The Central continent was close, or at least it looked close to where Alex was at. If he were to fly for half a day, it was possible he would reach it.
However, he wasn't sure just how far he could even make it. Even forgetting about the beasts that roamed the ocean that would not let him get anywhere close, the Qi wall that surrounded the central continent itself would be another obstacle the answer to which Alex did not have at all.
He didn't know how big the wall of Qi was, so teleporting in would not be helpful either. Alex would have to find some other way once he could.
For now, it was time to leave.
He flew away late at night and arrived at Hiddenbay city early morning. He quickly went to the Insight Pavilion and asked for every bit of info he could find on the Southern Continent.
He wanted to know its geographical feature, its political system, and even where the bigger cities were and what they were famous for.
Once he learned all of that, he decided on a place to go.
Towards the bottom left of the map, Alex could see a giant lake right by the edge of the ocean. If not for the small strip of land, one could mistake it for a bay as well.
The lake was known as the Floral lake, and the city next to it was the Many Flower city.
The lake was surrounded by flowers, and as such the name was given that.
Alex saw a small piece of land at the center of the lake and realized there was something there. "Oh, so that's where it is," he thought and flew over to the closest city.
Once at the city, he could make use of a Teleportation formation to go to the City of Many Flowers. He had to go through multiple teleportation formations before he finally arrived in the city.
The moment Alex walked out of the city, he was immediately met with a fresh smell of flowers. He looked around and saw flowers of all sorts growing in every part of the city.
The sides of the roads, the empty plots, and even the roofs of many houses had flowers growing on them. And to Alex's surprise, most of them were actual Alchemy ingredients.
"No wonder the information said this was the best place to practice Alchemy. There are so many ingredients just lying by the side of the road. Do people not care?" he thought and he walked to the side to pick one of the flowers.
"Hey! What are you doing?" someone spoke up just before he could pluck any flower.
Alex stopped and looked around to see a light-green-robed man look at him with hateful eyes. "Sorry? Do you need something?" he asked.
"What do you think you're doing? Don't you know that is the Flowerhall sect's property?" the man asked.
"The Flowerhall sect's property? This flower?" Alex asked with surprise. He had read about the Flowerhall sect. They were one of the 5 sects whose ancestors were in the council of 10.
Their presence alone was one of the reasons why this city of Many Flowers was considered one of the biggest cities in the entire Southern Continent.
That, and the thing at the center of the lake.
"Sorry, brother. I didn't know that. I just arrived at this place," Alex said and moved away from the flower to another patch away from that place.
"Stop!" the man said again. "Why are you trying to do it again?"
Alex paused. "I thought you said that flower patch was the Flowerhall's property. Is it that this patch of flowers is also their property?" he asked.
"Of course, it is," the man said. "Every single flower you see in here that is not growing on someone's property belongs to the Flowerhall sect."
"That's… quite selfish," Alex said as he stepped away from the flower patch.
"It is what it is, brother. Now please don't pick any flowers or you will have to pay a large fine," the young man said.
Alex nodded. "I'll make sure to do that," he said and looked around. "I'm looking for the Alchemy Association that is apparently here in this city. Would you happen to know about it?"
"Oh, do you want some pills made? Can I help you with that? I'm an alchemist too," the young man said proudly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but I'm not looking to make any pills. I simply want to join the association to make pills," Alex said.
"Are you an alchemist too, brother?" the young man asked.
"I am," Alex said. "Would you mind showing me the way?"
"Sure, I was going there right now," the young man said.
Alex walked alongside the young man as they went through the city.
The city was massive, nearly 3 kilometers wide in every direction and that was just the main market. Outside the main city was the residential area that went on for so much more distance.
Alex looked at the map again and noticed that the Flowerhall sect was right at the corner of a narrow piece of land that was next to the Floral sea.
"You must come from quite far away," the young man said.
"Uh… yeah. I did," Alex said as he continued looking around. There was a small plot of land that they walked past that didn't have anything built on it. And coincidentally, there was another plot of land that didn't have anything made on it either.
The land went downhill after that, and as a result, Alex could see the massive lake in the distance that would be called a sea in its own right.
The view passed quickly, but it was nice knowing just how far away from the lake he was at currently. It wouldn't be too hard to pinpoint himself on the map now either.
"By the way, what's your name, brother?" the young man asked. "I am—"
Before the young man could finish his words, a massive bell rang through the entire city.
DING~ DONG~ DING~
Immediately, the people that were walking around on the street started running away. Some walked into random houses, while others simply took off.
The markets that were open either closed their doors and windows or used formation barriers to protect their shops and houses.
Alex looked around confused and a little worried. "Should we… run away or something?" he asked.
"Are you allergic to something?" the young man asked.
"Not that I know of," Alex said.
"Then you'll be fine. The most that will happen is you'll get dirty, but the Association has a place where you can clean up," the young man said.
"Clean up… from what?" Alex asked.
At the exact same moment, the entire world turned yellow.
Alex looked in awe as millions upon millions of pollen flew through the air going everywhere at an incredibly fast speed.
It stopped just as quickly as it came, but when it did, the world was entirely yellow with the pollen covering everything in a thick layer.
"What… what was that?" Alex asked with a confused look.
The young man dusted off what he could and spoke. "That was the Forbidden Orchard spilling out its pollen."
"Pollen from the Forbidden Orchard?" Alex asked as he looked toward the direction of the lake because that was where it was.
At the center of the lake was a small piece of land, and on that land was the opening to the secret realm known as the Forbidden Orchard.
"Does it do this all the time?" Alex asked.
"From time to time. The time frame gets smaller the closer it is to the opening of the secret realm," the young man said.
Alex dusted himself off as well. "The Forbidden Orchard is about to open?" he asked.
"No, it opened 2 years ago, so there is still a year or two before it opens up again. You will have to wait for the pollen blast to get more frequent before it fully opens up," the young man said.
"I see," Alex said. He had no idea there was such a thing. "Do people go in when it opens? They do, right?" he asked.
"They do, but not everyone is allowed to," the young man said.
"As its name implies, it is forbidden for most people to enter the realm. Only the Flowerhall sect has the authority to send in whoever they want, and by some association, the Alchemy Association is allowed as well, albeit in a limited number," the young man said. "If you are thinking about going in, it might be better if you give up. Only the best of the best Saint Alchemists have a chance to go in from the Association."
"I should be fine then," Alex said.
"Oh, do you consider yourself a good alchemist, brother?" the young man asked.
"No, I consider myself the best," Alex said.
The young man showed a surprised look before laughing. "Haha, I like your confidence, brother. I was interrupted before, so I forgot to introduce myself."
"My name is Harry Summers, what's your name?" the young man asked.
"Oh," Alex showed a surprised look when he heard the name. "I didn't expect you to be using your real name."
"I never had a fake name like most people here," the young man replied. "Are you a player too?"
"I am," Alex said. "My name is Alex, Alex Benton. It's a pleasure to meet with a fellow player."
