The award ceremony for the tournament ended after all the winners in the top 16 received their rewards.
Afterward, Alex found Sarah and handed her a bottle of pills.
The girl looked at the bottle in surprise. "Your Majesty, I cannot take this," she said quickly, but her eyes betrayed how much she wanted it.
"Take it," Alex said. "I announced before I entered the secret realm that anyone who challenges me and wins will receive a pill. You never got your share."
Sarah couldn't help but feel warm inside, and she clutched the bottle to her chest before bowing in thanks.
Alex nodded back and went to meet a few others before finally arriving next to Shan Wangjiu.
"How've you been doing? Are you training daily?" Alex asked the young man.
"I am, master," Shan Wangjiu answered quickly. "I've been training every day."
The people around them who heard Alex being called 'master' couldn't help but give a second look toward the young man. They recognized him from the competition, but not enough for them to know exactly who he was.
That got them perhaps even more curious.
"What do you plan on doing now?" Alex asked him. "Will you join any sects? I'm sure you'll get tons of invites if you just show some willingness."
"You're joking right?" the young man asked, laughing out loud as if the funniest joke had been made. "I'm a free spirit, master. No sect or clan shall bound me. I will go where my heart desires."
Alex couldn't help but admire the man. He wondered what it would be like if he wasn't constantly bound the same way.
As far as he could remember, he had always been bound by something.
Bound to the sect.
Bound to his need to heal his arm.
Bound to his need to return to his mother.
Bound to his need to find his father.
Bound to the Southern Continent.
Bound to the duties and responsibilities that came along.
Bound to a path of revenge.
How much longer was it before he wasn't bound by anything and he too could be a free spirit?
He could only imagine that it would be so after he left this world and went to a higher realm.
'Not much longer,' he hoped.
"Have you made any plans of coming with me to the Southern Continent?" Alex asked him.
The man gave a frown as an answer. It was a hard choice to make for him, and as he said, he didn't want to be bound.
"Forget I asked that," he said quickly. "Do you want to enter the secret realm in the Ebony Kingdom then?"
The young man's ears perked up. "The Harmonious Balance Haven? That costs a lot of money to get tickets from what I hear."
"I'll get you the ticket," Alex said. "Just tell me if you want to enter."
"Absolutely!" Shan Wangjiu answered. "I won't give up on a free chance to enter the secret realm."
Alex nodded and tossed him a small token.
The young man looked at the token in surprise. "What is this?" he asked, but he knew the answer before Alex even said it.
"A ticket to the secret realm," Alex answered.
"You got one already?" Shan Wangjiu asked.
"I thought you would want one, so I asked the Ebony king for it a few days ago," Alex said. "Don't lose it."
"I won't," Shan Wangjiu said with a blank look on his face. After a while, he found the courage to ask the question.
"Why are you helping me so much?" he asked. "I thought you didn't consider me your disciple?"
Alex blinked in surprise before scratching his chin in embarrassment. "Well, I suppose my mind changed while I was teaching you in the Martial ground," he said. "I still don't consider you my disciple, but you are definitely an honorary disciple of mine now. With all that I taught you, you can't be anything less than that."
A wide smile appeared on Shan Wangjiu's face and he showed his teeth in his grin. "Master!" he said in delight.
The two parted afterward, and Alex went to bid farewell to the Empress and the prince as they were to return to the Dragon Capital as well.
"I will leave too, Your Majesty," The Crown prince announced. "Let me know when you are done with your adventure so we can go meet the Zhan Family head together."
"I told you, you don't have to," Zhan Luoyang tried to whisper to the Crown Prince, but her words came more as more hurried than she would've hoped and louder still.
"I gave my words," the Crown Prince. "And now that you're acting this way, I must definitely come."
Zhan Luoyang could only give a small pout before turning toward Alex. "Please don't forget to come," she said. "As soon as you are free to."
Alex almost thought he could hear the urgency in her voice that she didn't want to say. Was he making himself think that? Should he go there right now?
"I will come as soon as I have the chance," Alex said.
The group bid farewell and they left. After that, the kings and queens left as well.
"Finally, I'm free," Mao Yingtai in a tone that was unfitting of a queen. She massaged her shoulder as if to show how tiring it all was.
Alex could imagine how tiring it was.
"When do you plan on going on the tour, Your Majesty?" she asked him.
Alex thought for a bit and answered. "A week later from now," he said. That was decided now.
"Great!" the Queen said. "I'll deal with the leftover work as soon as I can and then we can go together."
Alex looked at her in surprise. "I'm sorry. You're coming along?" he asked.
"Of course," the Queen said. "I've been working hard for the past 3 years in a row. I deserve a break too. And I wouldn't want anything else but a vacation as big as the one you're taking, Your Majesty."
