Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

The man flew back up to Alex, his hammer glowing with bright brown energy, as he swung down on Alex.

Alex felt the aura of the attack, and could even sense the Earth Dao that was being poured into the attack. He used the Earth Dao himself, improving the Earth Qi in his body to the most he could, and then used the Jade Body Technique.

His body glowed with soft brown light as he put up his left hand to stop the hammer.

The hammer slammed onto Alex's left hand and the clash created an explosion that nearly destroyed the barrier surrounding them.

The leader felt the rebound pass through the hammer into him and was more than horrified at the feeling he got from it. It was as though he had hit an anvil.

"You should've used your Immortal Qi when you had the chance," Alex spoke, completely unhurt from the attack as he moved a fist toward the man.

The man tried to move back out of pure instinct, but Alex had moved long before he had any idea of what was happening at all. Not to mention, Alex wasn't even punching him at all.

He was in fact slashing at him with a sword that existed in the man's senses but not in his vision.

The Spiritual sword cut through the leader's neck and suddenly the leader lost the connection between his body and mind. He felt incredibly weak and fell to the ground, in which instance Alex actually punched him.

The man landed on the ground with a massive boom. At the same time, Alex let out a wave of spiritual energy, hitting everyone in the area, and knocking out all the 20 soldiers that were forming the array.

Not everyone lost consciousness, but all were too weak to do anything at all.

Alex quickly dealt with them all, feeding them pills that would make them fall into a coma that would last for a day.

He could kill all of them if he wanted to, but he had decided not to. Not only were these soldiers just following orders, but keeping them alive would give them value as hostages. Whoever they were, they had to be important since they were this strong.

Alex looked toward the barrier that surrounded him next. There were two different formations being run here, one that belonged to the barrier, and the other that belonged to the formation that resisted the suppression field of the Harmonious Balance Haven realm.

Alex destroyed the first one, keeping the second one active, and then searched through the entire secret realm with his spiritual sense to see what he could do now.

There were many participants in this year's secret realm opening, so Alex had many people he could use for what he had to do next.

* * * * * *

An entire year had passed since the Harmonious Balance Haven's official opening, and by the rate of the participants that had come out, it would last for no more than another year.

The Ebony King sat in his room, cultivating, and waiting for everyone to come out of the secret realm.

Everyone who came out had a chance to show what treasure they got inside the secret realm, and either sell that treasure to the sect or family that had put it in there in the first place for something in return or take it for themselves.

So, there were many representatives of such families and sects waiting outside the gates of the secret realm.

The Ebony King's eyes opened when another person walked out of the secret realm. It was a young woman, who surprisingly seemed to be in a distraught status.

'Did she fail to get any?' he wondered. The tickets to the secret realm cost any person a lot, so it was a sad deal anytime someone walked out without anything.

People reacted to the woman's arrival and were looking to see what treasure she brought out.

However, before she could even speak, two more people ran out of the secret realm, both in a similar state of distress.

The Ebony King stood up concerned. 3 people coming out at once was quite a coincidence. This late in the game, people coming out together always caused—

Another person came out, and then another.

By the time the 7th person came out, the first woman who had arrived started speaking.

"It's… It's King Alex of the Southern Continent!" she shouted. "He's attacked the soldiers."

"He's demanding an audience."

"He wants to trade with the Emperor."

"He wants the Emperor to come meet him."

Multiple people started speaking at once, creating a buzz in the surroundings as everyone tried to understand what was going on.

Before the Ebony King could move out, his two subordinates, who were really just his puppeteers sent to him by the Emperor, moved out. They arrived before the group and questioned everyone to get coherent information about what had happened.

The information was simple.

King Alex of the Southern Continent had arrived in the secret realm somehow, had killed a few of the soldiers in the secret realm, and was now demanding that the Dragon Emperor come to meet him or he would kill their soldiers.

The two members of the Head Legion immediately went into the secret realm and made their way toward where the soldiers would have been gathered.

When they arrived, they saw the scene of destruction as well as a strong barrier, beyond which Alex and the soldiers were.

The soldiers were all bloodied and seemed unconscious, their bodies piled on top of each other. Around them were 3 demonic beasts, bodies made of all crimson as though they were blood, and in front of them was Alex sitting with his eyes closed.

"You are not the Emperor," Alex's voice came from inside the barrier. "I have come to the Eastern Continent to trade with your Emperor. Where is he?"

The two looked at the surroundings, and one of the old men spoke. "If you had come for the trade, then why did you kill our men?" he demanded.

"They tried to attack me. That is what they deserve," Alex said. "Now, please relay the message to the Emperor. I do not have much time remaining."

The two frowned at the order, but there was nothing they could do. It was the Emperor's orders to let him know about Alex once he had arrived.

So, they sent a message as it had been requested.

* * * * * *

Inside the Dragon Palace, the Dragon Emperor sat in closed cultivation, waiting for the day Alex would return.

Alex had no choice but to return after all thanks to the trade that he had made with him.

He had been waiting as such for the past year, and finally, the day had come. He had received the message that said that Alex had arrived.

The Dragon Emperor walked out of the palace. "Find my son, and tell him to come with me," he ordered one of the servants, who quickly left to find the Crown Prince.

A minute later, Long Fangyu arrived next to his father.

Long Fangyu no longer looked as a prince should. He had long, unkempt hair, an unshaven face, somewhat hollow cheeks, with sunken eyes.

His body seemed to droop a little as he walked as well.

"Yes, Father?" he asked in an emotionless voice.

Long Tiankong looked at his son and shook his head, but he said nothing about his appearance.

"Come with me," he spoke as he walked away. "That King is here."