1331 Criteria



"The Royal School of Alchemy was created ages ago and is one of the most prestigious institutions in all of the empire," the old man next to the Crown Prince started explaining. "It is one of the 10 Great institutions that is under the Royal Imperial family, and is most certainly one of the most well regarded."

"10 huh?" Alex asked, somewhat interested. "I would like to hear more about them."

"Don't worry, your Majesty," the old man said. "We will take you to each of the institutions later to visit."

Alex smiled and nodded. "I look forward to it," he said. "By the way, I've been wondering something. I had assumed that it would be the Emperor himself that would pick us up. Is that not the case? Is he waiting for us in the Royal School?" 

"Ah, no," the Crown Prince answered. "His Majesty miscalculated your time of arrival and is in an alchemy session that should last for another half a day. He was supposed to come to take you all to the Royal School, but due to that, I had come instead of His Majesty."

"Although, since it's only half a day, by the time noon comes around, he should be out," the Crown Prince said.

"I see, I can wait that long," Alex said and started looking outside of the carriage at the capital.

The buildings on either side of the road had a pagoda-like aesthetic that was more prevalent here than anywhere else in the world. The buildings were large, and tall going on for several stories. The buildings were close to each other, with no gap between them in most cases. 

And yet, they never appeared crowded or congested because of how big they were and how spacious the roads were. You could have 50 carriages moving side by side at the same time and you would still have enough space for people to walk on the sidelines.

Compared to the Sunborn Sanctuary, which had wide roads, but not as wide as they were more so meant for humans walking through them, this road was definitely made with carriages in mind.

Not only that, it seemed there was an airway in the sky as well, which was meant to be followed anytime one wanted to fly around in their boats.

Alex could see boats of similar sizes in the distance flying around and could tell that there were some regulations as to what was allowed to fly in the city and where.

Alex could see the News Boards in the sky at several intervals, this time not a cube but rather a large spherical body made up of hexagonal shapes, all of which showed the same news all over.

They showed Alex's arrival.

His pictures floated in the sky for everyone to see, which meant that it was also shown to the entire continent. If he wasn't wrong, within the day everyone in the Eastern Continent would be aware of what he looked like.

Alex secretly frowned at the realization that he wouldn't be able to do secretly what he had been wanting to do. Anywhere he went, people would know who he was.

'Would a face change be the answer?' he thought, but then there would still be royals keeping track of him, so maybe it was never going to work in the first place.

As Alex continued to think and look outside at what the various buildings were, the Crown prince spoke up.

"Your Majesty, I heard something that I'm not sure is true or not. Would you mind clearing up my confusion?" the Crown Prince asked.

"What is it about? I am happy to clear any confusion," Alex said.

"When you were crowned King and the news traveled to us sometime later, one of the pieces of information on that piece of news was that you were rather young."

"I can see that the information back then was true, but they were never clear on just how young you are," the Crown Prince asked. "Would you mind clearing it up for me?"

"Sure," Alex said. "I am… let's see…" He had to give it a bit of thought as it had been a while since he had kept track of his own age.

"I believe I am a little over 60 years old, but haven't yet reached 65 years," Alex said. "My age gets a little hard to determine because I've spent so many years cultivating that the months just blend in together in my mind."

He looked at the Crown Prince after answering, wondering why he wasn't talking, only to see the absolutely flabbergasted look on the Crown Prince's face.

It wasn't just him, but even the other people from the Eastern Continent were extremely surprised at his age.

The two elders next to Alex shook their heads as well. They knew the answer, but it was still quite shocking.

"S-surely you are jesting, right your Majesty? 60 years is a bit…" The Crown Prince didn't want to outright call him a liar, but that was also what he wanted to do.

"Did Your Highness not realize that I am also one of the many players by my name?" Alex asked. "Given that info, you should know I'm not lying."

The Crown Prince's smile faded when he realized that it made sense. While not all players were great at cultivating, the number of players that had made a name for themselves in a short period of time was truly something significant. 

If Alex truly was a player as they had all guessed, and not someone using a player's name to hide himself, then a Saint Core 6th realm, 60-year-old king was truly something fearsome.

In time, he would surely reach the same level as the Dragon Emperor if not better. The crown prince and the rest easily realized that.

"You are truly great, your Majesty," the Crown Prince spoke. "At your age, I remember I had only just reached the Saint realm. It's taken me over 2 thousand years to reach where I am after that."

"In your case, it will probably just take you 200 years to reach where I am," the Crown Prince said.

"You overestimate my talent," Alex said. "I was only lucky in finding treasures that helped my explosive growth."

"Some say Luck is a talent as well," the Crown Prince spoke and thought of what else he could talk about. 

"You aren't married, are you your Majesty?" the Crown Prince asked. 

"No, I'm afraid not," Alex said. "Are you married, your Highness?" 

"I am not, but I do have a fiancee," the Crown Prince said.

"I see. Congratulations," Alex said to the prince. 

The Crown Prince smiled back and said, "Are you not interested in marriage, your Majesty?" he asked.

Alex paused for a moment and said, "I am, but I haven't found one regardless of how hard I've tried. It is so hard to find a Queen that can fit my criteria."

The Crown Prince's eyes widened as he saw an opportunity to form a connection between the two continents. At the same time, the two elders on the side of Alex couldn't help but react to the nonsense.

The Crown Prince was all smiles as he asked, "Just what exactly are these stringent criteria, your majesty?"