Chapter 319 Let“s have steak first before we solve what“s at stake.
"Now this is really getting suspicious…" This was the immediate thought inside Alex"s mind after he heard what Rebecca just said.
The Great TImeMaster, who has been elusive to anyone"s sight, actually wanted to meet Alex and Alina right now? Even a simple-minded person can see that something is going on right here.
"When does the Great TimeMaster want to meet us?" Alex asked Rebecca as he gave the livid Alina a warning glance.
"Um… the Great TimeMaster has a busy schedule today, so you can set up a meeting later afternoon." Rebecca replied after her eyes scanned a piece of paper.
"Afternoon? Good, then that means that I can still roam around the city while we wait for the meeting to start." Alex hurriedly replied as he grabbed Alina"s hand.
He then started walking away from Rebecca, dragging the still angry Alina with him.
"You"re roaming around, Emperor? You cannot do that alone! Let me accompany you!" Rebecca said as she caught up to Alex. "You never know, some malicious people might attack you…"
"I do not need your help, Miss Rebecca." Alex coldly replied, as he increased his walking speed. "I can take care of myself, so you and your TimeMaster friends does not need to go with me."
"But-"
"If you don"t leave me alone for this day, I will make sure that your Great TimeMaster will know my unhappiness with you." Alex said as he interrupted Rebecca"s reply. "Now, if you don"t want your leader to know your irritating enthusiasm, then you should better get off my back."
"Bu-"
"Shut up already. My patience is running thin."
"…I-if that is what you want, Emperor, then we shall oblige to it." Rebecca listlessly replied as she bowed to Alex. "I apologize if we have inconvenienced you a lot…"
"Just get going already." Alex said as he shook his head.
"Mn, we shall leave now, Emperor." Rebecca said as she gave Alex a nod. She then raised her right hand, as if she was giving a signal.
As she did this, 10 people jumped out of certain hiding places. They all wore the same attires as Rebecca, and they all had the same fawning smiles on their faces.
"Let"s go girls. Emperor does not want to be followed today." Rebecca said as she clapped her hands. "Let"s get going now, chop, chop!"
"Woos.h.!.+"
Rebecca and the 10 other people suddenly disappeared, as their bodies went to G.o.d knows where.
"Sigh…" At the instant that they disappeared, Alex let out a sigh of relief as his power could confirm that the TimeMasters following him has left him alone already.
"Hmph, now we can have some genuine time for ourselves." Alina grumbled beside Alex as the TImeMasters left them. "Those pesky people always follow us where we go! Hmph, if it weren"t for you, I could have attacked them all already!"
"Calm down Alina, I think they are just doing their job." Alex replied. "Although the way that they do their job seems to be too much in my opinion…"
"Just admit it Alex. There"s something wrong with the heads of these TimeMasters." Alina said as she gritted her teeth.
"Alina, can you really say that when you are a Chronomancer like them?"
"I- I-I- you know what, let"s just stop talking about these people. We won"t get anything from thinking of them." Alina replied as she shook her head. "Let"s just deal with the important stuff today."
"You"re right Alina. How about eating at that good steak restaurant nearby? I heard their steaks are the juiciest in this Prefecture." Alex said as he gave Alina a teasing smile. "You haven"t tasted it yet, right?"
"…" Alina did not give Alex any reply, although the drool coming out of her mouth made Alex know that her answer is yes.
"So be it. Let"s visit that restaurant now!" Alex said as he confidently walked to his left. "Oh and don"t worry, this will be my treat."
"It"s always you who had been treating me on our meals." Alina muttered behind Alex. "So there"s no need for you to say it, since you had been always doing it."
"…"
*************
Even though Alex and Alina are on their way to a steak restaurant, Alex"s mind was preoccupied with something different from eating a steak
Right now, Alex was looking around him discreetly, taking note of the people and the structures around him.
All around Alex, all that he could see were tall buildings made up of steel and concrete. In terms of appearance, they look similar to the buildings that Alex saw in Earth.
Aside from this, Alex also saw that the vehicles in this world was already at the point where they are powered by fossil fuels.
This, and the other small things that Alex could see made it apparent that this world has a fairly advanced technology.
"I"m sure that if this world was only dominated by Immortals, a technology of this level is not possible." Alex thought to himself as he cupped his chin. "After all, Immortals are more preoccupied on self and power improvement rather than the improvement of technology itself…"
"So it is safe for me to a.s.sume that it was the TimeMasters who made this world like this." Alex thought to himself as he turned right.
These things however were not the ones that Alex noticed.
There were also the people around him, who Alex identified in 3 separate groups.
There were the mortals, who were just the baseline people.
They did not practice Immortal Cultivation, nor did they attempt dabbling in Chronomancy.
