1096 Journey to the Sanctum

Alex visited Zhu Shaofan, who happened to be preparing to leave for the Sanctum as well. He asked if he found any more information on the Dark Phoenix assassins, but Zhu Shaofan couldn't help him at all.

The assassins had become silent for the last two and a half years, so there was nothing more to add to what was already given to him.

"You're going to the Sanctum too?" Lei Zhong who was with Alex at the moment asked.

"Yes, brother Lei," the man said.

"Why are you going?" Lei Zhong asked with a curious face.

"It's been a while since I've been there, and I wanted to go check it out. Also, I have a few employees that need teaching on how to gather accurate and unbiased information. I believe the Sanctum will be a great opportunity for that."

"That does sound like a good place to teach your employees," Lei Zhong said.

"Yes, with all the Saints and all that, they will also learn to recognize the faces of the important figures, helping us gather better information in general. Speaking of which, are you going to the sanctum as well, young man? Almost everyone your age will be going to prove themselves."

"I—" Alex hesitated for a bit.

"Oh, right. Of course," the man interrupted him. "My apologies, I was so excited that I momentarily forgot about your condition. It would've been great to see your alchemy skills being used in the

"Well, lucky for you he is going too," Lei Zhong said.

"Oh, really?" Zhu Shaofan asked excitedly. "That's great news, but aren't you worried about the Dark Phoenixes?"

"It's unavoidable," Lei Zhong said.

"Is that so?" the owner of the Insight pavilion didn't ask anymore. "Oh, when do you plan on leaving? We can leave together."

"Tomorrow morning," Alex said. "I want to have to stay outside as little as possible."

"Hmm, I was planning to leave right now… but I guess I can wait," he said. "Let's leave together tomorrow."

"Oh, that's an excellent idea!" Lei Zhong said suddenly. "We've been wondering how to help him stay out of the spotlight. Why don't you take him in our stead?"

"Is that a good idea? Most people don't know about me, so they will flock to him even more than they would if any of you are there to ward him off," he said.

"No, he will be changing his face, so they won't really notice him," Lei Zhong said. "That way, he will be safer with you than with us. Besides, it's better if we don't leave at all. It's better to give the illusion that he is still in the sanctuary."

"That's… actually not a bad idea, brother Lei," he said. "Alright, young man. I will come by to pick you up tomorrow morning. Be ready to leave."

"Understood, senior," Alex said.

He returned back to the palace and prepared for tomorrow. He made a few pills for himself that could come in handy. The elders gave him a bunch of treasures to use just in case, which he kept as well.

Then he brought out a 6 veined pill. "It's going to probably take months, so I should use these pills," he thought and ate the first one.

As soon as he ate it, his facial structures started shifting and his hair changed to a different color. His skin color became even fairer than it already was and his purple eyes changed to brown with a hint of green.

His Qi was of course still the same, but that was the least of his worries.

After checking everything, he started cultivating for the night and when the time came in the morning, he left.

The 10 council members didn't leave with him, there was no need to. After all, he was with the 11th almost-member of the council. They would be surprised if there was anyone out there stronger than Zhu Shaofan in the continent, not counting themselves.

Alex and Zhu Shaofan teleported to a city called Blooming city that was to the east of them. The teleportation formations from the sanctuary weren't connected to the Sundering city, so they had to come here first.

"Are we not teleporting directly from here?" Alex asked when Zhu Shaofan started walking out of the circle.

"Oh, we are, but I need to pick up a few of the employees here. I am in charge of them this time around," Zhu Shaofan said.

Alex shrugged and walked out with Zhu Shaofan before going to the Insight pavilion. There, he found a group of people, 12 in total, standing around.

"Senior, you're finally here," one of them spoke.

Alex saw the one that spoke, a girl with… large proportion. 'They can get that big?' he thought with a hint of surprise that he was unable to hide from his face.

