Chapter 673 - Alex and Ryuu

"Yes, Master."

The three of them then teleported to Alex's house.

Alex gradually opened his eyes after sensing three people coming closer to his house. 

'It should be the Great Elder and her disciples.' He thought without hesitation. Only the Great Elder knew his existence, and with the promise she had previously, Alex was able to predict it.

He stood up and headed to the door, coming out of the house before those three landed. Looking up a bit, he activated his Spirit Eyes and confirmed that they also had Space Element. 

On the other hand, Maya lifted up her eyebrows, never expecting a handsome man caused the chaos on the surface. 'He… He is handsome… Even more than Elder Brother Ryuu. But Elder Brother is the number one in my heart. No matter how hard you try to sway my heart, you won't get it.'

She started her own delusion, picturing what if both Ryuu and Alex pursued her, and couldn't help but drool at this moment. Luckily, Ryuu and Aileen were focused on Alex.

Landing on the ground, Aileen smiled gently and greeted Alex. "I hope you have a great time in this place, Alexander Sirius. Let me introduce you. These two are my disciples."

She stretched her hands toward Ryuu and Maya before stepping aside. Ryuu walked forward and cupped his hand. "Nice to meet you. I have heard so much about you from Master and on the surface, o' Spirit Nest's leader, Alexander Sirius. I am Ryuu Raichi. You can call me Ryuu."

Maya also stepped forward and bowed her head politely. "Maya Ai."

Alex furrowed his eyebrows at first, never expecting that they managed to learn his identity. But knowing they were from the surface and must have reported the matter to their Master first, they would be foolish if they didn't know it was him. Hence, he nodded with a smile. "I am Alexander Sirius. You can call me Alex."

Aileen glanced at her disciples first before saying. "That's right. I am planning to have another discussion with you if you have another question. My disciples will help you with the basics if I am busy, as I said yesterday. Ryuu, I am leaving the matter to you."

"Yes, Master. I will not disappoint you." Ryuu nodded solemnly.

"Wait, Master! Why do you only leave it to Elder Brother? I am still here!" Maya protested while circling around Aileen.

Aileen patted her head and chuckled. "You still need more training before you can teach anyone anything. Firstly, you shouldn't skip my homework or ask your Elder Brother to finish your homework. Then, you can start paying attention to all of my lectures and read the books carefully."

Maya suddenly froze and was sweating profusely. "Master… I—"

"You are going to-" Before Aileen finished her words, an elder appeared beside them. It seemed he was this Space Temple Elder. 

"Great Elder! We have an emergency."

"What? Did the Council want to meet me?" Aileen raised her eyebrows and stepped forward, glaring at this elder. 

The elder stepped back as he nodded profusely. "Ye-yes. We just got the information, and other elders said you might probably here."

She let out a long sigh before looking at the three people. "I am sorry. I need to go now. You three can talk first without me." 

Alex, Ryuu, and Maya nodded. 

Aileen then snapped her finger and created a Spatial Gate that connected this place to the place in front of the portal. "Tell the messenger to go back and the other elders to continue their job." 

"Yes!" The elder nodded as Aileen went inside the gate and disappeared. The elder then nodded to Ryuu before leaving them. 

Alex and Ryuu locked into each other's eyes, ignoring Maya's existence. 

"I have heard so much about you, Alexander Sirius. It is my honor to see you in person." Ryuu smiled and stretched his hand.

Alex nodded and shook his hand. "I'm not someone special."

"Haha… So young with that many achievements, if you are not special, I wonder if the world still has someone special?" Ryuu laughed out loud before his expression turned serious. "Actually, I want to ask you something." 

"Please ask." Alex nodded. 

"I heard that you have attained the highest swordsmanship and reached Sword Saint. If possible, I want to learn Sword Skill for you. Of course, I will pay for it as well, like how you are doing with my Master… Wait, I have a more interesting offer for you. How about I teach you a Space Element Technique, and you teach me swordsmanship. That should be fair, right?" Ryuu offered a barter. 

Alex thought for a moment and said. "It's indeed an interesting offer. However, my hands are full with Space Plates and Spatial Gates. In fact, I only learned about the Space Element recently, so I don't think I need to learn another Space Element for the time being."

"That is fine with me." Ryuu nodded. "Or you can start by teaching me while practicing your Space Element Techniques. I can give you some inputs regarding these two techniques. Of course, I will offer advice for free. You can say it's an additional bonus from my payment."

"That is also not a bad idea." Alex thought he could use it to his advantage. By having someone to guide him in these basics, he could finish his training quicker. As much as he hated to say it, he actually needed around four months just to reach 8-Star Martial Saint, and that was only if he was purely cultivated. It was this long because he didn't have Firia or Sherry with him.

At the same time, he needed more than three months to learn every Array and Pill he wanted, thus the first seven months. He only had another eleven months before the Seven Influences Banquet began. He then needed to learn these two techniques and Space Element basics, which required him another few months.

