Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

The cub saw the tree with its trunk dark red and its leaves bright golden. It burned like the sun at the top of a mountain, giving away light and life to everything in there.

"The Nine Yang God Tree?" the cub blurted out in surprise. "You have the Nine Yang God Tree?"

"The what?" Alex asked with a surprised tone as well. "No, that's the Nine Yang Divine Tree. What do you mean by God tree?"

The cub stood still for a while, ignoring Alex's question, looking only toward the yang tree. It stared at the tree for a while before curiosity overtook it and it flew toward it.

It arrived close enough to the tree, looking at it intently.

"It's weak," the cub said. "Is it really the Nine Yang God Tree?"

"Senior, I don't understand what you're talking about?" Alex asked. "What is the Nine Yang God Tree? How does it relate to this Nine Yang Divine Tree?"

"The Nine Yang Divine tree…" the cub said with some thought. "So it definitely is related to the Nine Yang God Tree."

The cub began thinking of the past, trying to remember what had happened to the tree. To be fair, the tree hadn't been a God tree for a long time. It might have carried its name, but it certainly wasn't strong enough to become one.

"Qi degradation has hurt it very much," the cub said. "They even changed its name, huh?"

"Is this the same tree as the one you're thinking of, senior?" Alex asked.

"It is the same," the cub said.

"Same in the way that an apple tree grows seeds that turn into an apple tree?" Alex asked.

"Same in the way that the World Tree's seed grows into a World Tree," the cub answered. "It is a descendant, yes, but it is also the same tree. Only a single one of them can exist at a time."

Alex was surprised. He remembered that day when he first gained his freedom after a year of being suppressed with his clone's soul in his body. That was the day he had met this plant for the first time.

He remembered it speaking to him, not through words, but through feelings. It wanted him to save its seed.

He also remembered talking to Scarlet about it, how the Nine Yang Divine tree was an important part of the Nine Yang court, a group of fanatics that would go to any lengths for this tree.

Was it because many generations ago, this tree used to be in the God realm?

"Wait, when you say this is a God tree, do you mean that it had a cultivation base in the God realm?" Alex asked. "Wouldn't that make it a Primordial as well?"

The cub shook its head. "The Nine Yang God tree came long before we Primordials did. Back then, plants didn't have cultivation. They simply were strong."

Alex was quite surprised to hear that. "Would you say its strength was enough to allow it to reach the God realm?" he asked.

The cub thought for a bit. "Perhaps not," it said. "Maybe to the peak of the Celestial realm. The same way Qi degraded once it reached the realm of God Qi, it took time to reach that point as well. By that time, animals had taken over as the dominant species."

The cub couldn't help but wonder if animals had taken just a few thousand millennia longer to become dominant, would the Nine Yang God Tree have ever stopped growing?

Alex took in the information as well, surprised by this plant's legacy. Now that he thought about it, Scarlet had indeed mentioned something about the Nine Yang Divine tree's origin going back to the times before the war.

The Nine Yang court was one of the oldest human organizations in the world after all.

Another question formed as he thought more about it. "Yang seems to never be around without Yin," he said. "Was there a God tree as well for Yin?"

"I don't believe so," the cub said. "But then, I do not know much either. It is hypothesized that all of the Yin Gathering trees did come from the Yin God tree. No one knows if that is true or not though."

Alex nodded with a thoughtful expression.

The cub turned back toward the tree with a thoughtful look. "Have you formed your Creation yet?" it asked.

"No. I'm only in the Immortal Origin realm. I haven't even begun to take in any aura for my Creation," he said.

"In that case, you should take that tree as your Creation. It should work greatly for you."

Alex raised an eyebrow. He was already considering this from the start, but to hear a Primordial say so made him quite surprised.

"Is there a reason why you say that?" he asked.

"It would be better for you," the cub said. "But… maybe you shouldn't. Maybe you'll find something better."

Alex narrowed his eyes. "Do you know of anything better?" Alex asked.

"There is one, but… forget it. I do not think it exists anymore," the cub said. "This tree is your second best option."

"What is the first best option?" Alex asked, curiosity now overtaking him.

"Forget it," the cub said. "You will only spend years and years in vain searching for it, should I tell you, when it does not exist from the start. It is better for you to not even hear it."

Alex narrowed his eyes. "You can at least tell me what it is, right?" he asked.

"No," the cub said, turning away. "Forget about what I said. Point me in the direction of the White Tiger. I came here to see how I can help him. Should I be able to, I will."

Alex sighed as he realized the Primordial had no intention of answering him. Still, learning that the Nine Yang Divine tree was somehow the second best option he could have, he was surprised.

"Here," he said, showing the way. "He is this way."