Peacefully cultivating, Alexander was engulfed in a green mist filled with vitality, Heavenly Laws trapped within.

243 World Seeds drained, he felt his bottleneck loosen greatly.

Ready to take the next step, Alexander used his honed cultivation instincts to advance.

The mist absorbed by his internal world, it infiltrated his entire inner world like a tsunami.

Frowning, he felt a sudden connection with the mist be established.

The mist brimming with vitality sunk inside the earth, heading for the depths of his world.

In the meantime, the World Seeds' Heavenly Laws separated from the mist, nourishing the sky.

'This stage is called the World Dominator Stage if I remember correctly? I'm not sure about the name, but from what I see, the major realm above might need a consequent amount of World Seeds...'

Estimating his inner world to currently require less than three thousand World Seeds to be fully upgraded, he however remembered the second stage's name.

'Inner World Expanding Stage! Depending on how much it expands at this stage... I might have to find better ways to obtain World Seeds!'

While most forces would provide their descendants and talents with enough resources to make perfect breakthroughs, some did not. And even more problematic was that peak Greater Existence Realm masters might not even have achieved a perfect breakthrough themselves, reducing greatly the amount of resources required.

The problem it caused Alexander was that he may not be able to steal enough World Seeds for perfect breakthroughs.

'In the worst case I can just cultivate without them, I don't think that I, Alexander, cannot surpass the Martial Dao even without a speck of resources! All that will ever be needed is energy! And from how much Celestial Qi is present, I clearly don't have to worry.'

Focused on his cultivation, Alexander's internal world soon metamorphosed, its aura clearly much more vibrant and healthier.

However, it had still taken him a century to do so.

Exhaling, Alexander opened his eyes.

"Still no Heavenly Tribulation or so called Celestial Tribulation... I feel uneasy, did I succeed?" Inspecting his internal world before clenching his fist tightly, Alexander confirmed his successful breakthrough.

'I still need to assimilate the rest, even if around a century has passed, my cultivation base can still be increased significantly!'

Closing his eyes once more, Alexander resumed his secluded retreat.

Finally, a few decades later, he could feel himself at a new bottleneck.

Clenching his fist tightly once more, he opened his eyes.

'Peak first stage Greater Existence Realm!'

But soon, his mood dampened.

'This major realm is already going crazy with power upgrades each increments! I am around nine times stronger than at the Immortal Sky Realm's peak. I can't deny that the first stage's peak is the same as the second stage's beginning, but still...'

Sending a casual palm strike above, he collapsed the ceiling along the whole underground surroundings.

From outside, one would see the earth suddenly erupt as if a volcano, dirt flung high above mountains.

Now a hole formed, a silver figure could be seen one moment before it vanished in the next.

-----

Flying across the sky, just below the clouds, Alexander was now a shark inside a small sea. But this was not enough safety for him, he must always remain equal to the strongest at least, and the current Alexander did not feel confident in his current status.

Ignoring his mind blowing amount of Celestial Stones, Immortal Gems, Cloud Essences, Tribulation Cloud Essences, Marrahva Crystals and even soul crystals, Alexander estimated his World Seeds to only surpass the five hundred mark, and so barely.

'514 World Seeds... Don't I need nine times the previous stage? I think it was...'

*Shuffle*

Going through his notes, he soon found the right one after a small struggle.

'...2187! Well I suppose that 514 is not enough...' Wondering if he should breakthrough to the second stage on the spot, he decided against it.

'It's better to do everything without too many intervals, each perfect breakthrough requires a minimal amount of progress being made without the use of resources.'

If Alexander decided to reach the second stage with his current World Seeds, he might damage his perfect foundation. While not an issue to him, if he could avoid it, he would. An imperfect foundation was not the end of the world, but would still slow his cultivation speed greatly.

And even if he did so, his cultivation would not go too far, even with 514 World Seeds at his disposal.

-----

Spending a year going back and forth, Alexander had only managed to catch a few talents, most of them already gone home.

'So my total wealth is at... a hundred... a thousand... 1336!' Happy with the result, he was ready to take the next step.

Turning his head around, his eyes shone a black light, soon locating the escaping talents.

'That kid was only a peak Primordial Harmonization Realm brat, but what about his family?' Grinning, Alexander's figure blurred.

-----

Under the gentle night sky, a cobblestone manor could be seen, built on top of a hill. Surrounded by a dark forest, it emanated secluded luxury.

