Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Alex took out a large rope from his Soul Space and wrapped it around the man's arm where it had been cut off.

"Stop using your Qi and let go of the wound."

The man had been using his Qi to stop his bleeding, but with him constantly using his Qi, it would be hard for Alex to help the man. His Qi would interfere with what he needed to do.

"Will… will it be alright? I won't bleed out?" he asked.

"That is why I wrapped your arm. You won't bleed." Alex kept a calm tone the entire time, making the man feel as though he was in the hands of someone who knew what he was doing.

The man slowly let go of his arm, watching the bleeding to make sure it didn't start immediately.

When he realized that he wasn't bleeding at all, he sighed in relief. He let out a deep breath and looked toward Alex. "What now?"

"Now, I get rid of the pill that remains in your system."

Alex took the man's hand and began pouring Qi into his arm. "This may or may not hurt. If it does, try to bear it."

He poured his Yang Qi into the man's body, and the man immediately winced from the pain, his entire body jerking away from his arm.

"Hold!"

Alex continued pouring more and more Qi into his body, reaching for the bits of pill remains that were scattered throughout his body. When he reached it, he used his Qi to burn it.

Had he used his regular Qi, he would have had to drag out the bits or push it until it reached a part of the man's body where it would flush out of his system eventually.

But when he used Yang Qi, he could simply burn all the powder directly, leaving not a single remnant of it. That was what he did with the Qi inside of his body, and if he was careful, he could do it outside of his body too.

"Does it hurt too badly?" Alex asked as he worked.

"No," the man answered through gritted teeth. "It's somewhat painful, but I can handle it."

Once Alex heard that he continued, going even faster. There were a lot of blood vessels and meridians he had to cover, and he didn't want to waste much time.

The man gritted the entire time through as Alex worked, taking deep and long breaths as the yang Qi inside of him burned way too hot.

"Why… why did this happen to me?" the man asked. "Was it… was it really because I ate low-grade pills?"

"Yes," Alex said, answering while he did the work.

"How?" the man asked. "I've seen others eat similarly bad pills too. They've never had this problem."

"There are many reasons why they may be safe while you aren't," Alex said. "You may eat too many bad pills. You may eat them too frequently. You don't eat pills that deal with this problem early on. That sort."

"I…" the man fell silent for a bit. "I can't eat good pills. They are too expensive."

"Maybe," Alex said. "But you need to care about your life more than the pills. If you're gonna buy pills, buy good ones. If there are only bad ones, only buy them in the extreme cases."

"I don't buy pills," the man said.

"Do you get them from someone then?" Alex asked, not fully focusing on the conversation. He needed all of his attention on the task he was doing.

"No," the man said. "I make my own."

Alex finally paused and looked up at the man. "You make your own pill? You're an Alchemist?"

"I guess?" the man answered. "I wouldn't call myself one. I wasn't taught by anyone. I learned everything on my own."

"You read books to learn it?" Alex asked.

"No, couldn't read for the longest time," the man said. "Only managed to learn how to read and write when I became an Immortal."

"Why not learn it before that?" Alex asked.

"Too busy surviving," the man said. "I was orphaned at an early age after a rival sect killed my parents before I turned five. I was captured by them and turned into a slave. No one taught me how to read and write. I learned to cultivate just by watching them and seeing what they did."

"Alchemy was the same as well. I was made a pill boy, made to take care of the garden and take around ingredients that the alchemists needed. I stole some and learned what they did."

"I've been using those pills to cultivate until now, doing everything I can to survive and get stronger. I only got my freedom after I became a Saint when the Blue Silk sect delivered judgment on the sect. Everyone involved was killed, and I was free, but I needed to learn to survive."

"I didn't bother with learning to read or write, but when I became an Immortal, it came to me on its own," the man said.

Alex's eyes narrowed. "You learned to read and write on your own when you became an Immortal?" he asked. "Is it like how Saint beasts learn to speak when they become a Saint?"

"Yeah! Exactly like that," the man said, before wincing in pain as Alex reached another section of his body.

"I commend you for your bravery, brother," Alex said.

"I don't need any commendation. I did what I could to survive," the man said.

Alex smiled and continued working on him. He went through the entire body, cleaning all of the pill remains, the majority of which were near the man's torso.

Once he finally finished, he pulled out his Qi and the man felt relief for the first time.

He let out a deep sigh and remained seated on the bed for a while before speaking. "So… will my pills work on me now?"

"They should," Alex said. "Do you really want to try out that pill?" he asked.

"Shouldn't I?" the man asked. "It's still a good pill. I'll just have to be careful with the remaining ones is all."

Alex thought for a bit. "How about we swap your pills?" he asked. "Give me the pill you have and I'll give you a good one."

The man narrowed his eyes. "Really? You'll do that for me?"

"Sure," Alex said.

The man was suspicious, but he had come so far, so he might as well do it. "I can't afford a regular pill anyway, so this might be better for me."

He pulled out a healing pill from his Soul Space and handed it over to Alex.

Alex took the pill and nodded. "Go and wait outside, I'll bring a good pill for you in a bit."

The man shrugged and went out to wait. There wasn't much else he could do in here anyway.

Alex watched the man leave and then looked at the pill. It was only a 42% pill, which would be considered a failure anywhere else in this immortal world.

But the construction of the pill seemed decent enough, so Alex could improve it easily.

He held the pill in his arm and began using Divine Elemental Accord.