"That is the main reason why I called you here in the first place. It was so that I too could learn how one can call the pill clouds, how one can make a pill that can reach the realm beyond just the Harmony," the Dragon Emperor said.
Alex gave a small smile while thinking what his next words should be. Should he accept the request? Should he reject it?
As he thought, he realized that any choices he made here would always make him think it was the wrong one.
"You put me in quite a tight spot," he said. "While I do not wish to refuse your request, I'm afraid I also cannot accept it so handily. After all, it is not one thing that allows me to reach this level of Alchemy, but many."
"I cannot give away so many of my secrets now, can I?" he asked.
The Dragon Emperor frowned for a few seconds and sighed. "I suppose I did put you in a difficult spot," he said as he pushed back on his blue hair. "I apologize."
"My apologies I could not give you what you wanted as well," Alex said.
The Dragon Emperor closed the pill bottle and handed it back to Alex. Then, he looked toward Yao Ning and said, "It has been a while since we last met, hasn't it?"
"Nearly 5 millennias, your Majesty," Yao Ning said.
"I hope you and the others in Southern Continent are doing well. Congratulations on your ruler's return," the Dragon Emperor said.
"Thank you, your Majesty," old Yao responded.
From what Yao Ning and the others had told Alex, the Dragon Emperor was aware of the fact that the Phoenix was no longer active in the Southern Continent when he had first arrived to suggest attacking the Western Continent.
What he had mistakenly thought, however, was that like the other rulers, she too had hidden herself after the traumatic battle and was in hiding so she could heal.
The thought never even crossed his head that she could've died, and given how the 10 elders were actively telling everyone that the Phoenixes had gone into seclusion, he had no reason to believe otherwise.
Alex was to keep up this lie as well so that no one would figure out that Scarlet had in fact been reborn.
"I'm sorry I couldn't come to welcome you all. I didn't realize you would be coming so early. Please come with me so we can go to the palace; you guys must be tired," the Dragon Emperor said.
Alex nodded. "Let us do that," he said.
"Fangyu, remain here and see if our guests require anything else. Make sure to provide them with anything they require. You can return to the palace tonight," the Dragon Emperor ordered his son.
"Yes, Father. I will handle everything."
Alex and Yao Ning then walked away with the Dragon Emperor, leaving the small group of people there.
The old woman that was the headmaster of the Royal School of Alchemy still couldn't believe what was happening. The Dragon Emperor, the person that was the biggest authority of alchemy itself in the Eastern Continent was asking for help from someone else.
Someone else was surprisingly the greatest Alchemist they had ever seen.
"Headmaster," the vice headmaster called out to her softly. "Does this not mean that the King of the Southern Continent is also a Level 10 Alchemist?"
"Maybe," the woman said. "If we are only focusing on what he just did, then he is certainly even greater than that. However… we do not know for sure if he is capable of making new pills. That is an entirely different topic on its own, you see."
"That is true," the vice headmaster responded.
The Crown Prince was also in much daze over what had just happened and frowned slightly. "They refused Father's request," he said softly.
"That they did, your Highness," the old man that was his bodyguard said.
"I am sure Father is not happy right now," he said.
"Unfortunately, I don't think His Majesty can do anything in this instance even if he is unhappy," the old man said. "He is against the sovereign of another continent after all."
"Yeah," the Crown Prince said. "Still… he can be quite impulsive."
They then walked away from outside of the alchemy room to deal with whatever new problems may arise.
* * * * *
Very soon, Alex and the others were flying through the skies of the Dragon Capital, looking at the scenery of the city from above it.
Alex could see how the capital was set up finally. He saw massive grounds of open land to his left, like that of the school he was just at.
To his right was a compact city, with buildings that were large and close together, roads that were wide, and skies that were equally as much road as anything else.
There were news boards at every corner of the street, and flying boats flew around without anyone's intervention.
He was heading towards the east, to a place he could already see from the distance. If Alex was not wrong, that was the Imperial Palace.
The palace looked like a bunch of different pagoda-like buildings mixed together to make up a massive building. It was tall with multiple stories, and wide with many buildings attached to it on the outside.
It sat in the middle of a lake, with a bit of water surrounding it on all sides and a single bridge connecting it to the rest of the city.
As they arrived, Alex also noticed something else in the vicinity. Just outside of the palace, there was a massive stone slab with intricate details carved onto it.
'So the Teleportation formation was this close, huh?' he thought.
They landed outside the palace but beyond the bridge. There seemed to be no formation guarding the palace at all, just thousands of soldiers that were all in the Saint realm.
That was a little surprising to Alex.
"Your Majesty," an old man in a blue robe came out and bowed.
"Guqing, these are our guests from the Southern Continent," the Dragon Emperor said. "Prepare the Swan courtyard for our guests."
"Yes, your Majesty," the man said before turning towards the two.
"Come, let's go in," the Dragon Emperor said, taking the two of them with him into the palace.
Alex walked through the main door and was immediately met with a hallway that was more detailed and exquisite than anything he had ever seen. There were patterns on the pillars and ceilings, furniture on either side, and even lanterns that were all amazing.
They all looked extremely archaic, for something that was so well maintained. The Dragon Emperor walked through the main hallway, arriving at a hall in the distance.
"Your Majesty," a woman bowed a little as soon as the Dragon Emperor walked into the hallway.
Alex looked at the woman in her light blue robe and was surprised at how young she was compared to everyone else that he had seen around the Dragon Emperor. She had the face of a commoner, even though her cultivation base was in the Saint realm. She also looked quite shy and had the attitude of someone that was well below the standing of anyone here.
"Yuxie, these two are our guests from the Southern Continent," the Dragon Emperor told the woman.
"Greetings, honored guests, and welcome to the Eastern Continent," she spoke.
"Thank you," Alex said with a slight bow.
"This is Xiang Yuxie," the Dragon Emperor introduced her. "She is the current empress of the Empire."
Alex's eyes widened in surprise as he quickly looked at the woman again. Her attitude did not hold what needed to be there for an Empress. She didn't look confident in herself and instead seemed more like a servant than anything.
"My apologies," Alex quickly said. "I didn't recognize you at all. It's a pleasure to have met you, your Majesty."
"It is fine if you don't recognize her," the Dragon Emperor said. "You don't need to give mind to it. Yuxie, leave us alone."
"Yes, your Majesty," the woman said and left.
The Dragon Emperor sat on a couch next to him and offered Alex and Yao Nng to do the same as well.
"I was surprised how young you looked, but I'm surprised the Empress looks even younger," Alex said. "She looks almost as young as the Crown Prince himself."
"That is because she is in fact younger than Fangyu himself," the Dragon Emperor said.
"I'm sorry?" Alex said. "She's younger than her son?"
"Stepson," the Emperor said. "Yuxie is not my first wife, but rather my second wife. My first wife, the previous Empress died a few decades ago of a disease that I couldn't cure."
"I had never thought of remarrying, but the court officials forced me into marrying someone so the empire could at least have an empress."
"I don't take concubines, so I had to find someone to marry. Since I didn't care who it was, I simply chose one of the first women I saw and married her. She's only been an empress for a couple of decades, so you can see it in her mannerisms."
"I see," Alex said. "My condolences for her Majesty's death. It must have been hard on you."
"I handled it alright," the Emperor said.
"And your son? I hope the Crown Prince handled it well too," Alex said.
"He did," the Emperor said. "But… never mind. Let us move away from this topic. I do not wish to talk about this anymore."
"I'm sorry. I must have made you remember some difficult memories."
