Chapter 41: Tempest
Lex lay on his bed trying to go to sleep, but his arms were in too much pain and kept him awake. He'd practiced a lot at the shooting range and his aim and accuracy improved considerably. The price, other than the actual price, was that all the muscles in his arms were incredibly sore and his joints hurt. He wanted to try and heal normally as he couldn't afford to pay in MP at the moment, especially since he had to upgrade the Recovery room for Marlo.
"Oh my beloved MP, where art thou?" Lex whispered, clearly suffering from sleep deprivation. But his drowsy musings were cut short by Mary who appeared to tell him Marlo had already completed the trial! It hadn't even been a full day!
Lex jumped out of bed and prepared himself mentally to face the giant, but when he returned to the Inn what greeted him was a very average sized, unconscious man. Other than the fact that his height had been reduced to around six feet – yes, reduced – and his massive bulging fortress of a body had changed to a toned one, and that somehow the man's appearance was younger, Marlo seemed fine. To be honest, those few changes themselves seemed so drastic that he would never have recognized him as Marlo if the system didn't tell him.
"Externally he does not seem hurt, but internally his body seems to be digesting itself. He's in a state of severe energy exhaustion, you need to put him in a Recovery Pod immediately!" said Mary, seeming alarmed.
Lex didn't waste any time and spent 1000MP to upgrade the Recovery Room and sent Marlo to the Recovery Pod, which cost him another 150MP! He was left with only 291MP, the lowest he'd ever had! But he couldn't focus on that for now, ultimately this would be worth it in the long term. After ensuring that the giant was safely put into the Recovery Pod and that it was working, Lex turned his attention to what he had gained from the Trial. The conditions for the trial were 10,000 Tier 1, 1000 Tier 2, 100 Tier 3 and 10 Tier 4 Zombie cores which Marlo had successfully submitted, but along with that the man had also submitted a Tier 5 zombie core! That was a level above Marlo's own cultivation, it was incredible. Lex wondered how he had done it.
Unfortunately, Lex could not keep the Tier 5 core, as he would need to provide Marlo with a likewise additional reward but at the moment he had nothing to give. When Marlo woke up, he would return the core to him. For now he entered the Gift Shop and placed one of each core on the shelf and priced them. Using these cores helped Body Cultivators further their cultivation without any negative effects. Tier 1 cores helped Body Tempering, and Lex priced them at 200 MP. Tier 2 helped Qi Tempering, which he priced at 500 MP, Tier 3 helped Foundation which he priced at 1500 MP and Tier 4 helped Golden Bones which he priced at 5000 MP.
He only needed to sell a few of these and we would already be in profit. Now all he had to do was wait for more guests. There were a few keys in circulation now, not to mention the chance of random people encountering doors. Hopefully he would receive some guests soon as he could no longer afford anymore upgrades or expenses.
With that done he returned to Earth and tried to sleep, eventually succeeding. He spent the following day surfing the Bluebird portal. His arms hurt too much to practice shooting so he thought he'd acquaint himself more with the cultivation world. He made an account on Tempest, the twitter equivalent of the cultivation world, and browsed to see what was happening in the world.
The most common thing he saw was fights and tournaments between Qi Training cultivators! Most recently a family had resurged in India, claiming to be descendants of ancient Mughal Kings. After they had lost some wars that nearly drove their family to extinction they had escaped into a hidden minor realm they possessed. Minor realms were realms that existed like miniature worlds, isolated from the greater world around them. They only had a few entrances or exits, sometimes even only one, or none at all until the realm destabilized. After this family grew back in strength they returned to Earth, and since their return had sent their younger generation to participate in various Qi Training tournaments to collect resources. Over the past six months they had won every tournament they had entered, and had suddenly become a massive presence in the cultivation world.
One such member of the younger generation from the Mughal family, named Babur, was extremely active on Tempest and had a lot of popularity. But his sudden popularity had drawn a lot of negative attention, and had been challenged to a fight by a user called RussianPrincess77. When he arrived for the challenge, it turned out to be a trap and he was beaten mercilessly by Foundation realm cultivators, which had in turn fostered a lot of tension between all families that had lost something to the new Mughal family as no one can discover the identity of the attackers on their purpose. Since Babur wasn't actually killed, the authorities weren't treating the matter too seriously.Many such dramatic incidents were taking place all over the world, and Lex found himself spending hours embroiled in the drama on Tempest. Something interesting he learnt was that although there was a lot of fighting and competition, it was rare for any cultivator to die in cities. Most deaths seemed to be in remote places or in newly discovered minor realms. The few instances where deaths occurred in cities or towns, the organizations responsible for monitoring cultivator activity took swift and serious action. Apparently, if the number of unclosed cases ever exceeds 5% of registered cases the organization would be very seriously penalized.
Lex found this slightly strange: he was all for increased security, but all these organizations seemed a little too desperate to maintain the peace on Earth, while on the Moon and Mars everyone was responsible for their own security. And who exactly would penalize an organization that failed to meet the mark? There were a lot of obvious holes in the information, but none of it mattered to Lex. He only needed to care about how to get more guests. Somehow getting a popular Tempest user as a guest might not be a bad idea. He just had to pick his target now. He followed a few celebrities so that he could stay up to date on what was happening. While he was randomly surfing, he found a Tempest account that he found shocking. It was the account for the owner of Fight Fortress, who turned out to be the wife of…
"Marlo is awake," Mary said, appearing before him. "I think he broke his brain, he's just been laughing since he woke up."
"No no, that's how you know he's still normal," replied Lex as he closed the portal and prepared to meet his first ever trial taker.
Chapter 42: Alexander the Great
Alexander sat quietly in a boardroom, contemplating morosely the events that had occurred this past week. They were very unexpected, and greatly influenced his mood. He was a 17 year old handsome young man, but his eyes and posture dictated power and composure uncommon among his peers. His life experiences were extremely unusual, to the point where he thought it was unlikely anyone had ever been through what he had. Born heir to one of the most, if not the most, powerful family in all the solar system he had been groomed from birth to be the best. A team of over 300 psychologists, biologists, cultivators, philosophers, historians and many more were brought together to design the most perfect upbringing to make him the most capable human to have ever lived.
The plan had begun long before he was even conceived. Both his parents were brought to their optimal physical health before they conceived, and his mother was nourished and nurtured by the best spiritual herbs and medicine known to man while she carried him. His first five years he underwent training as well as observation, but not strictly. He was allowed to explore and grow as a normal child, but certain habits of hard work and thirst for excellence were nurtured. After he was five was when his real training began.
The training was extremely careful, they did not want to influence his personality to become something specific, but while his interests and pursuits were in his own control he had to be taught certain skills and ways of thinking. He was made to face failure, again and again, in every field, and taught not to give up just because he failed. But that also did not mean he had to try and succeed endlessly like an idiot stuck on something. After each failure or success he had to analyze and understand what had happened, and determine the best path to either try again or grow in a different direction.
At seven years his training became more strict and he had fewer freedoms. It was also the first time he was made to kill an animal. It was a sedated animal, and he had been taught the best and most effective way to kill it. He was left in a room with the animal unsupervised, and was told he could leave once he had done it. The room was not locked, and to be honest he did not feel too much pressure as he had always known it was coming. But he felt an unusual reluctance, one he could never fully understand. It was like he knew once he took this step, he would forever be on a path he could never return from. Nevertheless, he did not hesitate too long. He did the deed and left, moving onto his next training. A week later he was presented with another animal and told to kill it. This time there was no hesitation. From then on every week he would kill one animal, and they would eventually stop being sedated. When he was nine years old, there was a change. He was not told to kill an animal, instead he was dropped in the habitat of a young, wild animal, and told to survive for 30 minutes. By then he had already received combat training, and he killed the animal long before his 30 minutes were over. Yet he had to stay the complete 30 minutes.
As humans could not begin cultivation until the age of 15 he did not face any spiritual beasts, but over the years he faced everything from wild dogs to ferocious bears. Eventually he reached a point in his skill and temperament that he no longer needed to kill the animals. When he would enter the habitat he would face off the animals, and more often than not the animals would recognize his strength, and bow down. When he left the habitat, the animal would still be alive, still wild and ferocious should anyone else enter but tame as a pet in front of Alexander.
