Chapter 701 – "City of Rival Eyes"
The Central Continent's capital was already alive with the weight of the coming tournament. Banners from every continent hung from the high buildings, their colors snapping in the breeze. The air was thick with competing auras — the sharp heat of fire cultivators, the cold bite of ice, the grounding pulse of earth qi, and the faint, elusive currents of wind and water.
Alex walked at Yu Mei's side, the black mask covering his face smooth and featureless, absorbing the sunlight rather than reflecting it. His long black hair moved with each step, but his expression, hidden behind the mask, was as unreadable as ever.
For most of the crowd, that was all they saw — a tall, masked man in fine hanfu, walking like someone who didn't care for the noise around him. They couldn't sense even the faintest trace of cultivation from him.
The younger disciples from various sects exchanged curious looks.
"Who's that? He doesn't even have an aura."
"Probably just an attendant… maybe some ordinary mortal she brought along."
"Looks like he's hiding behind her."
Alex didn't react, and Yu Mei didn't spare them a glance.
But not everyone was fooled.
A handful of older cultivators — grizzled elders who had been around long enough to trust their instincts — turned their heads as he passed. Their brows furrowed ever so slightly.
"…Strange."
"I can't sense anything… at all."
"It's not absence. It's… covered. Like standing before a sealed abyss."
"He may be using some treasure to hide his cultivation. A rare one."
Still, they were the minority. Most dismissed him immediately, their attention drawn to Yu Mei's undeniable 8th-level aura, which she made no effort to suppress.
The pair moved through the market without slowing, Alex's presence so quiet it almost forced people to underestimate him — unless they knew what they were looking at.
Yu Mei glanced sideways at him as they passed a row of vendor stalls. "They think you're harmless."
"They'll learn otherwise," Alex said, his voice calm as ever.
A loud voice from up ahead broke the rhythm of their walk.
"You there — Heavenly Sect!"
Three young men in the black-and-red robes of the Scarlet Halberd Sect stepped into the street, blocking their path. Their leader smirked openly at Yu Mei, ignoring Alex entirely.
"Care to give us a demonstration? We're curious about the West's so-called 'Eternal Throne Realm beauties.'"
Yu Mei's eyes turned to ice.
The man from the Scarlet Halberd Sect stepped forward, a cocky grin still on his face as he let his cultivation surge outward. The heat rolled off him in visible waves, the paving stones under his feet beginning to darken and crack.
A murmur ran through the watching crowd.
"Level 8… Eternal Throne Realm."
"He's not holding back."
Yu Mei didn't move at first. She simply regarded him with the calm, steady gaze that had once made lesser cultivators falter without a single word.
He took that as hesitation. "Don't worry," he said mockingly, "I'll go easy—"
The last syllable froze in his mouth.
In the space between his blink and breath, the street's warmth vanished. Frost bloomed outward from Yu Mei's feet in a perfect circle, the air itself turning crystalline. The temperature plummeted so sharply that the onlookers' breath came out in white clouds.
The Scarlet Halberd cultivator's body locked mid-step, his confident grin crystallizing into a statue's stillness. Sheets of ice raced up his arms, over his chest, swallowing him whole before he had time to summon a counterstrike.
It had taken less than a heartbeat.
Yu Mei didn't even draw her sword.
The frozen figure stood in the street, encased in flawless, unbroken ice. The frost around him glittered in the sunlight, beautiful in its finality.
The crowd was silent for a moment before a low ripple of voices began.
"…That fast?"
"She didn't even give him time to swing."
"I thought the Scarlet Halberd Sect's 8th levels were supposed to be monsters."
Yu Mei turned to Alex, her expression unchanged. "Shall we keep walking?"
He inclined his head slightly. "Lead the way."
As they stepped past the frozen man, the Scarlet Halberd Sect's companions scrambled to break the ice, their earlier arrogance replaced by pale, tight-lipped focus. The outcome had been decided so quickly, it barely qualified as a fight at all.
