1889 Long Time Coming

A certain rumor traveled through the entire world like wildfire, spreading to every region with this absurd piece of news that no one ever believed in.

No one knew where the news began even and thus its validity could not be trusted. And yet, because of how monumental the news was, everyone had half a mind to thoughtlessly believe the news.

People waited for the truth to be revealed, but the truth was not revealed even as a lot of time passed. People waited for an entire year, maybe even more, giving the royal palace time to speak, and yet no news came from there.

It was all silent.

So, as more and more time passed, people began believing the news more and more.

Alex, king of the Southern Continent, was dead.

The rumor first started around the time when Long Hanjue officially took the throne of the Eastern Continent. The southern continent as a whole was missing from that event, causing people to question why that was.

That was when people began speculating that the royal palace was in mourning and did not want to come to the event. As for why that mourning was for Alex, nobody could tell. Nobody knew the source of the information after all.

Many people believed differently from the rumor. They believed that Alex was still in the palace, doing something on his own. He was in deep cultivation and couldn't come out.

If not that, he had simply left the world, going to the Immortal realm. However, people felt there would be some goodbye or stepping down from the throne.

Nothing happened.

If Alex had truly broken through and left, there would be a celebration or news of some sort, certainly. This meant the only reason was that Alex had died during that or during some other incident such as Qi deviation.

People expected the Phoenix or her current subordinates to come out and clear the truth, telling people that their King was still alive. And yet no matter how much they wanted, nobody cleared up the rumor.

That made it more and more certain in the hearts of men and women.

Alex was dead. Their king was dead.

Many were saddened by this news. Many mourned his death. Many felt regret at the passing of a generational talent that hardly ever came by.

And then, as time passed by, many forgot about Alex.

That was exactly what he wanted.

In just 3 years, Alex could recognize the significantly less amount of talk about him. In 5 years, he noticed that barely anyone even talked about him, except in passing.

The fear men had for him after he had killed the Dragon Emperor was gone after his news of death circulated throughout the world, a result of his own doing.

Now, people talked about him as a legend, one that wouldn't be forgotten soon enough, but not one that would be remembered all that much either.

Alex was in the Northern Continent, with his master, senior sister, and various other people who hadn't left the palace in a long time. He had decided to go around the world with these people and see it all before he needed to prepare for himself.

During these 5 years, he managed to make a Fire Spiritual Improvement pill. It took some more time than the others, but not enough that he missed any important time with his friends.

Wen Cheng would later have to bring this pill and recipe over to his soldiers who he promised would get that pill recipe.

In 5 years, Alex had traveled the Eastern Continent, where he helped Long Hanjue from time to time, and then came over to the Northern Continent to tour it as well.

After that, he was to go to the Western Continent, but Alex did not want to do that. 5 years was enough time to spend on his master and rest. It was time for him to be serious about hisownfuture.

After everyone he cared about left him in the Northern Continent, Alex began cultivating and training every day. He still needed people to reach Immortality before him, so he had plenty of time.

Aside from his Undying Physique and Demon Eyes, which Alex had to train forever, there were 3 things he needed to train on before reaching Immortality.

His cultivation base was reaching Saint Transformation's 5th realm soon, so that was the first. His physical body was no higher than Saint Transformation's 7th realm after all these years, which needed to be improved as well.

Finally, he needed to improve his Sword Domain. While his ability to properly use Sword Domain still evaded him, he could still train in it in preparation for when he could use it easily.

Alex needed to be able to use the vagrant Sword Qi to move with his command so that they couldn't attack others that he wasn't intending to harm. It required a lot of Intent and Alex was ready for that.

After he reached the Saint Transformation 5th realm, Alex left for the central continent again. He left for the mansion, which was now under Hao Ya and senior Luhei whostillremained.

The snake was now the owner of the mansion and thus everything else within it.

"Young Alex! You're finally back, after so many years," the snake said.

"My apologies, senior Luhei. I was taking a bit of a vacation. I should have come back sooner."

"No problem."

Alex looked around. "Is sister Hao Ya not back? She must be cultivating quite diligently."

"She is," the snake said. "Speaking of which, surely you didn't just come here to chat with me. Why are you here? Passing by?"

Alex shook his head. "Actually,I have something crucial to do here," Alex said. "Senior Yang wrote me a talisman before he left and taught me a few things that I shoulddefinitelyremember."

"Oh? What did it say?"

"The information is mostly me-specific, so I'm not very comfortable with sharing it. I'm sorry, senior."

"No, no," the snake shook his head. "That's alright. But surely you can tell me why you are here."

"Oh yes. I came to train my body and mind," Alex said. "Well, more Intent than mind. I'm hoping it will be quite useful for me."

"You are trying to cultivate? Here? Nothing happens here." The snake had lived in the pond for a very long time, forced to spend all of his time on what senior Yang did and did not do.

"Senior Yang had already heard about my ideas and approved some of them," Alex said. "So it shouldn't be a problem any longer."

The snake was curious. "What exactly are you doing to do?" he asked.

"If you are curious, you are free to come and watch me do it." Alex shrugged.

The snake thought for a long deep while before nodding. There wasn't much to do around these parts, and the snake needed something to get his mind off the boredom.

He left with Alex, traveling not very far before he arrived in front of dense trees, forming the large forest that they both recognized.

"This is it." Alex took a deep breath. "I'm going in."