"Oh, Master sent me this message," he said as he read the message on the wooden board. He took the badge off of the wooden board and the message disappeared.
Alex walked to the door and placed his badge on the wooden panel next to the door.
KDAK
The door opened once more. He sent out his spiritual sense to see if there were anyone. After confirming there were none, he turned invisible and activated his Immortal Concealment technique. Once he was basically untraceable, he left the house.
He went onto the main path and started walking upward. Quite a few disciples were walking around, but he managed to pass them without being noticed.
He looked straight at the top and saw a giant building. 'Is that master's building?' he wondered. He walked there without any distractions. After reaching the building, he went through the building to the back.
"Oh, wow" he looked down the mountain to see the sect crater fully lit up, looking extraordinarily brilliant. A person was sitting cross-legged on a giant rock nearby looking at the sect crater in a daze. He seemed to be in his late 40s with a scruffy beard.
The night was dark, but Alex could see the golden linings glittering brightly in the otherwise pale yellow robe.
Alex sent out his spiritual sense to see if anyone else was around, and dropped his invisibility and concealment after not noticing anyone.
"Master, I'm here," he called out to Wen Cheng sitting on top of the giant rock. Wen Cheng looked at him, surprised.
"You arrived much faster than I expected. You didn't let anyone see yourself while coming here, right?" he asked.
"Yes, master. No one saw me."
"Alright, come with me," he took Alex to a lone standing room away from the main building. It looks dirty from the outside, but when he walked in, he was surprised at how well kept it was.
The walls were white all around, while the floors were metallic. He looked at the weird carvings on the floor and asked, "Is there a formation here as well?"
"Yes, there is a formation set to the room that absorbs all sort of energy from escaping the room, including sound energy. So we can practice as much as we want without anybody noticing."
He then turned around to Alex and asked, "So, How did you like the sect? is it better than Hong Wu Sect?"
"It's not bad. although I will have to check it for a little bit longer, but this seems like a good place," he said. They talked for a little longer before Wen Cheng decided it was time to train.
"Alright, are you ready? We will be starting with the basics now. What do you use most? Swords, spears, or some other weapons?" Wen Cheng asked.
"I have a sword that I use, but I'm not a swordsman so I can train in other weapons if need be," Alex said.
"Hmm… since you have that True rank sword, I think it will be better to teach you in sword fighting. Did you get that normal sword I asked Liu Xun to give you?" he asked.
Alex took out the normal sword he got from the young leader of the guards today and showed it to Wen Cheng.
"Alright, let me see how good you are. Come attack me." Wen Cheng said as he got into position.
"Attack you? With the sword?" Alex was surprised. He didn't expect Wen Cheng to immediately start fighting without even giving any training.
"Yeah, attack me. I'm trying to test your limit as a fighter. I can't help you improve if I don't know where you are right now. So just attack me without any reservations. You won't hurt me even if you hit me. Although, don't use any damaging techniques, since I just want to test your martial skills right now."
Wen Cheng's explanation felt reasonable to Alex, so he nodded and readied his sword.
With a single dash, he arrived right in front of his master with the sword halfway through his swing. Without a single worry in his eyes, Wen Cheng simply stepped back and let the sword hit the empty space.
Alex didn't hit his target so he stumbled as his balance nearly destabilized, but he immediately steadied himself and went for a single thrust. This time, Wen Cheng simply brought a sheathed sword and lightly touched the tip of the incoming sword.
The small touch was enough to derail Alex's entire attack, making him miss by a very wide margin. Wen Cheng then thrust his sheath directly into Alex's chest sending him flying.
"This is what happens when you only focus on Alchemy and don't give enough time for normal cultivation. Just two attacks, and it's enough for me to know that you have simply no idea how to fight. No sword style, no footwork, or any other form of martial art. I had expected as such, but seeing you waste your talents still hurts my heart."
"Look at you, you broke through to the 3rd realm two weeks ago when I saw you first, yet you are already at the 5th realm. What people wouldn't give for such a talent, yet you don't even know how to fight. This is too much of a waste."
"Starting tonight, You will have a rigorous training schedule from 9 to 3. You can spend the rest of the time cultivating or doing whatever else you like. I will usually have to do my work as a sect leader during the day, so you will have to practice some stuff on your own during the day."
"Come here," Wen Cheng called Alex towards himself as he too walked next to a wall in the room. Wen Cheng banged twice on the wall and suddenly the wall split open to show a rectangular opening. Wen Cheng took out a metal plate and placed it on the opening.
"Ma Rong mentioned about teaching you a lot of things, but left Spiritual roots mostly untouched. Do you know what they are?" he asked.
"No, Master. Other than the fact that they exist and have something to do with the elements, I know nothing about them." Alex replied honestly.
"I figured as much. Alright then, I guess I will have to start teaching you about it from the very basics."