Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Alex stopped his Sword Aura. While he did learn it, it was a bit too strong for him at the moment to continue keeping it active without throwing it out.

Also, he was certain that he was still going to need a lot of practice to use it multiple times.

The amount of mental strain alone used up by his Intent to create Sword Qi around him would be a lot for him now.

'Well, it's only been a month since I entered anyway. I have a lot of time,' Alex thought.

Once the Sword Aura disappeared, he stood up and walked forward. He got closer and closer to the 10-meter mark that he was told by Pearl.

He had not yet seen the gorge or whatever that lied around it. Until now, he had only been explained that.

So, Alex decided to see it for himself and took his first step into the unknown.

Intense Intent assaulted him the moment he did. He was not the one the Intent was targeting clearly, but even then it was hard to not be attacked by it.

'Attacking intents are so much stronger than ones that are simply there to stop people from reading some words,' Alex thought.

It could also be that in this stagnant world, this intent had remained fresh, while the ones in the book and stele had faded over time, but that didn't take away from the fact that Alex was currently being attacked by some of the strongest intent he had felt to this day.

Alex stayed determined, however, and kept moving. There was nothing that was going to stop him.

He took another step, fighting the forces of the intent and aura together. They were bad, but nothing that could stop him right now.

Besides, the truly bad part would start at the spot where the ground was attacked.

Alex moved three more steps forward, arriving around the 6-meter mark, where he was finally forced to stop. He could have kept moving forward, but then he would have to move back immediately as he would be completely exhausted.

Instead, he sat down and started tempering his intent again, while at the same time trying to look into the mysteries behind the aura.

However, this time he was looking for different mysteries. Previously, he was searching for the mystery behind Sword Aura. However, now he was searching for the Dao that was hidden within this aura.

He knew for sure that the Dao of Sharpness was hidden within this aura, but he wanted to see if there were more he could find.

So, he sat and continued understanding the dao for as long as it took him.

Time passed slowly, but surely. People continued coming and going from this place, but very few actually stayed there long enough to give themselves ample opportunity to learn everything.

Alex was one of them. He had stayed there for one month with Pearl, and that was what he had needed to slowly grasp the concept of Sword Qi so he could form his own sword aura.

After that, he stayed there for 2 more months, learning everything he could. During these times, he practiced bringing out Sword Aura frequently but found that he still needed a lot of time if he wanted to use it multiple times.

What he did successfully do was understand the Dao of Sharpness to a certain extent now, but there was still something that he needed to learn that he wasn't able to get from here. He would have to mull over it on his own in the Dao mountain.

Aside from that, he had also glimpsed at something in the aura. Not only was the Dao of Sharpness there, but there was something else, something not a Dao or intent.

Alex had a hunch, but he wasn't sure if he was correct. But if he was, then whatever it was in there, was very much likely the next step after Sword Aura.

'What can it be?' he wondered.

He was curious, but the answer wasn't there. So, after 3 months of non-stop learning the sword, Alex finally decided to leave now to train on his own.

As for going forward, he could come back once his eyesight was back.

Alex stood up and felt himself a little exhausted from the constant battle that he was in for the last 2 months. He then swiftly walked away from the aura and intent, leaving it behind.

He felt a sense of relief not having to constantly fight it all.

A few people noticed it and looked up curiously. These were the people that had been here 2 months ago and had seen Alex reach Sword Aura.

Now, they wanted to see how far he had come.

One man stood up and immediately walked up to Alex. "Fellow Daoist, wait," the person said.

Alex moved his spiritual sense to the person and realized that this was a Saint realm cultivator.

"Can I help you?" Alex asked.

"I certainly hope you can," the man said. "I was hoping you would have a simple bout with me with the new knowledge you acquired here."

"You want to test my Sword Aura?" Alex asked. He was certain that people had seen him after trying it out for so long.

"I actually want to test my understanding I have received from this place by comparing it against what you've learned," the man said.

Alex remained silent for a bit in contemplation.

"Please do not worry, I will not sure my cultivation base for anything other than defending," said the man with a cultivation base in the lower Saint Condensation realm.

Alex smiled behind his mask. "Sure, why not? I wish to see what I've learned too," he said.

The two of them moved a little further away, and a few people felt dejected that they weren't there before him.

Alex took out a normal sword and stood in front of the man who took out his Saint-ranked sword.

"Let's begin," the man said and his sword shined brightly.

Alex's sword shined with the same bright light as the man's as well. In fact, his might have been brighter due to the sheer number of Sword Qi he was making.

Alex wasn't even intending to use Sword Aura, and only Sword Qi, but the amount he was producing was abnormal, to say the least.

Sitting inside that place for so long had affected his Intent so much that he now had to reel it in so as not to overdo it.

The man swung his sword and the white slash moved towards Alex. Alex sensed the weak attack and slashed his own.

If the man's attack looked like a stream of flowing water, then Alex's attack was a raging river. Nothing was going to stop it from keeping on going.

His attack devoured the Saint's attack and kept on going towards the Saint. The Saint realized the danger and quickly used a defensive technique to protect himself.

Still, he was pushed back by the attack he was just dealt. He looked at Alex in horror, only now understanding just how strong the young man in front of him was.

And he hadn't even used his Sword Aura yet.

With only Sword Qi, Alex had forced the Saint into giving up. If he had used Sword Aura, he would've likely killed the saint.

Alex himself was quite surprised by how strong he had been. He couldn't help but wonder just how strong his sword attacks were now.

"I see that I'm not your match," the saint said with clear shock written in his eyes. "Thank you for parting blows with me."

"Thank you too for letting me test my new strength," Alex said and bowed a little.

The Saint turned around to leave, and another cultivator moved past him.

'Hmm?' Alex thought. He had scanned the place a few times, but he hadn't seen this woman before.

'Was she one of the cultivators that stayed further away than me?' he thought.

"Young man, would you like to test your Sword Aura with me? I wish to see how strong you've become," she said.

Alex checked the woman's cultivation base and it was clearly in the Saint Foundation realm. She was far stronger than what he could hope to beat even normally.

Which meant, that this was the best person to train against using his full might.

Alex nodded. "Thank you, senior, for giving me this opportunity."