Exiting the city, they walked inside a lush mountain that started barely a few dozen meters away from the city wall.
"Let's not go too far, brother Qiu, we don't want people to never find this place now do we?"
"You're right, it will be boring if nobody comes to our house, then..." Glancing around, taking in the dark green trees everywhere in sight, he turned to Alexander.
"...Should we do it here? It's close, but not that close... as for the house... I'm not sure how to go about this..."
Thinking for a bit, Alexander hesitated.
"I could take out a soul from my Eternal Soul Corridor... but I don't remember where it is... so it could take me a few months to find it."
The Divine Sense of cultivators would grow alongside them, however, past the Dimensional Monarch Realm, no cultivation stage would grow it any further.
Meaning that both Alexander and Qiu Qigang had a Divine Sense almost on par with any Dimensional Monarch Realm experts and above. While their Divine Senses were slightly stronger, it was a negligible difference, making their Divine Senses possess a radius slightly past the five billion galaxies mark. Meaning that they could encompass this many galaxies using only their Divine Sense alone.
At a loss, Qiu Qigang could only give up.
"We are peerless cultivators, we can live in the void of space, so we can also live in a shabby shack. As for how to build one, I'm sure we can do something about it."
As he was about to agree, Alexander had an idea.
"You know what, I'll just transfer a house from my Internal World here! After many historical events there, countless suitable habitations have been abandoned."
Waving his hand, Alexander's stomach lit up, forming a blue portal. From its insides, a structure flew out, landing in front of them, taking root within the soil.
"And done." Smiling, Alexander walked forward leisurely.
Following behind him, Qiu Qigang had a wry smile.
'Alright then, never mind the shack.'
-----
A few weeks later, inside the structure's courtyard, cut grass, bending slightly to the faint wind, was surrounding a round slab of stone.
On top of it, Alexander and Qiu Qigang were sitting on small chairs, drinking from bottles placed on a stone table in between the two of them.
"Tell me brother, since you have broken through to the tenth layer, why are you playing around here? I know you, and that's exactly the reason I'm asking you, I would expect you to rush as fast as possible to the Origin-Tier Worlds and cultivate there." Gulping a few mouthfuls of a bright red liquid, his facial expression was painted from his heartfelt confusion.
"I know... But that's just how things go sometimes, from time to time I want to enjoy my stay here. As for cultivation, I still have quite a bit of Celestial Qi reaching this place. While clearly inferior, it's still enough for now."
"But it's just weird you know! After all, weren't you the guy everyone thought was not interested in love? You kept being in secluded cultivation, almost never leaving! As your brother, I know that it is not true, however, you only ever liked few people. And since your breakthrough to the Divine Phantasm Realm, I don't remember seeing you with anyone!"
Frowning, Alexander poured himself a bit more of the bright red liquid.
"So what? Let them think what they want. I am a peak powerhouse, do I need such things? And even if I want to, is it a good thing?! You know about that, so why are you even asking me this?"
His face turning gloomy, Qiu Qigang lowered his head, looking at the red liquid inside his cup.
Sigh
"I know, brother, I spoke without much thought. Even I... With that, I don't get why I act like this..."
Downing his cup, Qiu Qigang said, extending his empty cup to Alexander.
"Maybe that's why I'm like this, look at how powerful I am, I went through so much! And yet... when that happens... Whatever, I just feel like I wasted my life sometimes..."
Pouring his good friend's cup, Alexander sighed as well.
"Even I am not sure... Am I one of the two? With how many people have already reached the peak, I don't know if I will be chosen..."
Shaking his head, Qiu Qigang's mood brightened.
"Haha! Exactly, who would chose you? I'm miles better! You're just a bit fast with cultivation, but I'm not far behind!" Despite his laughing appearance, Qiu Qigang was still a bit sad inside.
'People think we have it easy... but they don't know how taxing it is mentally... especially when you are strong enough to know about that...'
"Brother Qiu, let's not talk about this for now, we have guests! Let me pour your glass of a bit more Blood Moon Elixir, I know how you love it, if you want to keep the bottle, go ahead!" Standing up, Alexander walked behind Qiu Qigang, toward two wooden doors, six meters tall.
Opening them, Alexander took a step outside, waiting among the singing trees within the obscure forest under the grey clouds.
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'Took them long enough, don't they find it weird how the clouds here are grey and not white, golden or even pink...' While normal for even the middle layer to possess grey clouds, it was rare for them to appear at a specific location and not move. Especially since the surroundings did not adorn any of them.
To his right, a path of gravel fell into the distance. On this same falling path, a group of cultivators could be seen approaching. When they were a few dozen meters away, Alexander payed more attention to them.
'All dressed in black, cultivation averaging the God Realm. Not half-bad for the current middle layer...'
Waiting a moment, until all of them arrived, he watched motionless, as the group of cultivators surrounded him, forming a crescent formation in front of him.
"You weirdos, why have you come to this far land?"
Looking at each other for a bit, they stared at Alexander in confusion.
'You live barely a few hundred meters away from the city walls! What do you mean far land??'
Coughing a couple of times, a tall man marched forward.
"I am the leader here, who are you? We saw the unusual gathering of grey clouds above this forest, do you happen to know anything about it?"
Raising a brow, Alexander seemed to be pondering over the man's words.
"Hmm... No, not really... but I think..."
Interrupting his words, a dozen groups of cultivators flying started to surround Alexander's large house. Before each of these groups' aura, as if torrents of powerful energies, lashed out all around, in an attempt at suppressing every single cultivator not belonging to their own group.