As they left the frozen Scarlet Halberd cultivator behind, the murmurs of the crowd faded into the hum of the market. Yu Mei didn't look back; there was no need. That fight — if it could even be called that — had already been decided the moment she stepped forward.
Her hand brushed lightly against Alex's as they walked side by side. Beneath her calm expression, her thoughts were sharper than the chill she'd unleashed.
She knew the truth.
The masked man at her side gave off no cultivation level at all. To most eyes, he looked like an ordinary mortal — someone who would be crushed in an instant by any half-trained disciple. But Yu Mei had seen beyond that illusion long ago.
Alex was not weaker than her. He was not even equal.
He was hundreds, perhaps thousands of times stronger than a typical Level 8 Eternal Throne Realm cultivator. The disparity was so vast it was difficult to put into words. If she could end a battle in a blink, Alex could end it before his opponent even realized they were in one.
She had felt that power in training, in battle, and in far more personal moments. It wasn't just his cultivation — it was the way he moved, thought, and acted without hesitation. Against him, even the most talented prodigy from the Central Continent would be little more than a distraction.
Yu Mei's gaze shifted toward him, the black mask hiding his face but not the quiet certainty in his presence.
"You didn't even need to get involved," she said softly.
"I never do," Alex replied, his voice low and even.
And she knew he meant it.
Chapter 702 – "The Silent Stare"
The bustle of the marketplace thinned as Alex and Yu Mei turned down a quieter street lined with old stone buildings and pale blue banners fluttering from the upper floors. The air here was cooler, carrying a faint scent of frost despite the midday sun.
Halfway down the street, a figure stepped into their path.
She was tall and striking, her long pale-blue robes embroidered with silver snowflakes, the mark of the Frost Moon Palace gleaming at her shoulder. Her hair, the color of fresh snow, was bound in an intricate braid that swung slightly as she moved.
She said nothing at first.
Her eyes — sharp, crystalline blue — fixed on Yu Mei. There was no hostility in them, but neither was there warmth. Only a quiet, measuring intensity that felt almost like a challenge in itself.
Yu Mei stopped, meeting her gaze without flinching. The two stood like that for several breaths, the street around them hushed except for the distant chatter of merchants further away.
Finally, the Frost Moon Palace disciple spoke, her voice soft but cutting. "Your ice… it is pure. Refined. It does not belong among men."
Yu Mei's expression did not change. "It belongs where I choose."
The other woman tilted her head slightly. "If you joined the Frost Moon Palace, your cultivation would soar. You would be among sisters who understand the strength in rejecting weakness." Her gaze flicked briefly to Alex, still masked and silent beside Yu Mei. "Especially the weakness that comes from them."
Yu Mei's tone stayed calm, but her words were steel. "I don't need your sect. And I don't need your approval."
The Frost Moon Palace disciple's lips curved faintly, but the smile never reached her eyes. "Then we will see whose ice holds its form when the tournament begins."
Without another word, she stepped aside, letting them pass. The cold in the air lingered long after she was gone.
The pale-blue figure of the Frost Moon Palace disciple disappeared into the crowd, her presence fading like the last breath of winter. The street slowly came alive again, vendors resuming their calls, pedestrians passing without a second glance.
Alex's gaze lingered in the direction she had gone, then shifted back to Yu Mei. His voice was calm, almost indifferent.
"Her coolness is nothing compared to yours," he said. "And as for her ice… it can't hold a candle to mine."
Yu Mei's steps slowed, her eyes flicking to him. "Your ice?"
"The Law of Ice," Alex replied, his tone as even as if he were speaking of the weather.
Yu Mei tilted her head slightly. "What is the Law of Ice?"
He regarded her for a moment before answering. "It's the purest, highest expression of the element — far beyond techniques or cultivation arts. When you wield a law, you don't just use ice… you command the very concept of it. Its cold, its stillness, its ability to preserve or destroy. With the Law of Ice, I could freeze an ocean or stop a volcanic eruption in mid-burst — without effort."
