A woman slowly walked toward the crowd. She had long red hair tied into a ponytail. Contrary to her fierce blazing red eyes, she looked at the crowd gently. The gorgeous red dress complimented her body well, and with a red translucent shawl circling around her body, she arrived beside Alex and threw a smile.
After training with God Stage Expert, Firia also built up some aura that was clearly different than those of mortals, giving her an aura of an otherworldly beauty or a goddess.
"I have come, Alex. Sorry for the wait." And the same goddess greeted Alex with her gentle and soothing voice.
"I have just come. You are the one who has been waiting for me." Alex smiled gently.
Although it was apparent that her strength was a peak 10-Star Martial Saint, they felt this woman hid more than they could imagine. Even so, her appearance really took their breath away. The guy like Song Jiaoren even gasped before he patted his sister's shoulder and chuckled, thinking it was no wonder there was no excitement from Alex when he met her.
"So, this is Evelyn… The one that you have been talking about." Firia glanced at Alex before walking toward Evelyn. "Nice to meet you. I'm Firia Merona… Wait, I should call myself Firia Sirius, shouldn't I?"
"It's just a name." Alex shrugged.
"Fufu… For you, it's just a name. But for me, it's a status and my pride." Firia chuckled.
"I… I…" Evelyn didn't know what to do when this beauty suddenly approached her. She thought it would be Anna or Anya, but never she expected it was a different one. "I am Evelyn… Big brother Alexander's… What am I again?"
"What a cute girl." Firia smiled gently before teasing her. "I heard you even proclaimed to be his woman when you misunderstood someone's intention."
"Ah!" Evelyn became red, embarrassed. It could be said that thought brought her joy, but when someone, especially Firia, said it, she was overwhelmed with guilt.
Noticing the situation, Alex tugged Song Jiaoren's hand and asked him to continue the meeting.
Song Jiaoren took a few deep breaths to calm his heart down before he started the event. "Ahem. Anyway, all of us have gathered here, so how about we enter the Ruin now? I think the barrier has been dispelled."
The others finally woke up from their trance and nodded. Elizabeth glanced at Alex mysteriously for a few seconds before sighing, while Astennu seemed to have overcome Firia's charm. It seemed he really fell in love with Song Yu, making Alex assured.
"That's right. Shall we go inside?"
Alex looked at Firia and sent a thought transmission. 'As expected, I should ask you to wear a veil or something?'
'It's fine. We are not as weak as we used to be. Besides, this can also scare away other women who have a thought on you. Meanwhile, do you think the guys here are qualified to pursue me? If they dare, I will just torch their influence.' Firia chuckled inwardly. 'After hiding for so long, I think it's time to show ourselves to the world. Isn't that your intention before entering the Heavenly Continent?'
'True enough.' Alex walked inside the ruin right beside her and observed the change in the others. Firstly, he didn't need to worry about the Blackwade Clan, Drunken Pavilion, and Phantasm Sect. Fire God Clan wasn't here to begin with, so there was no way they would target Firia. Besides, they must realize Firia was a Sacrificial Element user once they saw Firia because they had known Alex's Pure Fire. Unfortunately, his presence alone already scared them, making things easier.
On the other hand, Snow White Mountain was filled with women. Unless they knew Firia's secret, they would certainly have no bad thought for the time being. The only problems were Rio and Julius. Rio could be easily solved by trading with the entire family. Even though he looked barbaric, he still acted according to benefits. In that case, the real threat would be Julius.
He had been glancing at Firia this whole time before Elizabeth went between them, blocking his vision. Alex was wondering if he tried to do anything funny. From his reputation alone, Julius shouldn't be that type of person… Albeit, L.u.s.t is still one of the deadly sins. Alex just kept a note and decided to observe Julius for the time being.
After arriving right in front of the platform, the group finally stepped on the platform. There were ten circles in the array as a symbol that only ten people could enter. Each representative went to their own circle before they activated the array.
'I will be waiting for you.' Firia sent a thought transmission before she disappeared.
The array was sending their body probably to the previous cave underground before recreating their body with the Myriad Soul Body array. This was also the reason why there was no point in waiting here.
Alex could kill them though, but they would probably be protected by the array, so it was useless. Even if he somehow altered the array and killed one of them, it would only raise a weird confusion and might ruin his entire plan. Hence, he decided to go according to the original plan.
As he thought about this, the barrier then erected again, barring any other entry. Only Song Jiaoren and Alex were left outside as they looked at each other.
"Since they will only come out far later, I think we should go back first?" Song Jiaoren asked.
Alex thought for a moment and nodded. "But I won't go back to the Blackwade Clan. I have another matter to do, so I think this is goodbye for now."
"I see. I would leave first then." Song Jiaoren cupped his hands and bowed politely before flying to his ship and returning to the Blackwade Clan.