In his studies he was not expected to be the best in his class and receive only A's, he was only expected to understand the material well enough to be able to use it. To test this, every year he was given a certain amount of funds and told to start a new business based on what he had learnt the previous year. This started when he was ten, and since then every single one of his ventures was a success. Some were better than others, but they were all profitable..
He was taught how to socialize, with his elders as well as peers, and from different financial strengths and cultures. He was trained in the art of recruiting followers, in determining ulterior motives, in detecting threats and signs of friendships. His training became extremely difficult once he started cultivating, both mentally and physically. At that point, almost all freedom was stripped from him. He could only follow the training routine, with the freedom of only a single choice: the freedom to quit. At any point since he had started his training at the young age of 5, he was told that he could quit whenever he wanted. If he quit he would be allowed to let go of all his training, and would be allowed to lead a normal life. But if he quit, although his position as his parents' eldest child would remain, he would lose the status of heir.
What could the position of heir ever mean to a five year old? He would be rich even if he didn't have that status, and he would be loved with or without it, but for some reason he could never rationalize quitting. He didn't know what it meant, what it signified, or what the result would be, but it was the only expectation his family ever had from him and he would never let them down! Even when it hurt so much he secretly cried, even when he had to study alone while his peers played with one another, even when he faced death time and time again, he never quit. He lost many battles in life, lost in many ventures, lost in many of the risks he took, but among those his age he was always the best. Never, since even before the age of five, had he ever seen a peer in age as an actual challenge, those who could threaten him were older and more experienced. His peers were only ever followers or admirers, it was natural, it was a matter of fact. Until last week!
When he started cultivating almost all his freedoms were taken from him, but he was also told there complete freedom would be given to him when he fulfilled one of two conditions: either he turned 20 years of age, or he entered the Foundation realm. He could even determine whether or not to continue his training, as after that he would wield full authority over his own life. Unexpectedly to almost everyone, he had already entered the Foundation realm at 17 years old! In only 2 years of cultivating he had entered the Foundation realm, something completely unprecedented in recorded history!
But entering the Foundation realm was not easy, he needed a specific opportunity, and that opportunity lay in a minor realm in Cairo. This minor realm was special, in that it opened once a decade and was treated as a training zone by a few academies and organizations for their cultivators. It was filled with ancient ruins and various spiritual beasts, and those that entered had to find their opportunities on their own. Alexander naturally gained permission to enter the minor zone through special channels, but whether he could gain the opportunity he seeked was up to his own skills.
For Alexander this was not a problem at all as he was already at peak Qi Training and was especially skilled. Events played out as he expected, and all his challengers ultimately failed, allowing him to easily find the opportunity he was looking for: a special meditation chamber left behind by an ancient, unknown civilization. Every decade it allowed one person to enter, and allowed them to breakthrough smoothly whatever realm they were in. Right before he entered the chamber, however, he was stopped by a mysterious woman.
She was wearing a mask so he could not determine her identity, but he was certain that she was younger than him! He did not spite her for stopping him, the opportunity was for whomever could grasp it, and fought her fairly for the right to enter. What he was not expecting however was to lose! It was not that her techniques were better, or her equipment, or her cultivation. He was superior to her in all those things, but her judgment and battle effectiveness was beyond anything he had ever seen! She retaliated in ways he could not expect and was never caught off guard regardless of whatever he did. Her temperament and bearing were also extraordinary, something he had never seen in someone his age. If she was from a renown or powerful background as he was, he definitely would have heard of her, but this woman was completely unheard of!
Ultimately, he lost the fight. But before she could enter, he offered her a trade in exchange for letting him use the chamber. Once he broke through he would gain his freedom and have all the resources of his family under his control, so long term he could offer her a lot more benefits than the chamber they were competing for. After a bit of consideration, the woman asked for his contact information and then disappeared, allowing him to use the chamber.
He used the chamber and broke through, but he had no time at all to enjoy his newfound freedom and power. He was too focused on the identity of the woman who defeated him! Once he left the minor realm he used all the power at his disposal to investigate all the people who entered the realm, but could not find anything on her. It was apparent that she had snuck into the realm somehow, an incredible feat as well. The mystery around her only increased, and Alexander grew even more curious.
Finally he let out a deep sigh, and stopped thinking about it. He could only wait for her to contact him to learn more about her. Until then it was better to focus on things he could actually focus on. The first thing was to reign in his arrogance: he already thought that he treated every foe seriously, but his loss had made it evident to him that he never treated people his own age as a serious challenge and threat. This was a loophole in his mentality, and could be used against him by anyone who noticed the flaw. The second was to finally celebrate a bit. For the first time in his seventeen years he could do whatever he wanted.
"Send them in," he said over the intercom, and shortly after three teenagers burst into his room screaming!
"ALEX I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID IT!" shouted the first boy, who was quite a bit taller than everyone else. Looking at his incredibly skinny figure you could not tell that he was a 2nd step Qi Training cultivator! "HAHAHAHA DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I BET THAT YOU'D BREAK THROUGH BEFORE HENRY, THAT OLD GOAT? I'M GOING TO BE RICH!" The boy laughed uproariously and excitedly, as if he could see his dreams coming true.
"Oh shut up Greg!" Shouted a girl, pushing him out of the way. She had long, black hair that fell all the way to her hips, and gorgeous black eyes. She was smiling softly as she looked at Alexander in admiration and worship. "Congratulations Alex, you've worked hard." Her name was Helen and her cultivation was the highest in the room besides Alexander, at 7th step Qi Training. Only a few weeks older than Alexander, she would be considered an unprecedented genius anywhere, but next to Alexander her brilliance was shadowed.
"We must celebrate! I've already booked us a shuttle, we can head for the moon in a couple of days! Haha, with no one to watch over us anymore we can go crazy in New Las Vegas!" The third teenager was a rather flamboyant youngman with bright red hair and an orange tattoo of a flaming bird on his neck! His cultivation was the lowest, at only 1st step Qi Training, but considering his young age he could still be considered a genius.
"Shut up Zeus, no one is going to the moon!" scolded Helen while she kicked the grinning boy directly out of the room. Her soft and gentle demeanour had vanished, and she looked angry and annoyed at the stupid boy. He only ever had dirty things on his mind, she could not allow Alexander's brilliance to be tainted by this aspiring hedonist!
"Forget them! Forget them! Update your level status on Tempest! I need proof or else that old dog will never pay his bet!" said Greg, quickly running to Alexander with his phone out. Amused, Alexander acquiesced and logged onto Tempest with his phone and used a detection talisman to check his cultivation level, which then automatically updated his level and status on Tempest.
Greg burst into another bout of laughter and quickly dialed his phone, waiting for Henry, his eldest brother, to pick up the phone.
"Helen is right, Zeus, I can't go to the moon just yet. But still, the event does call for celebration. Do you have any suggestions?"
"There's an auction tonight near Tahrir Square," said Helen, not giving the others a chance to speak. "You should go there to buy gifts for your parents and your teachers. After that, I heard that a restaurant called Cleopatra's Garden has a special dish they make from Spiritual Awakening beasts, and they have live spirit music."
"That sounds great," commented Alexander, "let's do that."
*****
Lex stood in front of Marlo's Recovery Pod, slightly heart broken. The man had woken up, but his recovery was ongoing. The way things were going, it seemed he would need to pay for another day of recovery for the giant, which would hurt his pockets. But he did not let that show.
Even though Marlo was awake, he was incredibly weak at the moment. Despite the recovery from a lot of his wounds, he had to use all his focus on taming his unstable bloodline, which was not a short process. So the Recovery Pod healed him while his own blood harmed him. Gradually his bloodline was stabilizing, indicating that he was heading towards the right direction, but it would take much longer than Lex had expected.
"I'm very surprised at how quickly you completed the trail. I'm even more surprised that you took down a Tier 5 zombie, you must share the story of it when you recover," said Lex praisingly.
Marlo smirked, but could not say anything.
