787 The Tournament Approaches

"Well, that sucks."

Alex didn't know what to do now. On one hand, learning the language seemed like a more than good idea given that he had been hoping to learn it for so many years now.

On the other hand, just the partial knowledge of the technique let him create swords to cut through a person's mental fortitude. What if he learned the whole thing?

If he tried to read the Stele after learning the language, Alex was sure the Stele would definitely kill him.

"I don't need to learn the language just yet right?" he thought to himself. "I can just scan it and learn it that way. Like I've always done. My brain translates it into concepts on its own anyway."

While he did think that, it wasn't just a simple decision for him.

"Urgh! Whatever, I will think about it after the competition."

Alex put away the book and left the room. It was way in the afternoon, so he went to search for the jaguar.

Surprisingly, it wasn't the jaguar that was here this time. It was the leopard.

"Senior? Where is senior Yao?" Alex asked. The leopard was strong, and he didn't have any grievance with it, so Alex didn't mind it being the one to look after them.

But he had a closer relationship with the jaguar, and if possible, he would love to have found him.

"We take turns watching over you," the leopard explained. "What are you looking for?"

"Just to fight," Alex said. "Would you be willing to fight me? For my training of course."

The leopard thought for a moment and shrugged. "Why not? I'm bored anyway."

Both Pearl and Alex fought the leopard for a while before returning back to cultivate.

When the next day started, they did the same thing. Soon, they got into a rhythm, a schedule they would follow where they would train and cultivate, in between very few other things.

The jaguar returned after a few days and they trained with him too.

In such ways, Alex's days passed very quickly, and before he knew it nearly 3 months had already passed by and he was now one step away from the True Emperor realm.

The tournament of champions, as it was apparently called, was just a week away.

Alex reached the Radiant city on his own a week before the competition. The rest of the Flowing Brush sect members would come on their own a few days later.

For now, Alex had a task to do.

Without waiting around for anything, he directly went to the royal family.

When he notified that he wanted to meet with either the Princess or Zhanrou, the princess came out on her own to meet him.

"You're alive??… is what I would say if I didn't hear about you a few months ago," the princess said as she walked out.

"It's good to see you, princess." Alex bowed a little towards her.

"You really managed to stave off all those people by faking your own death huh? That's quite bold of you," she said.

"I didn't… whatever, I will explain to you later. For now, I came to meet with Zhanrou and give her something," Alex said.

"Oh? What is it?" the princess asked.

"You will have to wait princess," Alex said.

"Fine, let's wait in the garden. Zhanrou should be making pills at the moment and will take some time."

The princess turned around to walk on. However, she stopped and turned around. "Although my father might want to speak to you about your disappearance."

"Yes, of course. I will explain," Alex said.

"Good. I'll let him know we're coming."

The princess took Alex directly to the Emperor's hall where the many court officials were already making their way out for Alex's privacy.

As the princess and Alex walked in, the court officials saw him and talked about him in hushed voices.

'They know about me?' Alex was a little surprised.

"Good!" the Emperor exclaimed as soon as Alex walked in. "Our miracle Alchemist didn't bite the dust just yet."

"Greetings, your majesty." Alex bowed toward the Emperor.

"It's good to see that you are safe and sound, young man." The Emperor had just said that when he noticed something.

"Actually… more than just safe and sound. Did you get a realistic fake arm, or is that your actual left arm I see."

The Emperor got down from his throne to check on it closely.

"It is real, your majesty," Alex told him.

"How did… did you use the healing crystal somehow?" the Emperor asked.

"No, I… I managed to create a pill that can heal any sort of grievous wounds, including cut off limbs and organs," Alex told the Emperor truthfully. With what he was here to do, lying wouldn't make any sense to him.

"You did what?" The princess shouted in disbelief from behind. She hadn't noticed the new arm as it had been two years since she had seen him and had forgotten a few details.

However, the emperor with his spiritual sense and excellent mind saw all the changes immediately.

"You really are the miracle alchemist as the citizens call you," the Emperor said.

"Come on, tell me all about it."

Alex nodded and told him exactly how he found the pill. As for where he got the original pill recipe, he chalked it up to Shen Jing providing him with one.

As soon as the Emperor heard Shen Jing's name, he no longer asked questions in that direction and started changing subjects.

"Please don't let anyone know that it was the pill that healed my arm. Make up something like you found it tucked away in your treasury and Zhanrou managed to make one on her own, or something like that," Alex said.

"Huh? Why not? You will be famous when the people find out. In fact, way more famous than you already are," the emperor said.

"Your majesty, If I cared about fame, I wouldn't be here giving away my recipe."

The Emperor stopped what he was about to say and nodded. "Alright, we will hide that information. Now can you tell us where you have been for the last 2 years?" he asked.

Alex explained the same thing he had said to the Han family, except this time the fruit he had gone to eat was something that fixed his body from something that was wrong with it.

The emperor already knew about the problem in his body, he just didn't know what it was. When he heard that Alex had fixed the problem, he congratulated Alex.

"So, what do you plan on doing now?" the Emperor asked. "Do you want to join the royal family? I'm sure any of my daughters would—"

"Father!" Xumei shouted from behind.

"Haha, I was joking," the Emperor said as he scratched his chin. He was definitely not joking at all.

"I meant to say, do you want to become the royal Alchemist again? With you and Zhanrou, we will not have to worry about pills ever again," the Emperor said.

"Thank you for the opportunity, your majesty. But I will have to decline," Alex bowed a little. "For now, I just want to take part in the Tournament of Champions and see how well I fare against the elites of the younger generation. That has been my wish for quite a while now."

"The tournament? You registered in it?" the Princess was surprised.

"Yes, your highness," Alex replied to her.

"Well, you do have the appropriate cultivation base, but I'm not sure if you will make it any far with just this," the Emperor said. "Still, good luck. I will cheer you for your victory."

Unlike the Han family's leader, the Emperor was a bit more understanding of his sentiment and didn't try and talk down to him as a fighter.

"Thank you, your highness."

They were done with their talks and the Emperor needed to go back to talking with his officials about empire matters, so Alex and the princes left not long after.

Alex then met up with Zhanrou and handed her the recipe. He told her the difficulties and how she couldn't let anyone find out about them. Especially the part of it requiring a lot of blood.

Zhanrou was understanding, so she easily complied. Alex also met up with Wei Ruoran and spoke to him for a bit before leaving the palace altogether.

He then went back to his hotel room where he would cultivate for the next 7 days and wait for the tournament to start.