Her eyes lingered on him, not doubting a word. She knew he didn't boast.
"And she?" Yu Mei asked quietly.
Alex shook his head. "She uses ice as a tool. I can make ice obey."
Yu Mei walked a few more steps in silence, her gaze on the cobblestones ahead. Then she looked back at him. "How did you get this… Law of Ice?"
Alex didn't hesitate. "I got it from killing a Great Old One named Rhan Tegoth."
Her brow furrowed slightly. "A Great Old One?"
"They're not like us," he said evenly. "Not gods, not mortals, not anything this world was meant to hold. Think of them as… extraterrestrial beings. Ancient. Alien. Their strength is beyond the scale people here use to measure power."
Yu Mei studied his masked face, her voice dropping. "How strong?"
"Several tens… maybe hundreds of times stronger than an 8th-level cultivator," Alex replied without exaggeration. "Even the best of the Central Continent wouldn't survive a second against one."
Her lips pressed together. "And yet… you killed it."
"Now," he said, his tone still calm, "I can kill them easily."
There was no pride in his voice — only fact, spoken as plainly as the color of the sky.
Yu Mei turned her eyes forward again. She had known Alex was powerful. She had even felt it. But hearing it laid out like that made her realize just how far beyond normal cultivation he truly was.
Chapter 703 – "Seventeen Laws"
They turned a corner into a quieter stretch of the market, the noise of the main street fading into a low hum behind them. Yu Mei's mind was still on his earlier words — the Law of Ice, the Great Old Ones, and the sheer casual way Alex had spoken about killing them.
She glanced at him again. "How many have you… defeated?"
Alex didn't pause in his stride. "Sixteen."
Her eyes widened slightly. "Sixteen… then you have sixteen laws?"
"Seventeen," he corrected, his voice as calm as ever.
Yu Mei blinked. "Seventeen?"
"The extra one is the Law of Mana," Alex said. "I didn't take it from anyone. I created it myself."
She was silent for a moment, weighing the enormity of that. To create a law — not inherit it, not seize it, but make it — was something beyond any cultivator she'd ever heard of.
Finally, she asked, "Is there… any disadvantage to having so many?"
Alex's tone didn't change, but there was a faint edge in his words now, as if speaking from knowledge few dared to approach. "One law is usually more than enough. If an ordinary 8th-level cultivator had even that much, the weight of it would press on their mind every moment they were awake. Too much for most to handle. It would drive them to madness… insanity… sometimes to suicide."
Yu Mei absorbed that in silence, her gaze lowering slightly. "But for you…"
"For me," Alex said simply, "it's manageable."
And the way he said it made her realize — manageable for him still meant power so far beyond reach that no one else could even stand on the same ground.
They walked past a line of silk vendors, the colorful fabrics fluttering lightly in the breeze. Yu Mei's steps were slow, her thoughts heavier than her pace. She waited until the street was quiet again before speaking, her voice almost a whisper.
"How many of your laws… are as strong as the Law of Mana?"
Alex's head turned slightly, the black mask hiding his expression, but she could feel his eyes on her.
"None," he said simply. "The Law of Mana is my strongest — far superior to the others. It is the core of everything I can do. Without it, I could still win… but not as effortlessly."
Yu Mei's gaze lingered on him for a moment longer. "And the others?"
"The Law of Space is my second strongest," Alex replied. "The rest… powerful in their own right, but not on the same scale. Even so, each one is still far beyond what an ordinary cultivator could ever wield."
His tone was so matter-of-fact that it almost disguised the weight of his words — almost.
Yu Mei lowered her eyes slightly, the faintest of smiles tugging at her lips. She didn't need to see his face to know he wasn't boasting.
Alex's voice remained even as they walked. "The Law of Mana makes my magic more powerful than the Law of Relation. For example — if I used fire magic with only the Law of Fire, it wouldn't compare to using the same fire magic with the Law of Mana. And I can still use all three together if I want."
Yu Mei tilted her head. "So… the magic you speak of — is it like a technique?"
