Alex's eyes narrowed once again. 'How does he know I'm an alchemist?' he wondered.
He looked down upon himself to see if there was anything that could give it away when he saw the Alchemist badge popping out of his robes.
'Pearl must've pulled it out when he jumped,' He thought as he looked to the side at Pearl. He was having fun with the little girl.
Alex had already told him not to hurt the little girl, so there was nothing to worry about with Pearl.
"Uhm, just because I'm an Alchemist, it doesn't mean I can heal myself," Alex said.
"Is that so? I thought Alchemists could do anything they wanted, similar to formation makers, Talisman creators, and Artifact crafter," Shen Jing said.
"It's true that they have a lot of potentials to do anything, but that doesn't mean every alchemist can make whatever they want," Alex said.
"Yes, I know that, but with a bit of time and practice, it should be possible right?" Shen Jing said.
"Not really," Alex said. "Those will help, but having knowledge of what you are doing is more important if you want to do something quickly."
"If I were looking for the knowledge, I doubt anything would help me learn better than self-study with a bit of outside help. But if what I want is my arm back, it's better for me to rely on outside helpfully," Alex said.
"You mean a recipe?" Shen Jing asked.
"Yes," Alex nodded.
"So you don't have any recipe to heal yourself?" Shen Jing asked.
Alex shook his head. "Not at the moment. I do have one, but making that is out of my league for now. The actual recipe that will help me right now is incomplete," he said.
"Does no one else have that sort of pill?" Shen Jing asked.
"Maybe," Alex said. "I didn't find much in that town, but that was a backwater town. Which is why I'm going to the capital to see if such pills already exist."
"If they don't exist, I also have the Shen great family which could heal me, and the royal princess who also could. But for that I will have to be a Lightsworn apparently," Alex said.
"Ooh, what's a Lightsworn?" Shen Jing asked curiously.
"Protectors and guards of the empire, I hear," Alex said.
"Do you admire them?" Shen Jing asked.
"Haha, no," Alex said. "I only just learned about them today. I plan on joining them, however. That might be one way to heal my arm."
"Hmm… Lightsworn. Sounds fun. I will join too," Shen Jing said.
The carriage rattled as the sounds of people walking on the side of the caravan sounded.
"Oh, what does that say?" Shen Jing suddenly asked.
Alex turned outside the window and saw a wooden sign on the side of the road with some words on it.
"Bullfly town 30 kilometers away. Firecrest town, 103 kilometers away. Silverleaf City, 302 kilometers away.
Shen Jing nodded as he looked outside. "We will likely reach the town by sundown, then Harecrest town by tomorrow, and Silverleaf City 3 days later," Shen Jing said.
"How far away is the capital?" he asked.
Alex made some simple estimation in his head based on the map and the sizes there before saying, "About 9000 kilometers."
"Oh wow, that's far, isn't it? Don't you think it will be faster to just fly there? I'm sure you can reach the capital in 3 days if you do," Shen Jing said.
Alex didn't doubt it. He had even thought of it, but he shook his head.
"I am a bit new to this place. I want to learn a bit more about the land and its culture before I arrive at the capital. I know what being a naive, village boy does to one in unfamiliar places," he said.
"That's not a bad idea," Shen Jing said with his hands on his chin. "I think I'm starting to like you, little brother. You know what? Forget about getting strong and just focus on getting your arm back."
Shen Jing said what could only be taken as sarcastic, but for some reason, he sounded sincere. Alex wondered why he was saying that. Was there a good enough reason for him to stop proceeding with his cultivation?
Alex shook his head and forgot about it. He wasn't going to suddenly stop getting strong. In fact, Shen Jing was the weird one for even suggesting it.
'One moment he mocks me for being weak, and another moment he says I don't need to get strong. Does he have something wrong with his head or what?' Alex thought.
The carriage rattled as it went along for a bit more, and darkness soon veiled the world.
Not long after, they reached the Bullfly town, where they stopped for an hour or two before leaving.
The horses pulling the carriage were spirit beasts, so they didn't need to rest at all, and could pull as long as they had Qi.
Shen Jing suddenly pushed open the door and jumped out. Alex looked at him in surprise. He hadn't said anything for a while now, simply sleeping in the carriage with his eyes shut, and now he suddenly jumped out.
"Aah, it's not very good to sit in one place continuously," he said. "Little brother, come on out, or you will start getting backaches too."
Alex looked at him with narrowed eyes. "I'm fine," he said.
"Come on! Stretch your legs a bit. No need to sit inside forever," Shen Jing said. "Also, you might find something fun up ahead."
Alex's eyes changed again.
Fun.
Shen Jing had some sort of implication on that word that he didn't immediately catch.
His voice got a little cold as he asked, "What's up ahead?"
Shen Jing knew he had caught Ning's attention and smiled, "that's a surprise for you."
Alex hesitated for a bit. Was this some sort of trap? Was Shen Jing going to kill him up ahead?
"Don't worry!" Shen Jing said, seeing Alex's eyes full of hesitation. Then, his voice changed such that Alex could feel some sort of energy behind it.
"You know I could've killed you anytime if I wanted to by now," Shen Jing said.
Alex jumped out. He wasn't sure what Shen Jing wanted of him, but he was sure about one thing now. Shen Jing didn't want to kill him.
"Pearl, stay here okay? Your brother and I will go ahead for a little while," Shen Jing said, his jovial voice returning to him.
The two of them suddenly flew away. Alex flew as fast as he could, but Shen Jing seemed to be casually cruising through the air.
This man… he was either a very high True realm cultivator, or more likely, a Saint realm cultivator.
Alex had to be careful of him.
"Down there," Shen Jing pointed, and Alex looked below. He saw a bunch of people grouped up below him, and the group of people saw him too.
Alex's eyes went wide.
"Bandits?" he said out loud.
"Yes, and they see you now," Shen Jing's voice drifted in his ear, but his body was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, the bandits flew up towards him.
Alex got angry. "You bastard! You really did bring me here to kill me."
