining as it required him to keep a lot of focus on just that task, but it was working. He was seeing more and more of the maze. As they never took the same pathway twice after coming to a dead end, the progress they made was quite significant too. They came across locations that they wouldn't have otherwise found because people were holed up in that section of the maze.

The most sought-after things within the maze were not treasures, cultivation spots, or large plants. What everyone searched for was aura. Strong and powerful auras.

As everyone here was on their way to the Immortal Origin realm, they needed to start making preparations for it.

Alex was still way off from the next realm, so he didn't need to make much preparations just yet.

As the days passed, the two scoured more and more of the maze, feeling as though they had come so far within this past month and a half, and yet they were still within the maze, barely halfway through.

It would take some more time, no doubt.

Alex wished there was some sort of landmark within the maze that he could use to confirm for himself how far in he had gotten. If so, the second half would've been so much easier since he already knew the second half for the most part.

It would still be easier than the first half, but slightly more annoying no doubt.

During this time, Whisker had made his way to the Trueheart Plaza but had managed to find nothing there as the aura that place had was too strong for his senses to notice anything else and there was a barrier that stopped anyone from entering.

As for the other one, Whisker got headaches even approaching it. He did see the name of the final building far away though, which was called 'The Mind Palace'.

Alex suspected that the 'mind' part of the name had something to do with Whisker's headaches. Maybe there was intent around the place that was too strong for a Saint to be around. He would have to check it himself when he got back. For now, Whisker had nothing more to do, so he could go wait for Alex and Pearl to arrive.

Within the next month, Alex made enough way through the maze that there was no doubt that he was beginning to arrive at his previously scouted regions. Since that was the case, he could start checking the similarities between the two maps he had in his mind and figure the pathway out.

Alex and Pearl sat on one of the dead ends, with Alex creating the image of the entire map in front of him using Metal Qi. The massive map was mostly filled and was missing only a few pathways in the second half which Alex now believed were useless.

He handed over the control of the image to Pearl, who took it and kept it working. Given that they were both individuals with True Metal Dao, they were both easily capable of taking control over Metal Qi or aura if there was no intent behind it, which Alex certainly relinquished when he handed the map over.

Alex then recreated the second map in his mind, the much smaller one that was from the second half which they had long since mapped. He flipped the image and resized it to fit the width of the map. Then, Alex put it side by side and began searching for sections where it would overlap.

Given how far they were in, there had to be multiple such sections, if not just one.

Alex and Pearl went at it for a few minutes, looking through every nook and corner of the massive maze until they finally saw it.

"There!" Pearl noticed an overlap in the map and pointed it out.

Alex turned his head to look at that section. "That fits," he said. He wasn't sure if this was it or not, but this was a start.

"So… we should take the left turn from here, and then there should be a fork on the right turn?"

"Let's check it out," Pearl said.

Alex got up, the images dissipating as he did. Pearl got up too and began walking away.

They were happy to see that once they got back to the fork where they had come here, there was a left turn they could take that would lead them elsewhere. Walking through it, they came across another fork that took them either straight or to the right.

"This is it," Alex said excitedly. "This must be."

He took the straight path, now remembering what the pathway he had to take was. He walked through different turns, turning around at forks or going straight. Pearl followed Alex as the two of them made further and further out of the maze until they finally arrived at the section where there were 8 different openings. One of them was the exit and Alex could see it.

"There it is," Alex said, feeling proud to have found the exit at all. It had been nearly 3 months since he had entered the maze on the other side, and he was about to make it out.

"What do you think will happen when we get out?" Pearl asked.

"I don't know what, but I hope something does happen," Alex said. Otherwise, he would be so disappointed for the 3 months that he had spent.

And… he was disappointed.

Alex and Pearl walked through the exit, which was really the entrance, only to get nothing. Not a single treasure, not a single technique. Not even a congratulations.

This man had created such a complex maze within the secret realm… for a whole load of nothing. This felt like a grand waste of time.