Devontae Kingdom

"Sigh, I helped them and now they're afraid of me." As he looked at the fleeing villager, Alex smiled slightly, his smile was not a happy one,  as it revealed how disappointed he was.

Alex started walking towards the town gate. He paid no attention to the scurrying villagers. After leaving this village, Alex looked at his map once more before choosing a direction.

"I should arrive in the Devontae Kingdom in a few days."

That night, Alex set up camp before starting his cultivation. A few hours later, he opened his eyes.

"I am halfway before reaching the second stage of the Qi Gathering realm. Since I reached the Qi Gathering realm, I could feel the quality of the Destruction Qi inside my body getting better. "

Every time Alex cultivated, he could feel the essence and quality of the Qi subtly change. As his comprehension increased, so would his ability to refine more powerful Qi. This was the first time that Alex had experienced something like that.

"I will not make a difference even if I cultivate right now. Maybe I should focus on something else for tonight."

Alex sent his divine sense towards his dantian, at which point he found himself floating in front of White space. Alex walked all the way to the center before he stopped.

"No matter how many times I come here, I'm still amazed. I wonder what that's?

Alex looked at his soul with a mesmerized stare, the moment Alex reached the Qi Gathering realm his soul that looked exactly like him but was ethereal and white.

Taking a closer look at his soul, Alex noticed a cosmic-colored dot in the center of his soul that was barely visible, if it hadn't been his soul, he was certainly wouldn't have noticed it.

Alex sat for several hours and meditated in front of his soul. Alex could feel some faint comprehensions come to him as he sat there focused on investigating the mysterious dot. Alex was able to learn more about the nature of his soul after resonating with and comprehending the essence of this dot. This increased comprehension resulted in his soul power gradually but steadily increasing in strength.

If Alex would compare, he was sure that his soul was no weaker than a normal Core Formation Realm cultivator, which was crazy for Alex, who was still in the Qi gathering realm.

"It should be related to the mysterious object that man gave me." Alex thought.

This mysterious man was truly mysterious; Alex pondered many times why this person gave him this object and what his goal was in doing so, but he couldn't find his answers, so he continued meditating for the entire night.

Several days later.

Alex was walking on the main road leading to the Devontae Kingdom. He had left the Forest the day prior and had been traveling on the road since. The road was bustling with people traveling in both directions. Anything from lone persons to large caravans could be seen.

Alex eventually spotted the distant Devontae Kingdom come into view. Although he was still quite far from it, Alex could not see the ends of the kingdom. Stone walls nearly thirty yards tall surrounded the entire kingdom. Behind the walls, grand buildings could be seen lining the various streets. Perched at the highest point within the walls, a grand majestic castle was visible.

"It's much larger than our clan grounds. There must be over one hundred thousand people living here!" thought Alex as he continued to walk forwards. The Devontae Kingdom was one of the most prominent powers for thousands of miles and was almost on par with the Dracon Clan in terms of power.

The ruler of the Kingdom was the Chui family. They had been the ruling family of the kingdom for hundreds of years. Chui Jai, the king of the Devontae Kingdom, was a powerful 5th-stage Foundation Establishment realm expert. The Devontae Kingdom and the Dracon Clan had a neutral stance toward each other. Although they were not enemies, they were not allies either.

After walking for some time, Alex finally approached the front gate of the kingdom. The gate was a dozen yards tall and was heavily guarded. A long line stretched out as the guards inspected each and every visitor.

Alex was about to step into line when he heard a commotion behind him.

"Move, swine!"

A loud shout echoed out. Alex turned around to see a large beast rushing forward. A carriage was attached to the beast, and the one who had just shouted was the driver of the carriage.

"A Horned Horse? It seems to be at the 1st stage of the Qi Gathering level, and the driver seems to be a Body Refinement cultivator, " thought Alex

Horned horses were often used as travel beasts. They were powerful enough to pull large carriages while still looking quite regal. Alex watched the horse approach. Although the horse wasn't a threat to him, he still decided to step to the side as it raced by. The driver, enraged by Alex's late response, lashed out with his whip.

"You should have moved sooner," yelled the man as the whip came crashing toward Alex.

"What?" cried the driver. He had expected the whip to severely injure the boy. He was already late to his master's event, and now this boy had dared cause him trouble. He whipped the boy to teach him a lesson but was completely shocked to see the boy catch his whip with ease.

"Gah!"

The man was violently pulled off the carriage as Alex tugged on the whip. He crashed into the ground, tumbling over several times before coming to rest right at Alex's feet. The Horned Horse came to a halt soon after.

"What's going on?"

Shouted a displeased-sounding voice from the carriage, and a young man soon stepped out. He appeared to be around sixteen years old and had short blond hair and an immature face. The luxurious clothes he wore hinted at his status.

He was about to ask his driver what the commotion was when he spotted him lying on the ground. He looked up towards Alex and narrowed his eyes.

"How do you want to die?" asked the boy.

To Be Continued...