Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Alex's mother and the rest had been getting ready to visit the Hong Wu sect when they had been stopped by the man surnamed Feng, who had taken a liking to his mother ever since he had decided to become a guest elder for both the Tiger sect and the Hong Wu sect.

After the lord's return, she wanted to leave the beast realm. However, she couldn't go back to the Luminous empire as there would most likely be enemies of her son that would want to take revenge.

Instead, she came over to this side to live with her son's friends and close acquaintances.

After arriving in the Scarlet city, Helen started aiding the two sects by becoming their guest elder who could make almost anything.

Even the Alchemists over at the Hong Wu sect were surprised by her alchemy, even though it wasn't even her strongest suit.

She could make formations too, but her strongest suit still remained talismans. Despite the lack of proper resources on this side, she could still make amazing talismans that quickly made her popular all over the empire.

The Hong Wu sect was already popular for its amazing quality pills, but adding onto that the amazing talismans and sometimes even better pills made the city just that more popular.

That was one of the reasons why so many people had come to the city over the last 30 years, increasing even more over the last decade.

When the Emperor found out that she could also make saint pills, her status grew even more.

Helen made a few pills for the Emperor once or twice a year due to the severe lack of resources on this side. Via the emperor, the other two saints came to know her as well.

The man surnamed Feng was in the Saint Foundation realm, an entire realm above the Saint Condensation realm that Helen had only recently entered. As such, she was polite and respectful to the senior without being overly direct.

However, that caused the man to have the misconception that she was interested in him just as he was interested in her. Even when she casually mentioned about waiting for her son or husband, the man didn't truly believe her.

When he found out that it was actually true today, he had come to create a ruckus. Only, he hadn't expected to be beaten so badly.

"I hope he doesn't end up becoming a problem," Alex spoke as he looked in the direction when he had thrown him away. He was still inside the city as Alex's teleportation dao didn't exceed more than a kilometer of distance without external help.

His spiritual sense had already reached the man and he had threatened him too, but who knew what would happen.

He turned around to look at the people from the Tiger sect and smiled. He bowed toward Wen Cheng and spoke, "Greetings, master."

"You finally came," Wen Cheng said with a wide smile and open arms. "Welcome back. We've been waiting for you."

Alex smiled and accepted the hug from his master. He then turned to his senior sister and brothers and greeted them too.

Luo Mei and Liu Xun both hugged him once after another.

"You guys look the same," Alex said. "Yet, so very different."

Luo Mei smiled. "Same goes for you, little brother," she said.

"I hear you've got quite the status now," Liu Xun said. "Should we be changing how we address you?"

"I would prefer if you ignored my status and treat me like the younger brother I am," Alex said. He then looked around at the crowd that had gathered and greeted them as well.

He didn't recognize all of them, but he did recognize a few of them. That was enough for him to speak to them for a bit before they all left.

Alex then had them meet his aunt as well. After the greetings were passed along, Helen finally spoke.

"We were on our way to the Hong Wu sect, but now that you've just arrived…" Helen paused.

Alex looked at them and at his clone who seemed anxious to go and smiled. "Let us go then," he said. He turned around to his master and senior disciples and said, "Is it alright if I come back later?"

"Sure, sure," Wen Cheng said. "Alex, I mean that Alex has been wanting to go there ever since they arrived here yesterday."

"Oh yeah, how do we even address you two? You clearly aren't like normal clones who its two bodies with one mind," Luo Mei said. "But calling you both Alex is annoying because you won't know who we're talking about."

"Uhh… you can do names like First Alex and Second Alex," Alex said.

"And who's first and who's second?" Luo Mei asked.

"I'm obviously first," Alex said. "He's a clone, he should be second."

"But he's the one we met first," Liu Xun added.

"Well… no, I mean kind of? You met him in soul, but it was still my body," Alex said.

"So? Who's first? The body or the soul?" Luo Mei asked.

"Fine, let's not call ourselves that," Alex said and shook his head. "You can continue calling him Alex and refer to me as Yu Ming if you need to distinguish between the two of us."

"Oh, so simple, huh?" Wen Cheng thought. "How come I didn't think of it?"

"Anyway, I don't see brother Du around," Alex said. "Where is he?"

"My husband is training his disciples around the crater," Luo Mei said.

Alex's eyes widened. "Husband? So you guys got married?" he asked with an excited look.

"Hehe, it was 2 decades ago," Luo Mei said.

"Oh, congratulations, sister," Alex said. "I'm happy for you."

"You shouldn't just be happy for me," Luo Mei said.

Alex looked confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I'm not just the one that got married," she said pointing to the side with her eyes.

Alex followed her eyes and looked at the man standing in front of him. He gasped in surprise. "Master? You got married?" he asked.

"Why did you gasp? Is it that surprising? Did you think I would be single for life?" Wen Cheng asked, prompting a burst of laughter from around the group.

"No, no, I was just surprised," he said. "When did you marry?"

"Just a few years ago," Wen Cheng said. "It hasn't been that long."

"Yeah, but that's only because he took his sweet time to ask her to marry. I told you, master, you should have done that ages ago," Luo Mei said.

"Shut it," Wen Cheng said.

"Oh, who did you get married to?" Alex asked. "Someone from the sect?"

"No, not from our sect or any sect," Luo Mei said. "But I think you know her. Even Alex remembered her after mentioning a few things about her."

Alex got curious. "Who?" he asked.

"It's someone pretty from the Pink Cloud Auction house," Luo Mei said.

"Pink Cloud Auction…" Alex's eyes went wide when he remembered a female figure from the auction house, the one that he used to visit so many times to sell his pills when he was still part of the Hong Wu sect.

"No way!" he gasped once again in surprise. "Lady Cai Ping?"

"Uhuh! So you do remember," Luo Mei said.

"I do," Alex said. "So you married lady Cai, huh? Should I be calling her mistress Cai now? How does it work?"

"Just senior Cai or Lady Cai is fine," Luo Mei said. "I myself call her senior Cai, while senior brother calls her Lady Cai."

"I see," Alex said. "Then I suppose congratulations are in order for you too, master. Wait, I can't give empty congratulations on such occasions. Here, take this temporary gift for now. I will try and prepare something better when I have the time."

Alex handed two pill bottles along with two talismans, one of each to both Wen Cheng and Luo Mei.

"The bottle contains various types of pills that can help you in various scenarios, the descriptions of which I've written down on that talisman. I prepared them in advance since I expected to have to give away pills to people I met here, but I didn't think it would be you two who would get it first," he said.

He then turned toward his senior brother. "Are you married too, brother?" he asked.

"No, but I do have a fiancee, so I should be getting married soon as well," he said. "Does that mean I'm not getting any pills?"

"You can have one if you want, but I have better pills that I can give to you once I have some time to sit down and see what you would need," Alex said.

"Oh, then I will choose to wait," Liu Xun said. "You better have a pill that can push me directly to the Saint realm. I'm hoping you to be at least that good by now."

Even knowing that his senior brother was joking, Alex could only give a dry laugh at the ridiculousness of the pill he was suggesting. If such a pill existed, it wouldn't be in this realm at all.

"You guys should leave now," Wen Cheng said. "We will come by your mother's house later tonight and we can talk there. I'll make sure to bring my wife along as well."

"Oh, I'll look forward to it," Alex said. "I'll see you all later then."

He turned around and started walking out of the sect with the rest of his family.