"For now you can continue to rest. Once you've recovered, we can talk a bit. Believe me, you will be extremely satisfied with the state of your body once we're done with you."
Chapter C43 Auction
Lex stood silently, slightly unaccustomed to how normal Marlo looked. The sleeping giant… no, the normal sized man was very pale and to be honest did not look much better despite having been in the Recovery Pod for so long. He used the Recovery room's special ability to look at his injuries.
Name: Hanson Marlo Bravi III
Age: 67
Sex: Male
Cultivation Details:
– Spirit cultivation: Golden Core (crippled)
– Body Cultivation: Golden Core Peak (unique cultivation)
Species: Human/Prime Human
Bloodline: Evolving
Remarks: Extremely unstable energy has detected coursing through his body. Please treat him like a walking volcano!
Conditions:
– Severe muscle atrophy
– Severely damaged organs (all).
– Severely Damaged Meridians (all)
– Golden Core Crippled
– Body Cultivation suppressed to Foundation realm due to injuries
– Blood extremely corrosive and volatile
– Multiple Bloodlines detected
– Skeleton Severely damaged
– Brain function compromised
– Trace tier 5 zombie mutagen
– Traces of soul corruption
– Traces of spirit corruption
– Vitality severely compromised
Report:
The primary source of the patient's injuries is the patient's own blood! The blood is forcefully being evolved by absorbing multiple superior bloodlines, which has caused severe damage throughout the body. The long duration of the process has severely overdrawn the cultivators vitality and natural healing ability, greatly compromising the cultivators lifespan. The evolving bloodline has further tried to absorb the zombie mutagen, an irreversible process that will either result in success or death. The patient's soul and spirit are also severely damaged, a result of overdrawing the strength of the Golden Core before it was crippled.
Lex frowned, he hadn't realized that Marlo had also been infected. Furthermore, according to his status, he would either absorb it or die! He wasn't worried about Marlo becoming a zombie, if that were a possibility his status would have revealed it. What Lex was worried about was the fact that it was unlikely for him to heal completely in one, or even a few days. He thought of a solution, which was to use the Golden Ticket. He was sure he'd activate a new quest if he used it, but it had not yet been a week since he used his last one so he couldn't use it yet.
The only alternatives he had was hope for another guest, or hope Hugo left his room and bought something from the gift shop. Lex didn't like leaving things to chance so he started thinking of a good excuse to get Hugo out of his room and into the Gift shop.
*****
Alexander was sitting in a private room with Helen, Zeus and Greg at the auction house. His three friends were arguing amongst themselves, as they usually did, and he was working on a laptop. Although this was supposed to be a celebration, Alexander could not completely avoid some work. Naturally he had to report to his parents and elders, as well as begin preparations for a few projects he had planned. It might seem dull to others his age, but he liked the feeling of making progress.
The auction had already started a while ago, but things that could attract the attention of the few in his private room would be at the end. Other than Alexander himself, the three in his room also had powerful backgrounds. They were friends he made in Troy academy, the school he'd attended since he was young. Suffice to say, Troy academy was one of the most, if not the most, popular academy on Earth for cultivator families to send their kids to. For some it was a great opportunity to nurture their kids, but for people of Alexander's background the only purpose of attending the academy was to gain exposure and make connections with other families of strong background.
Alexander's family was based on and controlled all of Mars as well as its moons, so he was quite popular at the academy even though he never attended full-time. Zeus' family founded New Las Vegas, a city on the moon based on gambling and luxuries that would be illegal on Earth, and to be able to maintain such a city his family was not lacking in strength either. Helen was an orphan raised by a prominent family in England. There was no sugarcoating it, Helen was raised and supported for the sole purpose for alliance by marriage which was the reason she was sent to the academy. If she could not attract someone influential herself, her family would take the matter in their own hands. Still, to be worthy of an alliance by marriage her status was not low and she had been exposed to the highest rungs of society. She didn't feel sorry for herself though, she understood that there was a price for everything she had received. Greg was from an ancient and large cultivation family, and it was impossible to say he was from anywhere specifically as his family was spread all over Earth as well as the Moon and Mars.
Still, Alexander had not befriended these few because of their statuses as someone like him did not need to do that. He sincerely felt that these three were good friends of his. But if they felt the same way about him or were close to him for his status…he didn't think about it for now.
Alexander's phone vibrated and when he checked he had received a strange text.
"6 sword slice, Meteor launch, dodge, dodge, 33 Fists of Troy, Propulsion grenade." For a second Alexander was confused until he quickly realized those were his first six moves when fighting the mysterious woman from the Minor realm. It was a message from her. A few moments later. He received another text.
"2 keys will be auctioned soon. Give me 1 and we are even."
Alexander let out an amused smile. He was impressed that she knew his location, as well as new additions to the auction list, because as far as he knew there were no keys to the list of items to be auctioned tonight. It showed her resourcefulness, but the fact that she could not get the keys herself also gave him a bit of information to speculate on. Then he received a third message, and while the smile on his face did not change, the look in his eyes became serious.
"I can handle it. Consider your task done." He replied.
He looked out at the auctioneer, but at the moment they were auctioning a painting. Alexander had no interest in it.
"Score!" Zeus suddenly yelled, looking at his phone. Suddenly he looked abashed as he realized he yelled out loud. "Ahem, excuse me. I uhh…I have something to do, I'll be right back," he said, suddenly moving towards the door.
"What's her name?" Helen asked in a ridiculing tone.
"Betty," Zeus replied without thinking, but suddenly realized his mistake. Hiding his embarrassment at getting caught, he strutted out the room as if he had nothing to hide. Helen let out a deriding snort and turned away, while Greg let out a chuckle. This was nothing new, as Zeus was always flirting and Helen was always looking down on him for it. An exchange like this had happened a million times, it was almost like a routine, but how could the small irregularities in it escape Alexander? Not only had his senses been elevated since his rise in cultivation, he had been paying attention to every action everyone in the room took even while he was working. The irregularity was not in Helen or Greg, but in Zeus who had flinched when Alexander received a text. It was a very small reaction that was suppressed almost immediately, but how could it escape Alexander Morrison?
"Helen, I have to step out for a bit. If they auction any keys while I'm gone, get all of them and charge them to the room. I'll take care of it later."
"Alright," replied Helen in a gentle tone, smiling. Of the three friends, Alexander only ever asked her to do things and that always made her proud. She completely ignored the fact that of the three friends she was the only one who was even slightly responsible so he could only ever ask her.
He stepped out of the room but Zeus had already disappeared, but Alexander could track him effortlessly. He walked calmly, as if he was in no hurry, for a couple of minutes before he found his way outside a different private room. Without any hesitation he broke the lock on the door with a piece of Spirit Tech he had and entered the sight of Zeus hurriedly setting up a formation.
When Zeus saw Alexander he froze and his eyes filled with panic, but Alexander only looked back at him calmly. Alexander entered the room and closed the door. Silence filled the room for a few minutes as the two boys stared at each other, until Zeus' look finally changed from panic to defeat.
"Of course, how could you, the great Alexander Morrison, not already know everything? Was it fun, watching us mere mortals dancing about?"
Alexander didn't reply immediately, and stared at him for a while longer. Finally, he said, "I thought we were friends."
"Friends? Do people like us have the luxury of having friends?" Zeus said, and laughed despondently. He sat down on a chair, his shoulders sulked and his body reeking of depression – a stark contrast from his earlier demeanor and energy.
"Of course, when I say people like us that does not include you, Alexander! Your family loves you and is supporting you with everything they have. Who in the solar system doesn't know the name of Alexander Morrison, the golden child of destiny? But it's people like us, Helen, Greg and I, who are treated like we were born with a golden spoon in our mouths, but is that really the truth? Who doesn't know that Helen is being raised to marry off, that despite all her efforts and achievements, they only serve as embellishments to her worth as a wife? Who doesn't know that between his 4 brothers, and 17 cousins, the only support Greg can get from his family is that of a prestigious name? Or me…" Zeus' voice trailed off.
At the moment, he did not look like a young heir to a large family and strong cultivator, he only looked like a defeated teenager who was in way over his head.
