Witnessing the death of Gregory, the genius of the younger generation, countless spectators broke into an uproar.
"What the hell just happened? How could this happen?!"
"There is no way! This must be fake!"
"I refuse to believe this, Gregory was killed... just like that!?"
Ignoring the loud crowd, some spectators were frowning deeply, staring at Alexander's purple robes in denial.
'Brother Gregory was slain by this fellow... is this man an assassin? Brother Gregory was just a step away from the Grand Tribulation Realm, don't make me laugh!'
Meanwhile, Shao Yang who had recovered from his severed spine, looked at Alexander in shock, but more so in glee.
'Haha! Serves you right Gregory! This is what happens when you get too cocky!'
Leaving the stage, Alexander intentionally let the audience have enough time to remember his features.
Once gone, he headed straight for his residence before shutting himself in once more.
-----
A few months later, all students of the academy knew of Alexander's deed and potential physical appearance. Aware of this, he left his house, taking a stroll outside.
Barely an hour outside, someone recognized him, pointing their finger in his direction while screaming.
"It's him! I'm sure of it! Look, it's the man who killed senior brother Gregory!!"
Hearing such a statement, the entire surrounding crowd turned around, locking their eyes on Alexander.
Smiling, Alexander did not hide, strolling around the area until a white robed youth approached him.
Noticing the black robed middle aged man behind, he scoffed.
'Want to try and punish me?'
"Hey! Are you the one who killed brother Gregory? If you admit your fault and kowtow on the ground ten times, then I won't mind giving a good word for your case!" The young man dressed in white robes did not bother with respect, using Alexander as a scapegoat for his own agenda.
'Gregory, that piece of shit, finally died! Kid, don't blame me, blame your bad luck! I can't be seen taking sides when this idiot perished, or I might get targeted instead!'
Listening to the absurd demands, Alexander snorted.
"The fuck? Is your brain fried or something? You're the one who's going to kowtow! And don't even dream about saving yourself with that black robed idiot behind!"
Flinching, the young man did not expect Alexander's reaction to be so volcanic.
Taking a step forward, he much intended on dealing with Alexander's rudeness, his Star Qi churning madly inside his Starry Core.
However, feeling the sense of dread oozing off of Alexander's body, the black robes middle aged man jumped in between, takng a fighting stance.
"Junior brother Mo, be careful! This man is not so simple!" Releasing his aura at the third stage of the Grand Tribulation Realm, the black robed man visibly hesitated.
'This man makes me feel instinctive wariness. Let's avoid a frontal attack.' Unfortunately for him, in the middle of his thoughts he realized that the silver haired young man before him had somehow vanished.
'The hell?! Where did h-'
His thoughts unfulfilled, the black robed man's head had been slapped face first to the ground below, his spine severed from the immense momentum. On the ground, a spiderweb crack had been formed, pools of blood and pieces of his skull splattered all over the place.
Admiring his new creation, Alexander next stopped looking at the folded man, instead focusing on the terrified white robed youth behind.
"Y-Your excellency! Let's not go too far! I didn't see a thing! I'll even say it was an accident! Please let me li-"
Sighing, Alexander ignored the head rolling on the ground, as he leisurely walked back to his lodging.
During this time, multiple cultivators dressed in black headed straight to the academy's staff sector.
Calling over every staff member of the academy, they soon managed to find the woman who had given Alexander his lodging token.
She was the same woman whom Alexander thought was a puppet.
After a quick investigation, the elders flew straight to Alexander's residence.
Exiting his house, Alexander looked above.
He was immediately greeted by a dozen men and women floating all around him, middle aged and old, with only one woman that appeared young, at least on the outside.
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Scanning them, he scoffed, not understanding why they acted so high and mighty.
"If you want something, then first get down on the ground! I sincerely cannot comprehend how you kids can act like this in front of me, the strongest out of you all is a peak stage Dimensional Dominator."
Frowning, many were taken aback, staring at Alexander with vigilance.
"Your excellency, how could you tell how strong this old master is? Did someone inform you? While I am a popular elder, a new student should not be able to tell."
"Is scanning your cultivation base hard? Even if you were an Overlord, I would still smack you to the ground!"
His eyes serious, the elder in black robes, a golden accent to them, released his aura fully, suddenly unleashing his peak Dimensional Monarch Realm cultivation base on Alexander.
Void cracks and space tears taking shape all around them, they submerged the surroundings.
As the sky's bright white glow darkened, so did the world.
Unfazed by the majestic sight of a Dimensional Dominator's fluctuations of raw might, Alexander slapped the air in front, sending a gust of Star Qi straight to the golden elder.
"Not good!" Narrowing his eyes in apprehension, the elder quickly realized the threat coming off the simple gust of energy.
Dodging to the side, the gust dissipated mid-air, as if it had never been there.
Looking down, the golden elder was spooked.
'What kind of angry ghost is this?! Since when did second grade students become so frightening?'
"Are you really a new student? If you tell me honestly, I'll let your earlier transgression pass!" Trying to bluff his way to a peaceful outcome, the golden elder did not hesitate to lose some meagre face.
