Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

"Scarlet," Alex called out. "Look who it is."

Scarlet turned around to see Maron standing next to Alex, and even without the introduction, she could see the resemblance.

"Ah, this must be the daughter everyone was talking about," Scarlet said and walked close up close to them.

Maron's eyes went wide seeing the glowing bird that almost looked like it was in eternal flames. She gulped a bit and bowed slowly.

"A phoenix," she said slowly under her breath. She quickly got a hold of herself and bowed toward the bird. "It's nice to meet you, senior."

"It's nice to meet you, child," Scarlet said. "I'm bonded with your father, so you can call me Aunt Scarlet if you like."

"B-bonded?" the girl was surprised to hear that. She looked towards Alex with a shocked expression, unbelieving that her biological father had actually bonded with the Phoenix.

"What? Do you not want to call me aunt?" Scarlet asked. "I thought you would like it."

"No, no, I like it," Maron said quickly. "You have a pretty name, aunt Scarlet."

"Is that so?" Scarlet asked. "Your father gave it to me as well. I've been using it since I like it so much."

"Child, don't be so nervous," the snake senior spoke. "She is not a scary person at all. You can be yourself around her."

"Yes, senior Xuan," Maron said.

"We're going to go home now," Alex told Scarlet. "What do you want to do? Do you want to stay here with senior Xuan or would you like to come with us? You can meet Pearl too."

"Hmm, I would love to come definitely," Scarlet said and turned around. "What about you, senior? Have you gone around this land to see how it is?"

"Actually… I haven't really," the snake said. "I find myself alone most of the time with no one willing to leave at all."

"The senior has to stay here to keep the Intent in his secret room empowered almost all the time. Hao Ya is mostly outside, working to fix the mistakes and help her master."

"As for Ronron here, she ends up spending all the time with her master so she can cultivate," the snake said. "As such, I've never had anyone who could take me around. However, it feels like this is the perfect time for me to do so, so if you are willing, I would like to come with your young man."

Alex gave a wide smile. "It would be my pleasure, senior," he said. "What about your Sister Hao, do you want to come with us for a few days?"

Hao Ya shook her head. "Maybe next time," she said. "For now, I need to help master with whatever he may need."

"I see, that's a shame," Alex said. "Next time then, we'll leave for now."

Hao Ya nodded and led the four to the gates of the mansion. Alex walked outside of the gates where the illusory formation was and could once again see the dense trees that apparently made the entirety of the land inside.

"Uhh, can you fly, senior?" Alex asked the Snake. "I'm not sure if you have Immortal Qi or not."

"Fly?" Ronron was the one that answered instead of the snake. "Why would we fly, father? Do you know how hard it is to get Qi in this place?"

"Oh, right," Alex said. "Hmm, I can take all of you with me then. Scarlet, you can fly on your own, I will carry Ronron and senior with me."

Scarlet shook her head. "I don't feel like flying," she said as her body suddenly shrunk to a size where she was no different from a regular bird. She landed on Alex's shoulder and said, "you can take me with you too now."

Alex felt a little irritated. "Why are you so lazy nowadays? You won't even look after your place most of the time," he said.

"Of course," Scarlet said. "That's what you are here for, so I don't have to do anything."

Alex wanted to retort, but Maron quickly spoke. "Father, let's not fly. It's a waste of resources anyway," she said.

"Then how do we go back?" Alex asked.

"How else?" Maron asked. "We use the trains of course."

"Oh," Alex said. "Do you have money?"

Ronron quickly reached into her storage bag and pulled out a small black card. "I have all the money we need right here," she said as she showed off her credit card.

Unfortunately for her, none of the people here truly knew the significance of the black credit card she held in her hands.

"Oh, that's good then," Alex said. "Let's go take the trains then. Is it far?"

Ronron pouted a little as she put her card back into her pocket. "No, it's just around the corner," she said. "Let me show you the way."

She walked in front with the two men and a bird following her. Alex looked around the location to see how changed the modern world was, and the snake looked around to see just how different everything was all together.

The snake was very surprised by all the different architecture. He had been here for over 5 thousand years, and yet this was the first time he was seeing it all in person.

Scarlet was the same as the Snake as well, only she hadn't been here for long enough to develop a burning curiosity like him.

They all arrived at the train station shortly after, and Maron bought 3 separate tickets to Mapleleaf station. Once she bought the ticket, they all went over to wait for the train to arrive.

A few people sent glances toward their group because of how different their clothes were, but with everything happening the past 2 days, they didn't even care much at all

The train arrived not even a minute later and Scarlet could only stare at it. "What is that thing?" she asked.

"It's called a train," Alex explained. "It runs on electricity and is very fast. This one, in particular, is actually one of the fastest things in here."

"Oh," Scarlet said.

"I've wanted to get into these train things for a long time," the snake said.

Alex nodded. "I've only been on a train once before and I don't remember how that went at all," he said.

"Huh? You've only been on a train once, father?" Ronron asked with a surprised look. "That can't be right."

"It is," Alex said. "Do you not know that I was homeschooled? I only used a train when I had to go to the university when I turned 18."

"Wow," Ronron spoke. "I knew you had lived a sheltered life, but that is something of its own."

"Alright, enough talking," Alex said. "If we don't board it quickly, it will leave."

Ronron nodded and let the group into the train before quickly finding their seats. They sat on two seats facing each other with the Snake sitting on one side alone, and Ronron sitting next to her father on the other side who had Scarlet on his shoulders.

After that, they just waited for the train to start moving again.