"Sorry, Evelyn. I need to go somewhere after this. So, you go back to the inn and don't tell anyone about this."
"No no no!" Evelyn immediately shook her head. She was too shocked this entire time because she never expected they were in a pinch situation. And she only thought to have fun with Alex. "I will not tell a single soul about this, including my family. From what I heard until now, it seems big brother Alex also considers everyone's safety, so I won't come out from the inn until the tournament starts."
Alex nodded. "Thanks. It will help, since the fewer who know about this, the better."
Alex wanted to poison them since it would be far more efficient. But, cultivators did not need something like water or food and even if they had it with them, they would store it inside a Space Ring. And it was not like he could invite them for tea or something. This was also the reason why Putri was cursed, not poisoned.
He had thought about using the method he used to massacre the Kasmanan Family. Sadly, it would be impossible since he would make a colossal array with that huge number, and the supply of oxygen inside the barrier would also be huge.
If he lit the fire inside the barrier, he would need to distract them first so they would not put out the fire. All in all, Alex decided to throw this idea. Alex had a thought in using a pollen type poison. Still, he did not have the material to make a poison that was potent enough to kill the soldiers.
"We are going back to the surface," Alex said.
Evelyn and Sana nodded. Alex then ordered Njomo to lead them to the surface. Since he already knew about their plan, it would be pretty easy to come up with another plan to counter that. But it seemed, all of his predictions were correct, and he did not need to change his plan.
After this, Alex was planning to go toward the Rivulet Forest and made the array. When they came outside, Sana immediately said, "Then, I will be going first to prepare myself."
As soon as Alex nodded his head, Sana then disappeared. "Njomo, scout the Rivulet for me. I want to make sure no one will bother me when I make the arrays. And search for a position that the soldiers won't search."
Njomo nodded and disappeared.
Evelyn also wanted to say goodbye to him. But before she had a chance to do it, she heard a sound from Alex's back.
"Ah, You!"
Alex and Evelyn turned their head and saw a young woman. With her Long Silver Hair, beautiful curves and edges, Her penetrating silver eyes, and her aloof expression made her like a snow lotus in the snowy mountain.
Evelyn twitched her eyebrows when she saw another beauty that seemed to know Alex. She was wondering why there were so many beauties around him. Alex was surprised when he saw a familiar person in this place.
"Nakagawa Hiina…" Alex indeed had known this beauty. Still, it was not a pleasant one since she was somewhat annoying for him.
"Alexander Sirius!"
Alex sighed as he felt this would be troublesome.
"Who are you? Why do you know, big brother Alex?" Evelyn suddenly came in front of him and asked.
"Hmph, I am Nakagawa Hiina. I have sworn that I will defeat him in the Grand Tournament."
"Ah…" Evelyn opened her mouth in surprise when she heard that. But, she was not astonished or whatever. She just looked at her with a weird face because of another thing.
"What?"
"No, are you sure you are going to challenge big brother Alex?" Evelyn asked with a weird expression.
"Big brother? You are his sister?"
"No no… I am…" She wanted to say Alex was her mentor. But she suddenly remembered the maid told her about this kind of situation. She clearly remembered what the maid said to solve a situation like this. She suddenly puffed her chest and said proudly, "I am big brother Alex's woman."
"Oi oi, little girl." Alex twitched his eyebrows when he heard that. He did not understand why she could come up with something like this.
"Wo-woman?!" Nakagawa Hiina was surprised. She looked at Alex hatefully. "You… I have become a disciple of an elder and trained continuously just to defeat you! And here you are… playing with women. You-!"
Alex hit Evelyn's head in annoyance. "No, Evelyn is my… my… By the way, what are you? My friend...no, then my disciple? Nah, then how about a disciple under my tutelage? But I have never become your mentor."
"Uu…" Evelyn covered her head with her hands like she was in pain because he hit her. "The maid in the palace told me I should say 'I am your woman' to shoo an annoying woman."
"Wha-?! Annoying woman, you say?" It seemed Nakagawa Hiina still retained her fiery temperament. But he also noticed that she also became more talkative.
"Anyway, if you want to challenge me in this tournament, then it is impossible." Alex looked at Nakagawa Hiina.
"Heh… serve you right. This must be because you are busy playing with women? So you don't have enough power to compete in the Grand Tournament." Nakagawa Hiina snorted. She did not even recognize Evelyn because she only used her time for training and training. So, she was a bit ignorant about the outside world. Even their meeting in this place was a fluke. If she did not meet him in this place, she would even forget about him.
"Big brother Alex? Are you sure you know about this person? Why does she seem like… a fool?" Evelyn looked at Alex with a weird expression.
"You-! You call me a fool again?" Nakagawa Hiina wanted to flare up.
"Yes. You are foolish. You need to sense his cultivation first. If you can sense his cultivation, then it is good. If you can't, why do you think you can't?" Evelyn snorted.
