Chapter 661 - Training

Six months after Alex began his training.

"Master. How is this one?" 

Sherry's voice echoed inside the cave as she summoned fire swords using her Fire Authority. 

"Yeah. It's very good!" Alex nodded, looking at one hundred swords floating around the cave.

"Indeed. You can summon more firebirds with Fire Authority, but the quality is still subpar with these fire swords." Firia nodded in agreement. "The firebirds are focusing on numbers and flame ability, but you convert it into swords that emphasize speed and penetrating power. If your soul is strong enough, you can summon a few more and imbue your soul into all of them. Unfortunately, one hundred is your limit right now."

"That's right. I'm thinking of making an attack that can go in two different scenarios. I can use their sharpness to pierce them, but if it's not effective, I can make these swords explode using my soul. It can also be used to suppress a person due to its speed." Sherry nodded proudly. She then glanced at Alex and said in a low voice. "Besides, if Master can use this, his power will be even stronger because he has intent."

Alex couldn't help but smile and patted this girl's head. "Thank you for thinking of me, Sherry."

He managed to break through to 5-Star Martial Saint within one month. He almost broke through to 5-Star anyway after taking the Star Fruit. Yet, the cultivation process and consolidation process took more than three months. 

In a total of four months, Sherry managed to evolve her Pure Fire. In other words, Spirit Nest had two fires at the same level of fire to that of the Previous Fire God. This was truly frightening, as one of them alone was a threat, let alone two. 

Their luck didn't stop here. Alex, Sherry, and Firia had practiced dual cultivation techniques but with three people. Luckily, Firia's fire was Alex's Sacrificial Fire, so the technique itself considered her as one. The effect was also no joke as Firia reached 9-Star Martial Monarch within this little time.

Sherry had a similar effect and somehow became a 4-Star Martial Monarch, almost 5-Star. Her cultivation was slightly behind Alex due to him having Star Fruit to increase his cultivation.

After going through all of this process, they were waiting for Alex to break through to 6-Star Martial Monarch before going to Heavenly Continent. Unfortunately, the consolidation took very long, and before long, they had trained for six months before Alex finally broke through.

On the other hand, Sherry used this time to focus on her cultivation as well as creating this Fire Technique. Her effort was truly praiseworthy as she managed to break through to 6-Star and successfully created a technique. 

Although it used the concept of firebirds, Sherry indeed incorporated a new idea and used it to suit her style. It could be said that this technique was her first original Fire Art.

Alex told her to give a name for her technique, yet she asked back for a name, fully knowing he had a bad naming sense. In the end, Firia gave her technique a name. It was called Fire Sword Formation.

Of course, Firia could also use the technique since she accompanied her this whole time while Alex focused on his cultivation. 

Firia looked at Sherry and hugged her from behind. 

She smiled from ear to ear. "This is good. Elder Sister Firia has been helping me this whole time, or else I won't be able to create this."

"Haha… You need to give yourself credit. This is your effort and strength, so get proud of yourself a little bit." Firia gently said. 

"By the way, where are Stina and Kyle?" Alex asked. 

"They are still training. Stina is an 8-Star Martial Monarch while Kyle is a 7-Star Martial Monarch. Unlike you two, they only spend time to cultivate while practicing that Fire Core Technique. So, their cultivation is still higher than you two," Firia answered with a smile.

"That fast?!" Alex was surprised. 

"Of course. You can't compare their talent after they get the blessing of your Pure Fire." Firia nodded. "There were several cases that my cultivation suddenly increased by leaps and bounds due to your Fire kept getting stronger. Master also confirmed it was the case."

Alex thought for a moment and nodded. "It's good then. I don't want to restrict their movement by forcing them to cultivate."

"Ah…" Firia scratched her head and said, "Actually, Stina is going for full cultivation to extend her lifespan as quickly as possible by increasing her cultivation. She is fighting for Kyle and you. On the other hand, Kyle believed he would also transform like Sherry and reached a.d.u.l.thood to take responsibility for Stina. They can only be this hard-working because they have each other."

Alex shook his head helplessly, smiling. "This couple really needs to get a room."

"Haha… Kyle might make her remember her daughter, so she only wants to eat him after he becomes mature enough." Firia laughed.

"Haha… I can imagine it." Alex nodded in agreement.

"By the way, is Master going to learn my technique? I'm pretty confident with this technique." Sherry pumped her fist. 

"Why not? I will practice it from time to time on the Heavenly Continent. If needed, I can also ask you to enter my body and control my flame and your flame. I will cover them with my Absolute Blade Intent." 

