1242 Time to Leave

Alex finished his alchemy lecture nearly half a day later. Since the level of alchemy knowledge in the Northern Continent was so low, he had to start from very basic knowledge before proceeding to advanced stuff.

So, a lecture that should have taken no more than 4 hours, ended up taking nearly 12.

He walked toward the group of elders that were happily waiting for him to come down.

"That should be enough, right?" he asked.

"Enough, it's more than enough," one of the elders said. "Thank you so much for teaching our alchemists so much about alchemy. I'm sure most of them didn't even know half of what you said existed at all."

"It's only obvious," Alex said. "Alchemy had to be suppressed before, so there wasn't a lot of growth, and over the past few thousand years, the knowledge slowly disappeared as no one was putting it into effect."

The elders nodded. "Once again, thank you for everything you've done."

"Thank you."

Everyone spoke all at once. Alex smiled behind his white mask and spoke, "if you are happy with it all, then please prepare for our departure. We'll be leaving at sunrise."

Many of the elders nodded and scattered away to fulfill his request. Only a single elder stayed behind and looked at him with solemn eyes.

"You are going to leave once again, huh?" lady Xuan asked. "I wonder how many times it is that I am going to have to watch you leave."

Alex took off his mask and gave a soft smile, not saying anything.

"Will you ever come back after leaving?" she asked.

"Are you asking that of Yu Ming or Alex?" he asked.

"Both?" Lady Xuan said.

"Yu Ming is no more, and will likely never return to you or anyone else in the Northern Continent. Alex is the king of the Southern Continent, and as such may return from time to time in the future. However, you should know what it would mean for a king to visit," he said.

"I see," Lady Xuan said. "So there is absolutely no chance of you ever becoming a member of our sect again, huh?"

Alex shook his head. "It's simply impossible now," he said. "Still, I won't forget the help you and your sect have provided, senior. For that, I will forever remain grateful."

"After I became a King, it's rare that I bow to anyone anymore. So, this might be the last time I do so for someone in the Northern continent. Please accept it."

Alex gave a short bow to the woman.

"You don't have to bow, I understand," the woman hurriedly said, but Alex still fully did his bow before looking back up.

The woman hesitated on what to do before bowing herself. "Thank you for everything you have done too. You say you are grateful to us, but you do not understand just how grateful the entirety of the Northern Continent is to you. It is thanks to you that it has finally had a chance to walk out of the shadow of the Snow Immortal sect, and will finally get to blossom to its true potential."

Alex's smile got brighter. "I can't wait to see it blossom into something beautiful," he said. "Until then, farewell."

He turned around and left the place, leaving behind the woman with a look that was a mixture of happiness and sadness.

Alex looked to the sky far away and saw Hao Ya fly into the air. She was about to begin telling everyone exactly what it was they could expect, exactly what it was they were going to have to deal with.

She was there to break their hopes now, rather than let them keep them for much longer and be in much more pain when they broke once they reached their destination.

Your parents are dead. Your friends are no longer there. Your home isn't your home anymore. The one you loved most likely loves someone else.

You are nothing but a clone.

These sorts of things were a necessity to tell the people before they went back so that when they did, they would have an objective view of reality instead of one they see through their own twisted hope.

Alex ignored her words and went on to find Hao Ya who he knew should be with Fan Yanshi. He found the three with Ronron playing with her younger sister or cousin, while Fan Yanshi was fully invested in the words of the lady in the sky.

"Father!" Ronron quickly waved him over.

"Oh, she's not shy anymore," Alex said.

"Of course," Ronron said. "It would be a surprise if she were to still be shy after she ate so many of the sweets I bought from that other city."

"Brother Yu— no, what was it? Alex?" Fan Yanshi spoke. "You left us that knowledge so many years ago that if we just held out for a bit longer… we could go home."

Alex paused for a second and remembered, he did do that. "Yes, I did," he said.

"I was so excited for this day for the past 3 decades, and this day has finally come," Fan Yanshi said. "So why don't I feel happy anymore?"

Alex could see the sadness on Fan Yanshi's face.

"She says that we will be going home, but she also says that we are clones, someone that never really existed in that place at all," he said. "So… is it still our home?"

"Of course," Alex said. "It doesn't matter what is the truth or what isn't in this case. If you think the world in your memories is your home, then it is your home."

Fan Yanshi sighed. "There will be another me in there, wouldn't there?" he asked. "Where will I have to go instead?"

"I… I can't tell you for certain right now," Alex said. "However, if you end up without a home in there, contact me. I will help you find one."

Fan Yanshi gave a meek little smile. "Thank you."

Hao Ya finished her speech in the air and came down to land next to Alex. "We're ready," she said.

"The sun is about to rise. We should all get ready to leave," he said.

The group lined up and walked toward the Teleportation formation one by one. Just like the one in the Southern Continent, this formation could handle about 20 thousand people at once as well.

Given the number of people that had gathered, it would take them about 7 different times to send them all back.

Alex met up with the rest of his family and waited for the teleportations to begin. He saw tears and heard sniffling from his aunt and understand that she just had a heartfelt goodbye with her sect.

Graham tried to console her, but he couldn't stop her from crying at all, so he let her be.

Ronron held onto Lilin in her arms and talked with her as a big sister. Meanwhile, Fan Yanshi stood by their side as well, but his face was completely blank with no emotion in it.

Hao Ya stood a little away with her arms crossed, waiting for it all to begin.

Alex looked to his left as the first rays of sunlight fell onto the land. Then, the teleportations began.