"You have eyes, yet are so blind, have ears but cannot hear, and even a mouth that can only fart. You dodged my strike, which means you know how dangerous it was, yet you probably believe it to be an artifact or some other mean. But let's both be honest, you and I know full well that none of you little infants here are my match!"
Near their discussion were countless students that had arrived, all of them wondering what was happening. Thankfully for them however, the low height of the courtyard's walls along the gridded gate gave them a decent view. Not only that, but the many elders floating high above were hard to miss.
"What is going on? How can they fly in here?" A brown robed young man asked in curiosity, just to be slapped at the back of the head soon after.
"Fool! These are elders! With a Heavenly Venerable Realm, Divine Phantasm Realm and Dimensional Monarch Realm cultivation base, how could the academy's arrays stop them?!" The white robed man had his eyes wide open, quickly reprimanding the youth. But he himself could not hide his own disbelief. Who in the academy was brave enough to offend so many elders? One of them was even a golden elder!
To answer his inside turmoil, the young man's subconscious noticed Alexander's figure slowly float higher and higher, quickly leaving the grass below.
"He... he can fly?" Nobody present made a commotion, yet all of them felt even more confusion. The young man with silver hair, that started to float into the sky, for everyone to see, adorned a purple robe.
"This is madness! Since when did Star Emperor Realm cultivators have the ability to bypass the academy's terrifying arrays?!"
But their shock had only started. As many spectators were watching the two imbalanced parties clash using their Star Qi, a young woman in black robes, a silver accent on them, took a step forward.
And another, she kept walking mid-air until the golden elder ended up behind.
Staring at the young man in front of her, she lashed out.
"Little one! Why don't you apologize to elder Cao? He is a powerful Dimensional Monarch Realm powerhouse, and you, a little Star Emperor Realm trash dare to sneak attack him?! Let this elder sister teach you a lesson!" Circulating her Star Qi, the young woman unleashed her Divine Phantasm Realm cultivation base on Alexander, using the more direct [Qi Pressure] to overwhelm him.
A vein bulging from his forehead, Alexander was getting irritated. A fool had rushed to her death, interrupting him to boot, while he was discussing with the golden elder.
"You want to play with aura and pressure?" Smirking, Alexander released his Ascension Realm cultivation base slightly, causing dread to fill the elders' hearts.
But before any of them could come to their senses, they saw Alexander's aura get out of control.
Circulating his Star Qi madly throughout his entire body using critical revolutions, Alexander let the overwhelming accumulation of power escape ever so slightly. The oozing aura quickly reducing the surrounding hundred meters to dust, killing any being present.
This was the higher evolution of the very common [Qi Pressure] called [Qi Overload]. While this technique was almost as commonly known, its effects needed a relatively strong body depending on the power used. In general, using one's full strength with the [Qi Overload] often resulted in damaged meridians and Dantian. While the damage would be at worst impeding, most of the time, only using a few hours would heal any potential wounds.
However, Alexander's body was a Perfected Immortal Body, making him invincible. This obviously meant that using this technique did not have any impact on him, and even if there were, healing would only take a few moments.
So lashing out such a technique so soon was not a problem for him, making all of the cultivators around, both elders and students, feel tremendous fear. The leaking energy emitted from Alexander's body was truly astounding, causing the entire academy to shake, tremors traveling throughout its territory.
Receding, the energies calmed down in a heartbeat, as Alexander looked at each elder with amusement. Locking eyes with the young woman, he pointed his finger at her.
"If you're so strong, then I'm sure you don't mind taking this!" His index finger glowing an bright red, an eerie red laser shot out, piercing everything in its path. Millions of light years into the distance were pierced in a mere moment.
Let alone her, even Alexander himself had a hard time dodging someone attacking with this martial art.
Looking at her heart, the young woman saw a small, perfectly round hole peacefully gushing out blood.
This was one of the movements inside the [13 Divine Martial Arts] gifted to anymore reaching the absolute peak of the Primordial Divinity Realm.
"Maybe one of you know about this? After all, you have at least one Ascension Realm Overlord in this academy, that I am sure of."
Trembling from the deadly laser, the golden elder Cao asked, his voice shaking as well.
"And, what would this technique be called, your excellency?"
Seeing the old man with cupped fists, Alexander scoffed.
"Did none of you hear about the [13 Divine Martial Arts]? This was the seventh technique, named Death."
"Sir, do you mean the martial art gifted by the Heavens? The one where each technique is stronger than the last?"
"That's right, seeing you being half a step away from the Primordial Divinity Realm, you must definitely have heard of it."
Being so close to the next major realm, any cultivator would research about anything remotely important, be it shortcuts, dangers, and much more.
This included information about their abilities. After all, which cultivator was not curious about the next major realm's prowess? This knowledge would often serve as determination on the harsh road ahead.
This was especially true for the higher realms, as each increase in power meant countless benefits, millions of years of life, a multiplication of power, a surge in potential along a myriad of other benefits.