"Hehe…" Sherry was too excited for her first original Fire Art.

"Anyway, wake the couple up, and we will go to Heavenly Continent today since I have finally reached 6-Star Martial Monarch." 

"I will wake them up." Sherry took the initiative and walked toward their room. 

Alex glanced at Firia with a smile. "Firia… Thank you for the past few months."

"I didn't do anything."

"You have done everything." Alex shook his head. Not only did she support all the people here while establishing the report and information with Anna, but she also amassed a total of forty million Spirit Gems by making so many rank 7 and rank 8 pills. 

However, there was also another thing that sped up their progress. Alex had known this existence for a long time when he first knew the existence was on the Northern Continent. It was something higher from Spirit Stone and Spirit Gem. The stone was called Spirit Crystal.

Like the name suggested, its texture was that of a hexagonal prism with two pointed cones on both top and bottom. Each Spirit Crystal was equal to one thousand Spirit Gems, and it turned out to be the normal currency outside this world.

Naturally, Anna exchanged the pills with Spirit Crystals and poured everything on the Gathering Array, boosting their cultivation and letting them reach this stage so soon.

"Let's stop talking about this. Thank you is not needed between families. We do everything because we want it. Of course, don't compare our family with those influences. They have grown so much by taking in too many outsiders, so they need to keep their image and gradually become cruel.

"I want our family to not take any outsiders as to prevent everything going that way. Other than that… No, I won't say anything past this point because I don't want you to take responsibility yet." Firia shook her head and sighed. 

"Don't worry. I won't let that happen." Alex grabbed her hands and nodded with a solemn expression.

"I will trust you." Firia nodded. "By the way, what is our plan?"

"I need information from Anna first before deciding anything." Alex shook his head.

"Since we are waiting for Sherry, I will explain the current situation on the Heavenly Continent. Firstly, there are seven top influences on this continent. Fire God Clan, Blackwade Clan, Drunken Pavilion, Ancient Blue Family, Snow White Family, Divine Kingdom, and Phantasm Sect.

"We have some business, whether it is directly or indirectly, with five influences at the moment. As we predicted, the Fire God Clan can't do anything to us due to the lack of alliance to protect their family when they leave the continent." 

"Wait, isn't the Ancient Blue Family having an alliance with them?" Alex furrowed his eyebrows.

"They have… even revealed your power except for your Space Element. Unfortunately, the Ancient Blue Family won't have the time to deal with you since their Family Head will abdicate his position in a few years. There will be many internal conflicts from the families… Looking at how ruthless they are toward their branch on this continent, you could say that the battle for this position is very brutal. That's why they can't do anything for a few years."

"I see. We can use this to our advantage and increase our strength. After that, we can break the alliance off."

"They are not an alliance though. According to the spy, they are still waiting for you to arrive on their doorsteps to see whether you have a better offer for them than the Fire God Clan." Firia shook her head. 

"I see. They are pretty ruthless. After talking about alliance matters with the Fire God Clan, they are still waiting for us and might break off the alliance at any time."

"That's why if we are going to convince them from breaking off the alliance, I'm sure they might betray us as well, depending on the situation. If we are going to proceed with this, we will need several layers of preparations." 

"Alright. I will take that into account." Alex nodded. 

"On the other hand, there are also Seven Influences Banquet and a mysterious place. I will let Anna explain this after they arrive." Firia nodded.

"Sure."

"One more thing. What will you do after reaching 8-Star Martial Monarch Stage?"

'Ah, she must mean about my Array and Alchemy.' Alex smiled. "I said it before. I will train both even if I don't need it. After all, who knows it will be useful to me in the future." 

Firia didn't say anything about his choice. It was as she said, there might be another accident like coming to Stina's world again in the future and needed to use every single skill in his repertoire to survive. 

"Besides, I also need to practice my Space Element later since I am lacking in this aspect. I remember that you say I can seal other people's cultivation, but the fact that I can't right now…" Alex clenched his hands and sighed. 

"Don't worry. I have the technique name, and there should be the technique in your mind. You can train according to that manual." Firia suggested.

"Alright." Alex nodded and waited for Sherry, and the others arrived before using his Teleportation Technique. The cost of two people using Teleportation Array at the same time was almost non-existent to him. It used to burden him, but the effect was gradually decreasing until this point. 

Of course, if he brought a few more, he would feel the burden. And finally, after the long six months, Alex and his group disappeared from the Sacred Continent.