Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

After returning from the Northern Continent, Alex spent some time cultivating. He hadn't spent cultivated much when he was over there, and it was getting close to when he could break through to the next realm.

So, before he did anything else, he decided to break through to the next realm.

Because Alex hadn't forced himself to reach the next realm as he had done before the war, it took a lot longer than he expected to reach the bottleneck.

So, after a month of close cultivation, Alex finally managed to break through.

His breakthrough was simple and quick. There was no trouble, and he reached the Saint Transformation 2nd realm easily. After spending some time on post-cultivation after a breakthrough, he left his room to go see how the situation was around the palace.

Linlin waited outside his room as always and immediately began giving him the information.

The newly hired officials were working as usual it seemed and some of the elders had come out to help and lighten the workload. The continent had entered its state of peace now, to the point where he wasn't even needed for most things.

The alchemists under him had shown a lot of progress too, apparently. The Wood pill he had given them a recipe for had been made many times, and the high-ranking soldiers and officials in the empire had been provided with a pill already, given that they had Wood's spiritual root.

"Some of the soldiers have reported their dissatisfaction with the situation," Linlin said. "Since only the ones with the Wood root have received the pill, the ones without it feel like they are ignored."

"That's… a problem certainly." Alex rubbed his chin and decided to have the alchemists mass-produce the Earth pill and the Water pill as well. Although, the required ingredients for the pills would be hard to find.

'But I don't have the pill for Fire and Metal,' Alex thought. 'Should I spend my time on it?'

Thinking about it, it would certainly be of great help to everyone if he could make it. But, given how long it had taken him to make the Wood pill, he feared he would have to spend all of his time on just that.

'No,' he thought to himself. 'The wood pill was difficult because my wood spiritual root was trash. I have significantly superior Fire spiritual roots, and Supreme Metal roots. I should be able to make a pill faster.'

Thinking as such, Alex decided to make a mental note of what he needed to do in the future. Of course, he would need something more for his family and friends.

Linlin moved over to talking about his family next, who didn't have anything new going on with them.

Graham trained all day. Ronron went between cultivating and training. And Helen spent her time practicing making better pills and talismans, with Whisker who was by her side at all times.

Scarlet remained inside the dome for most of the time now since she wasn't needed much at all.

"Your aunt has returned to the Eastern Continent to visit the Emperor and Empress there," Linlin said. "As for the others, there's nothing new."

"What about my master and Martial Uncle?" Alex remembered. "Are they doing well under their management roles?"

Linlin gave a small helpless grin. "Senior Wen Cheng adjusted well to his new role, but I don't think senior Lang Shun had much managerial experience. He was overwhelmed by the work we had, so he returned back to focusing on alchemy."

"I see. That's alright. My master is doing well though, right?" he asked.

"Yes, senior Wen Cheng is fitting in well. If he can cultivate quickly, he can even get a better standing among the new officials."

Alex looked at Linlin. "He's not doing well with the others?"

"Umm… it's less that he's doing bad, and more that it's clear that the only reason any of the others respect him at all is because he is your master. Nobody says it, but they all know that he got his job only because of his relation to you."

Alex frowned, finding a hint of anger burn within him, but he let go of it. There was no lie in those words. It was indeed true that Wen Cheng had gotten this job just because of Alex.

Wen Cheng would have to struggle with the disrespect until he could prove them otherwise. If Alex helped, he would only be proving their point.

Alex listened to more of what Linlin had to say and got a general idea of what was going on. He nodded in the end, having listened to everything.

"Oh right, have you taken a break yet, Linlin?" Alex asked. "You work every single day. Do you take breaks at all?"

"I work during the day, and I'm free at night always, your Majesty," Linlin said.

"Still, you need to take some breaks. How long has it been since you went to see your family? Has it been years?" Alex asked.

"My family comes to visit me from time to time in the city. I meet with them when they do come," she said.

"That won't do." Alex felt offended. "Go visit them. Take a month or two off, and go be with your family. And focus on your cultivation too. You won't be spending all your time in the palace; you'll have to become an Immortal soon."

Linlin gave an awkward smile. "I do not know if it is possible for me to break through to Immortality. I am fine with being a—"

"No, you're not fine," Alex cut her off. "Being so close to me all this time, you have received tremendous benefits. There should be no doubt in your mind that you can reach the Immortal realm."

"Now go and complete what urgent work you have and prepare for your vacation."

Once Alex said that he left to go and see his family and others.

He arrived in his mother's room and saw her making a few pills along with Whisker, and a young girl who appeared to be only in her early adolescence.

Despite being nearly 30 years old, the girl appeared very young.

"Yumin, are you here to practice Alchemy?" Alex asked.

"Your Majesty!" The girl quickly stood up and bowed. "I did indeed come to learn alchemy from the master."

The girl was Kong Yumin, the daughter of Kong Yuhan and Zhou Mi. Back in the Hong Wu sect, she had been training under his mother, so after she had come here with her parents, she still sought out training from his mother from time to time.

"Learn well," Alex said and sat beside his mother, watching her make pills.

There was simply nothing wrong with the way his mother made pills. Being the only other person with 7 elemental spiritual roots, alongside Alex, she had been able to learn the Supreme Elemental Accord.

It had taken her quite some time to learn that and the Pill Splitting Qi, but she had done that by now.

She wasn't as good at fixing recipes, but she was very good at following them. And with everything else the best she could use, Helen too had started making pills with pill veins.

Once she improved her cultivation base, she would be able to higher grade pills.