"Thank you."
Alex clasped his hand, seeing them off for one last time. Although it was a business relationship, they still helped him too much. The last thing he could do was to see them off. He was wondering whether he needed to make a grave for them or not, but he chose not to because the Ancient Blue Family would surely take care of it.
After calming his heart down for the earlier scene, he walked toward the gate. He didn't spend much time inside. If he remembered correctly, he spent was likely less than a day since he didn't need to solve a riddle or something as Choong Duy appeared by himself.
Alex took another glimpse of the area and thought, 'Should I utilize the rank 9 Array in this place to cultivate here? I might probably reach 3-Star Martial Saint faster than I am supposed to, but it means the Ancient Blue Family will suspect me of something like taking someone's belongings.
'No, wait! I can simply say this is the reward they provide to me for bringing the technique to the family. Besides, isn't it normal for the previous patriarchs to use this place as their cultivation place? In exchange for this cultivation place, I can simply say about the array process.
'I think that's what I can do. The two seniors seemed to intend it to be that way.' Alex stroked his chin gently, looking down to the ground as if there was an inspiration there.
The answer came in front of a notification.
[Host. I think it's best to utilize this rank 9 Gathering Array. It will be more effective to absorb the energy inside your token rather than rank 8 Gathering Array. Besides, the Ancient Blue Family is bound to rise to a greater height. If they are too petty about this, I think it will be best to eliminate them.]
"Fair enough." Alex nodded and checked the entire array with his Spirit Eyes, searching for a symbol that put a time limit inside. "There it is!"
Alex found and flew toward that symbol, examining it further. "From the drawing of this symbol, I seem to have two months inside this place. After absorbing that token and another full month, I might not be able to reach 4-Star Martial Saint, but I won't be far from it."
"In fact, I might be able to reach 5-Star Martial Saint before I wreak havoc on the Snow White Mountain and save Letizia… Now that I think about it, I should send some information to Letizia about my plan, so she can prepare herself for this."
Anya's and Noel's cards appeared on his hand, floating above his palm. He took Anya's card first and asked, "Anya."
"Alex! Do you need something? You should be inside the Ancient Blue Family's secret place, right? Do they trap you or something? Jeanne hasn't reported a single thing to me." Anya's voice filled with anxiety. He was inside the enemy's territory after all.
"Calm down. I am fine." Alex smiled and replied. "I want to ask you about Letizia's condition."
"Letizia?" Anya was perplexed at first. She couldn't understand why Alex would talk about her at a time like this. Still, she answered to the best of her ability. "From the looks of it, she has managed to use it wisely.
"Maybe it's due to the experience she had inside the Snow White Mountain, but her ice seems to have grown stronger than ever. Her cultivation also has increased by leaps and bounds. Of course, it's only due to your resource and that inheritance."
"What is her cultivation base?"
"7-Star Martial Monarch. Due to the restriction and her position, she can't make a breakthrough right now since Snow White Mountain will know about it. Hence, she is lying low while practicing Martial Arts. I assume the moment we rescue her, she would be able to become a Martial Saint."
"That's good. Although I am not sure about her practicing Martial Arts considering the shackles placed all over her body, I think it's fine."
"Yes. Noel is watching her all the time. Besides, the shackle is only restricting her movement to a certain distance, not binding her completely. And I can see a huge improvement in her sword. I believe she can reach Sword Saint Level before we free her, and to think she doesn't have Sword Mastery… I think her talent in the sword is as amazing as Evelyn while her Pure Ice leaves her to dust."
"Good. I will be relaying some messages to Noel later since we need her to act her part for another two years. I will try to have her increase her power as much as possible. As for whether she will follow us or not in the future, I will let her choose."
"Do you need anything else?"
"I am going to spend two months inside this place, so tell Jeanne not to be anxious and have her inform Viola about it."
"Understood. I will take care of it."
Alex then put down Anya's card and lifted Noel's card. "Noel. It's me."
"Nya!" The black cat seemed to be surprised since the master itself was talking to her.
"I have a job for you. Tell this to Letizia…"
…
Inside the Snow White Mountain's prison, Letizia was waving her sword from one spot to another. The chains that shackled her wrists, knees, and neck might hinder her movement, but it couldn't stop her from improving, especially after gaining hope from Alex.
This might be the first time she got so motivated. Not only would Alex save her in the future, but she could also pay the people in Snow White Mountain back.
She waved her hand to the left, only to get stopped by the chain.
"Kh!" She gritted her teeth but didn't complain. Instead, she regained her focus, shifted a little to the left, and completed the move.
The tower itself didn't have any window that let her know how long time had passed. At first, she was depressed because she wondered how long it had passed and when she would be able to meet another person she knew. And yet that kind of expression was nowhere to be seen.
