Alex stayed with his sister until evening and explained everything he had been through to her. Once it was time for his master's tasks to be done, he left his sister's home to go to his master's manor.
Alex looked at the sky as he walked. It was an open sky and the moon, as well as the stars, were shining brilliantly, some more than others.
The days were supposed to be cold. They were cold everywhere else but here. 'Is that because of the yang in the area as well?' he thought.
He remembered that it never rained, the clouds that covered the sun never stayed in the sky for long, and it didn't get cold, even in winter. Alex couldn't think of the cause to be anything else than the Yang leaking in the Forbidden Fields.
'That means it must've been leaking for a while now, and only recently did it accelerate. I wonder what is happening there,' he thought.
Alex reached his master's manor and waited a few minutes for him to return.
"Oh, you're here. Did you make a choice already?" Wen Cheng asked as soon as he walked in and saw Alex sitting on a chair.
"No Master, I will still need some time," Alex said. He didn't want to be reminded of the choice he had to make.
"Alright, take your time. But I would be really happy if you chose the Tiger sect. You have a lot of potential to be wasted hiding in a room making pills," Wen Cheng said.
Alex sighed internally. None of the people around him could hide their biases. He wasn't going to listen to any of them, so it didn't really matter.
"I wanted to ask, master. What is going to happen now? There should be official graduation or something like that right?" Alex asked.
"Oh yes, there will be one. As for when it will be… umm… I think it will be fine to do it once you make your choice. By then, whether you choose the Tiger sect or the Hong Wu sect, you can graduate without worry," Wen Cheng said.
"I see, that would be great then," Alex said. "By the way, I heard that Sister was just 2 realms away from promoting to the True realms as well. Do you have any plans for after she breaks through?"
"Sigh, I have no plan. If anything, I think I will just have to give up on being the sect leader now. I've been one for 5 years straight now, and that should be enough," Wen Cheng said.
"Who do you think will be the sect leader next then?" Alex asked.
"I don't know. It probably won't be the First elder, since little Yuhan should also be breaking through soon. The Second elder might become one, but he won't be able to stay as one for very long either," Wen Cheng said.
"So, in the end, I think it will be the Third Elder. Disciple Bing Li should be the prime disciple after a while," Wen Cheng said. "She's young and her cultivation is low, so she should be able to hold the spot for a long time."
"I see," Alex said. " I assume Trevor already left the sect?"
"He didn't stick around a day after entering the True realm," Wen Cheng chuckled. "He had so much hope, but that disciple of his didn't really seem to care about his master's reputation."
"After the humiliation he suffered, he probably didn't want to stay in the sect," Alex said. Wen Cheng agreed. They stayed around to talk for a little longer before Alex decided it was time to leave.
He returned back from his master's place and went over to his sister's place.
Luo Mei didn't want him to go stay in the outer sect houses, so she left him to stay there.
They talked for some more and returned to their respective room late at night.
Alex walked into his room and sat down on the bed. There was no pill to make, no formations to be made, and no training to be done. So, he planned on logging out.
But then he remembered that he did already have a new cultivation method today. It didn't work as well as his previous one so he was sure to change it, but using it for just a few more days was fine.
"Let's start," he thought. He sat cross-legged on the bed and closed his eyes to put all of his focus on his meridians. There were Qi in the meridians already, and he slowly gathered the Qi at one specific location.
Once enough Qi had gathered there, he started moving the Qi through the predetermined route in his meridian.
He breathed in and out as the Qi started moving. Just as it did, something happened inside of him that he could feel for the first time.
It was a feeling of freedom he hadn't felt before. It was like finally breathing through a clogged-up nose after a long time.
The feeling was amazing, but it lasted just a split second. Or rather, he lasted just a split second. Before he could even feel it anymore, he slowly fell asleep. Once again, even at the True realm, he couldn't stay awake when cultivating.
Suddenly, Alex opened his eyes as a violent thrumming went on in his body. He felt cold, unnaturally cold from the inside out. Wisps of bluish-white Qi released from all over his body, not unlike his master.
He was hurting. 'What's happening?' he thought. After the months of body cultivation, this much pain was something he could easily handle. However, the fact that he was hurt made him worry.
In just a few seconds, the bluish-white Qi stopped releasing from his body as he felt the heat returning back to his body. This was a truly weird experience for him.
"What was that?" he wondered. He glanced around him and saw that the lantern was still burning.
"What's the time?" he thought and looked to the top right corner of his vision.
10:43
It had only been merely half an hour or so since he started cultivating. He felt quite surprised.
'I have never woken up this early before. Is my new cultivation method being a problem?' Alex wondered.
He decided to try once more. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let the Qi gather in one spot.
He let the breath he held go and started moving the Qi. Once more, he felt that amazing feeling, and just as last time, he fell asleep.
The violent thrumming returned as Alex was forced out of his sleep. Once again, bluish-white wisps of Qi were being expelled from all over his body like steam coming off of someone after a warm shower on a cold day.
The wisps disappeared once again after a few seconds, but the experience was weird. Alex was ready for what was going to happen this time, so the moment he was out, he paid attention to what was happening to his body this time.
The cold, the heat, and the repelling, he felt it all. Alex realized that what was coming out of his body was Yin Qi.
Somehow, due to the cultivation method, during his cultivation, the Qi in his body was slowly changed to Yin Qi. Due to him having a Yin Elemental Spiritual root, he was perfectly capable of changing normal Qi to Yin Qi.
However, just because he was capable of changing it didn't mean that his body was okay with it. Being a Yang affinity body, the Yin Qi was definitely not welcomed in his body.
So, after a while when the Qi was fully transformed to Yin Qi after numerous circulation in the Meridian, his body forced it out. Which, in turn, made him jump out of his sleeping state since the cultivation was abruptly stopped.
'Dammit, so I can't even cultivate with this method?' Alex was starting to really not like this technique. It didn't matter that his master had given it to him as a gift. He was definitely going to change it the next chance he got.
"Fine, I will log out for now," he thought. Just as he was about to, he felt his badge vibrate in his storage bag.
"Hmm? Did someone challenge me in the middle of the night?" Alex thought and opened his badge only to read one sentence written on the badge.
"Scarlet City is under attack. Stay in your room and do not leave."