The girl wore a simple pink robe, one that did not belong to the pavilion at all. The other 11 behind her did, and all of them seemed to be in the True realm.

The girl, however, was a Saint. And not just any Saint, but a Saint Core realm cultivator. That certainly surprised Alex a lot.

'But she's so young,' he thought.

"Xue'er, sorry to keep you guys waiting," Zhu Shaofan spoke to the girl. "Someone delayed me from coming yesterday." He gestured towards Alex.

"Oh, hello," the girl saw Alex and quickly greeted him. Her deep black hair fell forward as she bowed a little.

"This is Xue'er," Zhu Shaofan explained. "She's one of my earliest clerks, but now she's moved through the ranks in my organization and is one of the people that handle it all."

Alex gave a nod of understanding.

"Xue'er, this is—"

"Yu Ming," Alex said as he bowed in greeting. "Nice to meet you, sister Xue."

"It is my pleasure to meet you, brother Yu," the girl replied quickly. She was starting to get slightly pink in the face from what Alex could see.

'Is she… blushing?' Alex thought with a surprised look.

"You chose too handsome of a face," Zhu Shaofan nudged him a little.

Alex was very confused. 'What the hell is happening here?' he thought. Had he really chosen a very good-looking face? Certainly not. He wasn't getting the same reaction from the other girls behind this one.

"Hehe, I'm messing with you," Zhu Shaofan said as he pat him on the back with a bit of strength. "Xue'er is just very shy around men, especially ones her own age and new to her. She will stop being so shy after you spend some time with her."

"Shouldn't we be leaving, senior?" Alex asked.

"Oh right," he looked back at the 11 and asked, "is this all?"

"Yes," the girl said. "We should go quickly. Everyone else has already arrived in the Sundering City and is asking where you are."

"Okay, let's leave," Zhu Shaofan said and started walking. The girl passed by Alex and nodded slightly as she continued walking.

The other 11 followed but didn't dare make any sound at all. With 3 Saints in front of them, they didn't want to disturb them at all.

After a few minutes, they were all gone from that place and arrived in the teleportation building in the Sundering City.

Alex knew where this was as he had taken a thorough tour of this place back when he had come here more than a year ago.

He walked out into a shadowy land that still lived without much light. He turned to look at the behemoth of a spire that towered over the land, still casting the first shadow.

"They must have all already gathered," Zhu Shaofan said. "The sanctum must be opening any minute now."

That had been Alex's plan to stay out here as little as needed. He looked around the city, trying to look for something, anything that could give him some hints.

He was here to learn about his father, so he wanted something out of this visit.

They made their way through the shadowy land until they arrived at the gardens with thousands of other people, all of which were mostly in the Saint realm.

Alex was very shocked to see that. This was a bigger number than the ones that gathered for the Dao mountain's opening back in the Northern Continent.

Obviously, not everyone went to Dao mountain, but that did not make the shock of seeing nearly 5 thousand Saints all in one place any lesser. And all of them were going to enter the Sanctuary?

'No,' Alex thought. He was told this before. A lot of these here are elders or seniors of people that actually want to enter. They were here just to look after that person.

'Still, half of them are going to enter,' he thought. That was still a massive number.

He felt Zhu Shaofan's spiritual sense emerge and search around. He was so strong that he could do so without offending anyone.

"Ah, there they are. Come on guys," he said as he walked towards the other group of people from the Insight pavilion.

Alex saw nearly a hundred different people, all led by multiple saints. The saints greeted Zhu Shaofan the moment he arrived and made way for him to go towards the center so he could hide from everyone.

Alex looked around at the many people and paused for a second when he saw a familiar face.

'What was her name?' he thought. 'Yusong Muzhou? Does she work here too?'

It was the dark-skinned, body cultivator woman he had fought back against in the Battle hall that he believed had come from the Wastelands. She seemed to be entering the Sanctum as well.

'I see,' he thought. 'I'm going to see some familiar faces here, aren't I?'