1580 Some Free Time

"Your Majesty, are you alright?" the man asked, seemingly worried about Alex. His eyes flashed briefly with surprise at the lack of wounds. And where was the broken left arm?

'Did he already eat a pill?' he wondered.

Alex still had blood all over himself, staining his skin and his clothes. He could send it back inside if he wanted to, but his body had already created the amount of blood he had lost. 

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I didn't hold myself back at the end there," the man said. Alex could hear panic in his voice, but when looking at his face, he didn't seem as panicked.

'Is he faking it?' he thought. Not that it mattered to him.

"Stop," Alex said. "Your name was Teng Roukang, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," the man said.

"Alright then, Roukang. You've won against me, and as promised, I will give you a pill. Which one do you want?" he asked.

The man thought for a bit. "Can I get the one that helps you learn a Dao?" he asked. 

Alex's face changed slightly. "I will only give from the 5 pills I promised."

"I see," the man said. "Then… I will take the Cultivation improving pill."

Alex nodded. "Do you have a bottle?" 

"Yes."

The man excitedly took the pill Alex handed to him and watched in widejawed awe at the marvelous pill veins he had heard so much about.

"5 veins… is that good or bad?" the man asked Alex.

"It's better than average," Alex told him. "That should increase your cultivation base to… somewhere in the early Saint Soul 8th realm after you eat that. It should last about 3 hours, but I should warn you that you will harm your meridians quite a bit after eating this. You won't be able to cultivate for a week or so."

"I see," the man said. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Alex nodded. "Thanks for the battle," he said.

"Haha!" the man laughed. "Don't thank me just yet, your Majesty. Our battle hasn't ended yet."

"Hmm?" Alex looked up at him in surprise. 

"I challenge you to a duel once again, Your Majesty!" he shouted excitedly, a wide grin on his face.

And then his grin vanished. "Hmm? Why isn't it working?" he asked, bringing out his talisman. He looked at the talisman, confused. He had gotten his points, so the match should have been over. So why wasn't the next one starting?

"Oh right?" he smacked his face with his palm. "I got a little too excited. Haha! I forgot you can't challenge someone to a match again until the next day if you are the winner."

Then, he turned toward Alex. "Your Majesty. You should challenge me," he said.

Alex shook his head. "I already lost to you. There is no merit for me to fight you again right away. I'll fight you once I've improved a little more."

The man looked at Alex for a few long seconds before nodding his head. "If that is so, then it shall be so," he said, turning around. "See you tomorrow, Your Majesty."

Then he flew away.

Alex watched the man fly away, a weird feeling emerging in his heart. He wanted to beat him up for some reason, but he needed to focus on training more. 'He's a good fighter and arrogant. He won't immediately beat me. He's a good training partner for him.'

He just had to ignore the person behind the staff.

Alex looked at his palm, clenching it a little. He could still feel the vibrations from the staff each time it struck Midnight.

"So flexible," he thought. He understood the advantages of a staff after the fight. Every part of the staff was a weapon. Unlike a sword, where one had to align the edge with the target, one could just slam the sword in any and all directions.

Even reverse.

"Still, the lack the sharp edges dulls the impact a lot," he thought. "That was a good experience."

He looked down at the people who were hesitant to close on toward him. He decided to go to them.

Everyone seemed somewhat surprised to see him completely fine. They too assumed it was because of his pills. "Your Majesty, are you alright?" someone asked.

"I'm fine," Alex said as he snapped his finger, getting rid of all the blood and dirt on himself with ease, returning himself to his pristine condition. "My apologies. We can continue now."

3 more people fought Alex, but all of them lost. After that, no one challenged Alex and he was finally free to leave.

"Finally, some freedom," he thought, walking through the uneven land, making his way to… anywhere. He didn't care. People would find him anyway.

His freedom wouldn't last for long, he knew that. He just needed some time to unwind from the countless battles before the next one came.

Night fell, but the earth still rumbled from the many fights that happened around the island. With how strong his spiritual sense was, he could most likely see the entirety of this island where the Transcendent Marital Ground was set.

He had heard that the island was massive, but he had doubts as to just how massive it was. Could it be larger than the 300-kilometer diameter his spiritual sense could cover?

'No need to alert the strong ones to my location just yet,' he thought and continued.

Unbeknownst to him, his name and skill level were being spread through the secret realm, mostly between friends for now. They were also letting the others know his location, in return for some favors.

Alex's information was becoming a currency that he could never expect it to become. 

'He's still following me?' Alex thought, sensing Teng Roukang's senses on him. 'How many pills before he leaves?' 

He sensed a few more people coming toward him, some of them people that he recognized from before, some he had never seen before.

Pearl appeared in a flash of light.

"It's time for more, Pearl."