632 The Reason of His Absurd Lightning Tribulation

"I'm glad."

Alex finally released her after a while. "I thought my Fire Phoenix Seed might weaken you."

"What do you mean, Master?" Sherry tilted her head, confused by his words. She just got the exact opposite of that to the point she could proudly say she had become overpowered. 

Alex forgot that Sherry had no knowledge about a Celestial Fox. She knew she was one of them, but that was it. He explained everything he knew to Sherry and the danger that might befall to her.

After a few minutes, Sherry only smiled. "If that is all, I don't mind. I have a dream, and that dream has been fulfilled. Even dying right now is fine-" 

Alex put his hand on her mouth, looking at her with anguish. "Don't say that again!"

Sherry was startled when he stopped her from talking, but she didn't know her words actually hurt him in the process. She looked down, feeling guilty. Even her ears tilted down and her tail curled up. "I'm sorry."

"You are one of my most important people. After going through that betrayal, I have been skeptical about it. I want to be sure I don't make the wrong choice again, and once I make a decision, it will stay forever." Alex smiled sadly before retracting his hand. "So, don't say it like that."

"Yes. I won't say it again." Sherry nodded furiously.

"Alright. We shouldn't linger around this topic again." Alex raised his hand as he noticed the awkward situation. "Nelson is going to inform me tomorrow or the day after. I have told Stina and Kyle that I want to bring them there if I can use the Soul Altar with all of you. If I can't, you can stay here and cultivate. What do you think?"

"I agree with it." Sherry nodded. "I have no problem in staying since I also want to get used to my current fire… That's right. Since I have a Pure Fire, how about Master teaching me the technique to evolve my Pure Fire? In that case, I won't need to rely on the Pure Fire inside the Phoenix Seed again."

Alex thought for a moment and nodded. The Fire God didn't say he couldn't teach anyone about this. Besides, if he had a disciple that had Pure Fire as well, he might want to make the legacy exist. In that case, it would be better for Sherry to learn the technique too. However, he found one problem.

"Sherry… Although it's temporary, you can use my evolved Pure Fire right now. I think you need to learn the new technique I have got from the system first. It's a technique called Fire Authority…"

Alex began explaining about the Fire Authority, convincing Sherry to first learn this technique before evolving her fire.

"I see. Master wants me to increase my attack power first. After all, I can temporarily use that Pure Fire. After mastering the technique, I can begin my other training." Sherry thought for a moment. "I understand. I will go according to Master's plan." 

"Thank you, Master." Sherry put a wide smile.

"Since you are alright, I'm going out first. Besides, you should put on clothes." Alex turned around and left.

Outside, the system suddenly informed him. 

[Host, Nelson is calling you.]

"Why is the timing so perfect?"

[It's not perfect. I'm just waiting for you until you finish your business with Sherry.] 

"…" Alex was speechless and asked with a weird face. "Don't tell me… He has been contacting me for a few days…"

[No. It is coming from this morning, where you are too focused on Sherry. If you are not awakened in another few hours, I will still give you the notification.]

"Oh." Alex let out a sigh of relief. "Alright. Thank you, System."

[You're welcome.]

Alex took out Nelson's card from his Inventory. "I'm here."

"Young Master, Zekhram is going to start the refining tomorrow. If you want to ask about the Soul Altar and watch him, it will be better to ask today." Since Lin Xingzhi informed him about Alex's condition before, he cut to the chase.

"Alright. I will go right now." Alex nodded.

"I have also understood the reason for your Lightning Tribulation that somehow goes berserk. You might want to ask Atlas for the details." 

"Noted."

"Then, I'm waiting for you."

"Sure." Alex then tossed the card into his Inventory before going to Sherry, who was still in the hut. "Sherry. I'm going."

Sherry was putting on her clothes while humming, showing her mood right now, and Alex's sudden appearance startled her for a second. She answered out of reflex, "Ah, yes. Have a safe trip."

Alex nodded and created a teleportation array for him. It only took him a few minutes to arrive as he grabbed the hammer and went through the barrier.

Atlas opened a portal to his palace as if he had been waiting for him. 

Alex went through the portal, only to find Zekhram, Atlas and Nelson gathering in this room. 

Atlas rose from his seat and greeted him. "Welcome. I have heard about your wish to let the other cultivate as well. I myself have no problem with this request… However, I wish for you to listen to this first before coming into a conclusion."

