Alex saw the gorge for himself for the first time. He had never seen the gorge, not even through Whisker’s eyes.

After seeing it finally, he was surprised at how clean the cut was, how deep the slash had cut and how far it reached.

“Are you a sword user?” Alex asked Ma Tianxin.

“Not really. I use them, but I use other weapons as well. I never found myself particularly interested in any specific weapons,” he said.

“I see. Then will you stay out here? It will be dangerous for you to go in there. It’s full of sword aura and intent,” Alex said.

“Okay, I can stay out here,” the young man said as he looked around at the many people that were meditating there. “I should be fine with this many people around me.”

“Alright, stay safe.”

Alex went towards the gorge with Pearl while Whisker was already back in his beast space. As he went forward, Pearl started feeling the effect of the intent around here, but he could still continue.

Alex walked until he reached a certain distance away from the gorge at which point Pearl had to stop. “Take your time adapting, I will be a bit further ahead,” he said and continued on, leaving Pearl behind.

Alex arrived within the area of the gorge where the intent was the strongest. He felt a slight mental headache from the constant badgering of the intent, but he handled it as he tried to find a good place to sit around the gorge.

About 3 meters beyond the start of the gorge, right next to where the land was cut in two, Alex sat down and started fighting the headache he was having by fighting against the intent that lingered on the cut itself.

Alex could tell that it was Sword Intent, which made him excited about how strong his own Sword Intent could grow to become in the future.

Alex kept his spiritual sense on Pearl who was less than 30 meters away from him at all times and then concentrated on his own honing.

For the next 2 months, he did nothing but sit around in the intent and overcome the headache. Slow, his headache was getting easier and easier to handle, so Alex added on top of it by activating the 1st stage of his Mask.

After breaking through, he could handle even 3 stages, but with the intent here, he didn’t go above 1 for now.

Combined, the two attacks slammed against the wall of his mind, threatening to tear it down. However, Alex had enough will and intent to fight it back.

It wasn’t just him either. Pearl was slowly improving too, getting closer and closer to the start of the gorge. Within the first month, he was outside of the 10-meter range, and stayed there for the next month and trained.

Ma Tianxin hadn’t intended on doing anything other than waiting for Alex to train here. However, seeing everyone improving, he felt the urge to train himself as well.

So, he sat down where he felt was best for him, and started tempering his intent. He had come here to try and gain some insight into whatever dao he could, but it looked like he was going to have to push that aside for now.

2 months later, Alex was finally able to sit where he sat without having the intent there affect him at all. He did have to constantly fight it back, but what else could he do? This was an Immortal’s intent after all. He couldn’t just ignore it as if it were nothing.

Before leaving, Alex took one last look into the sword aura that was still in the air there. He ignored the insights that remained there regarding dao of cutting and sharpness and such, and instead solely focused on the sword.

He tried to see if the man who made this gorge had any clue about what the next stage after Sword Aura was. From what Alex could see, he most certainly did. There were mysteries in the aura that was more than just about Sword Aura.

Unfortunately, Alex had no way of telling what they were. Even if he spent the following year in here, he wouldn’t be able to tell at all. After all, the man whose Sword aura this was himself hadn’t learned the next stage of the sword.

So, with nothing else to look forward to, Alex took one last glance at the gorge and turned around to leave.

He took Pearl who was starting to get used to the intent as well and walked away. Ma Tianxin noticed him leaving, so he too followed him.

Alex wanted to say something about him following, but decided not to. The poor guy was most likely scared for his life already.

“Do you know how long it has been since the last bell rang?” Alex asked the man as they walked on to find a new destination for themselves.

“Hmm… 4 months? Maybe close to 5, I’m not sure,” the young man said after spending a second with a thoughtful expression.

“You will be leaving in a month or two then, right?” Alex asked him.

The young man gave an awkward smile. “Am I that much of a headache for you, senior?” he asked.

“You’re not really a headache. I just like being alone is all,” he said.

“I see,” the young man said. “If possible I would like to stay with senior for a while, but if I am really causing you any discomfort then I will leave on my own.”

“What about your safety?” Alex asked. “Those men certainly won’t let you go just like that. They’re still here beyond that hill, spying on us.”

“What?” the young man turned towards the hill. “They’re still here?”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “They are staying outside my spiritual sense’s reach, but they are still standing plainly out in the open so that I can see them.”

“Woah, even through the mask?” the young man asked.

“It’s not a simple mask. Of course, I will be able to look through it. Why else would I be wearing it all time?” Alex asked.

“Is that so,” the young man said before his eyes drifted towards the hill. “They will kill me. Either that or force me to make an oath not to reveal what happened here.”

“Well, whether you want to leave or not, it’s your choice I guess,” Alex said. “I’m sorry, but I can’t babysit you as much as I would wish to. I have my own needs to take care of.”

Alex looked towards the sky. The aura and intent there was the strongest of all in this realm, and he was planning to start learning about it.

He had tried before, but it was too strong for him. He wondered if he could do it now that he was a little bit stronger.

“Brother,” Pearl called out to him from behind through their spiritual sense.

Alex paused and turned around. “What is it?” he asked.

Pearl looked confused, almost dazed, as he tried to understand what was happening to him. As the aura in the air thinned, he was finally starting to realize what was happening to him.

“I… I think I’m ready to break through,” Pearl said.

“Are you sure?” Alex asked with a hopeful look on his face. Pearl had already entered the True Emperor 9th realm over a year ago, so it was about time for him to break through to the Saint realm.

“Yes,” Pearl nodded. “I’m sure.”

Ma Tianxin looked at the two of them talk through their bond and wondered what they were talking about.

Then, out of nowhere, Alex turned to look at him and said, “It’s your lucky day today.”

“Uh… it is?” the young man asked.

“In less than two months’ time, we will be leaving the battlefield. You can leave at the same time too,” Alex said.

Confusion turned to happiness as Ma Tianxin’s lips curved to a wide smile. “Really? Are you really going out?”

“Yes,” Alex said. “You can rest assured.”

Ma Tianxin was about to say something when his happy emotions disappeared when a thought emerged in his head. “But… that’s just until the outside right? I still have to go back to the sect on my own.”

“Well, normally you would,” Alex said. “However, circumstances have made it so that I must visit the State of Shuang, and as a result will have to pass by close to the Blue Spring sect.”

“Circumstances? You have some business with our sect, senior?” the man asked. He was excited about the prospect of having a guard all the way through to the end.

“No, I have no business with your sect,” Alex said, disappointing the young man. “Unless…” He thought of something.

“Unless?”

Alex looked at the young man. “Who owns the Demonic forest?” he suddenly asked.

“The demonic forest? No one. If anyone, it would be the beasts,” the young man said. “Do you wish to enter the Demonic forest?”

Alex looked at Pearl. “My beast will be breaking through once we go out of the battlefield. Afterward, I will be needing some beast cores and was hoping to get it from some Saint beasts in the forest, what do you think?” he asked.

“I… I don’t know senior. I’ve never seen anyone killing saint beasts to use their cores for their own beasts,” the young man said. “Although, I have heard of such things happening in the past, so I don’t see how you can’t do it.”

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