Running through a dense forest at dusk, a young man with short black hair was heavily panting, resting against a light-brown tree's bark.

"Huff... huff... shit!" Cursing aloud, the young man was internally terrorized.

Taking out a yellow jade pendant, reflecting the sun, the man held it tightly.

"I won't let it fall into the demon's hands!"

Some colorful leaves falling on top of his head, their warm appearance relaxing, the man did not brush them off.

Resolute, the youth carefully started to dig the soft dirt at his feet, next to the small tree.

Making sure to avoid any noise from escaping, the man took over one hour for such a simple task.

His heart beating like never before, the man, barely halfway into the hole, felt cold.

"Huh?" Unable to process his screaming instinct's warnings, the man's head fell into his hole by itself.

The body following the head, it fell limply.

Grabbing the yellow pendant meticulously, Alexander smirked.

"You little mouse, think you can run from me? What a delusional young man." The pendant a key to a vault, Alexander had accidentally let its original owner pass it onto the young man before his death, forcing him to chase after it.

Examining the pendant just to be sure, the warm sunlight bouncing off its surface, Alexander noticed its authenticity, as engraved on its surfaces was a single word per side.

"One side has the word 'Key' and the other 'Autumn'." Nodding, Alexander tucked it inside his sleeve, rushing back from where he originated from.

A few minutes later, Alexander stood in front of a dilapidated structure, its high walls mostly rubbish.

Walking inside, avoiding corpses and blood puddles, he had made his way to two yellow doors situated deep under the complex.

Taking out the yellow pendant, Alexander stuck it to a small hole in between the doors.

Dazzled by the yellow light, Alexander's squinted eyes brightened.

The two doors opening slowly, Alexander entered the previously locked room, soon finding himself inside a storage facility.

Expecting such an outcome, he did not waste time, sweeping everything clean without regards to their use, not sparing even the shelves in the process.

Barely a few seconds later, he exited the now empty room.

Stepping over a dead body, Alexander was lost in thought.

'It's been a year since my breakthrough, but I'm still far from collecting enough Marrahva Crystals. Let alone soul crystals!'

Counting his current wealth, Alexander estimated his Marrahva Crystals to have surpassed the 600 thousand mark, closing in on 610 thousand.

'Well... if I sell all of those useless artifacts and save some money for my Fleeting Dreams, I might be able to obtain enough for a breakthrough.'

Exhaling loudly, Alexander's youthful being started to leave the earth, floating higher and higher.

'I should arrive in a few months.' Remembering the path, Alexander's sudden increase in speed shattered the sect-like structure he had just left, corpses blown away by the shockwave.

Finally, two months later, Alexander had arrived to his destination, a place where all regions except the rightmost Ylaf Region met.

An immense city ahead, its defensive walls were utterly gigantic. At the center of this city, an ever-thinning tower pierced the sky, its purple color quite attractive to one's curiosity.

It was the most renown city in the entire Southern Demonic Continent, a city exceptional as it met with the strongest Demonic Land Region while also receiving benefits from three other regions.

This was the legendary city of Kermos, an exception to most rules this continent fell under.

'Even though this city is not within the Demonic Land Region's territory, it still is classified as equal to the top cities of this continent. Just from here I can feel many Blooming Lotus Realm cultivators...'

Walking toward the city under the setting sun, the waving grass greeting his every step, Alexander finally entered the glorious Kermos City a few minutes later.

Paying a hefty fee of one hundred Marrahva Crystals for a temporary entry pass, Alexander was not too pleased with it.

'Just a hundred... but a hundred too much!' Already putting the city inside his todo list, he headed straight to the center.

On the way, Alexander had long ago released his Divine Sense, clashing with other expert's Celestial Sense. It only took him a few streets to get a grasp of the city's power.

'Most people are between the Grand Gravitational Realm and the Cloud Immortal Realm on average, with some rare Blooming Lotus Realm ones, but I have yet to meet a Blooming Lotus Realm one at the third stage or above, not even a single Primordial Harmonization Realm one.... yet.'

The city reminding him of his last few strolls with Qiu Qigang, Alexander did not show anything externally, but was still feeling nostalgic on the inside.

'What a shame... Qiu Qigang was a true human cultivator through and through. But the veritable Heavens' will is still not something I can contend with, I'm still nowhere near this level.'

Alexander was not stupid, especially with the obvious. So he of course knew that he Heavens he could almost equally battle with were not the original, even the Celestial Realm's Heavens did not appear strong enough for him.

'I wonder how strong the true Heavens are... Can I even begin to imagine it yet? Probably not...'

Interrupting his thoughts was a small sound and an object colliding with his chest.

Frowning, Alexander looked below, at a young woman in pure white clothes holding her forehead.

"Ouch! Look where you walk! I swear the commoners in this city are... are... eeek!!" Exchanging glances with Alexander as the woman recovered from bumping into him, she was met with his cold eyes, looking at her as if staring at a disgusting, rotting corpse.

Controlling his impulse, Alexander did not kill the little first stage Blooming Lotus Realm girl on the spot, not intending to show off his strength in an unknown and dangerous territory.

