Sensing the intense heat and hearing the familiar voice from their north, the disciples of the Nirvana Sect rushed towards the direction of the commotion as they readied their weapons.
For Alexander to be treating his opponents seriously could only mean that the opponent he was up against was at least a genius of the first ladder from a Tiger Tier force.
It was annoying as to what a forest was doing in a mountainous area, but by the time they rushed towards Alexander, they were surprised by the sight before their eyes.
Alexander and his opponents were standing in an open area where the ground is paved with cobblestones.
Mountains followed by a forest followed by a properly paved ground. The terrains here were in complete disorder, so was the diverse variety of cultivation treasures which could be obtained.
Most importantly, there was a fortress located right here and Alexander was currently facing three different sects at once while still holding the upperhand.
Despite their unwillingness to silence everyone present, Lancelot and the rest still steeled their hearts as they charged towards the battlefield, only for Alexander to stop them.
"Back off, just occupying a fortress would not be enough for the competition considering the unknown number of hidden rules. If we want to gather enough cultivation resources with points, then we should let them work for us."
"Don't even think about it!" A cultivator from the Puppet Sect retorted as he controlled both his puppets to attack.
One of the puppets had a crow face and sharp blades to replace its arms as it clawed towards Alexander, only for it to be repelled by a wall of flames.
As for the other puppet which was heavily reliant on traps, missiles were being fired from its chest towards Alexander who then parried then away with the scroll the Azure Dragon entrusted him with.
Making use of this opening whereby the puppet master was unable to make any further advances on him due to the slight delay in his puppets due to improficiency, Alexander changed his scroll into the form of an energy pistol.
Pulling the trigger, Alexander fired two fireballs toward the two groups of enemies before making his way towards the puppet master who was isolated from his sect as he took him out and contained him in a cage branched out from his scroll.
With the strongest enemy being taken out in the blink of an eye, Alexander then proceeded to end the battle with his versatile arsenal of weapons.
Clouding their vision with two smoke bombs from his pistol, Alexander then changed his weapon into a dagger and took out all the weaker disciples immediately without taking their lives before defeating the two leaders.
Besides the puppet sect, there was also the Elegant Sword Sect and the Year Sect which were Tiger Tier cultivation forces.
The disciples Alexander had taken out right now were only the weakest group sent by the Elegant Sword Sect which dispatched three groups whereas the Year Sect dispatched four groups to correspond with the four seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
That was the name of all four groups whose strengths were comparable to each other besides the winter group of this batch which was much stronger than the other groups despite all groups being entitled to similar cultivation benefits.
"I need to know all of your names now, only the leaders."
Alexander demanded as his scroll took on the form of an energy pistol once again with him pointing it towards the three leaders proficiently.
"The name's Chloe. I'm the leader of the third group of the Elegant Sword Sect."
The woman who was laying on the ground declared before getting into a position to recover her injuries as she swallowed a precious recovery elixir to speed up the recovery progress.
"My name's Chris, I'm the leader of the Summer branch of the Year Sect."
The man who was using magic the entire battle identified himself knowing that escaping was out of the questions now that reinforcements have arrived.
"What about you?"
Alexander turned his attention towards the stubborn youth who refused to identify himself, but it didn't matter because Alexander already knew his identity.
Being someone who has been on the battlefield for quite some period of time especially after getting inspired by the general by the name of Jax.
Alexander had already spent quite a portion of his time researching on the other cultivation forces before the start of the competition.
Understanding your foe would inevitably lead to victory, that was a belief Alexander held from his experience as a general on the battlefield.
"From now on, the three of you will be under me, you can try to resist, but I can assure you that it'll only bring you great pain."
Alexander said towards them without sparing them any concern as he used three of the nine dragon marks he could control at this point of time.
Alexander's goal wasn't to just make them serve him for now, but even in the future as he rises up.
With his dragon mark being planted on them, their cultivation speed would be linked towards them and most importantly, all of them were geniuses of their sects and would one day be chosen as the next inheritor.
At that point of time, after his rapid cultivation speed helps them to rise up, the reverse effect would apply to him as his cultivation would soar from that point of time onward.
This would enable him to have full control of other cultivation forces in the future without them realising it. He was leading the sect to its peak in his own way.
"Trevor, you have no need to hide your identity any further. I have no idea as to why you were unwilling to use your main puppets when I already know of your true identity from the beginning, your mask is pointless if I can see through it."
What? Trevor was shocked when he heard this as he removed his mask and sighed in resentment. If he had been serious since the start of the battle, he might have been able to occupy the fortress through his own strength, but it was too late for regrets.
"I admit my defeat. Since you have already planted a slave mark on me, just tell me what you need of me. But I'll put this first, if you attempt to use me to harm my friends or allies, then don't blame me for committing suicide regardless of the future I'll lose."
Trevor said in resentment as he accepted his fate.
Chloe and Chris remained silent, but from the determination in their eyes, Alexander understood that they would be under his control from now on as long as he doesn't go over the boundary.
"Don't worry, I know my own limits well. All I require of all three of you and those disciples under you is to gather all cultivation resources and hand them over to me, as for the points, half of it will still go to you."
Alexander was making it possible for them to make it through this round, they understood this fact as well and decided that they were still going to try their best to obtain cultivation resources in order to ensure their own promotion even if others perform better than expected.
"I'm sure all of you think that I'm impeding your cultivation growth and restricting you from the deserved height in the future, but trust me that you'll thank me soon enough when the day comes."
Alexander assured as occupied the fortress without any distractions by leaving a mark of his spirit energy.
"We'll take our leave to gather cultivation resources first then, also, I hope that you keep your promise."
Chloe sighed before leaving with the others as they went to gather their juniors without explaining the situation, in fact, they had no way to, were they going to tell their juniors that they're a slave to their opponent now?
"Alexander...do you think that you can let that woman off?"
Alexander was still thinking about the future development of the competition for the next three months until Ray called out to him which surprised him.
"What's the matter, are you related to that girl?"
Alexander asked in curiosity as the others gathered around them in curiosity as well. Everyone wanted to know how that woman by the name of Chloe was related to Ray.
That woman is my fiancee, back in the city I came from, we were supposed to get married to each other. But one day, a mysterious woman came and brought her away from me, that is the other half of the reason why I neglected my cultivation in the earlier days."
"Then why didn't you show yourself just now, you could have reunited with her immediately, or is it because you're afraid of being rejected by her?"
Garen couldn't help but inquire, only to see that Ray was clenching his fists.
"You don't understand, the only reason I even lost her was because of my incapability to protect her, on what qualifications am I supposed to meet her face to face?"
Ray couldn't help but lash back despite knowing that he's in the wrong as Garen kept his mouth shut before matters got worse upon realising his mistake
Alexander sighed and explained, "Don't worry, the Azure Dragon Mark I left on her will only benefit her cultivation in the future. In fact, you can say that I'm helping her towards a brighter future."
Ray stuttered for a moment before giving Alexander his thanks as he turned around to leave, only to see a pair of watery eyes staring at him in shock, sorrow, disappointment and most importantly, relief.
His eyes paused on her familiar face who has already matured, just in terms of strength now, he was probably inferior to her as well. He wanted to turn around and leave, but his legs were rooted to the ground.
"You still came for me in the end…"