The Patriarch waited for them in the hall room, sitting on his giant couch.
The reason he had called them over seemed to be because he wanted to talk about Alexâs time in the Vermilion Birdâs Palace. It specifically had to do with the Daos he had learned.
The Patriarch asked what Dao he had learned, followed by some questions regarding how the Matriarch had treated him. He had received a letter from her, detailing most of his time there as well as his request to keep the knowledge of him being the Sun God a secret.
There wasnât much to talk about afterward, so the Patriarch turned over to Pearl.
"The date for your trial has been decided to be in seven months. Prepare as well as you can until then. I hope you are stronger by then. Things will be dangerous in that trial."
Pearl gave a curt nod. "I will do my best, Patriarch."
The old White Tiger released a breath he had been holding. "That is all for now. I am quite worried about you two. I hope you will prove my worries needless."
"We will do what we can, Patriarch," Alex said.
They were let go afterward, at which point they decided to return to Pearlâs room and wait for Bai Jingshen there.
While waiting, Alex brought out Godslayerâs sword and tried to refine it. Refining the sword wouldnât work since there was no spirit in it to bond to. Even in treasures that were considered to have no spirit, there was always a small one inside, not even enough to be considered nascent.
But this sword had none at all.
It still had a connection to Godslayerâs spirit, so it could not create another spirit as the first one still existed.
Unless Godslayerâs spirit died, it would remain empty, unable to be bonded by anyone else.
Alexâs attempt at refining it was not to bind it, but rather to get used to the Qi-lines that were inside of the sword. Each artifact was different, so he needed to get used to it.
Only, it took him a while to realize just how well-versed he was in this sword.
âOf course,â he thought, finally stopping. âMidnight was but a copy of Godslayer.â
Perhaps not in the physical form, but in the Qi-lines, it very much was a copy. As such, Alex couldnât help but wonder if it wouldâve turned out to be the same as Godslayer had he poured Death and Darkness aura into it.
He didnât know how to use Darkness aura at that time, but with Xue Kuangren constantly getting him to heal his body by drawing out the Death aura, he had plenty to put into the sword.
Could another Godslayer have been born?
Alex didnât believe so. He didnât know the full picture just yet, but he knew the Artifact God had to have done something more than just what he had done when making the sword.
More so than that, Godslayer mentioned something about the metal in the sword itself being quite unique. He wondered what exactly that uniqueness was.
He spent some time with the sword before placing it back into his Soul Space. Then, he just waited in the room with Pearl, talking about the various things they had to do.
Pearl reminded him of what other things were urgent.
He had to find a way to heal Pearlâs Soul. And he had to find a way to return him his bloodline.
Alex finally had the time to think on that for some time. He gave it some thought and came to the conclusion that he could only do it at the same time.
Pearlâs body had no remaining connection to his Azure Dragon bloodline. As such, he could not restore it, in both body and soul. To heal his Soul, he would have to introduce the bloodline first and force his body to create the new connections.
That was, in a way, what Beast Evolution was. They created new connections to a bloodline they didnât previously have. Such a thing was dangerous and could easily lead to death.
But Pearl was going to take on the risk regardless, so Alex had to help him somehow.
âItâs going to be difficult,â he thought.
The other way was perhaps possible as well. To first heal the Soul so that it would accept his bloodline. But... Alex had no idea where to even begin in that regard.
Pearlâs body had long since adapted to his lack of connections. As such, whenever he healed, he healed to a state where his Azure Dragon bloodline didnât exist.
How could he heal the Soul before even forming the connections?
He considered that for some time, but didnât reach any conclusion, as some hours later Bai Jingshen returned.
"Any trouble on the way back?" Bai Jingshen asked as they entered the room.
"No, none," Alex answered.
"What about Scarlet?"
"Sheâs going to enter close cultivation soon, using up her contribution points or whatever to acquire some time-dilated rooms," Alex said.
"Wouldnât it have been better to use yours?" Bai Jingshen asked.
"Yes, but her mother wonât let her go away so easily, so I have to compromise," Alex said. "Besides, she needs to be outside should she end up learning some Dao on the way."
Bai Jingshen nodded. "I found a place as you asked, for the beasts."
Alex smiled. "I heard that. When can we go there?"
Bai Jingshen paused for a moment and shrugged. "Right now is fine," he said. "I will have to talk to a few beasts in regards to the migration. Do you have a general idea of how many beasts we are transferring?"
"Around 2,300, including 400 Saint beasts," Alex said. "Whisker has been readying them for the past few days, so they are ready to move away."
"Thatâs great!" Bai Jingshen turned around. "I will go make the preparations. Shouldnât take more than an hour. When Iâm done, Iâll call you guys and we can leave right away."
Alex thanked Bai Jingshen and let him go.