Back to the present,
"Ohoho, it seems we have an excellent seedlings this year." The Third Elder, Dolf Kolk, appeared in front of Alex and the rest.
"Third Elder" All of them greeted him hurriedly. Since his identity is clear, even Lena needs to give respect to him.
"En. It is indeed as this Young Man said. The different energy in his word is weapon energy. As you might already know, the weapon also has its own energy. And we placed many weapons inside the cave. We filled it with swords, whips, axes, spears, and so on. We also placed a few rank 5 weapons inside.
Usually, a high-rank weapon has its own consciousness to choose its owner. We used the principle and let them control the energy to see the talent of someone in weapon. If one has very high talent in weapon like you four, they will be able to pass this trial."
"Thank you, Third Elder, for your guidance."
"Hoho, I will need to help the others inside the cave and bring them to the next test. You got thirty minutes rest before I pick you up here."
"Yes." The four of them bowed to him, and the Third Elder finally left.
After elder Dolf left, Lena glared at Alex once again. Evelyn was confused as to why her sister is glaring to this person the whole time. She keeps quiet about it, but this time she can't. She finally asked her innocently. "Elder Sister, why are you looking at this big brother the whole time?"
"He...He...Hmph!" She obviously can't say anything. After all, Alex didn't do anything; all of it only comes from her extreme imagination and pride. She harrumphed and went away.
"Emm, Big Brother. I'm sorry for my Elder Sister Behavior. She is a good person, so there must be some understanding." Evelyn apologized timidly.
An unreasonable and prideful but 'good' Elder Sister, and the timid and shy but reliable at the right time Young Sister. Alex sighed. "It's alright."
"Can I know big brother's name?" Evelyn asked.
Alex was hesitated to answer, and Ukon is the one who answered it, "I'm Himura Ukon. This one is Alexander Sirius. Nice to meet you, Princess de gozaru."
"Umm, nice to meet you. But...can big brother just call me Evelyn? Back in the home, all of them call me Eleventh Princess. I felt lonely, and I felt that my name would eventually be forgotten, and they will only know I am Eleventh Princess, not Evelyn." She said with a sad tone in the last part.
Such an innocent...Alex still has no expression in his face. But Ukon has gone away. Hopefully, he didn't go 'that' way. "Nice to meet you, Evelyn. de gozaru."
"Yes. Nice to meet you, big brother Ukon." She smiled brightly. Her smile soothes the heart.
"Wait, Evelyn. It is their honor just to see our presence. Don't let them carried away to call you with their name. They are not qualified." Lena suddenly come back and correct her.
Alex only ignored this unreasonable woman. But she keeps provoking him, "Look, he has no manner. He should bow his head when he sees us. This is why commoners are..."
"Nice to meet you, Eleventh Princess and whatever number Princess" Alex said cheekily. Though Alex didn't want to invite unnecessary problems, he felt this is still necessary. No one felt happy when they are looked down upon by others. Especially Alex, who decided to grow up after leaving Firia and Alicia.
"You! I will make you regret." She released the aura of 6-Star Martial Master
"You can try and see who will regret it." Alex also released his Spiritual Energy.
"Elder Sister!" Evelyn can't take it anymore and shouted. She glared at her elder sister.
"Evelyn, you..." She was surprised that the timid Evelyn suddenly stand up for someone else for the first time, but she stands up for a stranger. Lena looked at Alex hatefully, "I will defeat you in the rest of the test, and I will continue to defeat you in the rankings."
"Rankings?" Alex looked at Ukon.
"According to my sister, there are two rankings in the sect. They are outer disciple ranking and Inner disciple ranking. As for the core disciple, since they are at least a Martial Lord, their rankings are based on the Continent Ranking."
"I see. By the way, you have a sister, Ukon? I thought you are the only child" Alex looked at him.
"Yes. To be precise, she is my aunt. But because we are only three years apart, She wants me to call her with 'Sister'. I don't know the exact reason why she wants me to call her 'sister'. Since she is one of the closest to me, I agree to it" Ukon said.
"She must be not want to look old." Alex muttered in a low voice.
"What is it?"
"Nothing" Alex shrugged his shoulder.
Lena is frustrated. Alex didn't even know about ranking, and he ignored just like that. Before she can speak another word, The Third Elder is flying in the sky. The other disciples who didn't manage to pass the cave already followed him.
Since Alex and the rest noticed his presence, he didn't come down instead told them to follow him too. Alex observed the number of people. From more than a thousand, it was only around six hundred left. Of course, all of them are from the ones who line up yesterday, not the one that gets the invitation from an elder.
"Evelyn. Let's go" Infuriated by Alex, she wants to get away as soon as possible. Now that the third elder has come, she immediately grabs her younger sister and follows him.
"Alex, let's go" Ukon looked at the flying princess and then turned to Alex. Alex nodded. They also fly away.
Not long after, they have reached their destination. It was a bamboo field.
"This is the second test. You see that platform over there." Elder Dolf pointed out a big stone platform fifty meters away across the bamboo field. "Your second test is to go to that platform. You can walk, or you can run, it's up to you as long as you can reach the platform. But no flying."
