The 4 others to the side looked at Alex with a massive shock, as well as a hint of confusion.
They were shocked because to their eyes, Alex had appeared out of nowhere. They were also a little confused as to where he had been before this.
However, as soon as they heard what Alex said, their shock and confusion soon all turned to pure, unadulterated fear.
Not only was Alex strong, but he was also so unbelievably strong that they couldn't even feel his cultivation base at all.
This meant he had a really high cultivation base. Not to mention, given how scraggly he looked, they feared that he cultivated an unorthodox cultivation method.
If it happened to be one that required the blood and bones of young men and women, they would all be in trouble.
"Senior, please forgive me. I really didn't know i— he was with you. Had I known, I would've never thought of kidnapping him," the leader said, his head still pressed to the ground.
Alex looked at him and then at Pearl who was on the ground. He then kicked a stone that was on the ground, sending it hurtling towards one of the trees.
The stone accurately hit a formation flag, knocking it off of the tree. Suddenly, Pearl could see clearly again.
The formation had come undone.
The leader couldn't help but feel awe when he saw that. He had made sure to set up the flags in such a manner that it would be impossible to find in a short time, but somehow the expert in front of him had done exactly that.
This only caused to increase his fear even more.
"Why were you trying to kidnap him?" Alex asked.
The leader couldn't answer. It was not an answer he could give to the brother of an expert like him.
"Answer me," Alex said, his voice booming, shaking the leader to his core.
"We-we were going to sell him to a rich person from the other cities," the leader said.
Alex nodded when he heard this.
He knew these people weren't evil and were definitely not looking to harm Pearl. At least that he had noticed from the very start.
When Pearl had slammed one of those people into the tree he was cultivating on, Alex had already woken up by then.
When he saw Pearl fighting, he was ready to come down to help. However, he also noticed that they likely weren't a threat to Pearl at all.
So, he stayed up, watching him fight. It had been a while, so he wanted to see how much he had grown.
When he used skills like White Tiger's Golden Claw or White Tiger's Golden Body, Alex felt a little proud of how frequently he could use those skills.
When he used White Tiger's roar, Alex had realized that Pearl had another skill up his sieve that belonged to the white tiger bloodline.
Then, Pearl gave him another shock when he used the White Tiger's steps. The movement technique was meant for short bursts of motion, but… it was so strong.
When Pearl had split into two, even he had trouble finding out which one was the real one despite using spiritual sense.
It was only when he saw Pearl in trouble that he finally decided to come down to help.
Alex looked at the leader still on the ground. "Stand up," he said.
These people were good, but he couldn't let the fact that they tried to steal Pearl slide.
"I will give you one chance. My brother will hit you once. If you can survive, you can all leave," Alex said. "You can even take that… bird over there."
Alex felt a weird sensation. It felt really weird not having the game system tell him the name of things. Without it, he couldn't even tell what the bird's name was.
It looked like he had a lot more to learn.
The leader's eyes narrowed. He didn't believe he could get away so… easily.
"Is that true?" he couldn't help but ask.
"Are you saying I'm lying?" Alex asked.
"No, senior. Forgive me," the leader said again as he bowed towards Alex.
"Get up and take the hit. I don't have much time to waste on you," he said.
The leader looked up and nodded. He got up and moved a little back to get into a stance.
"I'm ready, senior," he said.
"Pearl, go give him your best attack," Alex said.
However, Pearl shook his head. Alex curiously turned around.
"What's wrong? Do you not want to hit him?" he asked.
"Meow!" Pearl meowed. The opponent had used assistance from formations, but he had still won fairly. So, he didn't like the fact that he needed Alex's help in beating the man.
Alex couldn't help but chuckle a little when he heard that, and at some level, even felt a little proud.
Pearl had lost, and he had accepted the loss without looking for help in getting back.
"Alright, since my brother has decided to not attack you, you will have to do something else for me," Alex said.
"Anything, senior," the man said.
"Show me the way out of this place," Alex said.
The leader looked surprised, and a little suspicious too. He looked to the side of the other 4 who looked relieved and sighed.
"Yes, senior," the leader said.
"Take your bird. We're leaving," Alex said.
The leader nodded and walked over to the bird. When he removed the nets, he realized the bird was unconscious. It seemed the bird couldn't handle the nauseating mental stress from the disorienting formation.
Meanwhile, Pearl jumped onto Alex's shoulder and slumped down and purred lightly.
"You fought to protect me, right? Thank you," Alex said softly.
Pearl meowed but didn't say anything else. It looked like he was still a little annoyed that he lost to the leader.
"I saw you fight. You were very strong," Alex said. "If not for the formation, the leader would've never won against you. Also, you are not even in the True realm, and yet you are contending someone on True realm in equal strength. I think that is amazing."
Pearl's face turned a little smug when he heard that. He was indeed great.
"By the way, the techniques you used. Did they teach you that?" Alex asked.
"No," Pearl said.
'I thought so,' Alex thought. This would get problematic soon. Pearl now had about 5 skills that not even a true White Tiger born to the White Tiger family could have.
At most, they would have 2 or 3 according to what Yao Jia had told him.
"Did you use these skills while training?" Alex then asked.
"Yess!" Pearl said.
'That's problematic,' Alex thought. ' I don't think they will stop looking for Pearl then. It's already impressive that they haven't looked for me in the last few days since I left the secret realm.'
'Maybe they are preoccupied with what happened to Lady Rem,' Alex thought. 'They will come soon then. I hope they can't find me here'
"Senior, we are ready," the leader said.
Alex looked to the side and said, "Alright, show the way out."
