Valentina recalled the time when she and the other seven immortals had confronted Alex. He had killed the other seven and had spared her.
I thought Alex was interested in me, but he's barely spoken to me lately, she thought. Perhaps he's interested in Maya. She has no relatives in the divine realm, but Alex seems really concerned about her, so what else could it mean?
The thought of it made her feel anxious. If her guess was correct, and Alex was really interested in Maya, then it would shake the entire divine realm, even more than Alex defeating Kaden.
"Maybe I'm just overthinking it," muttered Valentina under her breath.
She didn't know much about Maya, only that she had been ostracized by the other disciples in the Snow Palace sect, but her life wasn't in danger.
She hesitated for a moment, and then she said, "Jaden informed me last month that the seven great sect masters wanted to interrogate Maya to find out more about Earth. I think they're going to use the soul-searching technique on her."
Alex flushed with anger. "What?" he shouted.
Soul searching was an extremely cruel spell that often caused side effects. If it was done once, it would cause a great injury to the person's soul, and if it was done repeatedly, the soul would turn into ashes. Maya wasn't powerful enough to handle this technique, so it was the equivalent of being sentenced to death.
"We'll see who dares to touch her," said Alex as he stood up. "We need to go to the Snow Palace immediately."
Valentina didn't dare disobey, so she agreed.
Although Verity and Agatha didn't know what was going on, they decided not to ask any questions.
Alex unleashed a dragon, which controlled wind and lightning. Although the dragon didn't have an inner core, it was huge and could easily fly hundreds of miles in a day.
The four of them stepped onto the dragon and unleashed all their energy, creating a beam of light that led to the Snow Palace.
The divine realm wasn't big. It was only about a few thousand miles in circumference.
About an hour after they had left, an ancient and majestic palace appeared in front of them. The Snow Palace was located in miles of frozen land.
The dragon roared and lowered its head. Alex and the three women descended from it, and two members of the Snow Palace sect came forward to greet them.
"Can we help you?" asked one of them.
"Wait! Aren't you Valentina?" cried another in surprise.
Valentina was one of the top five immortal-level warriors in the Snow Palace sect, and she had a very high status. To ordinary members, she was considered high and mighty. The two disciples nodded at her respectfully, but they were surprised to see her.
Valentina was said to have been captured, but maybe she has been released now, thought one of them, but she didn't dare to ask any questions.
The power of an immortal-level warrior was terrifying. If one of them got angry and killed someone, then the leader of the sect wouldn't even rebuke them.
Alex gave Valentina a look, and she began to tremble.
She had already learned that Alex had defeated Kaden and had become the greatest warrior in the divine realm, and that caused her to panic even more. If Alex was really that powerful, then she had more reason to worry that he was interested in Maya.
"Take me to Maya," she said anxiously.
"Yes, of course," said one of the disciples.
The other disciple led the way. Since Valentina was with them, nobody questioned Alex and the others, and they headed straight for the inner circle disciples' area.
When the other disciples saw Valentina and Alex as they passed by, their faces turned pale.
The news of the battle in Twisted Mountain hadn't reached everyone yet, so they didn't recognize Alex. Those who knew the result of the battle were few and far between. But everyone recognized Valentina, and they had heard about what had happened to her.
Soon, Alex and the others arrived at their destination.
The disciples of the Snow Palace sect were divided into three groups—core disciples, inner circle disciples, and outer circle disciples. Although Maya had power, she was still cultivating it, and she was only an inner circle disciple.
As soon as they arrived at the place, they heard a man scolding someone.
"I've told you to tell me all about Earth, but you refuse," he said. "Maybe you should be taken to the High Sect to be interrogated. Then we'll see if you're still stubborn."
Then they heard the sound of a slap and a woman's painful cry.
"Stop," cried the woman in a low voice.
Her voice sounded familiar to Alex, and his expression grew icy as he rushed inside. When he saw what was happening, he grew even more furious.
Two men and a woman with haughty looks on their faces were standing at the front. The woman was dressed in black, and she was waving a whip in her hand. In front of them, Maya was on her knees. There were a few cuts on the back of her dress, which revealed bruises and red marks. She was clenching her teeth tightly, and it was obvious that she was in pain.
In the back of the room, there were about a dozen female disciples watching and laughing.
"Since this woman is so stubborn, I'll take her back to my sect," said Damien, one of the men from the High sect. "Even immortals can't withstand our techniques there. What's more, she's weak."
"I really don't know if there are immortals on Earth," said Maya nervously. "When I was there, the strongest one that I had encountered was only at the divine level. I've told you everything I know. I'm not hiding anything from you."
"Do you still dare to be stubborn?" shouted the woman in black, raising her whip to strike her.
"Stop!" Alex yelled.
The female disciples at the back of the room all looked up to see Alex striding over. His expression was frosty, and he gave off a chilly aura. The temperature in the room instantly dropped.
One of the men, Samuel Oslen, walked up to Alex and confronted him. "How dare you enter the palace without permission," he said. "Who are you?"
All the disciples looked at Alex with contempt.
"Who am I?" Alex repeated. "You'll find out soon enough."
When Maya heard his voice, her heart skipped a beat. She quickly turned her head to look, and when she saw Alex, she was astonished.
Alex's eyes were cold. With every step that he took, the urge to kill became stronger. Soon, it became so strong that a powerful force gathered around him.
The female disciples at the back of the room were the first to collapse from the force. They fell to the ground with a loud thump.
Samuel sensed the force, and his entire body trembled. He felt as if he was facing an enormous dragon and he began to panic.
Then Damien looked at Samuel and said, "I never expected him to turn up here. He has come here on the orders of the leaders of the other sects to take Maya."
Damien knew that the leaders of the other sects wanted Maya. He also knew that anyone who was ordered by the great sect leaders to do something would have to obey, so he thought that they must have sent Alex.
Alex didn't want to waste any time talking to the two men. He clapped his hands together, and a huge invisible hand appeared.
The crystal floor shook, and then a huge bloody handprint appeared on it. Damien lay still beside it.
The disciples of the Snow Palace sect were horrified.
"Do you know who you've just killed?" cried Samuel. "He was a senior disciple of the master of the High sect!"
Alex sneered as he glanced at Samuel. "Why would I be afraid of killing one of his disciples when I've already killed his son?"