The next day, Anda brought Leyvi to the city center to meet with Mia Fafifa, accompanied by Lin Wei. Following Anda's advice, Lin Wei didn't bring his other two ladies along, ensuring he didn't upset Mia further.
Although Mia was still mostly upset with Lin Wei, she had taken a break from her work to come to New Fork City. After all, who knew how long he would be in the Mystic Realm? She wasn't about to miss the chance to see him before he left.
After spending some time with Mia, Anda and Leyvi excused themselves and went on their own date. They strolled through the bustling streets, enjoying the sights and sounds of the city. Eventually, they stopped at a high-end shop specializing in spirit beast accessories. There, Leyvi finally purchased the most advanced spirit beast bag on the continent—known as the Spirit Beast Portable Sanctuary. The upgrade from his old, cheap-looking bag to a sleek, ball-shaped keychain left his spirit beasts overjoyed.
A spirit beast bag works differently from a space bag. While space bags utilize a time-frozen dimension connected via an inscription symbol, spirit beast bags enhance a demonic beast's innate ability to shrink and enlarge. This allows them to stay in a portable house while shrunk to a tiny size.
The interior of the Spirit Beast Portable Sanctuary was a marvel of craftsmanship. It mimicked various wildlife landscapes, allowing spirit beasts to choose where they wanted to stay. There was even a mansion for those who preferred indoor living, along with numerous facilities designed to help them train. Leyvi was thoroughly impressed by the attention to detail, especially considering how small the bag was.
However, not everyone was satisfied.
"Boss! The grass here is fake! You're so cruel! I was happy for nothing! I can't believe I fell for your trap. As expected of the final villain," Mr. Bison complained through their mental connection.
Leyvi was dumbfounded. No matter what he did, this delusional bison still saw him as the final villain. Maybe I should bonk Mr. Bison continuously until his brain resets, he thought, half-jokingly.
Five days later, an envoy announced that all the groups granted Mystic Realm spots had finally arrived and summoned everyone.
Leyvi immediately stopped his cultivation and exited the large tent along with the others. With so many eyes watching and spying, cultivation was all he could do to pass the time. Leyvi only communicates with his ladies using sound transmissions and without their usual shenanigans to avoid attracting attention and annoying people surrounding them.
While he cultivated, he also did what everyone else was doing—using his 40-kilometer radius spiritual sense to observe the other participants. Everyone was within his range, and he made sure to memorize their faces carefully.
During the few days of spying, Leyvi noticed the Alchemy Association groups from the other regions arriving one after another, with the Central Region group arriving last. He observed that the Alchemy Association Presidents from the other regions all had normal, professional personalities. It seemed President Albert was the only anomaly among them.
What surprised Leyvi the most, however, was spotting a few faces he hadn't expected to see.
The first was a man with long, somewhat unkempt brown hair and a scruffy beard—Asmondol. Leyvi recognized him as one of the participants from the South Region Alchemy Competition seven years ago. Asmondol had started strong but stumbled hard toward the end of the competition. What confused Leyvi was that Asmondol wasn't with an alchemy-related group. Instead, he was part of the South Region Spirit Beast Guild.
At first, Leyvi assumed Asmondol had acquired his spot through an auction, much like how Anda had auctioned off two of their slots. But moments later, he noticed Asmondol carrying a spirit beast bag. This made Leyvi question Asmondol's true profession. Was he an alchemist, a beast tamer, or both?
The second person Leyvi spotted was someone with a hateful face—a man who had once disturbed him and Selene during an auction and later annoyed Anda during the Alchemy Competition. It was none other than Ori Oregano, a man Leyvi knew to be dangerous. According to Anda, Ori had killed many people. Unlike Asmondol, Ori was from the Medicine Valley, a prominent organization in the South Region. Leyvi wasn't too surprised to see that they had managed to secure a few Mystic Realm spots.
What shocked Leyvi, however, was Ori's cultivation realm. He had reached the middle stage of the Core Formation Realm! The last time Leyvi had seen him, Ori was only at the early stage of the Foundation Building Realm—a full stage below Leyvi. Now, he was a stage above Leyvi in a higher cultivation realm. How was this possible? If Leyvi wasn't mistaken, Ori was only 23 years old. Leyvi was baffled. Could Ori be a cultivation genius like Senior Sister June? Was this the reason he always wore that arrogant expression?
