He was a little saddened that he would never get to meet him in this life. He was the one whose knowledge was helping Alex so much after all.

’I should have known,’ he thought. ‘Why else would I get someone’s book if they were still writing it.’

”Did you have some sort of bad blood with the Alchemy god?” Alex asked.

”Of course, why else would I kill him? He was a really bad guy,” the artifact spirit said.

”Alchemy God… was a bad guy?” Alex asked. He wanted to learn more about him, and it seemed this spirit was the only thing in the world that would tell him.

”Yes,” it said. “Very bad.”

Alex felt slightly surprised. He had never expected a god to be a bad guy. ‘Did the spirit mean Evil… or?’

”So, he did something evil?” Alex asked, trying to pry an answer.

”Yes, of course,” the spirit said, sounding rather haughty at the moment. However, it didn’t explain any further than that.

Alex suppressed his anger and asked, “what deeds did the Alchemy God do to call him evil?”

Alex could think of a few things that an Alchemist would do. Maybe he needed the body parts of some beasts, so he went around hunting many beasts who by then would be sentient.

Even trees would be sentient by then. He knew it as he had seen a sentient tree that had given him its leaves and seed by the beach far up north.

”He called himself a God,” the artifact spirit said.

Alex waited for more information, but none came. He suppressed his anger once more and asked, “What other evil did he do?”

”I don’t know. He probably did something bad when I wasn’t around,” it said.

”But you said he did something evil,” Alex said.

”Yes, he called himself God,” the spirit replied.

Alex paused for a moment as a thought came to his mind. “Are you saying that the Alchemy god was a bad guy because he called himself a god?” Alex asked.

”Of course,” the spirit said.

Alex took a deep breath. He understood that it wasn’t that the Alchemy god was evil, but rather the spirit’s skewed understanding of what was good and evil.

”So, did you fight and kill the Alchemy god because he called himself a god?” Alex asked.

”Of course,” the spirit said.

This was a disaster. The spirit seemed to kill everything that was named a god.

”Do you know about any Sun God?” Alex asked.

”Sun God? Never heard of him. But if I find him, I will kill him too,” the spirit proclaimed.

’Another one that hasn’t heard of Sun God at all. I will have to ask Sister Hao’s master then. He will likely be the only one who knows,’ Alex thought.

”So you really hate gods, huh?” Alex asked.

”Yes, with all my heart,” the spirit said and then paused. “Hmm, I don’t have a heart.”

”Is there a reason?” Alex asked.

”Why would I need a reason to kill gods?” the spirit asked. The little black flaming liquid in the center of the crystal grew slightly bigger.

”So you kill them because they are gods. No other reason, huh? How did you come about to hate them like that? What could the gods have possibly done?” Alex asked.

”Aren’t you listening, boy? They called themselves a god,” the spirit said as if it was very obvious.

Alex was stunned. He didn’t know what to think of it. The spirit had no reason to hate gods at all, but it still did.

’Hmmm… maybe…’ Alex thought of something.

”You are an Artifact spirit, right? So, I assume you were originally an artifact of some sort?” Alex asked.

”Of course. I am a sword, the deadliest one out there,” the spirit said.

”The sword you were in before, that’s not your body, right?” he asked.

”Of course. My real body is somewhere. Probably with the Sword God. That bitch must have taken away my body when she used the other gods’ help to separate my spirit from my body,” it said.

Alex was shocked, to say the least. ‘So many gods,’ he thought. The spirit kept on talking about gods like they were nothing.

Alex couldn’t help but ask, “how many gods are there?”

”5? Maybe 100? I don’t know. They keep popping up even after I kill them,” the spirit said.

”They keep popping up?” Alex asked with a surprised look. “Do the gods reincarnate every time they die?”

”What? No! Someone else just claims themselves to be a god, and people accept it,” the spirit said.

Alex had a hard time understanding what the spirit was talking about. It was like he skipped a few steps during the explanation.

”Are gods not almighty beings? How can one just claim to be a god?” Alex asked.

”Hmph! Most of these so-called gods are just false gods. Just because they reached a certain height in their understanding of something, they dare call themselves a god. As far as I know, there are only two True gods.”

”One that blessed the 4 Heavenly beasts, and the other that blessed the 3 Demonic Plants.”

”And one day, I will kill those gods as well, no matter who they are and where they are,” the spirit proclaimed.

Alex finally came to understand that the Alchemy god wasn’t a god at all. It was just a normal cultivator whose understanding had reached the peak of what was possible.

’Is that why the technique stops at level 5, in the Divine realm?’ he thought.

”What was the Alchemy god’s cultivation realm when you killed him?” Alex asked.

”Divine? Maybe Celestial?” the sword spirit thought. “I couldn’t really tell at the time. My vessel at the time was quite strong, so I was able to draw out quite a bit of his strength.”

”Your vessel? What’s that? The sword?” Alex asked.

”What? Obviously not. Why would the sword be my vessel when I am the sword?” the spirit asked. “I am talking about the human I was using.”

”The human you were using…” Alex came to an understanding. Just like he was being used through his temptation, the sword likely got someone like that too.

”How were you able to tempt someone so strong to work for you?” he asked.

”It was very easy. I was very strong,” the spirit said.

”You… don’t seem very strong,” Alex said.

”That’s only because you are weird,” the spirit said. “Also, I was weakened when I was taken away from my body and sealed onto that sword. Not to mention… I am being somewhat suppressed in this place.”

”I see,” Alex said. “But… you said you killed many gods right?”

”Yes, quite a few. Some I even killed multiple times because they kept coming back,” the sword spirit said.

”If you were that dangerous then… why didn’t the Sword God kill you when she defeated you?” Alex asked.

”She didn’t defeat me. THEY defeated me. She had help,” the spirit made sure to let that be known. “Also, they can’t kill me. Unlike them, I am immortal in both body and spirit.”

”I see,” Alex said as he looked at the crystal on his hands. “Who can make something like you that is so strong?”

”I—” the spirit stopped. It waited for a few seconds before saying, “I don’t remember. I don’t need to remember. It’s fine as long as I kill gods.”

It shouted like Alex had hit a nerve. “Now leave me alone,” it shouted and stopped talking.

Alex waited for it to return back to talk, but it didn’t. After a while, he understood that he had likely talked about a sore topic. Alex checked his surroundings one last time and left his spiritual sea.

He continued focusing on his body to heal it better, while constantly thinking of the things that he had learned.

Gods were just normal cultivators. There was no majesty to them in the way Alex had imagined until now.

Furthermore, they could be killed. And within him was something that had killed multiple of them.

Only now did Alex come to realize how scary the situation was.

’I will need to get rid of him when I can,’ he thought. For now, he would have to regularly go into his spiritual sea to remove the black goo from around it in hope of containing the temptation.

After thinking that, he got back into cultivating. He needed to heal his body as fast as he could.