Chapter 952 - Trouble Inbound
A few days later, Alex and Aria had returned to the sect and immediately handed the proof that they had completed the mission.
Happy with their achievement, the peak master immediately let them rest after a long journey.
And as Alex promised, he helped her in the training of the Sword Eye. This eye was peculiar for him because this was the first one he had found with a similar characteristic with his Spirit Eyes.
However, the Sword Eye didn"t necessarily exert the same technique like his first and second steps.
The Sword Eye had three main functions. Sword Barrier, Sword Pressure, and Sword Enchantment.
All of them required great control in one"s Sword Qi.
To create a Sword Barrier, Aria needed to acc.u.mulate the Sword Qi in her eyes and sent it in one direction. It looked like a s.h.i.+eld instead of a barrier, but this was something powerful because the Sword Eye had enhanced her eyes" ability when she used it, meaning she could see the world at a slower speed like his Spirit Eyes.
The Sword Pressure had the same principle as the Sword Barrier, but the Sword Qi would be placed on top of the enemy, giving a sharp pressure as if there was a rain of swords from above. It would fit perfectly with a domain that could lower one"s enemy, but Aria had yet to learn a technique like that.
Still, the most powerful one was the Sword Enchantment. Unlike the first two, this one directly strengthened her attack power to the greatest degree. Alex had seen this in his fight where the Sword G.o.d would have his Sword Qi spiked up every time he almost hit him. This would increase her attack power. The moment she had the ability to control it at will, her attack power might become the strongest in this sect.
Alex felt the boundless prospect coming from this technique, but he knew that Aria was interested in not any of these. Instead, it was the most basic thing from the Sword Eye, the ability to see the world. Even though it was only for a brief moment, she felt happy just to know the world was so beautiful.
However, she didn"t use this excessively because Alex was very strict in her training. He only let her see the world for two seconds before closing her eyes again.
Aria didn"t raise a single complaint about this because she could feel that her strength rose every day. Waiting for another few months to a year wouldn"t be much of a sacrifice when she had endured tens of years.
Three months quickly pa.s.sed by and Aria managed to use the Sword Barrier perfectly and worked her way for the Sword Pressure.
Alex sat on the ground while leaning on a tree as his body acc.u.mulated the Spiritual Energy nearby to increase his cultivation.
"Nyx, I am ready. Do you think you can check my progress?"
"Sure." Alex nodded and stared at her for a few seconds before throwing a rock at her.
Aria gradually opened her eyes. A sword mark miraculously appeared on her eyes, becoming the symbol that she managed to cultivate the Sword Eye correctly. And that Sword Mark was the medium to channel the Sword Qi from her reserve to the eye.
An invisible barrier appeared right before her, protecting her from the stone. In fact, the Sword Qi shattered it into dust.
"What do you think?"
"Yeah. That"s perfect. It can be activated sooner since we tested it yesterday. Now, time to test the second ability, the Sword Pressure."
"There is something I want to show you because I feel this Sword Pressure is a bit special." She thought this out yesterday, so there was this desire to show it to Alex.
"Sure, go on. I will feel it myself."
Aria nodded and closed her eyes again. She then opened her eyes at speed far faster than the first one.
The Sword Qi released from the Sword Eye gathered on top of his head in a split second before it created a bigger impact than the past few months.
That pressure even created a small crater on where Alex sat.
"Interesting." Alex smiled and waved his hand, dispelling the pressure. "Instead of using it continuously, you decide to use it one single time to create a burst of Sword Qi."
"Yes. I got inspiration from your step. I don"t know what it is called, but when I remember your technique, it always reminds me of the sudden burst of Spiritual Energy that contained enough power to pin somehow to the ground."
"A good—" Before he finished his words, his mask suddenly got cracked before loosening in his face, falling down slightly.
Since Aria still used the power, or in other words, opened her eyes, she caught a glimpse of Alex"s face. Of course the artificial burned skin was still there, but Aria wasn"t disgusted or anything. It wasn"t like she didn"t know anything about this despite being blind, she could see that the mark didn"t suit the skin of the rest of his body, so she knew it must be Alex"s burned mark that he always wanted to hide.
She fell down on her knees and subconsciously stretched her hand with a sad look. Touching the burn marks, she opened her mouth. "I don"t know if I should be grateful or not, but I know you don"t deserve this. Have you ever thought about healing this wound? If it reminds you of your past, how about you have someone to carry that past together with you, so you don"t mind this burned skin to be removed."
