Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Shao Chun and the rest of the elders were still in disbelief that they now had a Saint spirit vein in their own backyard that would help them reach heights that only a handful of people could have reached in the Crimson Empire.

They thanked Alex profusely and thanked their own good sense to let Alex do what he wanted.

After planting the spirit vein, Alex then gave away pill recipes to the sect for free. He didn't ask for anything in return at all. He simply gave it to them because he wanted to.

He wanted the sect he once belonged to achieve a lot in the future. He wished to do the same for the Tiger Sect as well, but there wasn't much he could do to help the Tiger sect improve itself. He could give them some techniques, but that was about it.

After giving away the recipes, he then proceeded to give a lecture on Alchemy to the rest of the elders of the sect. He didn't want to give lectures to the disciples as there were so many of them.

Instead, he decided to give the lecture to the elders who would then pass it along to the disciples on their own.

His lectures lasted two days, and after that, he was done with everything he could do for the Hong Wu sect. Not only had the lectures been about Alchemy, but he had also given them knowledge on how to grow ingredients well.

He had that knowledge as well, so he passed it along. Along with that, he also gave them some formation blueprints that would make for an amazing formation to improve a garden's efficiency in growing plants, just like the 5 elemental formation that was around one of the Alchemy gardens that he had brought back from the Southern forest so many years ago.

After he was done, he left the Hong Wu sect for the time being and went over to the Tiger sect.

He hadn't visited the Tiger sect in the 3 days he had been in the Scarlet city. His time was mostly spent on the Hong Wu sect and with his master and the rest coming to visit them daily, he saw no reason to immediately go there.

Still, he had to go there eventually as he had to do a few things in that sect too. He didn't beat around the bush and instead directly told the current sect master of the Tiger sect what he planned on doing.

The current sect master of the Tiger sect was a middle-aged man that had joined the sect some 2 decades back. Normally, one couldn't become the sect master of any sect in that short of a time frame, but because of how the Tiger sect functioned, anyone with the strongest disciple could become the sect master.

Just like the Hong Wu sect, the Tiger sect also increased the cultivation threshold at which a disciple graduated from the sect. One had to now break through the True Disciple realm and enter the True Master realm to no longer remain a disciple of the sect.

As for age, they had to be 40 years or younger. Anyone above that age would automatically graduate.

The current prime disciple was someone who was about 36 years old and had a cultivation base at the end of the True Disciple realm.

People in the sect were all but certain that the prime disciple hadn't broken through to the True Master's realm yet just so he could keep his master at the sect master position for as long as he could.

In the remaining time, he hoped his master would find another disciple that could quickly reach the status of a prime disciple.

Alex spoke to the sect master directly and told him about the Saint spirit vein.

The middle-aged man did not trust Alex at all in the beginning. Even if he was the guest elder's son, something like Saint Spirit vein was still unbelievable to the man.

It took minutes of explanation from Wen Cheng, Luo Mei, and the rest for the sect master to realize that Alex wasn't lying at all. He could achieve what he wanted to do.

"Are you serious, senior?" the man asked. "Will you really put a Saint spirit vein in our sect?"

"Yes," Alex nodded.

The sect master was skeptical about it still. "Why?" he asked.

Wen Cheng sighed. "My disciple doesn't have any ulterior motive. He's just doing it because he was part of this sect at one point," he explained.

"That's right," Luo Mei nodded. "My little brother is just trying to help the sect."

Du Yuhan and Liu Xun made similar arguments, and finally, the sect master was coming around to accept what Alex was saying.

"If you can really do it, then do it," the sect master said. "But are you sure you want nothing in return? Just getting it for free feels… wrong for some reason."

Alex thought for a bit. "Actually, I was planning on taking something away anyway, but if it helps calm your anxiety, why don't we make a trade then?" he asked.

"Trade? What sort?" the sect master asked.

"I will give your sect a Saint Spirit vein. In exchange, I want something of yours too," Alex said.

"What do you want, senior?" the sect master asked. He couldn't imagine there was anything in the sect that he could compare with a Saint spirit vein. That would just be absurd.

"I want the thing that formed the crater," Alex said. "I want the Black stele at the center of your sect crater."

"Huh?" the sect master looked confused. "Black Stele? Do you mean the thing that is behind that formation?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I want," Alex said.

The sect master got curious now. Why was it that Alex wanted the black stele? What exactly was the black stele and why was it hidden inside a formation?

The sect master had arrived after the black stele was put into a formation, so he hadn't ever seen it before and had only heard of it.

Also, from what he had heard of it, it was just a random black stone that was in this land long before the Tiger sect was even formed.

Was there some history there that he did not know about? Should he actually refuse the offer?

As the sect leader thought that, he caught Alex's eyes who simply smiled at him.

'What are you thinking trying to deny a Saint realm cultivator,' he cursed at himself.

"I would love to make this deal with you, senior," the sect master said. "Thank you for giving us a Saint Spirit vein."

Alex smiled. "Great," he said. "I shall start my work tonight when the disciples have gone back."

He then left to look around the sect with his master who showed him all the new stuff that had come around since he had disappeared all those years ago.

The tour lasted until late into the night when Alex finally started to act on his promise. He pulled out a storage bag and from within it pulled out the Saint spirit vein.

The many elders stood around the sect crater and watched Alex begin.