"Or me," he finally continued, "whose greatest threat is not from the enemies of my family, but from my family itself? If I ever break into the foundation realm, I'll immediately become a threat to the old geezers in my family in the Golden Core realm. They'll start considering the day I might break into the Golden Core, when they'll have to share their resources with me. The solar system is saturated with cultivators, there's too few resources to go around. There's barely enough to support the geezers in my family as it is…having to share more? They'll kill me. But I also can't not cultivate, because if I'm too weak that would harm the prestige of the family. Everything I do, I have to worry about whether I can live or not. Do you think that I have the luxury of making friends?"
Alexander looked at the person who he once thought was his friend, but there was no anger on his face. There was no pity either.
"So what is this then? After all these years, why are you taking action now?"
"What is this?" Zeus mimicked. "Don't you already know? The moment you became a Foundation realm cultivator, your family announced your status as the next head of the family. The solar system is rampant with rumors that the day you break into Golden Core your father will attempt breaking into…into the Nascent realm. One family with two Nascent realm cultivators? The solar system cannot afford such a force. If you're dead, your father will not be able to focus on his ascension, or will at least delay it. That's what those old geezers are after…"
"And what was your role in this," Alexander asked, no longer hesitating with his questions.
"I was supposed to isolate you from the outside world. The formation is set and all signals were supposed to be cut, you weren't supposed to be able to message anyone or receive any messages. But the moment you received a text message I knew I had failed."
"So you were what, trying to renew the formation?"
"What?" Zeus asked, confused, then looked at the formation he was setting up and understood the confusion. "No no, this is a mini-teleportation formation. I was escaping. I don't want to risk my life. When you received a text, I knew something was wrong. There's no way someone like you had no protection."
Alexander looked at his once friend, and after a moment took out his phone and forwarded Zeus a message.
"Read it," Alexander said.
Zeus took out his phone and when he saw the message his eyes widened in horror.
"Zeus – responsible for isolation formation. Helen – responsible for 10 poisons of Ishkbaal. Greg – host for Heart Meridian Mother Gu. They will act at different stages of the assassination attempt depending on the situation."
The text Alexander had forwarded was a small part of the third message the mysterious girl had forwarded him. In the end she had also offered to help him out if he needed, in exchange for another favor of course. Alexander had turned down her help, although he did not know about the details, but he already anticipated the assassination attempt.
"If you already knew, why are you going along with it? You're putting yourself in danger for nothing!"
"Not for nothing," Alexander said, looking the young boy in the eyes. "After all these years, I wanted to know if you were really my friends."
Alexander's words froze Zeus, and shocked him as well. Alexander was not some naïve, inexperienced young man. Zeus knew for a fact that Alexander himself had killed more people in his training than most could even imagine. A concept such as friendship should have been driven out of his mind years ago, he should have only had relationships for benefit. Of course, he would never portray himself as utilitarian, and would be generous in his actions, but he should not have associated with such childish concepts. And yet, here he was braving a threat to his life to get an answer he wanted.
"You can leave," Alexander said.
"What? You're letting me go?" Zeus was shocked! He could not believe what he was hearing!
"Treat it as a gift, in exchange for all these years of accompanying me. Since you have not directly acted against me, I can let you go. When you return, tell your father he is being used like a puppet. Killing me to affect my father, that is just a stupid fairytale. War on Earth, and even on the moon, is impossible, even though that's what the people behind you want. Even if you succeeded in killing me, there would be no war. Instead, you all would be directly massacred. Honestly, these nouveau riche don't know anything."
Zeus was still in shock, but since Alexander said he could go, Zeus did not suspect him. Under his supervision Zeus completed the formation and stood in it. Before he activated the formation, he left Alexander, the man who had once thought of him as a friend, a few words. "The 10 poisons of Ishkbaal have been injected into Helen's blood. If she does not transfer the poison to someone else soon, she will die."
With that the formation turned on and Zeus disappeared, leaving only Alexander in the room. When he heard about Helen there was a glint in Alexander's eyes, but his expression did not change. No one could tell what he was thinking.
Chapter C44 A Play
Alexander Morrison, confirmed heir of the Morrison family, the golden child of destiny, the youngest Foundation realm cultivator in the recorded history of Earth, walked back into his private booth as casually as he left. By looking at his expression no one would be able to guess he had just confronted one of his oldest friends for participating in an assassination attempt against him. You would also not be able to tell that he had casually let him leave, and continued to pretend as if he knew nothing. One must realize that if Zeus wanted to betray Alexander, the moment he escaped he could let the other assassins know that Alexander was already aware of the planned assassination. But he didn't consider it a big deal. To be honest, even before he received a text message from the mysterious girl warning him, he already knew that there would likely be some attempt on his life today. In fact it would be more apt to say this opportunity for an assassination attempt had been specifically engineered by him and his teachers, and took years of planning.
Due to his status he was always followed by a protective entourage and his itinerary was always secret. The only foreseeable event in his life where he could potentially have lax security was during an occasion where he lowered his guard. The moment he broke through the Foundation realm and left the security of his family and academy seemed like such an opportunity. During the years leading up to his breakthrough, he 'coincidentally' mentioned in front of a few groups of people that when he broke through he would arrange for a shuffle in his protective detail because he wanted to choose his bodyguards himself rather than the ones his family gave him. He also let his friends know when he was planning on breaking through, which should have otherwise been a huge secret no one could have discovered. The reason for all this was simple: he really wanted to know who was truly loyal to him and who was only putting up a front. To be honest, knowing or not knowing didn't really matter as he fully understood the concepts of searching for benefits and competition for resources. The people he could completely trust was predetermined from birth, so whether the others in his life took the chance to participate in this assassination or not would not change that. But Alexander wanted to do it anyway. He was treating it as an experiment, as well as a learning experience. He had always treated everyone with sincerity. A part of him wanted to know if sincerity and loyalty really affected his relationships, or was the world as cutthroat as it seemed. It could be said that the outcome of this evening would greatly determine the future actions and decisions of this destiny's golden child.
"There were no keys auctioned," Helen told warmly, looking at Alexander with puppy eyes. Alexander nodded and said, "What's wrong with him?"
Greg was sitting in the corner of the room sulking. In his hand he was squeezing a stress ball, it was quite apparent that he was in a bad mood.
"Can't you guess? He tried to bid for one of the items, but lo and behold, Alissa outbid him?".
"Alissa?" Alexander repeated, surprised. That was the name of Greg's girlfriend, or ex-girlfriend. It was hard to keep track, they kept breaking up and getting back together so frequently one never knew what their status was from day to day. "What is she even doing here?"
"Who knows?" Greg answered, his annoyance apparent in his voice. "She probably couldn't live with the fact that I broke it off once and for all. She's just trying to get my attention."
"How many times have you broken up with her 'once and for all' by now? Six? Seven times?"
"Seven times," Helen confirmed, completely disregarding Greg's annoyance. "But only if you don't count when they broke up twice on the same day last Christmas."
"This is not funny!" Greg roared, giving Helen a dirty look. But unfortunately for him, neither of his friends took him seriously.
The mood in the private room was relaxed and full of banter, as one would expect from a group of teenagers. No one mentioned Zeus even as time went on, but the longer it went the more Greg squeezed his stress ball – though only Alexander seemed to notice. Finally something happened that attracted Alexander's attention. The auctioneer mentioned a last minute addition to the auction.
Alexander leaned forward and focused on stage. He was truly a bit curious as to what could attract the attention of the mysterious girl.
"Ladies and gents, you truly will not believe the treat we have for you today. Everyone here must have heard rumors of a village in Egypt inaccessible to all cultivators, even if they may be in the Body Tempering realm. The village that seems to be nothing special, but is said to be protected by the Goddess Bastet. For thousands of years, as far back as records go, this village and its residents have been left undisturbed by history. Protected from war, protected from famine, protected from any kind of tribulation, this unnamed village has passed through the annals of history as a mystery."