Alex was slightly startled by her remarks and her actions. It was subconsciously, so Alex only sighed and gently grabbed her hand.
"It"s fine. Maybe it will happen in the future, but it won"t happen in the near future." Alex smiled while putting her hand down.
"Is that so? Such a shame. I don"t know the other guys" faces, but I feel like you are quite a charmer, you know. That"s why it"s such a shame to have this on your face." She smiled.
"Have you said it to yourself? If you take care of your skin a bit more, I believe you can charm many people." Alex smiled.
"I don"t have any intention of doing that, but thank you for the compliment."
"Anyway, turn it off first because it requires a huge amount of Sword Qi."
She nodded and gradually closed her eyes.
"Anyway, you have a long way to go to master the Sword Eye. I feel like there will be a problem happening soon."
"A problem?"
"Yes. It"s regarding your brother and family."
"What?! Did something happen to them?"
"I was about to ask you that. When was the last time you contacted them?" Alex asked with a serious expression.
"After we returned from the escort mission."
"Hmm." Alex thought for a moment.
"Is there any problem? Are they in danger?"
"I am not sure yet. First of all, I haven"t heard anything regarding your family. You remember that you did once offend someone, right?"
"Yes. You told me there is a chance that the woman would target my brother or my family instead of me."
"I don"t know whether she has given up or not, but if it"s the latter, I am sure around this time will be the perfect time she acts."
"This time?"
"Yes. No matter how hard the peak master and the others hide our information, some people can dig it up. I don"t know the ident.i.ty of the other woman, so I am not sure of her capability. But if she is a bigshot, she must already know something about you, including your brother and family.
"And she must be following your movement. With how the peak master protects you, she must be hiding this whole time, working up the plan. Well, I don"t know if she is petty or not too.
"Either way, in the worst-case scenario, she will notice your achievement in the past two missions and your cultivation progress. There is a chance that she will feel threatened by it and choose the extreme measure.
"I mean, just take a look at you, in less than a year, you have reached 3-Star Martial Saint, almost 4-Star. In the near future, your progress will surpa.s.s that of her backing, so she is afraid that you will take revenge when the time arrives.
"That"s why she might be trying to make a move during this time, ignoring the peak master"s warning." Alex"s face turned serious.
"I am surprised that you have put so much thought into it. I don"t even have time to think about this and…I remember that you won"t be putting your nose in my matter, right?"
"It"s to hide my presence. It doesn"t mean I won"t give you advice or a.n.a.lysis." Alex shrugged. "After all, I still need you."
"Say it again in a more loving way, especially to that Nella, I am sure it will seal the deal." Aria smirked.
"You are still joking at this point?"
"Trying to calm myself down." Aria shook her head as her hands were shaking. She grabbed Alex"s hands and bowed. "Thank you."
"Anyway, that"s as far as I can intervene. The rest is up to you. If you are going to fix your problem, you need more strength." Alex shrugged.
"Of course. Should I do your h.e.l.l training twice as hard?"
"Nope. You shouldn"t. It will either break you or kill you. This is not a matter of will anymore. Your body is the one giving up." Alex shook his head.
"I see. Then, do you know what I am supposed to do?"
"I can"t give you a concrete answer, but I guess you can warn them about this. I don"t know if I am just afraid of something unknown, as a careful person myself, but this calm is like the one before the storm. I don"t like it." Alex shook his head.
"Alright. I will be contacting my family and my brother. Maybe I should ask someone to investigate this matter?"
"No need for someone to investigate it. You can"t ask anyone regarding this because we don"t have any relations.h.i.+p with the others in the sect. Before the other party makes a move, we can"t do anything."
"I see. I will focus on strengthening myself then." She nodded.
Alex nodded and decided to start the training again.
Suddenly, he felt two presences above his head and found two people before his body became tense.
The first person was a man. He had green eyes and green hair. He appeared calm, but his energy, presence, and face looked like someone he had met.
The second person was a female. She had long black hair tied into a side ponytail, letting the hair rest on her neck and run through her chest. Her face was gentle, but she was actually a Rank 5 G.o.d.
When their eyes intertwined, Alex felt an immeasurable pressure in his heart as if the woman just saw through him.
"Holy—" Alex gulped down.