If he sped up this process by having Ryuu teach him, he might be able to squish time to learn two or three Space Techniques while training Sherry's Fire Technique that turned the firebirds to fire swords. 

Alex had no objection to his idea and nodded his head. "Alright. I will take your offer. When do you want us to begin?"

"As soon as possible. But since I just came back, I need to submit a written report to the temple. I need two… No, one day to finish it. I will come to your house again since it's not that far." Ryuu nodded while pointing at the nearest house. 

Alex glanced at the house and nodded. He knew the nearest and the furthest houses were Ryuu's and Aileen's respectively, so the one in-between must be Maya's house. "I am fine with this arrangement as well. I will meet you tomorrow at this place. Besides, where do you think we can practice?"

"No worry. I can access the Master's Training Field. Do you know that we have another tower that has been equipped by Space Technique and Illusion Array to have a simulation battle? I will use the Master's room that only the Great Elder can use. That's why we can practice without having anyone disturb us. I'm sure you will like the room." Ryuu smiled, feeling he had succeeded in enticing Alex.

"Sure." Kai nodded once again before glancing at Maya, who was pouting. Ryuu finally remembered Maya and realized he was too focused on Alex this whole time.

"Ah, Maya!" 

"Ah, Maya, What?!" Maya glared at Ryuu. "You are always like this. You can only train and train to the point you forget about anything. You even forget Maya and Master when you want to train!" 

"I'm sorry." Ryuu chuckled before looking at this little girl with a smile. "It's really a bad habit of mine that I am trying to change, but it's easier said than done. Anyway, how about you go to your house first? I have something to talk about with Alexander Sirius."

"Humph." She looked away and snorted. "I am staying here."

Ryuu's eyebrows twitched as he looked at Alex apologetically. Alex simply waved his hand. "It's fine. I don't mind."

Ryuu then talked a few things to him, and he needed to know how many things his master already promised Alex. After all, he had the same principle as his master, so he didn't want to cheat Alex and vice versa. 

Alex answered all of his inquiries, treating it as small talk. Maya kept looking at the two a few meters from them while pouting her face. After another hour, she got annoyed and came closer. "You two never stop talking. If it's like this, I also want to trade. I can trade a Space Technique with him!" 

Alex glanced at her, astonished.

Ryuu only smiled while patting her hair like his master before saying mean words. "Now now. You need to learn your Space Element first because most of your techniques aren't stable. Master already warned you multiple times, but you always treated them as nothing. Do you think you can trade and teach him your technique? It's better to learn from the book rather than someone who has yet to master the technique because there might be many misunderstandings." 

"I… I…" She bit her lips while glaring at Ryuu.

Ryuu ignored her and looked at Alex. "If you want to learn technique, we have Martial Arts Temple where we mostly store our techniques there. I can guide you to that place and inform you that you are an Honorary Elder, seeking a technique. The elder there should give you a fair offer after seeing the technique. Your Master also did that, so do you want to try it?"

Alex furrowed his eyebrows. "It's only a technique, right? I mean, I can only borrow the book, not buy it, no?"

"Unfortunately, yes. The techniques here can't be learned by outsiders. However, your status can only give you the privilege to learn the technique before giving the book back… Of course, you can't copy it as well. Once the matter is known, there will be an elder that will punish you."

"To be honest, I still don't understand the rule in this place. Can you explain it to me?" Alex asked. 

Ryuu shook his head and took out a thin book. "This is the rule of this place. You only need fifteen minutes to read it, I guess. I will lend it to you first, and you can give it back to me tomorrow. Does that sound good enough?"

"Sure. This will be helpful since I don't want to have unnecessary problems." Alex nodded, taking the book and storing it inside his Space Ring. "I also want to visit this temple since I'm in need of Space Element Arts. I can know what I need as well after looking at all those arts."

"Of course. I will guide you there tomorrow. I am sure you will like at least one of my techniques because I have chosen them carefully, so I am not afraid to bring you there even before our practice starts." Ryuu nodded. 

Alex smiled and nodded, looking at Ryuu's confidence. "I am looking forward to your techniques then. I hope they won't disappoint me."

He had thrown many good techniques in his memory because it was not compatible with him. That was why he was wondering what kind of technique he had to be this confident.

"Then, I probably have one last question for you. This place is irreplaceable to me. I have realized this after visiting the surface for the second time. Unlike the surface, this place doesn't love conflicts because we shed our tears a few thousand years ago… However, we are not actually afraid of problems. Hence, I wish to ask this one last question to you, who come here so suddenly with the identity as Great Elder Maxwell's disciple…"

"Sure. Ask me anything. I will answer if I can." Alex nodded. 

Ryuu's expression turned serious as his Spiritual Energy started leaking out of his body. He looked at Alex and asked. "Are you a threat to this place?"