Alex received the final batches of the ingredients for his pill from the ape's store, but he didn't rush to make the pills. Since he was going to have to start working on figuring out Heavenly Clouds soon, those pills could be made while he worked on it.

Instead, for the remaining month, he made plans to spend his time between cultivating and figuring out the next set of pills he would have to feed Whisker to help him break through.

"One of these days, I need to sit down and examine why Whisker struggles to cultivate normally," Alex thought. "There has to be something in his bloodline. If I can change just that part, then a lot of my worries will be dealt with."

If a Saint like the 8th Undying God could do it, then surely so could he.

Pearl and Scarlet had the idea to cultivate as well, so they left. Within the next month, Scarlet wanted to use the several time chambers to expedite her remaining cultivation period, to hopefully get as close to breaking through to the next realm as she could.

She was more or less certain she couldn't, especially because this breakthrough came with inner demons, but she could at least get close to it and prepare for it.

Pearl, on the other hand, wanted to absorb as much aura for his Origin as possible. Between his Blood Essence, Godkiller, and Guardian Tiger Creations, he had plenty of ways to spread his aura.

Bai Jingshen had left to make the final plans with his family. They were planning on staying in the Sun's Talon realm for no more than a few years at best, but one hardly ever had such a choice when it came to an expedition with so many unknowns.

Bai Jingshen returned two weeks later and gave them the confirmation that they could in fact use the teleportation formation in the southern regions of the Phoenix Continent, the one that would lead them to the Sun's Talon realm.

Alex cultivated as he waited, feeling trepidation as the days grew closer.

One week before they were to leave, Pearl called out to Alex with a somewhat worried voice from within his Soul Space. Alex had Pearl come out of his Soul Space and voice what was wrong.

"I'm not entirely sure what's wrong," Pearl said. "I was focused on absorbing aura for my Origins all this time, so I only just recently noticed it."

"Noticed what?" Alex asked.

"My cultivation speed. It's decreased."

Alex paused for a moment. "What?"

"I thought I was going mad. So I tried it twice over, and it's true. My cultivation speed is worse than it used to be. I can't tell why."

Alex frowned for a moment. "Are you sure you're not mistaken?" he asked. "You just evolved, so maybe that's playing with your senses."

"It's absolutely not," Pearl said. "It's not just a little slow. It's at least 20% slower than before. If I cultivated normally, I might not have noticed it, but because your pill improves the rate by so much, any decrease in my regular speed gets compounded as well. I'm absolutely sure something is wrong, brother."

Alex frowned. Even if he still believed Pearl was just mistaken, he had to test it just to appease Pearl. And he definitely didn't feel Pearl to be mistaken at this point. Pearl wouldn't sound so certain if he wasn't so certain.

Alex thought for a moment, thinking back to the evolution. He was certain Pearl's mind and soul had caught up to each other, so it couldn't have been that discrepancy that was leading to his decrease in cultivation speed, right?

He asked Pearl for the set of pills he was taking, and there was no problem with the pills either. Pearl had even changed batches just to be sure the last time, and the issue had still persisted.

"Is it because I'm a hybrid?" Pearl asked. "Heaven hates when things are better, right? Maybe they are trying to slow down my cultivation speed because of that."

Alex thought for a moment, nearly giving the theory some credence, but he immediately threw it away.

"Heaven doesn't work like that. It is strict, yes, but it is also fair. Your parents went against the heavens to bring you to life. Since they succeeded, you are off the hook," Alex said in a confident tone. "Besides, I think you're forgetting that my Soul Space isn't influenced by the heavens. If your cultivation was slow there, then it really was slow."

Pearl frowned. "So is it because the Azure Dragon's blood mixed with the White Tiger's blood? Did the two bloodlines somehow conflict and make everything poorer?"

Alex considered the possibility for a few seconds, but he had to shake his head to that theory as well. "If that were true, my cultivation speed should've long since decreased as well," he said. "I have four of the five bloodlines, including both the White Tiger and the Azure Dragon. If they conflicted, I would've known a long time ago."

Pearl frowned. "So it's not my bloodline?"

"No," Alex said. "In fact, since I gained these four bloodlines, my cultivation base has improved, so I don't really think it has anything to do with—"

Alex stopped speaking, possibilities overtaking his thoughts. He sat up straight, his eyes narrowing as his thoughts made their way to his mouth.

"My cultivation speed increased when I got my bloodline, but yours decreased," Alex said, ideas forming.

"You said it's not the bloodline though, brother," Pearl said.

"Not the bloodline. Indirectly, yes. But it has more to do with the spirit root, I think," Alex said. "It's very likely that your Unity is worse than it was before."

Pearl frowned. "What's Unity?"

"It's the bridge your Qi forms between your body and your soul during your cultivation sessions," Alex explained. "Depending on how strong the bridge is, the changes in your body and soul are reflected at different speeds."

"So, if I'm not wrong, your Unity has somehow become worse because your Wood root is now at the Supreme grade."

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