Along the clashing of powerful energies, a few people dressed in different clothing coughed blood, their flying or standing figures falling over.
Alexander noted that each of them were below the Divine Realm.
'No wonder, some of these groups have a True God Realm cultivator amongst them. Last time I checked, the True God Realm was extremely rare, at least for now.'
His aura-less body unmoving, Alexander gathered the attention of the dozens of leaders surrounding his house.
"Who are you kid? This will become a bloody battlefield! So run somewhere else!" A floating old man in sky-blue robes spoke, warning Alexander.
Hearing this, the young experts next to him were frowning. A young man in blue robes could not help himself then.
"Ancestor, no need to be polite with a mortal! We should pay more attention to them." Staring aggressively at the surrounding groups, he followed by waving his hand at Alexander.
Watching the gust of Emperor Qi rush at him, Alexander scoffed.
Dissipating without a trace upon contact, the gust of Emperor Qi did not even move Alexander's white robes.
Such a scene unfolding before the crowd's eyes truly shocked them.
'This man is not simple!'
'Even if it was a casual strike, this gust of Emperor Qi could threaten anyone below the God Realm!'
Not letting the crowd chat anymore, Alexander flicked his wrist, forcing a halberd to appear in his right hand.
The halberd glowed an eerie green, its blade's color a deep black.
"You people came all the way here for treasures, no? So do entertain us, the last group standing will receive this perfected grade Divine-Tier artifact!"
Sensing the powerful waves of fluctuating Emperor Qi, the crowd could tell that the article was genuine, as even the True God Realm experts were frozen in place.
Casually throwing the artifact as if throwing a bone to a bunch of dogs, he waited.
Chaos ensued mere moments later, experts kept falling one after another.
Enjoying the show using their Divine Senses, Alexander and Qiu Qigang were sipping some blood moon elixir around the table. During the many explosions and cries, Alexander had walked back inside, seating once more in front of Qiu Qigang who had yet to move.
"They should be done in a minute." Smelling the flagrance oozing out of his drink, Qiu Qigang remarked.
"Indeed, they don't even pay attention to us. Wasn't there..." Pondering, Alexander soon found his next words.
"Ah yes! Men die for wealth just as birds die for food! I think? Something like that, anyway, the last group is done. What do we do? While the artifact is worthless, should we let them go, or have fun tormenting them?"
Raising his brows, Qiu Qigang had a hard time deciding.
"I'm not sure... how about we invite them in, and then see."
"Brother Qiu always knows what to do!" Smiling, Alexander nodded.
"You all outside, if you're done, then do come in!" His voice reverberating, he waved his hand, opening the gates leading to the courtyard.
Entering cautiously, the group of people, their robes shades of blue, were wondering which expert was secluded here.
After a few seconds, they noticed the both of them, seated peacefully.
Cupping his fists, the old man in sky-blue robes Alexander had seen spoke respectfully.
"Senior, I wonder why you would invite these lowly ones here. This junior is certainly curious!"
Surprised by the shameless old man, lowering his head before even assessing their strength, Alexander and Qiu Qigang raised their brows.
"I thought you told me to run? Why act like this now? You two-faced little rat?" Jokingly playing with the old man, Alexander did not intend to hide anything.
Turning pale, the old man took another look at Alexander's features. Trying his best to remember the 'mortal' he had seen earlier, he soon turned a shade paler, clearly remembering his disrespectful words.
"Senior! Please be understanding! This lowly one was mistaken, not being able to see through your bondless cultivation, this one is truly ashamed! If I have offended senior, then I will certainly make amends!" Trying his best at bootlicking, the old man did not care about the red faces of the juniors beside him.
"Ancestor, why apologize like this?! You are the venerable ancestor of our Immortal Feather Sect! As a True God Realm powerhouse, why give so much face to two mortals!?" Incredulity coloring his face, the young man in blue robes next to him had already said words that could not be taken back.
Flinching, the old man immediately slapped the young man's head.
"You moron! These two seniors are peerless experts! Why must you go and open your mouth like this?! Are you trying to kill all of us??"
His eyes wide, the old man almost spat on the young man from anger.
Bowing, the old man was even more respectful as he apologized.
"These two seniors, please do not mind the words of ignorance from the younger generation, he has always been rash and blind. If the seniors have any instruction, please do tell!"
Looking at each other, both Alexander and Qiu Qigang were speechless.
"It's fine, you have won that halberd, and since you are so flexible, let's give you a trial. After all, you still looked down on me earlier." A smirk already present, Alexander did not intend to let the old man go so easily.
"Please, senior, no matter what it is, this old man will bear the consequences!"
"Don't worry, for a True God Realm cultivator, it's just a trivial thing." Waving his hand, Alexander sent a gust of Emperor Qi at lightning speed, making use of a sharp turn, the gust of Emperor Qi ended up hitting the old man's spine, snapping it in half on the spot.
"Argh!" Kneeling, the old man's body had truly become a gruesome sight. His back was bent backward, with his head touching his legs.
"Oh, since you were so flexible with your attitude, I wanted to test it, seems like you're not that flexible in the end!" Shaking his head, Alexander sipped on his drink, much to Qiu Qigang's entertainment.
Groaning in pain, the old man quickly managed to heal his injury. Though the Emperor Qi inside was still making things difficult for him, he estimated that a few hundred years would be needed to remove all of it.
'Why would he think of that, so what if I'm 'flexible', isn't it figurative? So why break my back?!' Cursing, the old man had no choice but to ask the members of his group to escort him out.
Laughing, Qiu Qigang eagerly waited for his turn the next day.