It was true, what the auctioneer said. Alexander had also heard about it, the village that worshiped the Goddess Bastet was one of the forbidden zones of the world that no cultivator had ever entered. Mortals, however, had found their way in and even made videos, but could not discover anything significant about the village. Any mortals who tried to harm the village however would mysteriously disappear. Although it was a forbidden zone, if no one tried to invade its territory no one would be harmed so it was considered the least threatening. Before Alexander started cultivating he had tried to look for the village himself once, but unfortunately the entrance to the village could not always be found and depended on luck.
"Well our guests would be pleased to learn that earlier today, a resident from that village sold two spirit artifacts the likes of which have never been seen! The artifacts are in the shape of a key," the auctioneer waved his hand signaling a woman who walked onto the stage holding a purple, velvet pillow. On the pillow were placed two golden keys, attracting all the eyes in the venue.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l-B1n.
"The use for these artifacts cannot be determined yet, but when held they release a warm current of spiritual energy through the body that seem to have a healing effect. Our appraises strongly suspect that the keys lead to an ancient, unknown heritage waiting to be discovered." The auctioneer beamed as he spoke, and waited for a moment for his audience to absorb what was said. "Both keys will be auctioned separately. We will begin the bidding at fifty million dollars as well as 5 thousand spirit stones! All bids must be at least one hundred thousand dollars and one hundred spirit stones!"
Auctions in the cultivation world were often like this. Money on its own was too useless to a cultivator, so spirit coins or spirit stones would also be used. Sometimes spirit stones would be used alone, but although money didn't help with cultivation it wasn't as if money had no value at all, which is why most often it was some combination of both.
Before anyone had a chance to consider whether to bid or not, Alexander had already placed his bid. "Five hundred million dollars, ten thousand spirit stones and one grade four Purple Spirit pill!" Everyone in the hall froze in shock!
A grade four pill was one meant for Foundation realm cultivators, and the Purple Spirit pill was a rather famous pill used to heal internal wounds quickly. It was an extremely rare pill that most people used in life or death situations, and now it was being used to pay for a key. Although the auctioneer had hyped up the key saying it could lead to a heritage, there was no proof of that, it was only a possibility. It really wasn't the kind of thing someone would gamble on, at least this much. But to Alexander this price was irrelevant. He simply wanted to quickly get the key before his conspirators began their little 'play'.
After a few moments, when no one else bid the auctioneer shouted "sold" with all his enthusiasm and started the bidding for the next key, but once again a voice rang out in the hall. "Five hundred million dollars, ten thousand spirit stones and one grade four Purple Spirit pill!"
Shock! Awe! Horror! These feelings gripped everyone in the hall, and even the auctioneer began to wonder if there were more secrets behind the keys they weren't aware of. In fact, even Helen and Greg were surprised by Alexander's brazen spending! He was not someone who carelessly wasted money, even if he had a lot of it.
"Do you know what those keys do?" Helen finally asked, her voice trembling a bit.
"No, but someone asked me to get the keys. I am just getting them for that person." Alexander's words scared the two kids in his room a bit. Who would dare use Alexander Morrison as a middleman? Could it be…the elder from his family?
Before the conversation could go any further someone knocked on Alexander's door. The young man raised an eyebrow in curiosity. The keys were still on stage with the auctioneer, so it couldn't be someone from the auction house bringing him his prize. Were his assassins about to begin their little performance?
Chapter C45 The keys
"Come in," Alexander said casually, as if unsuspecting of anything. He pretended not to notice Greg squeezing his stress ball even harder. Internally he was amused quite a bit – should a would-be assassin really be using a stress ball? In fact, what he did not know was that Greg was constantly in a lot of pain, as he was not inherently a Gu cultivator.
Gu were similar to spiritual beasts, but instead of beasts they were insects. Gu cultivators nurtured the Gu in their own bodies and shared everything from nutrients to spiritual energy. It was quite a rare form of cultivation, and was widely frowned upon not only because of how dark the practices were, but also because most people found it too disgusting to let Gu enter their bodies. Nevertheless, Gu allowed people with low inherent cultivation talent to easily surpass their natural limits as their cultivation depended on the Gu instead.
The door opened and an elderly man entered followed by two bodyguards. The old man had a slight hunch and snow white hair, but his eyes were energetic and warm.
"Senior Hammad" Alexander acknowledged, slightly surprised, as he quickly got up to greet the old man. This old man was actually quite old, at around 230 years. Although the average life expectancy for a Golden Core cultivator was 250 years, it was rare for them to actually reach or come close to such an age as 250 was considered the maximum and not a necessity. If Golden Core cultivators had a weak foundation or suffered from injuries their life expectancy would naturally be reduced. Which is why his long life was a surprise to many people as he was a war veteran from one of the last cultivator wars to take place on Earth. Naturally as someone with status this senior had crossed paths with Alexander's family before, even though they had never met themselves.
"Sit, sit, there's no need for formalities. I just had to come see you when I recognized your voice, I hadn't realized that you had come to Cairo.".
Since Alexander was standing, Greg and Helen had stood up as well and stood behind him respectfully. They bowed to the senior but didn't say anything.
"I came on vacation with my friends. We're celebrating my breakthrough."
"Ah yes, your breakthrough!" the old man said, taking a seat. His two bodyguards stood behind him with their backs against the wall. "Congratulations! My boy, congratulations! What an age the world has come to, what an age! Back in my day, one could not even dare to imagine entering the Foundation realm before the age of fifty." The old man's eyes stared out into the distance, as if reminiscing.
"Indeed," Alexander agreed, taking a seat as well, "with space travel and terraforming technology, we have access to more Spirit Stone mines than ever before. In fact, we have already started preparing for asteroid mining as well as planning to explore Jupiter's moons. In the future, things will only get better."
"Phenomenal, what a time to be alive. But as they say, an age is built by the men of it's times. I have no doubt that you'll be setting even more records soon. Not to mention, you've even gotten your hands on those two inheritance keys from the Goddesses village." There was a subtle change in Hammad's voice at this point, and an air of tension filled the room. Hammad was still smiling, and the body guards had not moved, but Alexander sensed a stir in the natural flow of spirit energy in the room.
Spirit energy was like air, it seemed to be present everywhere in the world. When something interacted with it, the spirit energy tended to develop a flow, similar to the wind. But random things did not cause a stir in spirit energy, meaning a person walking through a room would not affect the spirit energy in the room. But if there was a person meditating in the corner of the room, spirit energy would flow towards that person, and the people sensitive to spirit energy would feel that flow similar to how a person could feel wind on their skin. Currently, it wasn't the spirit energy of the room that was moving but rather of the general area.
"Well so far there is no telling what the keys are. They may turn out to be nothing more than decoration pieces. Otherwise the owner would not have sold them."
"True, true, there's no telling what their use is yet. Still, you were quite decisive in the way you bought both of them. Some people may think you may know what they're used for."
Alexander smirked internally. He was giving the man respect due to age and achievements, but that did not mean it gave the old man the right to interrogate him. Who could question what Alexander did? But all this was only an internal monologue, he still wanted to see the performance that had been prepared for him.
"A friend of mine took interest in the keys so I am only acquiring them for her. I have no personal interest in the keys, nor do I know much about them."
"How fortunate it is to be your friend," the old man remarked and let out a chuckle. Before the conversation could continue there was a knock on the door, and a smartly dressed lady walked in with a briefcase.
"Your keys," she said to Alexander with a warm smile and handed over the briefcase before quickly leaving. At this time, all eyes in the room were on the briefcase in Alexander's hand. Even Helen, who had so far maintained a calm expression, wore a worried look.
Alexander, though, pretended like he did not notice at all and calmly opened the briefcase to take a closer look at his prize. The truth was, the mysterious girl had only asked for one of the keys but he had gotten both because he wanted to know what was so special about them. On a closer look, Alexander could immediately tell they were not 'decoration pieces'. Even without touching them he could feel them radiating warmth, and they seemed to have an alluring shine to them. Though what was a little strange was that while the auctioneer said that they had a healing effect, Alexander's instincts were telling him otherwise. He felt like a wider horizon awaited him so long as he took hold of the keys.
