Alex saw two girls looking from a side of the crowd excitedly toward him. It took him only a moment to recognize them even though he hadn't seen them for nearly 13 years.
Talia of the Cloud Iron sect had arrived at some time in the last 2 days and was excitedly waving at him. Next to her was the older, much stronger, Fang Yimu; the Prime Disciple of the Cloud Iron sect.
While Pearl fought, he waved at the two girls and beckoned them over.
"Your Majesty! It is very good to see you again," Fang Yimu gave a deep, respectful bow toward Alex.
"Your Majesty, I'm happy to see you again," Talia said.
"Lady Fang, Talia, it's been a while," Alex said. "13 years I believe."
"I saw you when we left for the Central Continent, Your Majesty," Talia said. "I couldn't come talk to you."
"Ah, right," Alex said. "My apologies. I saw you as well, but I couldn't talk to you either. I had a bit of a responsibility at that time."
"That's alright. How have you been doing?" Talia asked.
"Perfectly fine," Alex said. "How about you two? Did you two come here to fight me?"
"We wouldn't dare," the two girls said. "We heard you were here and came to meet you. That would only be right."
"I see," Alex said. "You can try and fight me if you want to. I would be happy to fight anyone."
"Little Talia has no chance of winning against you, and as for me…" Fang Yimu looked around. "It just doesn't feel right taking advantage of you. You should be so much stronger than me for having defeated the sect leader of that abhorrent sect that was killing children."
"I am stronger, but I am also holding myself back to train my sword. You can join in and I won't say anything."
"Hmm, maybe one fight then," Fang Yimu said. "Should I get registered too?"
"That's alright, we can start as soon as Pearl is done with his fight," Alex said. "As soon as we're done in 10 minutes, they shouldn't bother us at all."
"Alright," Fang Yimu said. "But I won't hold back, so you'll have to be prepared for whatever comes."
"That's alright," Alex said. "If I find myself in danger, I'll protect myself. You don't have to worry about me."
"Alright then," Fang Yimu said, taking the thin green sword that was strapped to her waist. "Stay back, Talia. I'm gonna test out how great His Majesty's fighting is."
Alex smiled and looked toward Pearl. "Pearl, end the fight."
Pearl asked not why and used his White Tiger's Roar to send out a spiritual attack to rattle his opponent's consciousness before slamming onto them at full force. With the combination of those two attacks, he won rather simply.
Alex felt the buzz that marked his win and then turned toward the woman again. "Miss Fang, may I challenge you to a duel."
Both of their talismans buzzed.
The woman smiled. "I accept."
Alex's sword glowed with a white outline and so did Fang Yimu's before it filled it all. "Sword Qi?" he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I thought the Cloud Iron sect was known for hits Alchemists, not its sword masters."
"I am the Prime Disciple, Your Majesty," Fang Yimu said, getting into a stance. "I have to know a lot of things."
The battle started with a sword slash from the woman who carried just the Sword Qi. The attack flew in between them rather quickly, arriving right in front of Alex.
Alex found it easy to thwart away her Sword Qi. Despite getting to train it, it seemed her Sword Qi lagged a little behind in terms of strength as well.
'Saint Soul 1st realm? No 2nd realm,' Alex thought. With the woman in Saint Soul's 4th realm, having a Sword Qi in Saint Soul's 2nd realm was not that far off in strength. She was doing quite well, despite mostly being an alchemist.
'She's talented,' Alex thought. It would only make sense as she was the Prime Disciple of the Cloud Iron sect, which was debatably the most popular sect in the Emerald Kingdom.
The woman used a movement technique, arriving next to Alex with a surprising speed. Had it not been for his Demon Eyes, he would've missed her attack. She stabbed with her sword, which Alex stopped with the flat side of the Midnight.
He was still sent backward, dragging dirt along the path he was pushed through.
The girl raised an eyebrow before pulling back her sword and stabbing once more. This time around, 10 different illusory swords formed beside her, all of which came at Alex at once.
Not only were they many, but they were also so strong that Alex couldn't block them. So, he dodged back and away. Most of the attacks missed him, with only 2 landing on him. One he managed to block in time, but the other stabbed through his liver.
It stopped on the other side and couldn't get out of his body thanks to his body cultivation.
"Your Majesty!" the woman cried out in surprise. She had expected him to use his Qi when he was in danger, but he had let himself be stabbed. She panicked a little when she realized she had hurt the King of the Southern Continent.
"I'm alright," Alex said as he stood up.
"But your wound. You—"Her wounds stuck to her mouth when she noticed that there was no wound where she had stabbed him at all. Instead, all she could see was his white skin.
"Huh?"
"I ate a pill beforehand that heals my wounds as I get hurt," Alex lied. "Regular wounds won't even hurt me. You can fight with less care if you want to."
"Is… that so?" the woman calmed down a little. Her heart still raced, but she no longer panicked. She raised her sword once more, covering it with Sword Qi.
"Come on," Alex said, raising Midnight. "Show me more of what a Prime Disciple of the Cloud Iron sect is capable of."
The woman gave a small smile and nodded. Then she attacked him.
This time around, the woman didn't use any Qi and stuck to just her Sword Qi and her swordplay. Alex had already been doing the same, so it turned into a closed-quarters sword fight for the majority of it.
The two danced around each other to the tune of their clashing sword. Alex was surprised at how talented she was in raw sword fights as well, and the woman was surprised at how strong Alex's attacks were despite him not using his Qi at all.
They fought until the end of the 10-minute mark at which point the woman moved back from Alex and spoke. "I should end this so I don't drag this on for longer," she said as her sword glowed brighter and Fire Qi filled it.
Alex nodded and prepared himself to take on the attack.
The girl let out a deep breath and used her attack.
Alex heard a soft phoenix cry as a phoenix flew out of the sword, making its way to him with a terrifying power.
It marked Alex's loss.