"Probably similar," Alex admitted. "But my magic works differently. I think of a magic formula in my head, pour mana into it, and cast it instantly."
She gave him a curious glance. "I want to see it. Your magic center."
Alex didn't hesitate. With a flick of his hand, a golden-red diagram appeared between them in the air — a slowly rotating sphere covered in countless layers of runic lines and intricate arcs.
"This," he said, "is the Fireball spell formula."
Yu Mei leaned closer, her eyes tracing the endless, overlapping patterns. At first, she thought she could follow one of the spiraling sequences — but then it split into three separate threads, each weaving back into dozens more, folding into an impossible, almost living structure.
Her head swam. Her vision blurred.
It was like trying to read a book in a language she had never seen while the letters rearranged themselves every heartbeat.
She pulled back slightly, blinking. "It's… dizzying. Like a baby seeing writing for the first time."
Alex closed his palm, and the formula vanished. "To me, it's simple. To anyone else, it's overwhelming. That's the difference."
Yu Mei looked at him for a long moment, realizing yet again that the gap between him and even the most gifted prodigies wasn't just power — it was comprehension itself.
Yu Mei exhaled slowly, still remembering the dizzying weave of the Fireball formula. "It's… different from when I use my techniques."
Alex glanced at her. "How so?"
"When I cultivate and release a technique," she said, "I'm channeling mana through my meridians, shaping it into the form I've learned, and releasing it. Your magic feels… more precise. More deliberate. Like every movement of the energy is planned before it even leaves you."
Alex gave a slight nod. "That's because it's the same mana you use — the same energy source. The only difference is the method of control. You follow the forms of sword techniques, while I follow the structures of magic formulas."
Yu Mei considered that for a moment, then smiled faintly. "That does make it simpler. I've read some sect manuals that talk about magic and cultivation like they're two separate worlds. But if it's all the same energy, just shaped differently…"
"…then it's only a matter of who has the better control," Alex finished for her.
She looked at him with a spark of amusement. "And I'm guessing no one here has more control than you."
"Not even close," Alex replied without hesitation.
Chapter 704 – "The Law Yet to Come"
The street ahead widened into a small plaza, sunlight pooling between the stone buildings. Yu Mei slowed her steps, still mulling over everything Alex had told her.
After a moment, she asked quietly, "Is there any law you still want?"
Alex's answer came without hesitation. "The Law of Time."
Yu Mei's brows rose slightly. "You don't already have it?"
"I can already cast time magic," Alex said, his tone steady. "And because I can channel it through the Law of Mana, it's actually stronger than the Law of Time on its own. But having the law itself would let me use them together — Mana, Time, and whatever element I choose — in ways that even I can't replicate right now."
"So you want it for power," Yu Mei said.
Alex's masked face turned slightly toward her. "Partly. But also… for fun. Collecting laws has become something of a habit."
Yu Mei's lips curved faintly. "A dangerous hobby."
"For others, maybe," Alex replied calmly. "For me, it's just another kind of training."
She didn't doubt it. The way he spoke about hunting a Great Old One was the same way others might talk about sparring in the courtyard.
Yu Mei walked beside him in thoughtful silence for a moment before speaking again. "These Great Old Ones… how dangerous are they, really?"
Alex's voice stayed calm, but there was a weight behind his words. "If a weak-minded person wandered anywhere near where one was sealed — even from a thousand kilometers away — it could drive them insane. Just their presence leaks into the world like poison, twisting thoughts and breaking minds."
Yu Mei's eyes narrowed slightly. "And the world itself?"
"They affect that too," Alex said. "Once, there was a being sealed away that held the Law of Ice. When its seal began to weaken, the entire world nearly entered an ice age. The temperature dropped to ninety-one degrees Celsius."
Yu Mei frowned. "…How cold is that, exactly?"
"Cold enough to freeze oceans solid," Alex replied. "Cold enough that most life would die in minutes without protection. The air itself becomes like a blade against the skin."