How was he supposed to know that the key affected everyone differently? It was just that the spirit energy on Earth was scarce, not to mention polluted. Most cultivators here carried injuries due to improper cultivation, which is why the key always gave them a feeling that it could heal them. Alexander, on the other hand, had been guided and taken care of by numerous professionals. Even when he sustained injuries or made mistakes in cultivation, his recovery was always assured. Which is why the feeling he got was not one of healing, but of freedom. Although he was not constrained anymore by his training and had the freedom to live how he wanted, the freedom was relatively new and he had not had a chance to taste it yet, so naturally that is what his heart still yearned for.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l-B1n.
"May I take a look?" Hammad asked, waking Alexander from his reverie. His voice was no longer as soft as it had been, and his expression not as gentle as it was. Alexander looked at the old man with an amused look, but handed the briefcase over. Helen and Greg both looked tense now, though they sat behind Alexander so he could not see their faces. The atmosphere in the room had become even more tense, but Alexander maintained his calm as if he had not noticed.
The old man stared at the keys with evident greed in his eyes, and slowly crept one of his hands closer to the keys. Just as it was about to touch the key, however, he stopped himself and quickly withdrew his hand.
"It's a shame I didn't know the keys would be auctioned sooner, or else I might have prepared to buy them as well."
The old man closed the briefcase and held it out for Alexander to take back. The young man reached forward to take it, and just as Alexander took it back it happened! The old man, a late Golden Core stage cultivator, launched a dagger at Alexander, who was only a few feet away from him. The dagger was not a normal dagger, as it had the special function of being able to piece through any kind of spirit energy shield. But that was not all. At the same time that the old man attacked, the walls of the private room exploded and it seemed several projectiles shot towards Alexander, and even Helen as well as Greg.
All this happened in a moment, and in less than a tenth of a second the old man's dagger had reached Alexander's throat.
*****
While a momentous event was taking place on Earth, Lex found himself soaking in a bath in one of his free guest rooms, drinking a Pina Colada. Figuring out how to make MP was really too stressful, and coming this close to potentially dying was way too much for him to take right now. So he decided to take a little break – to give his brain rest so that it could work better later! That was totally the reason! It definitely wasn't because he discovered that the Inn also provided bath bombs should a guest ask for one, and wanted to try it out! He took another sip of his drink – from a paper straw of course – before mentally adjusting the temperature of the water and raising it by a few degrees.
He should think about adding some hot springs to the Inn.
Chapter C46 60 seconds
Alexander, who had been reaching out earlier to retrieve the keys, did not move to evade the incoming dagger, but only looked at Hammad with amusement in his eyes. The dagger reached him unimpeded, but when it struck his neck it sounded as if it hit a metal wall and sparks flew. Debris and dust flew into the room as several other attacks broke through the walls towards him, making it hard to see for a moment. However, when the dust cleared Alexander could be seen sitting casually on his chair, leaning back with his right leg atop his left. Helen and Greg, who were caught completely unprepared by the attacks, were picking themselves up from the floor, somehow unhurt as well.
Hammad stood up, his two bodyguards standing beside him, and seven other people in masks entered the room and surrounded the teens, giving off a threatening aura. All the people who had surrounded them were Golden Core cultivators.
"Go on, continue," said Alexander mockingly. "Attack a few more times, I won't dodge, I promise."
But the ten cultivators didn't attack, and only stared at them. They were trying to figure out how the three kids survived the attack, but could not see anything. Helen and Greg came and stood close to Alexander, the fear on their faces real.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Greg asked, trying to sound threatening. "Do you know who we are?"
"Oh they know," commented Alexander, slowly standing up. He looked Hammad dead in the eyes, the earlier amused expression changing to something more serious. "What's the matter, old geezer, confused? Times have changed since you last saw action. The world isn't so simple anymore.".
Alexander would, of course, not explain how or why he had managed to remain intact from the earlier attacks. The truth was his body was covered by something called Red-Gold Dust, a unique metal his family discovered and processed on Mars. It was an unreactive metal, and had few if any uses at all normally. However whenever spiritual energy was released by a Golden Core cultivator, the ore would absorb it readily, to the point of disrupting spiritual techniques and formations. Whether the energy was directed towards the metal or not, it would absorb it. When the metal absorbed enough energy, it would evaporate. Alexander's family had processed it into a defensive treasure that would not absorb all Golden Core energy, only attacks in a certain radius. This is why even Helen and Greg remained relatively unharmed by the attacks. Of course, even with most of its energy gone the dagger that attacked Alexander still had enough momentum to cut through him, but Alexander had employed a defensive technique for body cultivators that turned his skin into metal. The only drawback of that technique was that he could not move while he used it.
"I'm impressed," said Hammad, "I cannot figure out how you avoided the attacks. But I believe if we keep attacking, your defensive measures will eventually run out."
"So what, you're going to threaten me now? Follow you, or you'll kill me?" Alexander looked around, trying to see if he could recognize any features of his assailants. Though they were wearing masks, he could recognize some of the techniques they had used earlier so he had a good guess as to their identities.
They were all experts, and Alexander thought it was highly likely that there were more assassins still hiding. The auction house was in chaos, guests were screaming and running around, yet somehow no security was coming towards them.
"I could ask you all why you're doing this, and what's your motive. But to be honest, I don't care. Since you've attacked me, you should all just die!" As soon as Alexander spoke he pulled out what looked like a tarot card from his pocket and crumpled it. The ten assassins tried to stop him, but even at this distance, before they could reach the three teenagers disappeared.
"Find them!" Hammad roared. "They must be nearby!"
Indeed, they had not teleported far. The three of them appeared on the road outside the auction house, only some 50 meters away.
"We need to hold out for about 60 seconds," Alexander said, looking at his two 'companions'. "Do you have any defensive equipment?"
"None that can defend against Golden Core cultivators," Greg said, in a shaky voice. Helen gave Alexander a reluctant smile, indicating the same.
"We'll just have to make do!" Alexander said, before grabbing the two and bolting away from the auction house. Only a couple seconds later their ten assailants broke through the building and appeared right behind them. Searching for the kids wasn't a difficult task, a simple sweep of their spirit sense eventually revealed them.
Fortunately for the three teenagers, Alexander was practically covered in Spirit Tech, although it was not quite apparent. His shoes aided him in running which, along with his body cultivation and movement technique, had already put him at quite the distance.
"What about Zeus?" Helen asked as Alexander sprinted down the busy road.
"We'll find him later, we just need to wait for 50 more seconds," the running teenager said. His expression was focused, but he did not look too worried. However, even with his many advantages his pursuers ultimately had a higher cultivation level and were approaching quickly.
Hammad, who was at the forefront of the ten cultivators, threw another dagger at the teenager, holding nothing back! The dagger was covered in a visible red aura that gave off a malevolent feeling! Before the dagger could reach Alexander it was blocked by a blade that appeared floating behind the boy. Five more blades, all two feet long, appeared hovering in the air behind Alexander and began defending him from some attacks as he continued to run.
The six blades were Alexander's primary weapons, and all were coated in Red-Gold Dust, but even then blocking attacks put a great strain on Alexander, especially since he was using his spirit sense to determine where the attacks were coming from and blocking them. Unfortunately, things only become more difficult. Some of the assassins ran ahead of them and intercepted Alexander. Alexander immediately tried to change directions and run into a building, but it was already too late. He had once again been surrounded.
He dropped his two friends on the ground to free his hands, and turned all his focus on his enemies. Since he had teleported out, only 27 seconds had passed. He needed to delay for another 33 seconds!
"Stay close to me," Alexander said, but before he could explain more he felt someone grab his leg. He looked down to see his friend…to see the person who was once his friend, Greg, firmly grabbing onto his right calf. From his hand an extremely gruesome looking worm protruded out and tried to burrow into Alexander's leg. Alexander quickly deployed his defensive technique, Titanium Skin, but to his immense surprise the worm was able to tear through his hardened skin and enter his leg.
"A valiant effort," Hammad said, as he slowly clapped. "But you're still just a boy. Though you put up a good fight for someone your age…" Hammad was continuing his speech but Alexander was not listening. He was only looking at Greg, who wore a look of shame and guilt. Ultimately Greg looked away, unable to bear the gaze of the young man he had just condemned to death. Alexander turned to look at Helen and found that she too was looking at Greg, disappointment painting her beautiful face.
