Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Zhao Boqin nodded at Alex and stood up to leave. "I'll give you an hour. Please try to think within that time. We don't know when we will be sent out," he said before walking away

Alex nodded and got to thinking.

What could he want from this battle? Did he even want anything?

Zhao Boqin used nothing but his spear, so he didn't even know if he had any other artifacts that were not used regularly. If there were, he wouldn't tell him in the first place. 

 He had seen the man use some strong techniques, but none of them would be of much use to him, so he didn't want that. He thought of a few other things he could want from the man, but none of them were as good enough to trade for the Mirror.

The Mirror was an incredible life-saving tool after all.

Far off in the distance, Zhao Boqin watched Alex carefully, waiting for him to accept. He had to accept.

He knew much about the Mirror by now, and how effective the mirror was against even Immortals. There was nothing more he could want.

He thought for a bit and quickly called someone over. An older man with streaks of gray and white on his head walked over. This old man was who had told Zhao Boqin about the mirror.

"You're sure that the Mirror cannot be used more than once right?" he asked in a low voice.

"It can be used once every battle, and each time it has to be prepared for the next fight," the man said. "The king must have had someone prepare it with Immortal Qi, but since that has been used up, he cannot prepare it again."

"And there is no chance of Hongxi helping him, right?" he asked.

"I doubt it," the old man said. "They shouldn't have had contact. Besides, you can use Immortal attacks multiple times, can't you? You won't have to worry."

"You're right," Zhao Boqin said. It was hard to say that he could use his attacks multiple times since he didn't have much Immortal Qi. But he could use it at least 3 times if he held back some Qi.

Holding back would be a bad choice against someone with his own strength, but against someone like Alex who could clearly do nothing about it. "As long as he cannot fight against Immortal Qi, I should be fine."

The old man spoke up to agree but kept quiet when he saw Alex turn toward them. Zhao Boqin looked toward Alex and got up.

"Have you made up a decision, Your Majesty," Zhao Boqin asked in a loud voice.

Alex nodded slowly. "I have come to a decision indeed," he said and slowly made his way toward the man.

Zhao Boqin stood up and met Alex halfway through. "So, what is your decision? Will you accept the bet?" he asked.

"I accepted the bet since the moment you laid it before me," Alex said with a smile. "It was the contents of the bet that was stopping me from going forward fully."

"And what is the content to be?" the man asked. "Your Mirror for…"

"For an oath that you will answer two of my questions clearly and without lie, and not tell anyone else what I asked of you. That is what I desire," Alex said.

The man couldn't help but frown. "Oath? Answers?" he asked, looking surprised. "Can I know the question?" 

"Not until you swear the oath," Alex said.

The man thought for a bit. "There are things I cannot tell you even if I were to wish to. It is against many laws and my own oath to the empire—"

"I won't make you speak of that which you cannot speak about," Alex said. "Do you still wish to continue with the battle?"

The man looked at Alex, wondering what game he was playing. In the end, he saw no reason to not fight. He knew he was going to win anyway. 

"Alright, I accept," the man said. "Should we make the oath to abide by our bets then?"

"Let us do that," Alex said.

Amidst everyone's watch, the two swore their oaths to hold on to each other's demands in the case of either one of them winning.

Things were quite serious at that point, so everyone gathered to watch.

"Since we've made the oath, shall we fight, Your Majesty," Zhao Boqin asked, and Alex agreed.

"Let us fight."

The two flew into the sky, standing on either side.

Zhao Boqin held onto his spear and waited for Alex to bring out his sword as well. To his surprise, Alex didn't bring out his spear at all. Instead, Alex brought out his puppet.

"What are you doing?" Zhao Boqin couldn't help but ask. This was not what he had expected to see happen here.

Alex showed no reaction to the question. He didn't show much reaction to much. The situation had changed.

The reason he wanted to fight the two was to see how far he had come with his Sword and skill. But that had changed. He had gone from wanting to test to wanting to win.

So, he didn't hold back at all.

Zhao Boqin prepared himself as Alex got ready. He watched Alex slam his palm into the puppet and in the next moment, the puppet vanished.

He wondered where it had gone and it was only because of his alertness that he even saw it with his spiritual sense. Somehow, the puppet had arrived behind his back and was already punching him.

He moved forward to dodge, but the puppet still grazed him. The pain that flared in his back was something he hadn't expected to feel from a simple puppet.

He flew forward and turned around, but the puppet was already hot in pursuit. It was next to him even as he turned and punched.

Zhao Boqin used a skill to attack it, but the puppet showed no damage. It took no damage. the man felt his skin go cold as he realized that this puppet was not something he could defeat so easily.