"Master!" Alex shouted as he looked away from his older brother and towards Wen Cheng.
"Y-Yu Ming?" Wen Cheng couldn't believe his eyes at all. He ran up to Alex and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Are you really here? I can't believe this!" Wen Cheng said.
"It's me, master. I really am back," Alex said with slight tears in his eyes as well.
"Junior brother!" Luo Mei didn't even wait to find out if he was real or not, and immediately stole him from Wen Cheng and hugged him.
Alex felt warmth in his heart that slightly lessened the pain of losing Pearl. He could feel tears that were not his drenching his robes. Luo Mei really couldn't handle loss very well.
Losing her mother at an early age, she thought the worst of every event. She was worried about her father before she even returned to see how bad his health was.
When Alex was taken away, she fully believed him to be dead and turned into a mess. If it wasn't for her sister looking after her, she would be in a lot worse state than she currently was.
"I'm so glad you're back," She cried out. Liu Xun walked up and hugged the two of them as well.
"Welcome back, junior brother," he said.
Wen Cheng smiled as he realized how close his 3 disciples were. The hug lasted for a few moments before Wen Cheng separated them to ask Alex some questions.
"How are you, Yu Ming? Are you okay? How did the beasts treat you? Are you hurt somewhere?" Wen Cheng asked with concern.
"Right! Are you alright, junior brother?" Luo Mei asked as her face suddenly turned concerned as well.
"I… I am fine, but…" Alex stopped. Tears filled his eyes which made the other two believe something bad must've happened to him.
"What's wrong, Junior brother?" Liu Xun asked.
"The beasts… they took Pearl. They are going to make Pearl go through a ritual where none of the other beasts that have gone through it before have survived. I tried to complain to them that I won't let them do it, but… they threw me out of the secret realm."
"Now Pearl is there alone, and I have no way of returning to him," Alex said. His voice choked a few times as the tears made it hard to speak.
Luo Mei's eyes turned watery as she felt the sorrow Alex was feeling and hugged him again. "It will be okay. We will get Pearl back, don't worry," she said. It was all a lie, there was no way she or anyone in the empire could do any of that. However, it was a lie that Alex needed to hear right now.
"Come, let's go to my place. You must be tired and need to rest," Wen Cheng said.
"No, master. I need to go to the Hong Wu sect before that. I will need to let them know that I am back as well," Alex said.
"Right, you should," Wen Cheng said as he realized. "Ma Rong is a mess. Let's get you to her quick."
"I will bring him there, you guys go back for now," Wen Cheng said to the other 2.
"Okay master," Luo Mei said and turned to Alex. "It's really good to have you back, Junior brother."
"It's good to be back, sister," Alex said. Wen Cheng flew high and Alex followed. Just as they flew a bit in the sky, Wen Cheng noticed something unusual.
"What happened to your cultivation base? I can't feel a single thing," he said. He was looking directly at Alex, but he realized there was no aura coming off of him. If not for his spiritual sense, he would actually believe that he was hallucinating Alex right now.
"Oh," Alex said as he looked at himself. "I had to fly through the forest, so I concealed myself. I forgot to remove the concealment."
Alex then let go of the concealment technique that hid all of his aurae, and soon his mortal and cultivation aura both returned to him.
As they did, Wen Cheng's eyes started to widen more and more. He was dealt such a shock that he had to stop flying and look at Alex with a gawking face.
"Y-y-you! You entered the True Realms?" He asked in surprise.
"Ah, yes. I did so a week ago," Alex said
"But wait, didn't you enter the Mind Tempering realm just 2 months ago? How are you so quick?" Wen Cheng asked.
"Umm… I am one of the new cultivators that can cultivate very fast, master," Alex said.
"Is… is there a reason why you are so fast?" Wen Cheng asked. He had always knew or at least suspected his disciple to be one of the new cultivators that could cultivate fast. But he never expected to see him be this fast.
"Reason… not really. You can also cultivate fast, but I would suggest you don't. There are a few other minor reasons, but… I will tell you about them someday, master. You will learn the truth behind it all," Alex said.
"Okay," Wen Cheng didn't pry anymore. "I will wait for the day when you will tell me more."
Alex thanked his master for not asking for more information and kept on flying.
The sky had turned fully dark, and the stars were visible, some brighter than others. Finally, the two of them reached the Hong Wu Sect and dropped in front of the sect gate.
The elder standing in front of the gate suddenly stood upright when he noticed people flying down from the sky. Not anyone could fly inside the city, so whoever it was must be a big figure.
When the two people came into the light, he realized that one of them was Sect Master Wen Cheng from the Tiger sect.
Beside him, the elder saw someone else from the tiger sect, going by the yellow robe. However, when he looked closely at the face, he couldn't believe his eyes at all.
"Disciple Yu Ming?" he questioned. The face, it was the same face he had seen with the sect master so many times, but… he was supposed to be dead.
Alex didn't recognize this elder at all. There were many elders that he didn't care for and didn't keep in mind, so he was surprised that he was even able to recognize him back.
"Hello Elder," Alex said and bowed a little. He then walked past the elder and entered.
The elder wanted to stop him to confirm if it was him, but with Wen Cheng's presence, it was hard to even doubt if it was him.
Alex entered the mountain and flew again. He brought out a talisman from his bag and talked into it.
"Master, I have returned," he sent a message.
Deep in her manor, surrounded by iced-up walls, Ma Rong's sickly thin body was breathing in and out as she cultivated.
When the deep vibration of the talisman came from her storage bag, she stopped to see who it was as she had told the elders to not message her unless it was urgent.
However, her eyes went wide when she read the message in the talisman. Her lips quivered in shock at who had sent her the message.
She couldn't help but mutter softly to herself.
"Alex?"
