Luo Mei teared up once again, as she always did. However, she was not the only one to cry this time.
Wen Cheng and Alex teared up as well. Only Liu Xun stood stoic in the group, but he too saw suppressing the tears in his eyes.
The graduation was over and Alex had received a badge that said 'Alumnus' similar to the nameplate that he had gotten from the Hong Wu sect.
"Will you really be alright?" Luo Mei asked in between her tears. She had considered him guaranteed to leave by this point, so she didn't bother trying to make him stay.
"I will be fine, sister. You have nothing to worry about," Alex said.
"Yes you will," Liu Xun said. "Next time we see each other, you might even be stronger than me or master."
"Even if I am, I will still be your younger brother and Master's disciple," Alex said with a small smile.
"Alright, take care. Go get your beast back," Wen Cheng said.
"Yes, master," Alex responded.
The 3 of them hugged Alex and Alex waved them goodbye before leaving the sect. He wiped his tears away and walked onward with a face full of determination.
* * * * * *
A day later, Alex arrived at the Cardinal city once more. He had already kept away his flying boat nearly an hour earlier just to be safe and not be seen by anyone.
Since then, he had been flying normally all the way to the capital.
He got into the queue of people waiting to get in. He remembered having to do something similar when he first came to the scarlet city.
'Hmm… are these my memories?' Alex got a little confused. It sure felt like it.
Alex brought out some money to pay the guards, but they stopped him and showed him the way to another group of guards who were with other cultivators.
Alex didn't understand what was going on, but he obeyed.
"May we ask who you are and what your purpose of visit to the city is?" the guards asked him when he reached next to them. "We're sorry. There has been a bandit attack on a city to the west, so we've been asking everyone that has any worthy cultivation base."
"Ah," Alex understood. "Yes, my name is Yu Ming, from Scarlet City. I am here to meet the emperor."
The guards were about to note down the information when they stopped. "Brother, please don't joke around. Give us the correct answer," they said.
"That's the truth," Alex said. "I was invited by the Emperor. You can call the palace and check up if you don't believe me."
"Take him aside and keep him in the room for a while," a guard ordered another guard, who complied easily.
"This way," the guard took Alex. The guard was neither polite, nor rude in his treatment of Alex, and when he reached the room, Alex sat on a chair that was inside.
"Please wait while we confirm your words," the guard said.
"Yes, please do," Alex said with a smile toward the guard.
The guard sent some information through a talisman and waited for a while. After a few minutes, a message came back in the talisman.
"Sorry brother, but what did you say your name was?" the guard asked.
"Yu Ming," Alex said. It felt a little weird using that name, but it would be one he would keep for a while.
"What sect are you from?" the guard asked.
"From the Hong Wu sect and Tiger sect of Scarlet City," Alex replied.
"Ah, I see. It seems you were the right person. Please come with me; I've been assigned to bring you to the palace," the guard said.
"Yes, let's go," Alex stood up from the chair and walked with the guard.
Alex saw the many people of the city going about their days in the city. It wasn't as crowded as when the competition had taken place, but it was still plenty crowded.
The colorful atmosphere of the city reminded him of the festival back in the countryside.
"You don't look very strong, brother," the guard asked as he looked at Alex.
"Haha, not when compared to you," Alex said, looking at the guard whose cultivation base should have been between True Master 7th and 9th realm. Alex still had a slight problem telling cultivation apart.
His own cultivation was still at the 2nd realm of True Disciple, so he was really weak comparatively. Of course, that was without counting his body cultivation.
"So you must have some other features than just being a cultivator right?" the guard asked.
"I'm an alchemist," Alex said.
"Oh, an alchemist?" the guard asked with a surprised look. "You must be a genius in alchemy to be called by the emperor at such a young age."
"I… do fine for myself," Alex said. He didn't bother explaining that he wasn't here for alchemy purposes.
The guard was a curious one who kept the conversation going by asking quite a few questions, most of which Alex answered without any hesitation.
The 2 of them walked through the city going in the southern direction.
Alex had come from the northern gate, so he would have to walk for a while to reach the palace.
The palace occupied a large area of land at the center of the city and was surrounded by large walls about 20 meters high. They weren't as tall as city walls which were close to 50 meters high.
The palace had a single gate that was facing to the north. So, Alex and the guard had to completely walk around the walls to reach the palace.
"Here we are," the guard said as they finally reached the palace.
An old man stood at the front of the gate and looked at Alex who was next to the guard.
"Are you sir Yu Ming?" the old man asked.
"Yes, I am," Alex said. "But you don't have to call me sir."
"Hmm… your appearance doesn't match what I was told you would look like. Also, I wasn't told that you had a missing arm," the old man said.
"I lost my arm in the city against the bandits. As for the appearance, I can't help it. I've changed since then," Alex said.
"This puts me in a bit of tro—"
"Yu Ming? You are finally here?" A voice came from behind the old man as a woman walked up to them. She wore a blue, translucent robe that seemed to have been made from the lightest silk out there.
Her hair was braided behind her in such a fancy way that Alex was sure it took 5 different maids to tame that.
"My greetings, princess," Alex said.
"Why are you hiding your face? Did you make an enemy or something?" she asked.
"Your highness, you recognize this sir? The information I was given doesn't match—"
"Oh, don't worry, old Han. He's the right person. I saw him with this face in the competition the day of the invasion," she said.
"Ah, then that settles it," the old man said.
"You go in, I will take him in," the princess said.
"Princess, I can't let you do that," the old man said.
"Alright, then follow us," she said and turned to Alex. "Come in. Father has been waiting for you for a long time."
