1570 Silverheart City

Alex arrived west of the Silver Mountain range, in a city that was established in a rocky region with large spikes of stones coming out from the ground all over the space.

The rock spikes were all painted metallic white, representing the Kingdom and the capital through it.

Alex had arrived at the Silverheart City of the Silver Kingdom. 

He had arrived alone. That was not to say that he had nobody around him. But all those who were there were there only as his bodyguard. No one was here with him to be here with him.

Yao Ning and Liang Shufen had been sent to the Golden Auction to deal with the auction and sell his pills and paintings. He had let them know not to buy anything unless it was something incredible, as they were lacking funds at the moment thanks to their last big spend.

With the two away, Alex had to come to the Silver Kingdom alone as he couldn't miss the most important event for any Saint realm cultivator on the continent.

The Transcendent Martial Ground was opening in just a few days.

The secret realm opened once every 30 years or so, and unfortunately this time around, it overlapped the Golden Auction. Had it opened just a month later, people could've easily gone to the Golden Auction and made it to it in time.

They would've still missed the Realm of Trials 6 months later, but anyone who cared about the Realm of Trials usually wouldn't care about the Transcendent Martial Ground at all.

Alas, they had to make a choice, and as such many believed that the auction wouldn't be as good this time around. After all, no one in their right might would give up the chance to test yourself and train yourself against the best of the best of the Eastern Continent.

That was still a few weeks away, so he had to come meet with the Queen of the Silver Kingdom, Mao Yingtai. 

The woman with peach hair and a petite body gave a charming smile as she excitedly welcomed Alex. She stood outside the city gates, next to one of the protruding silver rocks.

The blue sky was free of clouds, and the summer breeze that blew in from the west made its way to this region as well, moving the tall grass outside the city in a familiar pattern.

"Your Majesty! It's been 10 years!" she said, waving her hands in a wild manner. To her side stood two older men and a young man, all of whom showed little to no emotion.

"Queen Mao, how have you been?" Alex asked the woman as he arrived next to her.

"Absolutely amazing, Your Majesty," she said. "Although, I'm still a little sad you took away my artifact."

"I won it fair and square," Alex said. "You can't call it yours."

The woman gave a cheeky little smile.

"Welcome to the Silver Kingdom, Your Majesty," the young man next to the Queen spoke. "We hope you have a wonderful time here."

Alex looked at the young man, moving his attention to him. The young man had black hair and deep blue eyes, but his face looked ever so similar to the Queen.

"Yingkong, I was getting there," she said before shooing him back. "That's my little brother. Don't mind him."

Alex had thought so. "You can be a queen if you have a brother?" he asked her curiously.

"Hmm? Why couldn't I?" the woman asked in a confused manner. 

"You can't if you are married or have kids, right?" he asked her.

"Oh! Yeah, siblings are fine," the girl said. "They don't count as royals though. So you don't have to call him a prince or anything."

The young man sighed behind his sister. 

"Anyway, let us go to the city," she said, letting Alex walk up to her so she could take him away. As they started walking, the rest of the group fell behind them.

"Weren't you supposed to be coming through the teleportation formation, Your Majesty?" Alex asked. "What happened?"

"I decided not to," he said. "I was already at the Azure Kingdom, so this is a short distance from there anyway."

"I see," the Queen said. "Ah, are you planning on entering the Transcendent Martial Ground, Your Majesty? You must be. Why else would you come here."

"I am," Alex said. This was a weird change of pace for him when meeting with rulers of the various kingdoms. Everyone tried to be regal about things, but Mao Yingtai seemed to care less about it.

'She wasn't this hyper the last time I saw her,' Alex thought. He wondered if her mood was sour last time due to what was happening in the Ivory Kingdom at the time. He remembered her being quite solemn back then.

"I do plan on going into the secret realm," Alex said. "That is primarily the reason why I came when I did. Otherwise, I would've come after the Golden Auction."

"I see, I see," the woman said. "Do you have any plans on what region you'll be fighting as part of?"

"I plan on remaining neutral actually," Alex said. "That… won't be a problem, right?"

Everyone that went into the Transcendent Martial Ground went as part of a kingdom. And in the end, the points would be tallied up to see which kingdom did the best.

As Alex was part of no kingdom, he wanted to remain neutral.

"But you can't be neutral," the Queen said. "You must be part of a group. That's just how it is."

Alex shrugged. "Then I'll have to take some time to consider," he said. "Do you wish that I join your kingdom?"

"Will you?" the Queen asked excitedly.

Alex chuckled. "We'll see.

They got onto a small flying boat and flew over the castle gates, into the city.

Alex looked down from the boat. The massive city went about its day normally. A few people looked up to stare at him as he passed by, but other than that, no one really cared that he was in the city.

He had been here for too long for people to care about him anymore.

The city wasn't unique to him anymore, the buildings the same as he saw everywhere else. What was unique were the rock spikes outside the city, but that didn't exist within it.

"Have you been to the Ebony Kingdom yet, Your Majesty?" the Queen asked.

"Not yet," Alex said. "I don't make a habit of visiting Kingdoms where I won't have much to do, unfortunately."

"Oh, so you'll be going there after the tournament?" she asked.

"Hmm? What's happening after the tournament?" Alex asked.

"The Harmonious Balance Haven's opening," the Queen said. "I assumed you would want to go there too."

"I don't know…" Alex said. "From what I've read regarding the place, it doesn't give much opportunity to show your skills, unlike the upcoming one."

"No, it is mostly to test your skills," the Queen said. "Whatever, there is plenty of time. You might as well worry about the Martial ground for now."

"I don't know if I will have to worry about it that much," he said.

The Queen turned to look at him with a serious look on her face. "Trust me, Your Majesty. You will want to worry. You are only in the Saint Soul realm. Meanwhile, the strong opponents can go to the Saint Transformation realm. They're just too strong."

"That's alright," Alex said with a smile. "I'm not particularly looking to fight extremely tough opponents. Just those that can help me improve myself."

"Hmm, if you're not intending to win it all, then I suppose you don't have to be that careful," the Queen said. "If you want to remain safe there, I can have my brother stay around you. He's strong enough to defend you all."

Alex looked at the young man who didn't react to him being brought up. The young man had a cultivation base of Saint Soul's 7th realm, making him quite strong.

He was 4 realms higher than Alex, so it wouldn't be an exaggeration on the Queen's part to say he was stronger than Alex. Only if she knew. 

They arrived at the palace and Alex settled down in there. He spoke to the queen about a few things and even let her use the Mountain Crushing artifact.

The Queen was very hospitable and more than excited to talk with Alex about his journey as a cultivator. However weak she considered him to be, he was still a very talented person in her eyes.

She especially wanted him to talk about how he became so good at Alchemy. She even wanted him to give lectures on it to the alchemists in her city.

When Alex refused the offer, she changed it to a bet.

"How about we bet on how long you'll last in the secret realm once it begins?" she asked. "I will bet that you will last… 9, no 10 months."

"Is that so?" Alex smiled. "Here, I'll give you an advantage so you can guess again."

He passed along a talisman to the Queen, which he had prepared a long time ago.

The Queen read the talisman with widened eyes. "What is this?" she asked. 

"I wanted to ask you to announce this when the secret realm opens up," he said.

"Are you sure? This will create a severe disadvantage for you from the start," she said.

"I know," Alex said. "I know what I'm doing."

The queen gave a thoughtless nod as she looked at the text. "If I'm to take this into account then… you will last 3 months at best.