"What? I don't want to do that," Alex said. Sitting around just because of his cultivation base even though he knew he was stronger than many of those that had already passed didn't sit right with him.
"Can't they just get rid of the True Lord realm and make room for the True Kings only?" Alex asked. "That would at least get the test done much faster."
"Ah, you may not have seen it yet, but they are getting rid of the True Lords already. They just don't announce it yet," Liang Qiu said.
"They are?" Alex grumbled a little on the inside. "I guess I have nothing to complain about then."
"Well, judging by your cultivation base, I don't see anything you will have to worry about," Han Daiyu said.
"I guess that's true," Alex agreed, but he still didn't like staying around for a test for such a long time.
In the end, there was nothing he could do, so he had to sit quietly and wait for his turn.
Or did he?
Alex's number was soon called after and he walked onto the stage with a curious look on his face.
"Get on up," the tester said.
"Senior, I will be fighting with my beast, so would it be alright if I got my beast tested instead?" Alex asked.
"A beast? I didn't realize there were any Beast sects around here," the person said curiously. "Yes, of course, you can."
Alex smiled. "Pearl, come out," he said.
"Meow!" Pearl roared as he appeared on the stage as a meter-tall, 2-meter-long beast of a cat.
His True Emperor realm aura radiated off of him giving the tester a bit of a surprise. He hadn't expected a beast to be this much stronger than the owner.
'Their friendship much is quite amazing for the beast to not have broken its bonds already,' he thought.
"Pearl, walk up there," Alex told him and pointed towards the formation.
Pearl didn't speak at all and instead did as he was asked. He walked over to the formation and it soon said what it should.
True Emperor 1st realm.
"Great, you can leave," the tester said.
"Come, Pearl," Alex said, and Pearl turned into a white light that disappeared into his left arm.
"Number 315" the tester called for the next person waiting.
Alex smiled as he walked back over to the group he was standing with and looked at their surprised face.
"I should be done now, right?" he asked.
"You have a True Emperor realm beast? When did you bond it?" the girls immediately asked.
"Umm… about half a year ago. This big guy was dying in the snow, so I saved him and in exchange, he agreed to become my bonded beast," Alex said.
He didn't know why he lied about Pearl, but that felt like the right approach here. Given his age and cultivation base, sooner or later, people would figure out that he couldn't have bonded with a beast that was already in the high cultivation base.
Given that, the only way for him to have a beast with a high cultivation base would be either to bond with it very early when it was weak and then help grow it or simply bond with a strong beast later on.
With the first one, Pearl's potential would immediately be out in the open, making needless enemies that would want to take him away, so Alex thought it would be better to take advantage of the second scenario.
"Congratulations, I guess. I didn't think you would pass this early," Liang Qiu spoke up.
"Thanks." Alex smiled back at her. "So… do I leave now or do I have to wait?"
"We wait until they speak up the numbers of those that pass, but I don't think it will be for a while, so we can get out of this place," Han Daiyu said.
"Where would we even go?" Alex asked.
"Are you kidding me? You are in my house, I will be treating you. Come," Han Daiyu said and started walking away.
A few of the people started following her while Alex wasn't sure if he wanted to leave. "I am fine just waiting for my num—"
"Nonsense, if you won't come, there's no point," she said.
"Huh?" Alex was confused.
"I already messaged my family that you are alive, and they want to meet you," she said.
"Hah." Alex sighed and shook his head. He should have known this would happen. No, he did know this would happen, he just didn't expect it to happen this quickly.
"Okay then, let's go." Alex wanted to get it over with as soon as he could.
Han Daiyu excitedly took Alex to her brilliant mansion that she called her home.
Alex was awestruck at how amazing the place was.
Green grass surrounded the massive mansion that was full of brilliant colors all around. Men and women in brown robes walked all throughout the place.
As Alex entered, he felt the coolness of the place that was distinctly lower than outside and realized there was a formation around the place to keep the people cool.
The inside was filled with different arts and crafts, giving the place a more lived-in vibe than even the royal palace.
Han Daiyu made them walk through the hallway until they came across a room full of sofas.
"Sit, I'll tell the elders you are here." Han Daiyu left the lot to wait and went on.
"Tsk!" Liang Qiu clicked her tongue on the side.
"What's wrong?" Alex asked.
"I'm a little jealous of her, or rather them. Right, would you come to our sect too after this?" she asked.
"Uhh… I don't know if I have the time. I will need to prepare for the competition," Alex said.
A minute or so later, Han Daiyu arrived back. "Alchemist Yu, the elders want to see you. Come with me."
Alex nodded and walked along with Han Daiyu through the wide hallways to a massive hall where multiple men and women were waiting for him.
Even at just a glance, Alex could tell that at least half the people there were in the Saint realm.
"This is the Alchemist Yu I told you all about," Han Daiyu introduced them.
"Greetings, seniors." Alex cupped his hand and bowed a little in front of the many strong elders of the Han Family.
He scanned the room with his eyes once more and noticed two people that he did recognize.
One of them was Han Hongqi whom he was familiar with, while the other one was a man that had similar features to Han Hongqi as well as Han Daiyu.
He had seen the man back in the competition ground when the Emperor had called upon him, and if he wasn't mistaken, this was Han Haixu, the eldest son of the Han family leader.
Speaking of which, Alex turned his head towards the heavily tanned and buff man with a bald, wrinkly head and gray beard, that sat in the seat at the center of the room.
The aura he gave off was stronger than anyone else in the room and his age was also the greatest.
Without a doubt, this was most certainly the Han family leader, Han Huaxian.
