Departure

Alex looked up at his father before asking, "What condition?"

Suddenly, a small and thin disk-like object appeared in Lucas' hand.

"What's that?" asked Alex as he saw his father take something out of his storage ring. It was a small disk, about three inches in diameter, and quite thin. It seemed to be some kind of carved stone, and had fantastic patterns etched all over the surface.

"This is a spatial talisman. When broken, it teleports the user anywhere in a thirty-mile radius. They are quite rare, and our Dracon Clan only has a few, but my condition is that you take one of these with you, no exceptions. If you ever run into a situation that you cannot handle, crush this talisman, and you'll be able to escape from it. If you do end up crushing one, return to the clan right away."

Alex reached out and took the talisman from his father, his fingers tracing the wonderful patterns on the surface. Although he had no idea what the lines meant, he was sure that they were the core that allowed the spatial talisman to work. After inspecting it for a while, he stored it in his storage ring.

"I have no problem with that. If I ever run into trouble that I can't handle, I promise I'll crush this and come back to the clan as fast as possible," responded Alex.

(A/N: I removed the part were I mentioned that his father gave him a talisman and add it here, it was in ch16)

"Good. There's only one thing you must be aware of. Any cultivator at the Core Formation realm or above can use their power to suppress the surrounding space, making you unable to teleport even if you crush the talisman. I don't expect you to run into any Core Formation experts, as they are very rare on this continent, but you should still know this piece of information nonetheless," said Lucas.

"Anyway, the day is getting pretty late. We should end things here for now and head back. Dinner should be ready pretty soon," said Lucas as he stood up and stretched his legs. Alex stood up as well and followed his father as they walked back into their mansion.

Alex had dinner with his parents, with his mother making his favorite stew. Alina tried a few more times to convince Alex to stay before she realized the effort was futile.

"Just make sure to keep yourself safe. That's all that matters," said Alina as she looked at Alex, concern clearly evident on her face.

"I will, mom. Dad even gave me a spatial talisman just in case, so I'll be fine," responded Alex before he ate another mouthful of stew.

After dinner was done, Alex decided to rest and head out tomorrow to prepare for his journey.

"I'll head out tomorrow, so I should go and get some pills I'll need for this journey."

The next day, Alex decided to visit the Medicinal Pavilion first. After walking for a few minutes, Alex arrived in front of the building and walked in. He looked around for a few seconds but couldn't find Elder Bearus anywhere.

"Can I help you?" a voice asked from behind Alex. He turned around to see a young girl, around 20 years old. She had long black hair and a fairly attractive face.

"Uh, I'm looking for Elder Bearus. I want to get some pills," responded Alex. Being a young master of the clan, Alex was afforded free access to medicinal pills as long as the requests were not excessive or expensive.

"Oh, Elder Bearus is out for today. I can help you with that, though. What type of pills were you looking for?" responded the girl.

"A few healing pills for Qi Gathering cultivators. I guess around twenty will do," Alex stated.

The girl nodded her head before turning around and walking to the back of the building. She returned a few minutes later with a small jar and handed it to Alex.

"Here you go, twenty Wound Healing Pills. They're quite effective for Qi Gathering cultivators, although if you are fatally wounded, they won't be of much help."

"Thank you," said Alex as he accepted the jar before putting it in his storage ring. Alex then walked out of the building, wondering where he should go next.

"Now that I don't have much to do since I got healing pills, I think it will be best if I cultivate. If I could reach the 5th stage of the body refinement realm, it would be of great help." Alex thought.

He walked back home, this time to his private house. After entering, Alex went to his room and sat on the bed in a cross-legged position as he began circulating the Non-Demonsional God Refining Technique.

His progress while absorbing Qi was much faster now that he could feel the Qi in the atmosphere. Initially, he could transform 10 Qi into Destruction Qi every minute, but now he could transform 20 Destruction Qi every minute, which is a significant improvement for Alex.

Early the next morning, Alex woke up and got ready for the day.

His progress while absorbing Qi had greatly accelerated his pace, and after just one night, he had attained the sixth level of the Body Refinement Realm.

The abundance of Destruction Qi in his body strengthens his body, and he is brimming with energy.

"I should wash up before I head out. Who knows how long it's going to be before I have another chance to clean up," thought Alex as he walked over to his washroom. After cleaning himself up, Alex walked over to his wardrobe.

He donned his black robe and stored the rest of his black robes in his storage ring.

"Good thing I have a lot of these robes. I'll be able to change them out quite often," thought Alex as he turned around and left his room.

Arriving in the kitchen a minute later, Alex was greeted by a full meal sitting on the kitchen table.

"What's all this?" asked Alex as he saw his mother standing there with a smile.

"Well, it's the last meal I'll be able to cook for you for a while, so I decided to make sure to go all out. That, and you'll need the extra energy on your journey ahead," replied Alina.

"Oh, thanks, mom," Alex replied with a smile as he sat down and started to eat. Lucas walked in a few minutes later and sat down as well, joining Alex in scarfing down the meal in front of them.

The three of them ate for quite some time before finishing the meal.

"Man, I'm stuffed. That was delicious," said Alex out loud as he proudly patted his bulging belly.

Alina smiled at her son's content expression before a serious look appeared on her face.

"Alex, you must be careful. If any trouble arises, use the talisman right away and come back home immediately," said Alina with a concerned expression.

"I will. Don't worry, I'll be extremely careful on this journey, so you don't have to worry too much," replied Alex.

Alex stood up from his seat and walked over to his parents, hugging them both tightly before parting. "I'll be back before the clan tournament starts," said Alex.

"Good. I expect nothing less than you coming back and surprising everyone," replied Lucas with a proud look on his face.

After hugging his parents once more, Alex turned around and left his house.

"I hope he'll be alright," said Alina as she watched her son walk out of the house.

"He'll be fine. He has the spatial talisman," replied Lucas as he held his wife's hand.

To Be Continued...