"Your Majesty, welcome to this one's humble kingdom," Long Weiyuan, the King of the Azure Kingdom spoke happily after seeing Alex and the rest arrived in the Blueheart city.
"King Weiyuan," Alex spoke. "It's been a while."
"It has indeed, your majesty," the king said. "How have you been?"
The thin man with silky black hair was full of smiles when meeting Alex again. He somehow looked both young and old at the same time.
It was as if he was an old man that was forcing himself to remain youthful using external means.
Alex knew that the 5 kings from the other kingdoms were killed and replaced. He wondered what the situation was with the king of the Azure Kingdom.
He hadn't read about it planning on going through a coup, so he assumed it was all the same from the very start. Except the name of the capital city changing to one that suited the changes that took place over 4 thousand years ago, he didn't expect anything else to have changed here.
Long Weiyuan was the son of the son of the sister of the Dragon Emperor before the current one. His mother was a direct cousin to the current Dragon Emperor and thus he had managed to find himself a throne in this kingdom.
The group got into a carriage and started making their way to the palace of the Azure King.
"What brought you here, your majesty?" Long Weiyuan asked. "I was quite surprised to hear that you would be coming."
"Can I not come?" Alex asked jokingly.
"You know that is not what I mean, your Majesty," the king said. "With the Gold Auction so close, I had assumed you wuld go there before coming here."
"That was my first thought as well," Alex said. "I had no intention of coming here at all, not this soon. But, when I thought about it more practically, I realized that I was going to be wasting my time in the Gold Kingdom if I went there this early."
"I didn't want to spend my time visiting random cities when I was just back from doing the same, so I wanted to do something more productive," Alex said. "And the closest location where I could be productive was here."
"I see," the King said. "Your highness much wish to enter the Boundless Enlightenment Domain."
Alex nodded. "That is what I wanted to do. I'm not sure how useful a month in there would be, but at least I would be using my time for something productive."
"Certainly," the King said. "The Enlightenment domain isn't really about the time you spend in there, so a month should be enough time for you to learn for there."
"I know that it depends on how well I understand what I view in there," Alex smiled. "It's just that I intend to view a lot of different things."
"I would suggest against that," the king said. "At least don't view all one after another. Its better to stick to one until you make some progress before moving to the next one."
"Of course," Alex said.
"Still, you will be spending a month in there," the king said. "I don't know if your Majesty is aware of this or not, but the Boundless Enlightenment Realm is very expensive ot go in and out, so most people only enter for a few days at most as it eats up a fortune."
"Not for me, right?" Alex smiled.
"Of course not," the King laughed along with the others.
They started talking about various things as Alex looked around at the city. It seemed people weren't aware of his arrival just yet, so the newsboard said nothing at all.
Instead, the news boards were full of news about the Golden Auction as it was being advertised a lot. It was relatively new news, so it was being spread as much as possible.
As they talked, the king suddenly stopped and pointed. "Look your majesty, that is the gem of our kingdom," he said.
Alex turned back and saw a massive sea-sized sapphire lake in the distance that glittered with the golden light of the morning.
"Is that…"
"The Azure Lake," the king said with a reverent look. "That is the lake that was created by the first Azure Dragon using secret treasures from the Immortal realm."
"If you ever feel your heart growing uneasy, I suggest you visit the lake, your Majesty. I'm certain the serene atmosphere will help you a lot," the king said.
"Is that so?" Alex said, looking at the Azure Lake from afar. "I will have to remember that then."
A few houses quickly passed by and blocked the view. The road winded away from that location and the lake was no longer viewable from where they were.
Since the lake was gone, their conversation went back to normal.
"Are you by chance married?" Alex asked the king.
"I am married," the king said. "Although I do not know if you will be able to meet the queen. She is in closed cultivation, and will be there for a few months."
"I see," Alex said as a thought grew in his head. "Do you have children then?"
"No," the king said.
Alex's eyes widened. "Are you perhaps not allowed to have children as well?" he asked. "Like the other kings?"
"Oh, no no, I have no such obligations," the king said. "I just feel like I am young. I do not wish to have children just yet. Maybe in a few centuries."
"I see," Alex said. 'So, it must just be the other kings that have this obligation. This king probably didn't have to give up on things like the other ones.'
He recognized the situation and stopped asking questions about it any further and started speaking about his own experience in the other kingdom.
"Oh, you went to the Beast Paradise? I hear they accept no humans anymore," the King said.
"I went with the Crown Prince and stayed there for 3 quarters of a year before returning two months ago," Alex said.
"Oh wait, the Crown Prince did mention that. I am stupid and forgot," the King said.
"Oh, has the Crown Prince been here? Last I heard, he was busy with some military stuff in the Ebony kingdom," Alex said.
"Yes, he came here about a year ago and mentioned it," the King said. "It was information in passing, so I didn't really think much of it at the time."
"I see," Alex said. 'The Crown Prince visits this place, huh?'
The carriage went on to a more sparse section of the city as it got closer to the Palace.
When they arrived at the palace, Alex noticed the Azure Dragon imagery that was used there as well. He walked through the gate with the King and made his way into the palace.
Just as he was entering, a woman came out from the palace, seemingly in a hurry.
She stopped when she saw Alex and the others. It took her a moment to recognize Alex before she quickly bowed.
"King Alex," she spoke with a hint of surprise in her voice. "My sincere greetings."
Alex smiled. "I did not expect to see you here at all, lady Zhan."
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