Chapter 675 - Start of the Training

The next day, Alex came out of his house, only to find Ryuu and Maya waiting for him. He silently walked toward them while glancing over Ryuu a few times. He recalled the matter of yesterday…

The previous day…

"Are you a threat to this place?" Ryuu asked while releasing his killing intent and Spiritual Energy to intimidate Alex. 

Alex looked at his eyes for a few seconds and realized the reason he asked this question. Ryuu must love this place, so a stranger like him would surely bring a change to this place, even more so with Great Elder Maxwell's disciple. Still, he didn't like it when someone asked him this way. Hence, Alex released his Spiritual Energy and killing intent simultaneously. 

Maya opened her eyes wide, wondering what just happened. Just earlier, they were talking like friends, happy go lucky, but everything changed when Ryuu suddenly asked that question.

She looked at their clashes and got utterly shocked. Spiritual Energy wise, Alex's 6-Star Martial Monarch Spiritual Energy wouldn't be a match against Ryuu's 1-Star Martial Saint Energy, yet the difference wasn't that far. It was easy to see that Ryuu could dominate in terms of energy, but he couldn't suppress Alex's energy because of Alex's killing intent.

Ryuu himself had killed many people and monsters, acc.u.mulating killing intent for a few hundred years. Yet, the twenty-eight years old young man in front of him obliterated his killing intent.

Maya was far on the side, but she felt a bit weak when she saw this amount of killing intent. 'How… How can his killing intent be this deep? How many lives has he killed?'

Asking the question that would never be answered, Maya tried to stop them but to no avail. Ryuu might have killed a few thousand, albeit mostly monsters, but he had done it for a few hundred years. Unfortunately, in front of him was Alex. Ryuu tried to understand this killing intent…

'A few thousand… No, to release a killing intent this deep��� He must have killed a few ten thousands if not one hundred thousand.' Shivering from fear, Maya stepped back. 'How… How can a boy in his late twenty kill this many?'

Ryuu was also surprised by this sudden display and thought about retreating out of shock, but he decided to hold on and kept standing in front of him as if nothing happened.

Little did they know that Alex's killing count was over a hundred thousand. It wasn't from the Willow Continent alone where he killed many monsters and soldiers, it ran back from the day he was in the lower world. He had been killing so many monsters along with those in the dungeons, spanning to thousands, if not tens of thousands. 

This killing intent wasn't someone like Ryuu could withstand. Alex glared at him and said with a cold tone, sending shivers all over their body. "It's better if you don't do it anymore. I will only say this once. As long as the Freedom Sect doesn't start, I won't start anything. If you want a war, I will end everything with a river of blood."

Alex was bluffing by warning them to make sure they didn't do anything stupid, and he succeeded. Ryuu retracted his Spiritual Energy and killing intent as his expression turned normal. 

"As long as you don't harm us, I will always act neutral." Ryuu nodded while smiling. "I am looking forward to working with you."

…

Alex let out a long sigh and never expected to have that kind of welcome. He arrived at the place and nodded to Ryuu and Maya. "I'm ready."

"Sure. We are going to the training place, and my junior sister seems to want to watch our practice. Do you mind?" Ryuu asked softly.

"I don't mind. She can do whatever she wants as long as she doesn't get in my way." Alex shook his head. His stance was passive-aggressive to make sure that he didn't come here to flirt or whatever and simply wanted to learn Space Element. 

"Sure." Alex nodded. He couldn't see Sword Intent on Maya's body, but Spear Intent, so he didn't mind about showing her coming because she wouldn't get any advantage from this exchange. He might want to restrict himself and only use Sword to ensure the transaction would be the same. After all, he was just playing how the Freedom Sect wanted; it was simply give and take. 

Ryuu smiled and signaled Maya to follow them as he opened the Spatial Gate. Alex could see through the gate and found yet another temple. However, this temple was blue instead of red, so it must have a different purpose considering the Space and Fire Temples both have a red color. 

Coming through the gate, he found that the temple was actually far bigger than the one he saw. 

'Woah! I didn't see it earlier, but its actual size is around ten times the size of a soccer stadium." Alex looked at this temple with amazement.

"This is our Martial Field. There are four floors for this building, filled with Arrays. The first floor contains around a thousand rooms, which only Normal Disciples use. Of course, the room size is not that big, considering they can't fight as powerful as Martial Saints. The second floor is for Senior Disciples to fight. There are only fifty rooms inside.

"Elders are on the third floor with only ten rooms while the top floor only has three rooms. Usually, Great Elders used it but considering their status, they couldn't fight a whole day. Hence, these three rooms are usually used for their disciples. We are going to the top floor and occupy one for as long as we need. I have made the reservation after all." Ryuu smiled, explaining all the necessary information. 

Alex pondered for a moment, wondering if he would encounter another foolish one that challenged him inside the building… He couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment if that really happened. 

"Good. Let's go." He nodded. 

"Please." Ryuu smiled before flying toward the building for a few more seconds and landed right in front of the entrance. 