Her gaze lingered on him. "And you fought something like that?"
"I killed it," Alex said simply.
There was no boast in his voice — just fact, spoken the way one might mention having gone to the market.
Alex's steps didn't slow as he continued, his tone still even. "If I can't eliminate them with a single strike the moment they're unsealed, then even if I can eventually defeat them, the damage would already be done."
Yu Mei's brows drew together. "How bad?"
"Bad enough that if I let the fight drag on without sending them into space, the entire world would feel it. Mountains crumbling, oceans boiling, storms tearing through continents. Depending on the law they hold, entire climates can shift. And in the worst cases…" He glanced at her. "…an entire continent could vanish."
Yu Mei's grip on her sword hilt tightened slightly. "So there's never room for a drawn-out battle."
"Not with them," Alex confirmed. "Every second they remain in this world after awakening is a second the planet itself suffers."
There was a quiet certainty in his voice — the certainty of someone who had done this before, more than once, and understood exactly what was at stake.
"But there is one good thing," Alex added, his tone softening slightly.
Yu Mei glanced at him. "What's that?"
"They don't really care about humans or other living things," he said. "We're beneath their notice. They have their own purposes — goals that have nothing to do with ruling or destroying the world for its own sake. Most of the time, they don't interfere unless something disturbs them."
Yu Mei's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "So the danger comes from what they are, not what they want."
"Exactly," Alex replied. "Their power alone is enough to warp reality around them. Even if they never set out to harm anyone, their mere existence is… destructive."
She looked forward again, digesting his words. The idea that something could be so overwhelmingly dangerous without even trying was somehow more unsettling than outright malice.
Alex's voice remained steady, but there was a hard edge beneath it now. "That's why I've been hunting them."
Yu Mei's gaze shifted to him.
"Not all of them ignore Earth," he continued. "And every single one I've killed was sealed here — on Earth— long before I came across them. Imagine it… day after day, century after century, trapped and furious. That anger doesn't fade. It grows. And when the seal breaks…"
"…they could destroy the planet," Yu Mei finished quietly.
He nodded once. "They don't cling to ideas like good or evil. Most of them lean toward what we'd call 'evil,' but that's only from our point of view. In their minds, they aren't being cruel or righteous — they're simply doing whatever they want, without limits."
Yu Mei's eyes hardened slightly. "So morality doesn't even exist to them."
"Not in the way we understand it," Alex said. "There's no evil, only strength. It's the law of the deep sea — big fish eating small fish. And in their ocean, every living thing smaller than them is prey."
The quiet certainty in his words left no doubt: to let such beings roam free was to invite the end of everything.
As they walked, Alex's thoughts drifted for a moment. He had been fighting for this world ever since he had arrived, protecting it from threats most people couldn't imagine — yet something occurred to him.
"I just realized," he said quietly, "I've never actually asked… what's the name of this planet?"
Yu Mei looked at him, a hint of surprise in her eyes. "The name?"
"Yes."
She smiled faintly. "It's not really fixed. People call it whatever their culture or sect prefers. Some name it after their continent, others after old legends. There's no single truth to it."
"So it's up to the people," Alex said.
"Exactly," Yu Mei replied. "For us… it's simply home."
Alex gave a slight nod at that, his gaze turning forward again. Home — even if it didn't have a name, it was the place he had sworn to protect.
Chapter 705 – "Clash in the Street"
The afternoon sun spilled across the stone streets, casting long shadows between the merchant stalls. Alex and Yu Mei rounded a corner, their pace unhurried — until the sound of raised voices reached them from up ahead.
Two groups of disciples stood facing each other in the middle of the street, their postures tense, hands hovering near weapons. Passersby had already begun to back away, forming a wide circle around them.
Alex's eyes swept over the scene. He didn't recognize their faces, but his gaze caught on the insignias stitched into their robes. One group bore a black halberd crossed over a crimson flame; the other wore the mark of nine stylized waves cascading in a spiral.
He leaned slightly toward Yu Mei. "I know the symbols, but not the names."