She only knew that Alex would come in two years. No matter how long she needed to wait, Alex would definitely come. And that was what matters in her heart.
Suddenly, a black cat came to her and leaked out of her presence to grab her attention.
"Hmm?" Letizia turned around and glanced at the black cat standing in front of her. "You are Master's pet… Seeing that you are here, do you need anything from me?"
Noel nodded, brought a paper and pen, and started writing Alex's message.
Letizia wiped the sweat on her forehead and bent down her body to read the message. "I am going to tell you Master's message?"
She blurted everything in the paper word to word. Noel nodded for this because it was like she was helping Alex to communicate with Letizia in real-time.
"I understand."
"You should know that you have escaped death, right?"
Letizia nodded furiously. "Yes. I might have lost my life two months ago if they don't know about the Loyalty Oath. I am eternally grateful for that."
Noel paused a bit, sending all the messages back to Alex. Of course, Anya was there as his interpreter.
"Hence, I have another plan for you. Reach Sword Saint first and peak Martial Monarch, so when you are out there, you can breakthrough almost immediately."
"Yes. That's my plan. But I don't know whether it's alright to reach Sword Saint or not…" Letizia paused for a moment. "There were a few people who were visiting me from time to time and will continue to do so. I can barely hide my cultivation from them, let alone my Sword Path."
Noel sent the message again, including the confirmation about her claim. It was indeed a problem if they knew Letizia was improving by leaps and bounds. Alex's message stopped for a while. At first, he wanted to give her the technique that the Beast King taught him, so she could hide her Sword Path, but it seemed it was impossible.
Since he had promised the Beast King not to teach anyone from this world, he wouldn't break his promise. Hence, there was only another thing he could do.
"Then the only thing we can do is to wait until the time is right. You can keep progressing like this but just don't breakthrough for both stages. I think we will have a spare time of a few months after your rescue, so I believe you can enter both Martial Saint and Sword Saint Stage."
"I understand. I won't disappoint Master."
"As for my plan, I am going to rescue you first before ruining their ritual. If you know anything about it, please tell me."
"I only have some knowledge about their location and what kind of ritual it is… The location is in the Snow White Valley near the mountain itself. There is a hidden passage that leads to that ritual. I will draw it for you." Letizia asked for a paper from Noel and drew the map. Although it wasn't good, it was enough for them to go there.
Noel suddenly pumped her paw with a smug smile as if telling her to leave it to her. It seemed she would be the one who sneaks inside that place. Considering how Noel can go unnoticed this whole time, Letizia has no doubt she will succeed.
Hence, she continued. "They ask me to cultivate in that place. Although I could increase my cultivation by leaps and bounds, I felt something odd in my body and started having a dream. And because of that dream, I hallucinated and accidentally informed them about the Loyalty Oath. I am sorry for my mistake."
"It's fine. I will check your body first when I go there. I assume that there is a wisp of that ancestor soul inside your body."
"I arrive at the same conclusion. But I think it's not that much after some time."
"It must be in slumber because you are not intaking that soul and energy. In other words, I will have an easier time destroying that wisp of soul. Just hang on a bit longer."
"I understand. From what I understand, the ritual will take a few hours to complete, so Master doesn't need to rush things."
"Noted. Anything else?"
Letizia thought for a moment and said, "Since this ritual is a matter of importance but needs to be dealt with secretly, they won't have too many people guarding it. However, they are still far stronger than average.
"From my speculation, I believe there will be one 10-Star, two 9-Star, two 8-Star, and ten 7-Star or below, but 5-Star will be the lowest."
"That might be a bit problematic." Alex thought for a moment and thought he would need the help of Freedom Sect, camouflaging them as someone from Spirit Nest. Leoz should be able to take care of the two 9-Star Martial Saints, and he might only call Viola for help to handle their 10-Star.
After all, showing another 10-Star or Aileen might be a bad move here. The enemy would be wary and prepare something in advance. As for the two 8-Star and the rest, his other spirits should be able to hold them back for a few minutes. In fact, he could do it as well and have Letizia to destroy the ritual.
Well, he should be able to use Swallowing Heaven at that time. In other words, he could fight three people at the same time. If he added his Spirit Crown to the calculation, everything should be fine.
"I understand. I will prepare everything. But I think there will be another turn of events, so I want you to reach Sword Saint first before the ritual if it's possible. I will leave the timing for you. Just make sure you are not discovered. As much as I don't want to have you in this situation, I am afraid you might need to fight as soon as you get released."
"Please don't apologize, Master. I am happy that I can get my revenge this soon." Letizia clenched her fist, showing her resolve.
"Alright. Take care of yourself until then. See you later."
"Thank you, Master."