1713 A New Plan

"You have to meet with the Emperor again?" the old man asked.

Alex nodded. "Within 2 and a half years," he said. "Actually, it might be closer to 2 years now since so much time has already passed."

"Why?" the old man asked.

Alex sighed. "When I was called for a 20-year-long Alchemy exchange to the Eastern Continent, I hadn't realized that I was being called so that the Dragon Emperor could ask for my techniques and skills."

"I didn't want to give him any, but I was practically forced into setting up a trade with him for it. For the next 20 years, I would give him everything he needs to make Pill Clouds consistently like I do. In return, he would give me something of equal value."

"I was supposed to make a total of 4 trades with him throughout the years. I've made 3 trades by now and need to make my final trade. Since I only have about 2 years of time left, I need to become strong enough to survive when I meet him next."

The old man frowned. "This is certainly bad," he thought. "Can't you take your Phoenix with you to the trade? She can protect you?"

"I can't," Alex said. "The Phoenix can't go to a place without a proper king. With the Azure Dragon dead, the Phoenix can't go with me to the Eastern Continent."

The old man nodded slowly and gave a sad look.

Alex had long since told the old man about the Azure Dragon's death, but the old man was still saddened every time he was reminded of it.

"Then you have to go to him alone?" he asked. "I doubt the Emperor ever plans on leaving his own continent."

"That is why I must become strong," Alex said.

The old man gave the words a long consideration before nodding. "Alright, if it will help you, I will give you the cores," he said. He reached into his storage bag and brought out exactly 9 beast cores.

Alex took the beast cores and looked at them. 3 of them were in the Saint Condensation realm, 5 in the Saint Foundation realm, and the last one in the Saint Core realm.

"I don't want to sound ungrateful, senior, but… is this it?" Alex asked.

The cores in his hands would barely be enough for Pearl to break through to the Core realm. It would not do much for him.

"I'm sorry, but this is all I can do for you," the old man said. "I mean, you can't blame me. My job here is to hide and keep track of what is going into the Eastern Continent. I need to lay low for that and can't just fight whatever beast I come across."

"Those cores are what I got when I was trying to set up the warning formation. Those beasts attacked me and I fought back. I rarely have had a reason to go looking for fights on my own."

"Besides, doing so would be stupid as it would tell everyone where I'm located. I've skipped more fights than I've been in one for the past few years."

Alex could understand. "I see," he said. "I'll make use of this how I can."

He stood up and left the place to go and cultivate with Pearl. Once he was with Pearl, he ate the Saint Core realm beast's beast core and let Pearl eat the other 8 cores however he liked.

The two of them started cultivating after eating it and it was very quickly clear that this was truly not going to work. The Saint Core realm beast was too weak for Alex. Even if he hadn't eaten the core and instead used it to make a Blood Beast, it would've still been too weak for him.

Alex could only sigh in the end. If he wanted better cores, he was going to have to find some outside.

"I will have to go out and fight some beasts."

Thankfully, he didn't think he would feel much guilt killing aquatic beasts to improve himself. These beasts truly gave no care for who lived and who died. Whoever was strong survived and the weak died.

The law of the jungle was actually more prevalent in the ocean than it was in the jungle.

"It's not just my cultivation too," Alex said softly. "I need to improve my Blood, my Soul, my Body, and my Sword. I don't see any way to improve Intent here, but if I can find one, I will."

Alex thought for a long while, planning out what he needed to do, and concluded.

"Fighting in the air will quickly tell all the soldiers where I am," he said. "So, I must instead fight the beasts underwater. It has to be deep underwater where no one would be able to tell if I'm a human or a beast. That should be the best way to go about things."

"Should I come?" Pearl asked curiously.

"No," Alex said. "You aren't strong enough to fight down there, and I don't know if I'm strong enough to protect you. So I will do it on my own."

After making that plan, Alex left Pearl alone and went to tell the old man what he wanted to do. The old man was still not entirely sold on the idea of eating beast cores to improve one's cultivation base, but he didn't completely reject the idea either.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. It was true, and the old man understood it.

"Here, take this talisman." He handed a long-range communication talisman to Alex. "Tell me when you need to come back. The island will be hidden from your senses, so you will need my help to get inside."

Alex slowly nodded. "Thank you," he said.

"You can leave now. Go dive deep underwater and get strong," he said. "But be careful, the sea floor is dangerous. Perhaps much more dangerous than land. The ocean is a world of its own, one the humans have not been able to conquer. The beasts reign supreme there and for a good reason. Always be ready to run if you see the tiniest bit of danger."

Alex nodded. "I will do that," he said. "Thank you for the talisman."

"Now go," he said. "I will continue keeping my eyes on the area around us. If it ever becomes clear to leave for the Southern Continent, I'll let you know and we can leave."

Alex smiled. "Thank you, senior. For all you've done for me," he said. "Please look after Pearl while I'm gone. I'll be back soon."

Saying so, Alex walked out of the island with all of his aura hidden and slowly got into the water.

Despite the hot day with the sun blazing in the sky, the water was icy cold. Alex went underwater and quickly resorted to using his Qi instead of air to sustain himself.

He took a few seconds to have himself get used to this. As he had done the same back in the Celestial Peak, it came naturally to Alex.

Once he was all ready, he dove deeper into the ocean, entering the dark world of aquatic beasts that hadn't been touched by humans in a long, long time.