Alex could see so many signs of energy in this building and in front of it, showing how many people were using this building. Alex confirmed it even further by watching this crowd standing in front of the building. 

Ryuu only waved his hand, asking Alex to follow him. 

Inside the building, they met an old man working as a receptionist. Alex furrowed his eyebrows when he saw that the one who became the keeper of this building was a 5-Star Martial Saint. 

"Elder Shi, we wish to open the second room. My Master should have informed you." Ryuu cupped his hand respectfully to the elder.

"Oh! You are Ryuu from Space Temple." The elder nodded before taking out a token. "This is the token. Unfortunately, you can only use it for fourteen days because there is another person who wants to use this room. He made the reservation earlier than you. I will transfer you to the third room since it will be available at that time."

"Thank you, Elder." Ryuu bowed his head and took the token. "Then, I need to excuse myself, Elder Shi."

"Sure!"

Ryuu led Alex and Maya to the top floor and arrived at a certain room. 

Alex looked at the other two rooms and found an array on the door, knowing there must be people inside. Only the third one didn't have an array, so Ryuu pointed the token to the door before opening it. Alex's Spirit Eyes allowed him to see a string of energy that unlocked the door. As soon as the door was opened, Maya and Alex entered, finding a huge grassland inside.

"This will be our training place for two weeks before moving to another room." Ryuu nodded before glancing at Alex. "What should I do?"

Alex thought for a moment and said. "Let's fight first, only to use our sword. You can use your element if it's related to the Sword since I want to see your sword capability."

Ryuu nodded before stretching his hand to the side. "I will try to limit my strength, so you can look at it carefully."

"It's fine. You don't need to do that. I am confident enough to stop you." Alex shrugged.

"What did you say?!" A shout suddenly came, but it wasn't from Ryuu. Instead, it came from Maya. "You-!" 

"Maya, shut up a little bit. I will report you to your Master later…" He glanced at Maya with a poker face. 

"But Elder Brother…" 

"He said it's fine, then it's fine." Ryuu shrugged. "Just watch it from the sideline, and you might learn something even though your main focus is the spear." 

Maya hesitated for a few seconds before biting her lips and flew away.

Ryuu looked at Alex while taking his sword out of his Space Ring. "I am sorry for making you wait. Don't worry about this room because it's reinforced by Rank 8 Array to make sure no damage to the room."

Alex took a deep breath and nodded. He only took his sword this time. Although it was powerful beyond compare, this action could also be seen as Alex looked down on Ryuu. 

Ryuu's eyebrows twitched as he started releasing his Spiritual Energy. "I truly respect you… Less than thirty years old but already a 6-Star Martial Monarch. However, I do think you are a little bit arrogant. Spiritual Energy aside, there is still a big difference with pure strength between our—"

Before he finished his words, a Dragon suddenly appeared in the arena, sending a thunderous roar. It startled Maya, who was on the sideline while shutting Ryuu up. When he looked at Alex, he saw the Dragon went inside him. This was certainly a support technique, but he still tried to comprehend what kind of technique earlier.

"If it's strength, I am quite strong myself," Alex said with an uninterested face. "You can try."

Ryuu closed his eyes, realizing it was a technique to increase his strength. Although he couldn't see how powerful Alex after using the technique, he was very eager to check it himself.

Raising his sword to the sky, Ryuu suddenly appeared in front of Alex and slashed his sword toward Alex's neck.

"Spirit Step, First Step!" Alex increased his strength once more and struck the sword without using anything. It was purely his strength, but Ryuu suddenly lost his grip on his sword. Alex then pointed his sword at Ryuu's neck while ignoring the flying sword. "I have said. If it's only Sword and Strength alone, I don't need your mercy. Yet, you still underestimate me. If you can't be serious, it's better if we cancel this strength."

Alex's strength alone had reached nine thousand dragon strength without any enhancement. However, Ryuu's underestimating him poked his pride a little bit, and he couldn't help but show what it meant by strength. He enhanced his strength with Spirit Step and Dragon Aura, reaching thirty thousand dragon strength or equal to 3-Star Martial Saint. 

Ryuu obviously had yet to prepare to face that kind of strength and lost his grip. Maya dropped her jaw to the ground, blinking a few times and questioning whether this was a dream or not. 

On the other hand, Ryuu realized his wrongdoing and bowed deeply to Alex. "I am sorry for underestimating you. I have brought this upon myself. I am truly sorry."

Alex had no change of expression. "Just get your sword, and we will try for real. However, the moment you underestimate me again will be the time I cancel this transaction. Will that be alright?"

"Yes." Ryuu clenched his hands. What he just did was the worst to Alex, and felt really guilty after this. At first, he was concerned about Alex's safety because of their strength difference, but it seemed to be an insult to Alex. After apologizing to him, he flew toward his sword and grabbed it and returned. 

He then released his Spiritual Energy and Space Element at the same time, locking his focus on Alex. "I will seriously attack you this time."

Alex nodded while raising his sword, covering his sword with his intent. "Come!" 

The two then disappeared from their position.