1203 The Other Self

"So… it's destroyed," Alex said. "Sigh, it's all my fault. Although, it might be for the best so that the gods can't start a war once again. "

"No, it's not destroyed. It can't be destroyed. It's just not there," the man said. "Are you sure it was with you when you teleported away? You didn't leave it behind when you were running away, right?"

"I… I'm not sure," Alex said. "I wasn't in the right state of mind to remember what I was taking, but I'm certain I tried to take away what I thought was important, so I had most definitely taken it."

"Hmm, but there is a chance that you left it behind, right?" the man asked.

"I suppose," Alex said.

"That's not possible, master," Hao Ya said. "I've been to the sect treasury of all 5 major sects in the Northern Continent. Not a single one of them had anything resembling a large, solid seed."

"I also somewhat remember them talking about the aftermath of the battle that he was involved in. All 5 of the sects had decided to not take away anything that was left behind, and instead used it so they could be distributed to the up-and-coming alchemists."

Alex looked at Hao Ya curiously. "They're using my pills and ingredients to improve their level of alchemy?" he asked.

Hao Ya nodded. "Well, they're not yours anymore I suppose, since the reserve was all but gone when I left there 2 years ago," she said. "All that was left behind were a few ingredients and a cauldron no one could use because of how heavy it was."

Alex's eyes went wide. "My cauldron is there?" he asked.

Hao Ya was surprised. "That's your cauldron too?" she asked.

"Yes, I made it myself using 160 tons of various metals including 100 tons of Starforged Tungsten," he said. "Thank god. I thought I had lost the cauldron too along with everything in the Qi barrier, but I left it behind by mistake. That's one more good news I've heard today."

"Congratulations," the senior said to Alex. "Although, if what you said is true, then you didn't have much need for worry at all. Starforged Tungsten is quite strong and can survive through a lot of damage before being broken completely."

"Is it?" Alex asked. "I know it is strong but, my cauldron was an alloy, so it was less durable than normal Starforged Tungsten. I made it so that it was more resistant to heat instead of other physical damages."

"That's understandable," the man said. "But even so, the cauldron would've survived the Qi wall long enough to either fall in or out of it. That's what I checked right now with the World Tree's seed too."

"Oh, right. I wonder why I didn't think of that," Alex thought. "So there is land outside the Qi barrier too?"

"A small patch, yes," the man said, but it is still dozens of kilometers wide, so anything that falls out wouldn't just fall into the ocean."

"I see," Alex said. "Uhh… then did you find anything else during your search?"

"Hmm? I didn't see anything at all," the man said. "The rest of your stuff has most likely been destroyed."

"I see," Alex said as he rubbed his chin. "But I had about 20 different swords made from Starforged Tungsten too. Could those have been destroyed as well? You said the metal was strong enough to survive until it gets thrown out of either side, right?"

"Swords? I didn't see any swords," the man said.

"Really? I should've brought them with me though," Alex said. "Even if not all, a few should have come with me. Can I ask you to check again?"

"Sure, but are you sure you didn't take them with you to the Southern Continent?" the man asked.

"No, I'm sure. I checked where I landed with Scarlet and we didn't find a single thing at all. Given how far away from civilization that place was, no one else could've taken my stuff either."

"And as I said, nothing other than Alchemy stuff was back in the Northern Continent," Hao Ya said.

"Hmm, that's curious. Let me check again," the man said and used his spiritual sense once more to look for any of the 20 swords that Alex might have lost here.

Since the swords were smaller and harder to find, it took the man some more time to look through them. Alex waited patiently for a bit.

He heard a few footsteps and looked to the side to find Scarlet walking toward him. Next to her was a young man wearing a blue robe with bright blue hair.

"What's going on? What are you guys talking about?" she asked.

"Nothing," Alex said. "Senior is trying to help me find my sword if they are here. What were you doing over there for so long?"

"Oh, I was talking with senior," Scarlet said pointing to the man next to her. "I was going to introduce you after you came over to me, but it looks like you didn't plan on doing that at all, so I brought him here."

She turned to the man. "This is Alex, the boy I was telling you about," she said. "He's the one who brought news about you to me."

"It's good to meet you, young man," the blue-haired man said. "I heard you met my other self."

Alex was confused about what that meant for a second, but he quickly got up and bowed. "Greetings senior." While bowing, he wondered if he had met this person's clone before, given that he said he had met his other self.

However, he couldn't guess who he was at all. He had never seen a blue-haired person like this at all. "Who's he?" he asked Scarlet secretly, who was surprised a bit before remembering.

"Ah! you can't tell by his cultivation base?" she asked. "This is senior Xuan Luhei."

"Xuan Luhei?" Alex's eyes narrowed for a second. "The Black…"

His eyes widened as realization dawned on him as to who he was looking at. 'Ah! The Snake!'

"I'm sorry I didn't recognize you sooner, senior," Alex said as he bowed deeper.

"It's alright. I don't see how you could've recognized me when I'm in my human form," the snake said. "I don't like meeting humans while in my beast form, so the problem lies with me anyway."

"No, no. I should've recognized you just by your Immortal cultivation base," Alex said. He looked at the man closely and asked, "Are you hurt too, senior? Just like the other senior?"

"No, no, I'm alright," the snake said. "I was never hurt. I was just hiding here."

"Oh, I was going to make you a pill to heal you if you weren't already healed," he said. "It's good that you were healed. Then I will find a way to get my pills to the other senior. He was waiting for a thousand years to pass before he got to go back home before healing, but I should be able to help him now."

"No need," the man said. "He has already been healed.."

"Oh… huh?" Alex gave a curious look. "He's already healed?"

"You don't have to worry about the senior in the secret realm. He has healed already," Hao Ya said. "Although, he's still hiding away because of the Heavenly Judgment."

"Same as me," the snake said. "I've been staying here because the Intent here masks my existence quite well. If I were to go out, I would have to face a chance of death, which I don't want to do."

"Wait, why are you here, senior?" Alex asked. "Did you come back after leaving back then?"

"Leaving?" the snake chuckled. "I never left. Or more accurately, I couldn't leave. I was too weak after our battle, and after making just a quarter of the way through the Qi wall, I realized that I would die before I made it all the way out."

"I did what was right at the time and flew back in to heal myself. However, after healing myself, I realized that I was beginning to be attacked by the Heavenly Judgment. Thankfully, it didn't come at all because I was in here."

"Oh," Alex said. "So the reason you didn't go back was that you were afraid of the Heavenly Judgment?"

"Yes," the snake said. "We pushed ourselves so hard during the battle that all of us should've been the target of Heavenly Judgment."

"I see," Alex said. He didn't know what to say after that. 'Should I ask for some blood?'

However, he quickly got rid of the idea. Not only would it be rude, he hadn't done anything for the beast for him to give him something so valuable.

Besides, it was better for him to get the blood essence from someone far stronger. That was the reason why he hadn't bothered asking Scarlet for her blood essence as well.

"You must've been lonely out here all alone for so long," Alex said.

"Not really," the snake said. "I hibernated for as long as I could, and only woke up when senior here came. Then, I moved here along with him and after that, there has been not a moment of loneliness."

Alex was about to say something when he felt the spiritual sense from the man rush back into him.

"I can't find anything," the man said as he opened his eyes. "Are you absolutely sure they didn't go with you to the Southern Continent?"

"I'm sure, senior," Alex said. "The only thing I had on me there was a sword in my hand, a storage ring on my finger, and a book inside my body."

"Inside your body?" the man's eyes narrowed. "What book?"