Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Chapter 3442: In a Sacred Jade Lotus

Alex finally teleported away from the Holy Beast Continent and arrived at the Jade Lotus Continent. The moment he arrived out of the formation platform and spread his senses, he could immediately see a realm of massive lakes and rivers, with many Sacred Jade Lotuses growing within them.

"Woah!" he said, surprised. He had expected them to be here, but he hadn’t expected them to be everywhere. More than that, he hadn’t expected them to be unprotected from his Spiritual sense.

Alex had seen the three lotuses outside of the palace back in the Holy Beast city, but compared to that, these lotuses were of varying sizes. Some were small, barely budding. Some were big, nearly wilted. But a lot of them were at perfect maturity with large flowers open wide.

"Are these really the flowers that were once nearly extinct?" Alex asked as he walked down the platform.

"They once were," the Beast God said. "But you can’t say that anymore. They are everywhere here now. Senior Sacredlotus made certain of that."

"How many flowers are there?" Alex asked.

"28,184," the Beast God answered.

Alex turned around with a look of genuine surprise. "You have counted them all?"

"That’s what we do," she explained. "We have people that keep track of all the flowers, from ones that are just blossoming to ones that are reaching the ends of their lives. We can’t decide who uses the flowers and when without first knowing all this."

Alex could see how that was true.

"Given that there are over 28 thousand flowers here, and many that should have existed since before your time, has any one of them become a human again?" he asked.

"No," the Beast God said without a moment’s pause. "It’s not like they need to."

"Need to?" Alex asked. "Do plants only turn into humans because they need to?"

"Yes," Bladedance said. "Although, perhaps not in the way you might be thinking. Though, you’re an alchemist, so you should know this already."

"I know how plants turn into humans and for what, but I didn’t know they only did so because they needed to," Alex said. "In the first place, how does a plant even decide that it needs to transform?"

"It just does," Bladedance said, stepping into the conversation. "Every plant-turned human will tell you that they became a human because it was required of them. It’s usually because their species is beginning to die out, or because the Heaven believes there needs to be a failsafe in case something catastrophic will happen to them. It’s a safety measure from what we understand."

The Beast God nodded. "That’s mostly the reason why you won’t find many plant-turned-humans around the world. It isn’t that often that a plant needs to protect its species."

"I see," Alex said. "I’ve always wondered in passing why I don’t see more plants, especially since there are so many of them that it’s weird some of them don’t become human. But it makes sense if they only do it when it’s necessary. Otherwise, they probably just want to remain as plants."

Without leaving the teleportation area, the Beast God took Alex and the rest to another teleportation formation, which took them deeper into the continent to another location.

"Your first lotus is here. You should be good to enter it anytime you want," the Beast God said.

Alex widened his eyes. "Even now?"

The Beast God shrugged. "If you wish to," she said. "For the sake of maximizing the effect the lotuses produce, we keep them empty for an entire year. That time has already passed around a week ago, so you are free to use it right now."

Alex didn’t see why he had to wait in that case.

"I might as well use it then. What do I need to do exactly? Or rather, what should I be careful about?" he asked.

"Nothing specific really," the Beast God said. "We haven’t had any sessions where the cultivator has destroyed a flower, so you’re free to cultivate however you wish. The petals are sturdy enough so that you can’t do much to them once they envelop you."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Envelope me?"

"Look at it," the Beast God said, pointing to the flowers. "They are large enough to take you in. Once you sit down to cultivate, they will close their petals over you, and while you cultivate, they will help improve your soul."

"Oh! That sounds nice," Alex said. "Then I will go and start right away."

Alex headed over, led by one of the workers whose job it was to handle these things.

"Remember, it’s only one month. Make sure you plan it accordingly," the Beast God shouted as Alex walked away.

Alex gave an affirming nod before flying over the lake, making his way toward the flower that was to be his. He stepped inside the green lotus, bright like the color of a freshly polished jade, and felt a distinct aroma coming from it that triggered the part of his mind where the Alchemy God’s Knowledge was kept.

He couldn’t help but smile as a result.

He sat down as instructed, cross-legged and with his mind slowly emptying. Nothing happened at first, but that was only because he needed to cultivate before anything started to happen.

So, Alex slowly began cultivating.

Because he cultivated using a pure yang cultivation technique, Alex was a little worried that the Yang he pulled into his body would ruin the flowers. However, as he continued, he quickly became aware that the flower was indeed much more resilient than he had thought it would be.

So, he continued cultivating without worry.

Slowly, the petals of the lotus converged in around him, slowly swallowing him in with them.

Alex continued cultivating, giving little attention to it. Still, he paid enough attention to see what was happening.

It took a moment for it to start, but the flower did begin producing a cool aura that seemed gentle and yet strong enough to penetrate deep into his soul.