"Did you know?" he asked her softly.
The young girl paused for a moment, biting her lower lip till it started bleeding. Ultimately she shook her head and said, "I didn't know anything about Greg."
"And did you know about Zeus?"
"Was Zeus involved as well?" she asked, surprised. Her question in it of itself gave him an answer.
"So you didn't know about these two, but you did know about the assassination. What was your role in all this?"
Helen was about to answer but Hammad, who was becoming impatient, interrupted.
"Enough! Boy you've been implanted with a worm from the Heart Meridian Mother Gu! Your life is in my hands, so obediently put down your blades and stop resisting or you'll soon know the meaning of wishing for death!"
Alexander looked towards the old geezer indifferently, before looking up at the night sky. Only 7 seconds remained, and in the night sky he could see 10 shooting stars streaking through the night sky towards him.
Chapter C47 Traitors?
Hammad was about to lose his temper at Alexander's casual attitude when he suddenly heard a soft roaring in the distance. The sound, though soft at first, was quickly becoming louder. He looked up in the sky towards where Alexander was looking and saw ten flaming balls shooting towards them at breakneck speed!
"Dodge!" was all he had time to shout before the ten flaming balls crashed into the ground before them, completely destroying the road and launching debris everywhere. A cloud of dust filled the air, but it was quickly blown away by a gust of wind revealing ten tall, cylindrical pods. A hatch on one of them was kicked open, revealing a soldier, fully armored in black, synthetic gear. Immediately after the other pods were opened as well, revealing the soldiers within. They all were dressed identically, and with a mask over their face you would not be able to tell them apart if they weren't all carrying different weapons.
One of the soldiers who was carrying an ax and a shield walked towards Alexander and kneeled before shouting, "Titan 036 reporting for duty."
Alexander looked at the Golden Core cultivator kneeling before him, but maintained an indifferent expression on his face.
"I want the airspace above all of Egypt sealed and all outgoing traffic stopped. I want full deployment of the 3rd Morrison Brigade in all of Egypt, and all cultivator movement needs to be temporarily stopped. I want the owner of that auction house found and captured, and I want the regional head for A.D.F. in our custody as well. Evacuate nearby civilians and capture all of my assailants. If capture becomes too difficult simply kill them. I also need a set of acupuncture needles, but if none of you have a set, a very sharp knife will do.".
"You have your orders Titans," roared Titan 036, as he quickly turned around and started chasing Alexander's assassins. As soon as the pods had crashed onto the road the assassins started to flee, deploying all kinds of techniques eliminating their traces – but that was none of Alexander's concerns. He did not doubt the Titans ability to find them.
One of the Titans approached Alexander and handed him a black pouch, before quickly leaving as well. None of the Titans stayed behind to protect Alexander in case more assassins came after him – it was as if the idea of him being in danger never occurred to them at all.
Greg and Helen stood frozen, feeling a mix of shock and horror at what was happening. Soldiers had dropped from the sky? Deploying troops in all of Egypt? CAPTURE THE REGION HEAD OF A.D.F.? The A.D.F. was the African Defense Front, similar to Blue Bird in that it was responsible for monitoring cultivator activity in Africa, but different from Blue Bird in that instead of being one organization it was a cluster of smaller organizations banding together. Still, that did not mean the A.D.F. was weak, or something that could be casually be messed with.
Ignoring their confusion, Alexander turned towards Greg and dashed towards him. Before he had time to realize what was happening, Alexander punched hard directly in the stomach! The wind left Greg's body as he keeled over in pain, vomiting out the contents of his stomach. But that wasn't the worst of it – Alexander had not only punched him, he had released a burst of spiritual energy in Greg's body directly burning his meridians. All the spiritual energy Greg had accumulated in his life left his body, for he had become crippled.
Paying no mind to his reaction Alexander flipped him over and removed his shirt, before taking out four acupuncture needles. The Titans naturally didn't keep these needles for medicinal purposes! They were coated in poison and could be used as hidden weapons, not to mention they were made from a metal that conducted spiritual energy increasing their uses manifold. Using a simple spirit technique, Alexander summoned a flame in his hand which he used to sterilize the acupuncture needles and vaporize any poison on it – he could not afford to accidentally kill Greg before his task was complete.
Once the needles were sterilized he directly injected them into Greg's heart, until they eventually reached the Heart Meridian Mother Gu. As it's name suggested, the Heart Meridian Mother Gu attached itself to the meridians around one's heart. The Mother Gu fed on the spiritual energy coursing through the meridians to lay eggs, which would eventually hatch and then could be implanted to other bodies. The child Gu would also find its way to the heart of its new host, but unlike its mother instead of feeding on the spiritual energy it would go dormant. The user of the Mother Gu could send signals to the child Gu and control it to attack its host's heart, ultimately gaining control over the host's life.
Alexander was familiar with the Gu, and thus naturally knew effective ways to deal with it. Removing both the Mother and child Gu had to be done carefully, as any damage to the meridians was extremely difficult to heal. That's why the first thing Alexander did was cripple Greg, so that he would lose control over the Mother Gu. Then, before the Mother Gu had a chance to do anything Alexander pierced its body with the acupuncture needles and channeled his own spiritual energy through them to gain control of the Mother Gu.
At this point he slowed down, as he could not afford to be careless, and commanded the Mother Gu to remove the child Gu from his body. The Mother Gu resisted for a bit, as it was unfamiliar with this new spiritual energy, but eventually sensing a threat to its life the Gu gave in. Alexander felt the child Gu in his body making its way to his skin. The time was too short and it had not yet reached Alexander's heart, which made the process simpler. Finally, from near his stomach it broke through his skin and fell out, wriggling on the ground. Alexander gave it a disgusted look before burning it!
Finally free from danger, Alexander removed the acupuncture needles from Greg and turned to look towards Helen. By now, she had calmed down a lot and she only looked towards her two friends with sadness in her eyes.
"I believe we were in the middle of a conversation," Alexander said, his tone calm and casual as if he had not just crippled one of his oldest friends and then left him on the ground to die.
"You asked me what my role was in this," Helen said, strangely quite calm herself. "To be honest, I don't know what they wanted, but I can speculate."
"By 'they' you mean your family? Was it your parents?"
"I don't know," she said forlornly. "I received instructions via the official family channels, but I cannot be sure who gave the orders. I guess that was a contingency, in case things don't go according to plan. In fact, I think they depended on things not going according to their plans."
"Oh, what makes you say that?"
"My only job was to poison you. There were ten poisons, called the 10 poisons of Ishkbaal. Do you know what they do?"
This question troubled Alexander slightly, as despite his extensive education he had never heard of them before. Based on his delay in answering Helen was able to guess the answer.
"They're strange. On their own, the poisons do nothing. They lay dormant in your body, potentially forever, but if all ten are combined together in the bloodstream, they all begin to act independently. All ten have different effects, and not all are lethal. One affects the stability of your meridian, one pollutes your spiritual energy, one develops extremely painful rashes all over your body, one affects your brain, the rest I wasn't able to figure out. But I think the purpose is to confuse doctors, instead of realizing that they're ten different poisons doctors might think all these symptoms are of one. If they're able to cure the lethal effects, the other poisons will still be able to destroy your cultivation talent, making it impossible for you to ever reach a higher level. Of course, this is just my guess. They gave me next to no information, maybe everything I guessed was wrong to begin with."
"Those are bold guesses," Alexander said, admittedly alarmed by this dastardly poison. "So then, if your family didn't give you any information how were you able to speculate so much, even guessing some of the poison's effects?"
Helen smiled weakly at her friend. He was so smart in so many ways, but sometimes it was the obvious answers that eluded him.
"You know, I never resented my family," she said, looking out into the distance. "Even though it was obvious that they were raising me to use me, I knew that nothing in this world is free. Instead of the difficult life of an orphan, I lived the pampered life of a rich girl in high society. I got to cultivate with the best resources that others can only even dream of, and had experiences one can ask. In exchange, if all I had to do was marry well then I never thought it was a huge price to pay, not to mention it's not necessary that a political marriage had to be a bad one."