Yu Mei didn't take her eyes off the scene as she answered. "The ones with the halberd are the Scarlet Halberd Sect. The others are the Nine Waves Sect. Both from the Southern Continent."
"They don't seem like friends," Alex observed.
"They aren't," Yu Mei said flatly. "The Scarlet Halberd Sect thrives on brute force and reputation. The Nine Waves Sect controls most of the Southern Continent's naval trade. They've been at odds for decades — and the tournament brings their grudges to the surface."
The shouting grew louder, one of the Scarlet Halberd disciples stepping forward and jabbing a finger toward the Nine Waves group. "You think the sea makes you strong? On land, you're nothing!"
The Nine Waves leader's expression darkened, mana rippling faintly around him. "Say that again, and we'll see how long you stay standing."
Yu Mei gave Alex a sidelong glance. "Want to keep walking, or watch?"
Yu Mei folded her arms loosely, her expression calm despite the tension crackling in the air. "This is normal," she said. "It happens regularly in the Southern Continent — a place where grudges and rivalries flare into open conflict every other week. Disputes like this are just part of life there."
Alex's gaze stayed on the two groups, his posture as relaxed as if they were watching a street performer. "So no one will step in?"
"Not unless someone dies," Yu Mei replied. "Even then, it depends on who's watching."
They exchanged a glance, and without a word, decided against getting involved. The argument ahead was sharp enough to draw stares from the crowd, but neither of them felt the slightest pull to intervene.
Instead, they stood at the edge of the onlookers, quietly watching as the tension between the Scarlet Halberd Sect and the Nine Waves Sect mounted with each shouted insult and flaring surge of mana.
For Alex, it was a chance to learn. For Yu Mei, it was nothing more than another scene in a familiar play.
The insults shifted to challenges, and the challenges to action. A sudden flare of red-orange mana erupted from the Scarlet Halberd side as one of their disciples lunged forward, halberd sweeping in a deadly arc. The Nine Waves Sect answered with a burst of deep-blue energy, a wave-shaped shield surging up to meet the strike.
Steel rang against steel. The cobblestones beneath their feet cracked from the impact.
In moments, the street became a flurry of motion — spears flashing, blades cutting through water and flame. The air was thick with the hiss of steam where opposing elements collided.
Alex watched in silence, his masked face betraying nothing, though his thoughts were sharp and certain.
I could kill all of them in the blink of an eye.
Not arrogance — fact. Every movement, every channeling of mana they made was slow to his senses, every opening glaringly obvious.
A sudden blast of force sent one Scarlet Halberd disciple hurtling backward, spinning helplessly through the air — straight toward Alex and Yu Mei.
Without shifting his posture, Alex raised his hand slightly. Space folded with a faint ripple, and the man vanished mid-flight, reappearing behind them in the same tumbling motion before crashing to the ground with a heavy grunt.
Yu Mei didn't even flinch. "Convenient," she murmured.
Alex said nothing, his gaze still fixed on the clash as if the interruption hadn't happened.
The fight was just beginning to build toward a full street brawl when a sharp whistle cut through the air.
"Enough!"
A squad of city guards in dark silver armor pushed through the crowd, their disciplined formation and surging authority scattering the spectators. The lead guard raised his halberd high, the edge glowing faintly with suppressive mana.
"By order of the Central Continent Tournament Council, no sect will fight outside the arena!" he barked. "Stand down or face immediate disqualification!"
The combatants hesitated, still glaring at each other, but the threat of being barred from the tournament was enough. Weapons lowered. Mana faded. The tension drained into bitter stares and muttered curses.
As the guards moved to separate the two groups, Alex turned from the scene and began walking again. Yu Mei matched his pace without looking back.
"They're not much of a threat," Alex said quietly.
Yu Mei's tone was just as calm. "They were only at Level 6 and Level 7. Strong enough to impress in their own territories, but in this tournament, they're average at best."
Alex gave a single nod, already filing the observation away for later.