835 Did you say...

Alex ran, but there wasn't any way for him to be faster than a Saint Core cultivator even if he was on the ground.

The spiritual sense slammed on Alex, and Alex barely managed to survive with his wit.

Even from so far away, the old man was nearly killing him. Nearly.

With such a difference, Alex would've died if he really wanted to. The old man most likely wanted to keep Alex alive.

The only problem was that Alex didn't know if it was to gain information from him or to torture him for killing his grandson.

Alex realized that the problem for him was worse, as it was probably both.

Alex ran and ran and ran, but just before he was about to reach his destination, the old man appeared next to him and kicked him in the stomach.

The old man had held his power, but if Alex didn't have his body or technique protecting him currently, he would most likely be vomiting out his own stomach right now. That was if it hadn't already spewed out from behind him.

The old man's anger was visible in his eyes, which were more crimson than the robe he wore.

Spiritual pressure enough to drown Alex's mind fell onto him while his cultivation base slammed Alex to the ground to keep him from moving.

What little spiritual energy he had was getting sloshed around in his mind, nearly making him unconscious.

Alex only stopped from falling unconscious because the old man had let up on the pressure and didn't want him to.

He wanted Alex to be conscious for what he was about to do to him.

"Do you think you can kill my grandson and just run away?" the old man asked and kicked Alex across the chest.

Alex barely skidded anywhere with so much of the cultivation base pressuring him. The old man's Qi was like a boulder keeping him on the ground from moving away.

"We asked you politely and you don't answer. Now see what happens when I rip the pieces of the answers from your mind," the old man said and kicked him again.

He kept beating Alex while pressuring his mind. Alex tried to hold on, but the pain from getting kicked by a Saint Core cultivator was too much even when he was holding back.

Still, Alex had to hold on to his mind, or the old man would enter and gain all the answers from Alex, just like Fu Tao did. Only this time, Alex wouldn't be the one under control.

The old man kicked Alex again, and this time Alex tumbled a little further before stopping on the flat area with barely any grass or tree.

The old man appeared on top of him and placed his feet on top of Alex as he slowly started to crush his skull.

Alex felt his jaw crack and intense pain ran throughout his body, but now was not the time to reel in it.

He needed to escape. Just a little more and he would escape.

The old man stopped before he fully crushed Alex's skull as he needed the brain for his memories. He wasn't sure the answers he wanted were with Alex on his storage bags.

Alex sent his spiritual sense at the old man, but there was no intention of attack behind it. He was only sending a message.

"Just you wait, I will tear you to pieces like I did your grandson," Alex spoke directly into his mind.

The old man's eyes widened with rage and he kicked Alex in the chest again. This time, Alex definitely heard most of his ribcage on the right side of his chest cave in, and at least 3 of them were puncturing his lungs.

He tumbled a bit further away and hacked up a lung full of blood from his mouth and nose.

The old man appeared next to him and grabbed him by the hair before plunging his heat into the hard ground.

"You still have something to say, you little bastard?" he asked.

Alex coughed up even more blood and looked like he was in a lot of pain. But even through that, even through the broken jaw, he smiled at the old man.

Then his hand slammed on the ground next to him and the runes activated.

The familiar feeling of teleportation washed over both Alex and the old man that was holding him.

The old man let go of Alex in surprise and looked around. The place he had been teleported to was a normal-looking room with a giant weird cluster of runes drawn on the floor, next to a huddled-up carpet.

"Where are we? Where did you bring us?" the old man asked Alex, who was supposed to be pressed down next to him, but Alex was no longer there.

The old man hadn't noticed, but inside the Timeless palace, anyone who didn't have the authority here could not use their spiritual sense at all.

Since he couldn't keep track of Alex at all, Alex had managed to get up and run to the front.

Alex looked back while he placed his palm on the runes at the front of the hall and sent a spiritual message to the old man.

"Just wait a few days. I will come back and kill you," he said into his mind.

The old man understood what was happening and shot at Alex, but Alex was already teleporting. By the time the old man was next to him, Alex was already back outside.

Alex slumped to the floor the moment he arrived outside and immediately reached into his storage bags for healing pills.

He grabbed a handful and crunched on them like they were candies. Healing energies moved through his body to heal him, and the ones that couldn't simply be turned to Qi.

His jaw fixed itself on his face, while his ribs un-protruded themselves from his lung. The torn organs on his body mended themselves and the rest of the injuries slowly healed as well.

Finally, he was fully healed and he tried to stand up. But then, a foot appeared and pressed him to the ground, crushing his just healed chest.

Alex struggled to see what was happening and saw the Song Matriarch looking at him with a cold eye.

"Were you the old that killed my grandson?" she asked.

Alex didn't speak and just stared at her with his watering eyes.

The woman kept staring back but got no answer. With no emotion on her face, she released a bit of the blood in her robe and turned it into a blade that she pointed at his neck.

"You will answer me one way or another," she said. "Swear an oath to forever be my slave and you will get to live. Otherwise, I will kill you right here. Your blood is all I need, and I will get it either way."

Alex groaned but didn't speak.

"SAY IT!" the woman shouted.

"Wh-What will you do to me?" he asked.

"After you become a slave?" the woman's face had a sneer now. "I will have you become stronger and bleed you until your blood runs dry. Then I will use your blood to become the next Blood God."

A sneer appeared on Alex's face, while black tendrils crawled underneath his skin.

His eyes opened, fully black as if death was staring back at her. Then, his mouth opened and a hoarse voice spoke.

"Did you say… God?"