Meanwhile, Alex's expression turned serious as he summoned Neon.
"Young Master. Do you want me to tail that Julius? I feel it will be a troublesome opponent, especially if he actually forgets about his dignity and tries to catch Mistress… After all, they only know there are only ten people there for this period of time. Even if he can't approach her inside, he might be planning something later? And possibly joining the war."
Alex shook his head. "I am going to tell Elizabeth about it. She is a smart woman, so I am sure such an action won't escape from her eyes. More so, that Prince Julius might lose the support of his own grandfather, the current king. There are only two possibilities if that really happens. First, the king will support Elizabeth to be the queen, and Julius can't do anything. We find the right time and assassinate him if he is still targeting Firia."
"And the second one?"
"The king simply retired and let the two fight. Julius can't be compared to Elizabeth. After telling the matter to Elizabeth, he will most likely get executed. I will also try pulling some strings later." Alex smirked evilly.
"As expected of the Young Master. I apologize for my lack of ability to discern your true intention."
"It's fine. Besides, I have another mission for you." Alex paused for a moment. "Go to the Fire God Clan right now."
"Fire God Clan?" Neon widened his eyes, never expecting to hear this name coming out of his mouth. There should be no problem with this Fire God Clan, especially in a time like this. They needed to control their situation first before thinking about this.
Alex noticed his expression and smiled. "I am afraid that the Fire God Clan will pull a trick on us."
Neon's expression turned serious as he looked down, falling into deep thought.
"The Fire God Clan, or at least, their higher up, knows about the Ancient Ruin, right? And the fact that we are here to replace them…" Alex released his killing intent. "This is the perfect time to ambush us. They can camp around the area and decide to ambush us as soon as we are out. Besides, we will go out at a different time, so there is a low chance from other influences to know they are ambushing us because most of them have gone home."
"!!!" Neon opened his mouth in surprise. "I understand. I will keep track of their movements."
"Yeah. If possible, you can call the other Spirits to destroy their plan and retreat." Alex nodded. "Ask Njomo or Natalie to summon you inside the Blackwade Clan. I am going inside now."
"I understand. May fortune be with you." Neon nodded and disappeared.
Alex then went outside and walked northeast of the building for a few meters before he stopped on particular plain ground. There was nothing special about the ground, and no one would be able to know the specialness of this ground. However, this was exactly where the hole he created previously.
Pointing his palm to the ground, he created a Spatial Gate beneath him, and he fell down the Space Hole.
Inside the ground, a huge place filled with sky, green scenery, and clouds created peaceful scenery before a hole suddenly appeared in the sky.
The ground itself had a height of a few hundred meters, so Alex could feel the fall as well. Because he didn't want to attract attention, he decided to descend to the ground before observing the situation.
"Hmm?" Alex looked around and stroked his chin. "Judging from the situation and the atmosphere, this looks like the one in Freedom Sect. It's like a huge underground cave with illusion arrays to cover this whole area with scenery like the one on the surface. This is indeed fascinating, but I need to know Firia's situation first."
Alex pulled out Leoz's card and asked. "Leoz. How are you doing? Is Firia alright?"
"Yes, Young Master." Leoz was tasked to immediately come out to protect Firia as well as become the contact person.
"What is the situation in your place?"
"We were teleported inside a village earlier… but when I checked around, I found a huge castle not far from here. Also, Mistress Firia asked whether she should activate the token or not?"
Alex thought for a moment. "On one hand, the castle seems to be a human settlement that holds power inside this place. On the other hand, we are short of information from geography to power rankings in this place. I want to go there immediately, but I don't think it will be a good choice to use the Teleportation Array. I might accidentally bump into a group of people, so I will fly, I guess."
"Where are you, Young Master?"
"In a forest or something… I have checked my surroundings, but there is no monster around me.
"Summon Nelson and have him check the castle… I am going there and searching for the information by asking the villagers after I arrive." Alex commanded.
"Understood."
Alex placed his hand on the ground and planted his Space Mark. However, he was unsure whether he would feel it again after a few months, so he decided to take up another measure.
He dug a one-meter deep hole and buried his token there. He didn't forget to make a Gathering Array to power up the token and left a few Spirit Crystals. The token will release weak energy continuously for a few months, so he could simply search this place again with his token.
"I have marked this position. All that left is to go toward Firia and regroup with the spirits. Sherry, Stina, and Kyle are also with me, so I should be fine even if I need to fight a Martial Saint monster in this area…"
"Of course, Master," Sherry replied eagerly. "I haven't fought for a long time, so I am going to destroy everything in your way."
"Yes, Master." On the other hand, Stina and Kyle were calm. Stina had reached Martial Saint, but Sherry and Kyle hadn't, like Firia. They were hoping to break through not long after entering this place, so there might be a few people that would undergo Lightning Tribulation this time.
Alex nodded and flew away.