Walking up some stone stairs, illuminated by the front arch's light sources, a young man. His dark green robes hugging his slender body, his black eyes were sunken.

Brushing his short black hair as they were impending his field of view, he finally arrived at the short staircase's summit.

"Young master!" Opening the dark wooden door, an old man in a luxurious suit. As he opened the door, he was utterly surprised from seeing his master's son.

"Did miss Lardia's anniversary banquet end already? Come in!" Bowing respectfully, the servant opened the door wide before standing on the side. Wondering how fast the banquet must have been for his young master to get back home barely two years later, he was truly perplexed.

'The one way trip is a year. Has it even been two years? Did the banquet only last a day?'

Sighing, the young man entered his warm home. Advancing inside the long yet thin corridor.

To his right, a thin staircase, his destination.

"I'm home!" Shouting ever so slightly, a middle aged man and middle aged woman were startled.

About to get up, they heard their child go up the stairs, toward his room.

"Aiz... Our son is a bit grumpy today!" Sighing, the middle aged man sat back down, resuming his read.

'Is he mad that I couldn't attend the banquet with him? I need to do more parent-child activities soon. It is not healthy to be on bad terms with your family...'

Inside his fairly large room, slumped on his bed, the young man felt his stomach grumble.

"Tsk!" In his rebellious phase, the young man was not too happy to see his parents. After more grumbling from the long journey home, the young man gave up, standing up from his bed.

Walking down the stairs, he shouted.

"I'm hungry!" But no one answered.

...

...

"Mom?" Curious, he wondered where his parents had been.

His cultivation instincts kicking in, he frowned.

His heart clenched, he could only take baby steps forward.

Now down the stairs, he headed deeper inside the thin wooden corridor.

*Ba-dum*

Each step he took a true nightmare for his heart.

*Ba-dum!*

Almost at the end of the corridor's lonely structure, he looked left, apprehending the sight.

*Ba-dum!*

Standing there gawking, his eyes wide open at his kitchen, he froze.

In his small white and blue tiled kitchen, his father and mother were there, on the floor.

Bleeding, their eyes were also wide open.

Watching in terror as his parents' seven orifices bled continuously, the young and talented cultivator felt his Martial Heart crack.

He may have been a rebellious young man, but he did love his parents deeply. And as a cultivator half a step away from the Immortal Sky Realm, he knew full well what bleeding in such a manner meant.

Destroyed souls!

*Ba-dum!!*

Raising his gaze from his collapsed, corpses of parents, he glared blankly at a shadowed, white robed figure inspecting some space rings.

Feeling the young man's gaze, Alexander returned the favor, gazing at the young talent as well.

A staring contest ensuing, the lights made Alexander look like a demon, only his eyes clearly visible, the rest covered in shadows.

Parting his lips, Alexander was the first to break the silence.

"Do you also have World Seeds? I need some, these two... hum, your parents I believe? Yeah, they didn't want to give me some, so I had no choice you see."

Trembling, the young man's teeth clattered in powerlessness.

In the end, he could only meekly ask.

"W...Wh... Why..?"

"Why?!!!" Screaming out of nowhere, the young man annoyed Alexander.

"Why? Why don't you ask them yourself?!" His eyes shining a dazzling pale blue light, the young man, still staring at his eyes, felt his soul vibrate.

Blood seeping out of his seven orifices...

...the young man collapsed as well.

Bending over, Alexander retrieved his space ring, soon grumping in annoyance.

"Dirt poor! Were those two really Immortal Sky Realm cultivators? Even after searching the entire place with my Divine Sense, I can't find any more World Seeds..."

Having only obtained 127 World Seeds from this place and its inhabitants, Alexander felt like he was scrapping leftovers.

'What a heart warming reunion!' Chuckling, Alexander walked away, soon exiting the manor, leaving bloody footprints behind.

'I always feel amazing when I kill people without feeling a thing, it reminds me of how far I have crawled, walked and ran.'

Alexander still somewhat remembered his first kill. Even though it was not only justified but also without regrets, he could not stop himself from being sick for months. Having nightmares almost every night.

Yet now, even after seeing genuine love be trampled under his heartless boots, he felt nothing in particular.

It served as a reminder to himself that he had come a long way on the Martial Dao. His Martial Heart firmer than ever.

Gazing at the night sky, Alexander muttered.

"The path's end is still beyond my view, even when I watch the horizon, it is nowhere in sight."

His feet leaving the ground, he flew straight for his next target, his eyes still shining an ominous black light.