"What did you say-?!" She tried to look at Alex's cultivation but to no avail. She was surprised she could not see Alex's cultivation. She remembered what Evelyn said and thought, 'Why?'
"Hmph, you understand it, right? Big brother has enough strength to join the tournament. It just, he won't be the same as you who join the Grandmaster Stage Competition. He is competing in Lord Stage." Evelyn snorted as she saw Hiina's cultivation. Her cultivation was 8-Star Martial Grandmasters, and it was truly surprising to see 8-Star Martial Grandmasters as a participant. But it also showed how strong she was.
"Martial Lord Stage Competition?" Nakagawa Hiina looked at Alex dumbfoundedly. She shook her head in denial. "No no no. How can this be? I don't believe it!"
"I don't believe you are a Martial Lord. Back then, you were only a 1-Star Martial Master while I was a 6-Star Martial Master. You must hide your cultivation. Yeah, that must be the reason why I can't sense your cultivation. I will test your strength right here right now. Take this punch!" Nakagawa Hiina threw a fist toward Alex.
Alex frowned when he saw this. Even Evelyn immediately raised her hand to block it. However, before both of them moved, a cute white fox with a pink color on the tip of its fur appeared. The fox tried to kick Nakagawa Hiina.
When Nakagawa Hiina saw that, she harrumphed. She raised her hand to block her feet. "Hehe… I am not going to be tricked by this again."
Sadly, After the bitter training, Sherry had reached 10-Star Martial Lord and her power…
"Bam-!"
Nakagawa Hiina could not understand as she looked to the sky. No, she was looking to the front, but her front was the sky. Sherry's kick blew her away. Of course, she had held back her strength greatly as she might accidentally kill her. So, Sherry lowered her strength to just enough to blow her away.
"I have not done my real mission for a while." Sherry harrumphed. She then looked at Alex and said, "Master, One homewrecker has been sent away. I have held back my power so she will only fly away."
"Thank you, but go back." Alex forcefully recalled her back to his body. It would be troublesome if these many people saw a fox that could talk.
Evelyn had seen Sherry a few times since Sherry and Kyle often had sparrings with Anna, so she was not surprised by the sudden appearance of Sherry. She also understood Alex's concern since she was also bewildered when she heard Sherry talked.
Alex then immediately turned to Evelyn and said, "Go back now. I need to go somewhere. That's right, bring these two with you."
"Eh?" Evelyn was surprised to see Alex suddenly handed her two scrolls.
"These two are rank 4 Teleportation Array. I am not sure about this tournament, so if needed, I want you to use that to save yourself." Alex said.
"Such precious items… Big brother Alex, I can't -!" She wanted to reject him, but Alex immediately shook his head. He said, "No, you take it. Our enemy might not be the Zhou Kingdom and that whatever influence from another continent.
"Have you forgotten about the matter with the Southern Kingdom and Mount Hua Sect? Or even your Thiveapia Kingdom? So take it."
When she heard that, she realized why she wanted her to take it. He speculated that the other influences might attack them in the tournament.
Alex had another reason for that. He thought since he never had any use for that, it would be better if he gave it to her rather than letting it dust in his Space Ring.
Evelyn nodded her head and left. After that, Alex also left the place, leaving that annoying woman alone. Sherry blew her away to the sky, so the crowd's attention was on her. But when Nakagawa Hiina came back, she did not find Alex anywhere.
Even though she was convinced Alex was a Martial Lord, she just could not accept it. After all, Alex was 'playing' with women instead of training in her eyes. She gritted her teeth before leaving the place because the stare from the crowd was hurt. They looked at her like she was abandoned by her boyfriend.
...
A few minutes later, Alex arrived at Rivulet Forest. And as one would expect, Njomo immediately appeared in front of him the moment he arrived.
"Have you scouted the area? Where are the exact positions of the soldiers?" Alex asked.
Njomo did not say anything and asked Alex to follow him. When they arrived, Alex could see a big plain that was full of tents. The plain size alone was around 1 square kilometer, and the soldiers took 90% of it. But considering that huge army, it was normal, Alex thought.
"I will need to make twenty Moonstone Barrier Arrays and four Gathering Arrays. I will supply each Gathering Array with twenty-five million Spirit Stones. And by enhancing the barrier with Space Element, I could make sure the barrier would be able to stop their attack easily."
Njomo nodded his head as he led him around. Alex made his arrays in various places. One of them was in a cave, one of them was in a big tree, and many more unique places. This was to ensure no array would be spotted.
He then connected each of them with the Chain Connection Array Technique. And he would connect every five Moonstone Barrier Arrays with a rank 5 Gathering Array. After contemplating for a while, he chose to not fill it with Spirit Stones first since it would be eye-catching.
It was already past midnight when he finished making all of them. It took him too many times because he needed to avoid the detection from the soldiers. Of course, Njomo led him skillfully, thus letting him go unspotted.
"Njomo, you stay here," Alex asked Njomo to stay so he could keep eyes on them.
After settling all the matters, he immediately made his way toward Thine City.