“So I will have to heal the old man,” Alex said to himself. “That… works surprisingly well for me. I won’t have to break my oath at all.”

But then, there was another problem that Alex needed to think about.

“Wait, if I heal him, is there a guarantee that the heavens will strike?” Alex asked.

“If he regains his previous cultivation base, yes,” Godslayer said. “His cultivation is at a stage where the heavens can’t stand him, and since he hasn’t been fully tested yet, he will have to go through the tribulation.”

“No, but you said he most likely has something to conceal himself, right? What if he conceals himself again?” Alex asked.

“Well, most artifacts that conceal you can do so for a short period of time. Maybe a month to a year at most. Most people use it to heal themselves in the time period they get, but this man chose to run.”

“What if he has another one?” Alex asked. “Can he hide from it again?”

“There’s no way someone from this backwater world can have two artifacts to hide themselves from the heavens,” Godslayer said.

“What if they did?” Alex asked.

“No way,” Godslayer said.

“But what if? Can you guarantee that he doesn’t have one?” Alex asked.

“Arghh… no,” Godslayer said.

“So we will have to be prepared for that too,” Alex said. “Still, that’s a very low chance so it probably won’t matter. The more pressing question is what about us falling victim during the tribulation?”

“The prophecy I heard said that if I were to help him, I would die. What if that comes true?” Alex asked. “Just like before, what if he runs away from the tribulation and brings the lightning down of me too?”

“I told you to forget about the prophecies. Divinations are highly inaccurate,” Godslayer said. “And if he does try to run away from the tribulation again? Simply don’t engage with him. The heavens know who is helping and who is interfering, and they also know who is not.”

“I see,” Alex said.

“But, if he does start to attack you, then you will have to make sure not to fight back. Because that would be considered interfering,” Godslayer said.

“So I will just have to run away. Got it,” Alex said.

Still, there were some things he worried about, so he made some preparation. He talked with both Pearl and Whisker while cultivating overnight.

The next day, he made no pill. The old man wanted to get rid of all the death aura before they did anything, so he focused the time on gathering death aura.

Alex took in as much as he could while still leaving enough for 2 more days of work. He needed the time very much for what he was thinking of doing.

The old man returned, and Alex got back to planning as well. On the surface, he looked like he was simply cultivating, but on the inside, he was constantly communicating with Pearl and Whisker.

Godslayer was also in on the conversation, but there was nothing he could provide at the moment other than the information he already had.

Alex’s preparation was around running away from the location he was in as that was the only thing he was concerned about. He needed to be as far away as possible when the old man’s tribulation came.

He drew out the death aura for two more days and finally all of the old man’s death aura was completely out.

The old man got up from his seat and looked around. “I… I truly feel amazing,” he said. “I feel like I can heal even without the use of the pill.”

“You should still eat the pill, senior,” Alex said.

“Of course, of course,” the old man said. “So, can you make the pill now? I can’t wait for it.”

“Tomorrow, senior,” Alex said. “I will need to process this death aura for now.”

The old man was a little disappointed when he heard that, but he nodded. “Yes, you need to be in the peak condition. Tomorrow then,” he said.

The old man left and Alex was all alone again. He had a single night’s worth of time to make sure he was fully prepared as he wouldn’t have time tomorrow after the old man was healed.

He went over the plan again with everyone, planning every single step that could go both right and wrong.

So, when the day rolled around and it was time for him to finally make the pill, he was fearless as he was fully prepared.

“Bring out the cauldron,” the old man said.

Alex nodded and pulled out his cauldron before starting to make a pill again. He had done it many times, so he was starting to get used to it very much.

He put in the ingredients one by one and started refining them all. The old man watched as the ingredients were powdered inside the cauldron.

Alex focused on the pills. Once he was done with this, he would be free, so he made no mistake.

At the end, when the Pill-splitting Qi rolled around the cauldron, forming two pills that collected all the energy, the pill cloud that formed above him let him know that he had not failed.

Alex put his Qi around the pill as the first lightning bolt struck it. The energy fully protected the pill from the lightning bolt as it gained the first Pill Vein.

Then, Alex protected it against the 2nd lightning bolt which fell a few moments later.

With the two pill veins on the pill, Alex stopped making the pill anymore and pulled out the pill with the pill veins.

The old man practically snatched it from his hands and ate it without any hesitation. The pill went down the old man’s throat and into his stomach.

Alex waited with bated breath as he watched the wounds on the side of the old man. He could see the pill’s energy dissipate through the skin and thought it was healing the old man.

However, it turned out that it was not. The energy in the pill, despite having some worldly energy, could not help the old man’s body even when it did not have any death aura in it.

The old man frowned and so did Alex. The old man had been too excited, so when he realized that he wasn’t healing, he couldn’t help but be sad and angry.

As for Alex, he had planned this moment way too many times for the last few days to not succeed right now.

“You said it would work, kid,” the old man said with gritted teeth. “If you had lied to me—”

“I am forced by my oath to do nothing but heal you senior. Believe me, I had every bit of hope that you would have succeeded at this moment,” he said.

“Then what now? You wanna try one more time so I can fail one more time? Or do you want to break through a few more times before you try again? Do remember that you have less than a year before the oath is complete,” the old man said.

“I know,” Alex said. He thought for a bit and sighed. “Wait a few more minutes. I might have a way.”