Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

"Sorry, phenomenon? What does that have to do with your daughter's birth?" Alex couldn't help but ask.

"Apparently it was related to our daughter being born. The phenomenon had only happened because Ronron was coming to this world," the older Alex said. "At least that was what the senior said that night."

"He arrived as she was born and held her in his arm for a moment before saying that he would take her as his disciple. It honestly took me a while to even understand what was happening," the older Alex said.

"In fact, he wanted to take Ronron away right then and there to teach her by himself. I had to argue with him for a while to keep our daughter. He agreed to not take her right then but said that he would absolutely do so when she hit 16."

"We could only agree at the time, but thankfully it turned out to be a great decision. The senior treats Ronron like his own child. No, it sometimes feels like he treats her better than he would his own daughter. He definitely treats her better than his other disciple, the girl named Hao Ya."

"That's… surprising," Alex said. "Did he really say that it was her birth that caused that phenomenon?"

"Mhm," Emily nodded.

Alex still couldn't believe it. However, there were too many things in this world that happened regardless of his belief.

"It's called a Birth Omen," a voice spoke in his head. "It's rare and infrequent, but it happens all the time in the immortal worlds, although with different intensity. From what I am hearing, it sounds like your clone's daughter caused quite the phenomenon. She must have been born with something amazing, whether it be talent, fate, or body constitution."

Alex was surprised to hear Godslayer's voice, but he heard him completely. "Birth Omen? So it's true, huh? Does it always happen to such people? Or is that dependent on the situation too?"

"It always happens if someone is born against heaven's will," Godslayer said. "Although, the phenomenon usually consists of switching weather, which most people usually ignore and can't recognize."

"I see," Alex said. 'People born against heaven's will. Isn't that what Shen Jing said I was?'

When two people with extraordinary gifts got together, they usually had trouble giving birth to a child because of how much heaven was against it. The couple would have to fight against heaven to be able to give birth to someone with their gifts, which was what the phenomenon most likely represented.

"That reminds me of when you were born too, Alex," Graham suddenly spoke. "The day you were born was so hot that it caused several wildfires around the world. It was recorded as the hottest day of the century. I distinctly remember coming home from the hospital with your mother and having to immediately go work on the field so that the plants didn't die from the severe lack of water."

"Did something like that actually happen?" Alex asked with a surprised expression.

"Yes," Graham said. "If not for already having chosen Alex and Alice as your potential name back then, I would've most likely named you Sunny."

Graham laughed by himself while Alex fell into his own thought. Given the information, it made sense that he caused some sort of phenomenon, but it was still surprising to hear from his father.

'They did fight against heaven to give birth to me,' Alex thought. 'It would be more surprising if nothing had happened despite my gifts.'

As he thought about that, another thought came to him. "Hmm? Wait for a second. That doesn't make any sense," he said.

The 3 suddenly looked toward him with curious looks. "What doesn't make sense?" the older Alex asked.

"The senior,' Alex said. "He said that your daughter was someone that was born once in a lifetime, right?"

"Yes," the older Alex said. "I don't remember much from back then, but that is definitely what he said."

"What's so special about Ronron?" Alex asked.

"I don't understand myself, but the senior says she is talented and has an almost impossible-to-have physique," the older Alex said.

That was the part confusing Alex more than anything. "How does she have a good talent and physique?" he asked. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you two have none of that?"

The two looked at each other and back at Alex. "I see where you are getting at," the older Alex said with a sigh in his voice.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked.

"We had the exact same concern back then as well, and we asked the senior about it. We too wanted to know how the two of us could ever give birth to someone like Ronron," the older Alex said. "And… this was what the senior said to us back then."

Alex and Graham got closer to the old man to hear what he had to say.

"Apparently, she is more your daughter than mine," the old man said.

No one spoke for a while until Alex broke the silence. "What?" he hadn't expected to hear what he heard at all. "What do you mean she's my daughter and not yours?"

"Please ask the senior to explain it, because we don't understand it either. The only thing we know is that she did not receive anything from the two of us, but rather you and the real Emily," the older Alex said. "Basically, biologically she is your daughter."

Alex was stunned for a few seconds as he didn't know what to say. Even Graham was dumbfounded by the information.

'Godslayer, how can the child born to the clones belong to me?' he asked.

"That's… not something I have knowledge about," Godslayer said. "It doesn't sound impossible, but it's definitely a challenging task even in the Immortal realm."

"I see," Alex said. "I'm more and more curious as to just who the senior really is."

"Enough of that," Graham said. "Do you have a picture of Ronron? Let me see, please."

"Yes, father," Emily said and quickly took out a phone before bringing out her daughter's picture.

Alex looked over as well and saw a young lady in a pink dress standing by a tree branch full of flowers. She had her hair in a ponytail and wore a single expensive-looking necklace on her neck.

Her wide smile made her fair skin seem even brighter than it actually was.

"She looks no older than 20 years old," Alex said. "When was this picture taken?"

"Uhh about 2 months ago. She came back because her master would be busy for a while, and I took that picture out by the field where that tree grows," Emily said. "She looks really young, doesn't she? Sigh, I sometimes wonder if she would look younger if we had let her start her cultivation even earlier."

"She is already cultivating?" Alex was surprised. "In here?"

"The senior has a way," the older Alex said.

"How old is she supposed to be in this picture, by the way?" Graham asked.

"She is currently 28 years old," the older Alex said. "Although she doesn't like it when people remind her of her age, so don't bring this up in front of her when you meet her, okay?"

Alex nodded while looking at the picture. He still found it impossible to believe that the young lady in the picture was biologically his daughter.

He had a daughter.

'I haven't even gotten together with a woman yet and I already have a daughter? What sort of sick joke is this?' he thought.

He looked at several other pictures of Ronron, at which time Emily went to prepare some food.

"Let's go eat something. We can continue talking in the kitchen," the older Alex said.

Alex and Graham didn't need to eat, but since they were home after a long time, they didn't refuse.

Pearl came to eat as well. Without any Qi to sustain him, food was the only thing he could eat to survive.

"Right, how did your wounds heal exactly? Was it the senior?" Alex asked Pearl.

"Yes, Senior came at that time and helped him," the older Alex said.

"Did you call him?" Alex asked.

"No, he came on his own. He said he sensed something crossing the Qi Barrier and wanted to see exactly what could do such a thing. When he saw that it was Pearl, he was quite surprised since Pearl didn't have the cultivation base or the physical strength to do such a thing."

"It was only after a bit more testing that he came to the conclusion that Pearl had unconsciously sacrificed his bloodline and spiritual root to protect himself," the older Alex said.

Alex couldn't help but feel guilty. "I'm sorry, Pearl. You had to go through such a thing because of me," he said.

"It's fine, brother," Pearl said with a big smile. However, that did nothing to calm Alex's heart. He still felt the pain and sadness and was sure that Pearl was disappointed too.

"No, I will find a way to fix this. Just wait," Alex said with determination in his voice.

"Actually, the senior did say that there was a way," the older Alex said. "Only, it would in all likelihood lead to Pearl's death."

"What? What way?" Alex asked.

"The same way I, no we tried to stop Pearl from going through because there was a possibility of death. Now, that possibility is astronomically high," the older Alex said.

Alex's eyes went wide. "Wait, are you saying that…"

"Yes," the older Alex said. "If Pearl ever wants to go back to how he was, or maybe even better, then he will have to go through the ritual in the White Tiger's Palace and hopefully evolve."