Alex furrowed his eyebrows before looking at Nelson. He should have gotten the answer from Nelson if it was this easy, then the story must cause a bit of a problem on their side. "Sure."

"If I'm not wrong, you had your advancement a few days ago, correct?"

"Yes."

"Although I don't have prior knowledge about this Lightning Tribulation thing, I know that it must have a connection with the accident a few days ago." Atlas nodded.

"Ho." Alex opened his mouth in astonishment, not expecting him to say something about this.

"As you might know, the Soul Altar is hosting both soul and energy. The weapons need the soul while the energy goes to you…" Atlas paused for a moment, creating suspense. "A few days ago, the Soul Altar suddenly experienced something that no one had ever seen before. The souls were rampaging and protecting the tower while the energy within the tower was expended."

"Do you mean the tower doesn't have the energy right now?" 

"No." Atlas shook his head before telling the story again. "At that time, the energy was concentrated on top of the tower before shooting it to the sky, piercing the sky as the cloud circled around the laser. It looked like a massive hole in the sky. However, this was something normal as the phenomenon would occur every time we called lightning.

"The difference was in the souls. We didn't know why the souls actually guarded the Altar, and I felt the agony within the soul at that time. It was like they were angry at Heaven and attacked it with the Soul Altar. I couldn't stop it because it was too powerful for me until one time it abruptly stopped…"

"So you were telling me that my Lightning Tribulation was actually attracting the wrath from the soul and made them shoot energy to the sky. My Lightning Tribulation got stronger because of that and almost killed me. It only stopped because I had finished my Lightning Tribulation?" Alex released his energy. 

Atlas nodded as he could understand his frustration. He had heard the full story from Nelson and arrived at this conclusion. He had a mixed feeling about this. On one hand, Alex was the one that actually attracted such a thing. If he didn't undergo his Lightning Tribulation, he shouldn't have a problem like this. On the other hand, he was ashamed of his lack of knowledge. He didn't know the Soul Altar would experience something like that even though he took pride as the most knowledgeable being in this realm.

Alex also had a mixed feeling. He knew he was in the wrong, but all the frustration suddenly came into his heart when he realized the problem. He was angry at himself because he didn't know such a thing. However, Alex was very thankful for that opportunity as he only managed to advance to Absolute Blade Saint because of that incident. The life and death problem forced his potential to bloom.

"Alright… We shouldn't discuss this any further." Alex shook his head.

"Yeah." The two leaders agreed with each other and ended the conversation before a fight broke out.

"Anyway, I still haven't understood why I need to know about this problem before inviting others to-!" Alex suddenly fell into deep thought as he was enlightened. He closed his eyes and sighed. "I see."

"Yeah. The Soul Altar had depleted too much energy a few days ago." Atlas nodded.'

"If I absorb it alone, I can increase my strength greatly. Otherwise…" Alex sighed. "I understand the problem. I still choose to share it with the others."

Atlas and Zekhram were stunned for a second. Atlas couldn't help but look at Nelson. He had told him that Alex would choose to share it no matter how small it was without hesitation. After all, it was his nature. Still, seeing the real person said it really amazed him. He thought, 'If he is truly such a person, then it is really the right choice to put the trust on him.'

After getting his answer, Atlas continued. "According to the current energy, you can get into 3-Star Martial Monarch without a problem… or 4-Star probably. But… You have chosen to share it with the other three people. If I need to predict it, all of you can only advance a star before I need to seal the rest of the energy. I need to use it to destroy the Soul Altar itself."

"I understand." Alex had no reservation for this since he had a deal about this previously.

"One more thing." Atlas raised his index finger. "I hear you want to watch Zekhram working on your two weapons, correct?"

"Yes." Alex nodded. "I'm curious about it. Although I'm not mastering this field, I have some knowledge about this."

Atlas glanced at Zekhram, who looked down as if he pondered something. Suddenly, Zekhram looked up with a serious face as he asked. "I normally don't have someone to watch when I'm refining weapons, but I can make an exception for you. Of course, you need to understand the basic information first. Seeing you are knowledgeable about it, how about answering one question of mine?"

"Sure." Alex nodded.

"Just answer it in general. If I recast a Soul Weapon, what will the process be? For example, will I work on soul first or blood or even the metal first."

The answer came into his mind almost instantly as Alex smiled before answering. "Soul, blood, metal, then Element Gem. I'm not familiar with the Soul Altar, so I can only say up to this point."

"You are correct." Zekhram nodded. "You may watch."