They are only regular humans living peacefully in this world.
As Alex observed them, he could not help but see that these mortals were living in this world like a way that a normal people should live.
They roam around, buy stuff, and enjoy the facilities in this world.
The only thing marring these mortals were the numbers on their wrists, which shows that they also had to use their own Time to access amenities in this world.
The second group that Alex identified were the Immortal Cultivators.
Unlike the mortals, who seemed to have accepted the way that this world works, most of the Immortal Cultivators that Alex saw all had disgruntled expression on their faces, especially when they spend their Time on buying items.
"For Immortal Cultivators, their lifespan of great importance, since Immortal Cultivation takes time." Alex thought to himself as he watched a cultivator stare longingly at a flying sword. "Yet in this world, their very own lifespan had to be used in order for them to acquire the things that they need to use. It"s no wonder most of them get angry for being forced to live like this…"
The third and final group that Alex identified were the TimeMasters.
Unlike the mortals and the cultivators, there was no single TimeMaster who was acting like a civilian.
All the TimeMasters that Alex could see were running the business stalls.
Groceries, public transportation, items shops, banks, and many more stores were all run by TImeMasters only.
In fact, in Alex"s 3-month stay in this place, he has not yet seen a business that is run by a mortal or a cultivator. All of them were only run by TimeMasters!
"This world… it"s not only its territory that has been occupied by the TimeMasters. Even the economy and industry of this world are also under the control of the TimeMasters." Alex thought to himself as he shook his head. "For a world like this to be in this kind of control just shows how powerful the presence of the TImeMasters are."
At the moment that he thought of this, Alex let out a sigh as he inspected his dantian.
Right inside his dantian, 12 stones the size of fists could be seen.
They were all floating in his dantian, with each stone harboring large amounts of hidden power.
"…"
These stones are the products of Alex"s cultivation for the past three months, with each stone representing Alex"s effort to get stronger as a cultivator.
Alex had mixed feeling as he observed his dantian, as if he was not sure if he should be happy or not right now.
"These stones are proof of my power as an Immortal Cultivator." Alex thought to himself as he narrowed his eyes. "One stone is the acc.u.mulation of ma.s.sive amounts of Immortal Qi, all compressed in one single point. The more stones there are inside my dantian, the higher my cultivation will be. Right now, I have 12 of these stones, which means that I am already at the peak of Qi Condensation. The next thing that I need to do is to think of my own Dao Path and use it to step on the Foundation Establishment Stage."
As he thought of the Foundation Establishment Stage, Alex narrowed his eyes as his lips narrowed into a thin line.
"It will be great if I can break through the Foundation Establishment Stage… But is it worth it, especially with the state that this world is in?"
When Alex started cultivating with his Immortal Cultivation Body 3 months ago, he noticed something that made him irritated.
His Immortal Cultivation Power, which should have been powerful in this world, was actually weakened!
It was weakened by 50%, which means that any ability that Alex uses with Immortal Qi will be only half of its real strength!
When Alex discovered it at that time, he could hardly believe that this is real.
After all, this world is a world that primarily supports Immortal Cultivation.
How the h.e.l.l could the power of Immortal Cultivation in this world be weakened, when the main power in this world is Immortal Cultivation?
There is just something wrong with that!
And to make this more suspicious, when Alina obtained her Chronomancy Power, she told Alex that the power of Chronomancy in this world was actually stronger.
In exact terms, Chronomancy in this world was strengthened by 50%
This just made Alex more confused.
After all, Chronomancy is not the main power system in this world. How the h.e.l.l could Chronomancy be this strong then?
"Tsk, I suspect that this weakening and strengthening phenomenon of powers is related to the invasion of the TimeMasters in this world." Alex thought to himself as he put the matter of Foundation Establishment at the back of his mind. "That means that if I want to make the right decision for my Main Mission, I must first discover the truth about this phenomenon! Only by knowing this that I can be sure on which side I should fight!"
After he had this thought, Alex suddenly clapped his hands once as a determined expression appeared on his face.
"It"s settled then. At the meeting that I will have with the Grand TimeMaster later, I will do my best to gather all the clues that I need to make my decision!" Alex thought to himself as he continued nodding to himself. "After all, the best source of the truth will always come from the perpetrator itself…."
Alex could have continued on refining his plan, but he had to stop at this point, as he and Alina reached the steak restaurant already.
As he looked at the restaurant, Alex"s stomach rumbled a little, which showed how hungry he is right now.
As for Alina, her mouth was already panting, which is enough to show that her ravenous side is ready to show up.
"Okay… I will just think of my plan later. For now, I have to fill up my stomach first." Alex said as he opened the door with his foot. "Mn… I hope their steak will be as delicious as what those people said…"