She looked at Alexander with tears in her eyes, but he only looked back at her calmly. He was a strange person, sometimes she would think he had a heart of steel, and other times she felt like he was the softest person on Earth. Right now before her stood his steel hearted version, but could he be blamed? His closest friends his entire life had just tried to kill him.
"I was never ungrateful, and I would have done whatever they asked of me, but when they asked me to betray my friends, how could I?" Carefully she reached out towards her hair and pulled at it. She was wearing a wig! Under her wig, her scalp was covered in red boils!
"I had to ingest the poisons to prime them. They taught me a technique that would transfer all the poison into one drop of blood, and all I needed to do was expose that drop to your skin and then you would be poisoned. But would I really need to expose you to a drop of blood? They gave me so little information, what if the method of transmission is something else? Maybe I only had to be close to you and the poison would be transmitted on its own. Since they had already decided to use me as a pawn, why did they need to tell me the truth? I couldn't take the risk, so I directly used the technique and activated the poison. It's already been a few days, the poison has already been thoroughly absorbed by my body. I don't know what else the poison does, but I expect I don't have much longer to live."
This time, Alexander was thoroughly surprised. Zeus escaping like a coward and Greg betraying him at the first opportunity did not phase him too much, somehow deep down he expected it. But Helen…the more he looked at her, the more he suddenly started to realize that her complexion wasn't normal. He walked to her and slowly, gently raised his hand to her face. Softly, making sure not to use too much force, he brushed his thumb across her face, removing the many layers of makeup. She looked beautiful, as always, and only a small straight line revealed that beneath the beautiful façade was her deathly pale skin, like that of someone on their deathbed.
Chapter C48 Puppy Dog Love
"Why didn't you just tell me?" Alexander asked after a long silence. At this moment he was regretting his earlier confidence. He had many contingencies and plans for today, the cloaked ship that hovered above that sent out the 10 Titans was just one of them. At no point during the attack of the chase did he ever feel like he was in any real danger. He truly did feel like he was just watching a play, and was waiting for all the actors to try and attack him one by one. The Gu breaking through his skin was a surprise, but even so he handled it effortlessly. Now however, he felt lost. He had no idea what he should do.
"You were in the Minor realm when I got the orders. I had no idea about Zeus or Greg, I was only told that someone will try to attack you and that would be the best time to poison you. I guess they never assumed that I wouldn't follow their orders, since they thought I'd be too scared to leave the poison in my own body. I didn't want to take any chances, and I didn't want to live with any regrets. I've led a good and full life, I am not afraid if it ends here."
Alexander was once again left speechless. How had he not noticed his friends' peril? Why did it never occur to him that his friends could have been threatened or blackmailed in participating in his assassination?
"Ugh, puppy dog love. It really makes me nauseous," someone said, startling both Alexander and Helen. They turned to see a short girl with blonde hair standing behind them. She was wearing a mask so her identity was hidden, but Alexander recognized her as the mysterious girl from the Minor realm.
"Here," she said, throwing a briefcase towards Alexander. "I've already taken one of the keys, so we can be considered even. If you use the other key, you can take your friend somewhere special. There should be a cure for her there. You don't need to have a dramatic farewell in public like this, it really makes people sick." The mysterious girl sounded irritated, but her immature voice made it difficult for her listeners to take her seriously. She didn't bother waiting for Alexander's reply and turned to leave.
"Wait, how do I use the key?" Alexander asked.
"I'm not sure but you should be able to figure it out, it should not be too complicated."
"If I want to contact you in the future, how do I find you?" Alexander asked once again, hoping to receive a name. The mysterious girl paused for a moment, as if lost in thought, before giving a reply..
"My Tempest username is RussianPrincess77. You can contact me through that."
Before Alexander had any time to ask her any more questions, she ran away. Alexander noticed that her cultivation level had also reached the Foundation realm.
"Who was that?" Helen asked, her voice unusually strained, but Alexander ignored her.
He opened up the briefcase and took out the remaining key. He held it in his hand, and felt a familiar temptation. He hesitated, should he trust the words of the mysterious RussianPrincess77? But the hesitation lasted only a few moments. Alexander took Helens hand but before he could do anything else, as if sensing Alexander's intention to use the key it broke. There was a golden flash and the two kids disappeared, leaving a semiconscious Greg still out on the street.
*****
It may have seemed like Lex was wasting time when he was in a serious predicament, but from the moment he'd decided to somehow get Hugo to exit his room and into the gift shop only an hour had passed. His bath had been warm and relaxing, something he needed to calm himself down so that he didn't take any drastic decisions. The more precarious his situation, the calmer he needed to be.
He had gotten redressed and was just about to exit the Inn to go smoke, but to his much welcome surprise two new guests appeared at the Inn! Ensuring that he looked fine, Lex teleported to the gate to welcome his guests.
Two teenagers stood at the entrance holding hands, bewildered as they looked around at their new surroundings.
The boy was tall and handsome, and even in his surprised state gave off an aura of self confidence. The girl was once beautiful as well, but with the power of the Inn Lex could clearly see that she had been badly disfigured by various rashes all over her body. Ignoring their appearances Lex quickly checked their details.
Name: Alexander Morrison
Power Level: Foundation realm (initial)
Species: Human
Midnight Inn Prestige Level: Not yet available
Name: Helen Sigmund
Power Level: Qi Training (7th step)
Species: Human
Midnight Inn Prestige Level: Not yet available
"Welcome guests, to the Midnight Inn," he said warmly. "The universe's foremost establishment for rest, recovery and anything else you may desire. I am the Innkeeper, your host."
Wasting no time, Alexander said, "My friend has been poisoned and I was told that you have a way of curing her. Is that true?"
'Told?' Lex thought curiously. But instead of pondering on it, Lex turned towards Helen and focused. Normally a guest would have to enter the Recovery Room for him to see a detailed report on their health, but ultimately the Inn was his and if he focused on a guest he could still view their condition.
Name: Helen Sigmund
Condition:
Several poisons absorbed in the bloodstream
Severe rashes all over body
Slight bruising
Report:
Several poisons have affected the patient's system, but the potency of the poisons is not strong. Can be healed with Recover Pod or Botlam Dew.
"Indeed, such a simple request is easily taken care of. You can choose one of two treatments. We have a remedy called Botlam Dew for 200MP, if given to your friend it can easily resolve the issue in a few hours. The other treatment is to take your friend to the Recovery Pod, which will allow the body to naturally overcome the poison. This method is slower and more expensive at 250MP, but it will allow her body to gain a natural immunity to such poisons."
"We'll use the Recovery Pod," Alexander said decisively, not giving Helen a chance to say anything. From his pocket he withdrew a black credit card and handed it to Lex. "You can charge all our expenses on this."
Sensing the young man's urgency, Lex smiled and waved his hand, teleporting the three to the Recovery Room.
"Please lie down on the table, the treatment will begin shortly."
Helen gave Alexander a meaningful look before lying down in the Recovery Pod. The recovery started and Lex felt the sweet, sweet exhilaration of earning some MP. But from the way Alexander didn't seem to care at all about the price, Lex had the sneaking suspicion that he could earn more. He had to play his cards right. For now he didn't say anything, letting Alexander watch as the Recovery Pod began its work, though there really wasn't much that could be seen from the outside. The Recovery Pod pushed the body's ability to heal, so all the work that was being done was internal and would take a while.
Eventually, when he realized that all he could do now was wait, Alexander stepped away from the Recovery Pod and for the first time took a good look at his surroundings. The other Recovery Pod quickly caught his eye, and when he saw who was inside he was startled.
"Is that Marlo? Is he here as well?"
"Oh, do you recognize him?" said Lex, stepping towards the normally sized man. It occurred to him that Marlo looked very different from his normal state, it was unusual for anyone to recognize him.
"Yes, he used to be my teacher once. What happened to him?"
Lex smiled and said, "If you stay here a while, you can ask him yourself when he recovers. It would be rude of me to divulge our guests' affairs."
Alexander nodded, as if what Lex said made sense. He completely did not realize that Lex had already begun his plans to make Alexander a long term guest at the Inn.