'Better not cause trouble for now, if I have to fight against a second stage Primordial Harmonization Realm cultivator, I might not win!'

Since Alexander had long stopped using other's cultivation techniques as he had no current use for them, already an expert in cultivation, he was not overconfident in his battle prowess, aware that some experts might have some secret techniques from two millions years ago found in mythical ruins and so on.

And since his last true battle against the zombie back inside the Golden Castle, Alexander felt confident against anyone without a higher cultivation base than him, but not the opposite.

Back to his walking, Alexander completely forgot about the woman who bumped into him previously, not even looking at her anymore.

"Rude!" Gritting her teeth, the woman fell silent for a few moments, murmuring a few words under her breath.

"Find who this man is!" Following her order, multiple shadows could be seen moving.

An hour expiring, Alexander was still walking steadily.

'Still no Primordial Harmonization Realm cultivators... Though I did find a third stage Blooming Lotus Realm one!' Going from the slums to the wealthy parts of the city, Alexander had even used his Divine Sense to spy on powerful clans and families.

However, none could take his fancy, nobody even close to his level of strength yet.

Done with the day, the night already covering the world with darkness, Alexander ended up resting at a random inn.

Exploring the city and its outskirts in search of opportunities during the day and resting at night, Alexander had spent a month doing so.

Inside a random mansion, its exterior red, a young lady in pure white robes stared at a kneeling shadow.

"Have you found anything yet? It has already been a month, I expect at least a name!"

"Miss! We could only find a few things, one is that this man is new here, two, he is named Alexander I believe and finally this man seems to be extremely powerful!"

"Oh~? What makes you say that?" Intrigued, the woman pushed her subordinate further.

"Even I could not peek into his cultivation base! One must be at the third stage of the Blooming Lotus Realm at least for this to happen!"

Frowning, the woman was now unsure about what to do next.

"If an opportunity arise, let's ask mister Gwon to deal with him!"

Shivering, the kneeling shadow gasped loudly.

'She wants to use young master Gwon? The dark horse of this generation?'

Another day of travelling inside the city, Alexander could still not find anything. Annoyed, he was just about to leave for a forest nearby when a youth blocked his path.

The young man quivering, he rudely pointed his finger at Alexander, parting his trembling lips just after, rage clearly visible inside the depths of his eyes.

"Y-You! You're that bastard from before! The one who tried to kill me!" About to punch Alexander, the man suddenly stopped.

'You stupid disciple! Don't antagonize him here! This is the city, do you want the city lord here to punish you?'

'But master! Doesn't this man also possess that World Seed you were talking about? I am now a second stage Primordial Harmonization Realm expert, how could I lose to him?! So what if the city lord wants to punish me? Does he even have the ability?'

Recognizing the youth, Alexander felt slightly nervous.

'It's that little shit and his overpowered master's soul remnant! This bastard... with how young and dumb he looks I should be able to kill him even with a lower cultivation base, but what about his master? That woman's soul remnant was quite strong back then, if it became even stronger... For now I'll say my chances of winning are fifty percent.'

Unsure, Alexander decided to isolate the surroundings using his Dao of Space, somehow able to reduce the sound emitted in a four meters radius before jumping at the young man without showing explicit hostility.

Noticing Alexander's palm strike closing in on his face, the youth had no time to dodge, his master's beautiful soul remnant blocking the strike for him, or so they thought.

'?!' Seeing Alexander retract his hand just before impact, the woman was astonished.

'This bastard! He was probing me!'

'Hmm~, just about a few percent stronger? This woman's soul remnant barely got any stronger, seems like that idiot took all the resources! Haha! What a great opportunity, let's bait them outside!'

"Huh? Hey! Where are you going?! Come back here!" Not holding the man back, the woman's soul remnant was currently hesitating.

'He is now above in cultivation base, and coupled with my teachings, he should not have any problem... but I somehow have a bad feeling about this... But then that man has a World Seed! Ahhh~!!' Screaming internally, the woman gave in, her greed too strong to protest against.

Some distance away, a young woman in white robes was shook.

'Young master Gwon?' Surprised by the sight of this young talent, the woman sneakily followed after Alexander and Gwon.

After an uneventful chase lasting two hours, Alexander and Gwon were now standing tall on an empty, wide plain. The verdant, short grass jittering, the Heavens covered by sparse clouds, the light of the day dimming, giving way to a darker blue sky, the two men stared at one another intently.

"So you've chosen death without a burial? Or maybe you consider dying in open air as a giant grave?" Scoffing at Gwon's naivety, Alexander chuckled slightly.

"You! Don't think you can get away with this, give me the World Seed and I might spare you today! And if not..."

Frowning, Alexander was curious.

'World Seed? This man seems to know useful information, probably given to him by that woman. I'll just ask her when I'm done with him.' Kicking the ground, Alexander's figure appeared out of nowhere right in front of Gwon.

"What?!" Impressed, or more so scared by Alexander's incredible speed, Gwon had barely enough time to defend, blocking the incoming palm strike with his right forearm.

Shivering as his right forearm fell limply at an unnatural angle, Gwon could no longer remain calm, beads of cold sweat forming.

'I'm fucked?!'