Ori Oregano had arrived with a group called the Grand Apothecary Order, an organization dedicated to researching and treating illnesses and diseases. It was clear that the Medicine Valley and the Grand Apothecary Order had a close affiliation, given their overlapping fields of expertise. However, with someone like Ori in their ranks, Leyvi couldn't help but feel skeptical. Are they aware of Ori's personality or not? Hopefully they aren't. If they are, he might not be able to view these people positively. Who knows if they are really saving people?
Lastly, the person Leyvi least expected to see here was someone whose name he encountered every time he summoned the Talent Bead menu: Bellion. He was the young man Leyvi had gifted the formation talent to back at the ruins of the Mystical Array Valley. Leyvi had felt a moment of sympathy and admiration for Bellion, who seemed to be the only disciple of the fallen sect with the determination to revive it. At the time, Leyvi believed the many Child Spirit Peaches he had acquired were once owned by the Mystical Array Valley, and so he felt some obligation to help him.
Now, Bellion had reached the early Core Formation Realm, the same as Leyvi—likely the lowest cultivation stage among the participants entering the Mystic Realm. However, the treatment and attitude he received from his group suggested he held a high status and influence.
Bellion was part of the Magical Inscription Institute, an organization dedicated to studying, discovering, and researching inscription symbols and everything related to them—talismans, arrays, and formations. After some digging, Leyvi learned that the institute had a continental influence similar to the Alchemy Association. Its mission was to unearth young geniuses in the array formation field, and Bellion was one of its rising stars. He had won the South Region Array Formation Competition by a large margin, cementing his reputation as a prodigy.
Leyvi was impressed. As expected of the talent granted by the Talent Bead. If Bellion continued on this path, he would undoubtedly revive the Mystical Array Sect and elevate it to even greater heights.
Returning to the present, all the participants gathered around their designated large tents, looking up at the envoys hovering in the sky. The atmosphere was electric with anticipation.
A Soul Formation envoy scanned the crowd and spoke, his voice carrying authority. "Alright. It looks like everyone is here. But I'm not the one who wants to talk to you right now. It's the Protector in charge of the Mystic Realm event. Protector Alexandra, please take over."
The announcement sent a ripple of excitement through the crowd.
"What? The one in charge of the Mystic Realm is her? That youngest Protector?" someone exclaimed.
"She's not just the youngest Protector—she's the greatest cultivation prodigy in the history of the Cloud Continent!" another added.
"Wow! That's amazing! I wonder what she looks like!"
"She's in the Soul Transformation Realm. Of course, she's going to be a great beauty. That's how it usually is. You only get prettier the higher your realm is."
"No wonder the allocation for Mystic Realm spots this time focused more on young geniuses from all fields. She's a young prodigy herself!"
The crowd buzzed with excitement, their voices rising as they discussed Protector Alexandra. Everyone craned their necks, looking around to see where she would appear.
Even Leyvi and Anda were curious. They had heard about Protector Alexandra a few times before, but this was their first chance to see her in person. Senior Sister June, whom Leyvi considered a monstrous cultivation genius, had once admitted that she was far from Protector Alexandra's level. That alone spoke volumes about the Protector's legendary status.
"Hello, wonderful people. This is Alexandra speaking." An ethereal feminine voice suddenly filled the area, its source impossible to pinpoint. The crowd buzzed with confusion, wondering where Protector Alexandra was. Was she not going to show herself? The realization left many disappointed.
Huh? Can't they see her? Leyvi thought, surprised by the crowd's reactions. He clearly saw a woman standing in the air in front of the other envoys. She wore a conservative yet elegant flowing dress, her platinum blonde hair adorned with exquisitely crafted hair ornaments. A smooth veil covered her face, outlining the shape of her nose and revealing only her clear, piercing eyes and thin, phoenix-like eyebrows. Though her full features were hidden, Leyvi could tell she was a great beauty.
"Anda, do you see her?" Leyvi asked via sound transmission.
"No. What a letdown. I thought I could see my next target," Anda complained, her tone tinged with disappointment.
Leyvi was dumbfounded. What do you mean, 'next target'?