Shen Jing was in fact the Ruler of the Western Continent, the White Tiger known as Bai Jingshen.
This information was way too large for Alex to digest at once.
He had trained with this man, no— this beast, for nearly a decade, and never in that time had he ever realized that he was actually with someone of this caliber.
All this time, he had expected Shen Jing to be someone important from the Hegemony to the west, but to think he wasn't even from this realm.
"3 people I've been looking forward to meeting are all here at once. I am very happy to see you all," the beast said from his throne.
"Bai Jingshen, I demand you explain everything to me right now," Scarlet said in an angry tone. "How the hell are you still alive?"
The beasts around the palace hall suddenly got agitated.
"Hey! Just because you're a phoenix doesn't mean you can—"
"Shut up," Bai Jingshen's voice roared through the palace hall. "Do not be rude to my guests."
The beasts trembled in fear and nodded before crouching down and not speaking again.
Bai Jingshen turned back around and smiled. "It's been a while little Hao, is your master doing okay?"
"Master is perfectly fine, senior," Hao Ya spoke respectfully.
"Since you are here, then you must have come for the teleportation formation. You should go ahead and get started with it. I'm afraid I must accompany these two for a little while longer," he said. He then turned around to the Lynx that sat next to him. "Dear, can you take her to it?"
"Of course, my lord," the Lynx said and got off her seat. As she did, her body turned into that of a young woman with brown hair, wearing a golden robe.
She smiled at Hao Ya, and said, "Shall we?"
"Yes, senior," Hao Ya said. "Little Sis, we should go."
She pulled away Liz from the group and took her with the Lynx. Once they left, Bai Jingshen looked around the throne room and spoke, "Everyone but concubine Ren leave as well."
The beasts around the room nodded and walked out of the room one by one, leaving only four people in the room.
Ren Xiao got off from her seat and looked at Alex with a slight smile. "How have you been doing, young man? How is Pearl?" she asked.
"I've been doing quite alright, lady Ren," Alex bowed in her direction. "As for Pearl…"
Bai Jingshen got up a little. "What's wrong? What's wrong with Pearl?" he asked in a concerned voice.
"Well… see for yourself," Alex said and brought out Pearl.
Pearl came out in a flash of light and landed in the middle of the throne room. He looked around in confusion for a second before noticing the giant White Cat that stood next to him.
"Grandmother?" he asked in surprise. He quickly ran up to her. "Grandmother, you are alive!"
"Of course I am alive," Ren Xiao said with a warm smile while she pet her great-grandson. "Did you think I was dead?"
"Well… brother said the last time he saw you… you were hit by the lightning, so…"
"Ah," Ren Xiao realized. "I'm perfectly fine, my child. You don't have to worry about me."
"What's wrong with you?"
Pearl heard a voice speak from next to him and turned around to find Shen Jing standing next to him. "Huh? Old man, you're back? What are you doing here?" he asked in a surprised voice.
"Pearl, you can't call him that. He is your great-grandfather," Ren Xiao spoke.
"Huh? G-great-grandfather? What? How?" Pearl was just as shocked as Alex had been and still was after finding out Shen Jing's true identity.
Bai Jingshen crouched next to Pearl and frowned as he thoroughly checked his body. "What's going on?" he asked. "Why is his bloodline so weak?"
"What?" Ren Xiao was surprised. She quickly tried to sense the White Tiger's blood in Pearl, and she too couldn't find it at all.
"What happened to you?" Bai Jingshen asked worriedly.
"I… I lost it," Pearl said.
"We got caught up in the Central Continent's Qi wall while trying to escape a false immortal. Pearl and I were separated, and he had to overwork his bloodline and Spiritual root to save himself," Alex said. "He saved himself in the end, but he ended up losing it too much for it. He no longer has a bloodline and his spiritual root is in a very bad condition too."
Bai Jingshen's face twisted in anger. "How could you let that happen?" he shouted. "You were supposed to take care of him!"
"My lord, please calm down," Ren Xiao quickly spoke up.
"Old man, don't shout at my brother," Pearl quickly spoke. "He did nothing wrong. He was kidnapped by a madman who could kill him at any time and was forced to make pills for him. The fact that I am alive now is because he managed to save me."
"You should be thanking him, not scolding," Pearl said.
Bai Jingshen looked at Pearl and then at Alex and then back at Pearl. He breathed in and out to calm himself down. He crouched next to Pearl again and looked at him again.
"I guess it's alright as long as you are alive, that's all that matters," Bai Jingshen spoke. "You are in the Saint realm, so you should be able to live for a long time. When it's time for me to go back in another thousand years, I will take you with me back to the Blessed Sun realm."
"Brother Sh— no, Senior Bai," Alex quickly spoke up. "Senior Yang said that we can heal him. As long as we make him go through the ritual where he can evolve to a White Tiger, he will be fine."
Bai Jingshen shook his head. "He can't survive the ritual without the White Tiger's blood in him," he said. "The ritual's main function is to force your body to absorb all of the White Tiger's blood inside of one so that they can produce the blood by themselves even if they lose it. Only then would they become a real White Tiger."
"Without the White Tiger's blood in him, there will be nothing for his body to absorb, and the ritual will only kill him in the end," Bai Jingshen said.
"I see," Alex said. "But it will work as long as he has the White Tiger's blood in him, right? The senior said that we should be able to take out the Blood Essence inside of me and it should help Pearl. Apparently, it will work because the Blood Essence in me belongs to his mother."
Bai Jingshen paused for a moment and looked at Alex. "You are willing to do that?" he asked, almost worried for some reason.
Alex nodded. "As long as it will work, I will do it," he said.
"It will work," Bai Jingshen said. "There's no doubt about it, but that would mean you would lose a significant portion of your strength, and as you might have already guessed, you will no longer be able to body cultivate through Pearl like you're used to."
"I'm fine with that," Alex said. "it's just a few drops of blood after all. I am willing to lose much more than that if it can restore Pearl's talent and potential."