Alex frowned, he immediately activated his Spirit Eyes Technique again. And yeah, he saw another energy again. But it wasn't the same energy from before, nor it is Spiritual Energy. It was close to...
The others thought this test would be the same as before, and they will use their fastest speed to pass this bamboo field and reach the platform.
"Haha, I can just use my fastest speed to go there. If it is like the previous test, my momentum will make me pass this fifty-meter field."
Suddenly, A person goes to the front and sprint with his full speed. When he reached the center of the bamboo field, he suddenly fell down to the ground. Others were bewildered by this.
"What happened to him?"
"Is this like the previous test?"
"Will we be able to pass?"
Many uncertainties made them hesitated. Suddenly, Lena come forward,
"Hmph" She arrogantly walked forward. When she reached the middle of the bamboo field. She sat on the lotus pose. Everyone gulped down, this time, the princess didn't fall down like the previous guy. They play wait and see first. After a few minutes, she suddenly gets up and walks through the rest of the bamboo field and arrived at the platform.
"What?"
"Did she succeed?"
"What happened inside?"
"Did the elder want us to perceive something inside?"
"Let's go and try."
The rest of the people also go, leaving only Alex, Ukon, and Evelyn. Alex saw Princess Lena is glaring on him from the platform. Evelyn didn't notice this, she looks at Ukon and Alex. "Big brothers, we are the only ones left. Let's go together." She said innocently without any motive.
"Sure, let's go de gozaru," Ukon said to her.
"Big brother Alexander?" She looked at Alex with full of hope.
"Alex?" Ukon looked at him, and his eyes are telling him. 'Don't make a kid sad.'
Alex shook his head, helplessly. "Let's go."
"Un!" She smiled and nodded.
The three finally went to the bamboo field. Alex was cautious since he knows there is another energy lingering in this bamboo field. Suddenly, Ukon and Evelyn sit down.
Alex also felt the energy went inside his mind. He also sits down to see what kind of energy it is. The background suddenly changes. He is now in a garden and in front of him is a small wooden house. He immediately knows that he is under the illusion. After all, Lena wasn't teleported to another place and went back up again. He immediately wanted to break off the illusion.
In the real world, Lena and the third elder focus are on Alex. Both of them have different reasons. The third elder observes Alex because of the sect master. But Lena is because of her pride. If Alex breaks off the illusion faster than her, it means her loss. Suddenly, Alex's finger twitched. Both Lena and the third elder noticed that, but Alex still didn't wake up.
'Is he...no, he didn't wake up' The Third Elder give all his attention to Alex. While Lena let out a breath of relief. Alex just sits down, and his finger already twitched. She thought that he would wake up, but seeing he didn't wake up after that make her relieved.
(In the Illusion)
When Alex just about to break the illusion. Alicia and Firia went out of the house.
"Alex"
Alex was surprised by it. He laughed, "I see, is this the legendary heart demon? I understand why it is dangerous."
Even though it is like that, he still has control over himself. He can break off the illusion anytime. But suddenly, they come to him and grabs his hand. They pulled him to the house. "Alex, let's go to the house first. We have cooked some food for you."
Alex shivered, their cooking...He recalled when the first time he ate their cooking, and he almost went to the next life. Well, he decided to enjoy this for the time being, even though this is only an illusion.
In the table, Alex saw a few plates full of food. The appearance is very tempting, but the bad food he tastes back then still lingering in his mind. But looking at their expectant look, Alex decided to eat it. He started from the beef stew. He took a bite on the meat.
"..." He was speechless, he looks at the two. His eyes were telling them something unbelievable just happened. "It's good."
"That's good. Try the others too" Alicia smiled.
He tried the vegetable. The sweetness lingers in his mouth, and before he knows it, Alex has finished all the food. After talking a few more minutes, he finally stood up. "I think its time for me to go."
"Alex" Both of them grabs his hand and looks at him expectantly. "Please don't go."
Alex hugged both of them for a while. "It's alright. I'm sure we can reunite again. It's only a few more years, so please wait for me, my love. Don't worry, you two are always in my heart."
After hugging both of them, his heart also satisfied even though this is only an illusion. He walked toward the door. Just before he left, he turned to see Alicia and Firia while smiling brightly. "Thank you for the food. It was delicious. And thank you for satisfying my heart. I don't know you are only my imagination or my inner demon, if you want to trap me in here. You should make it more realistic, Unlike this one. There is no way Alicia and Firia food was delicious. It was something unbelievable."
"Screw you, Bast*rd" Both of them immediately shouted at him. Alex left the illusion while smiling.
In the lower world, you can see a peerless beauty sitting on the lotus pose on the bed. She has long red hair tied in a ponytail, and perfect curves and edges. She emitted an extraordinary aura, and the red flame is dancing in her side. She is Firia in cultivation. She opened her eyes slowly, stopped her cultivation, and got off the bed. She walked toward the window as she looks at the bright sky. She didn't know why, but she had this feeling, she suddenly remembered Alex's face and had this urge. She can't hold it more, as she finally screamed. "Screw You, Bast*rd"
After letting out that feeling, she finally went back to her bed and started cultivating again.
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