Alex noticed Wu Tanglan following at a distance and ignored him. He knew what the monkey planned. It was obvious. He just had to make sure what the monkey planned didn't come to pass.

He continued going around the forest in a circle, or more accurately, a spiral, taking his time as he gathered everything the forest had to offer. Since he had plenty of hours to spare, he planned on gathering everything right until the very end.

Scarlet and Pearl took great care to watch where they stepped, as they did not want to get poisoned if it was possible to avoid it.

"Can't we go back to the edge and wait there?" Scarlet asked with a hint of annoyance. "We can follow you in after you've taken everything. Wouldn't that be better?"

Pearl felt the same.

"You want to wait until I've opened up everything for Wu Tanglan to sneak through?" Alex asked, which caused the two to shrink a little.

"I don't see what we're going to do anyway. One of us should at least remain back. I am fine with giving up now," Scarlet said.

"Again, I have a plan. Trust me."

He glanced toward Wu Tanglan, who did nothing whatsoever to hide the fact that he was following them. Seeing Alex turn around, he even spoke up.

"Can you hurry up a little? I need to get to the center faster."

Alex shook his head, continuing.

Wu Tanglan laughed, finding Alex's dissatisfaction funny. "Where did you even learn to be this good at gathering poison plants? I'm surprised you haven't been poisoned once this entire time."

Alex could only imagine what the beast would think if he could see how much poison he was constantly destroying within his body. "I am an alchemist," he spoke up. "I'm used to working with poisons and know my way around them."

"Oh! An alchemist, huh?" the monkey said. "Our family has a few alchemy gardens too. Do you want to work in them?"

Alex turned around. "I thought you hated me? Didn't you say something about me having to wait until the trials were over?"

Wu Tanglan laughed. "That's a thing of the past. You're helping me pass the 8th trial. That is enough to gain my favor back again. So, what do you think? Do you want the job? Our family doesn't shy away from accepting humans either."

"The Wu Family, was it?" Alex asked. "Ruler of the Second Scar?"

"That's right," Wu Tanglan said proudly.

"I heard you guys came to power relatively recently," Alex said. "Were you alive back when it happened?"

"You're talking about the war?" the monkey asked. "Yes, I was alive. I was only an Immortal, but I witnessed everything. My father was one of the generals in the war."

"Why did you overthrow them?" Alex asked. "What did they do?"

The monkey didn't immediately answer, and for a moment Alex even wondered if he had crossed a line. When he turned around to see, however, the monkey was silently laughing.

"They did the ultimate crime that any cultivator worth their salt knows one shouldn't do," the monkey said.

Alex grew curious. "And that is?"

"Hold wealth without power."

Pearl was taken aback by Wu Tanglan's words. "Are you saying the previous royal family had some sort of treasure that you guys went to fight over?"

"Not real treasure. They had influence, respect. They ruled over a continent, everyone's fate in their hands. All that, and without a single Celestial realm cultivator. That could not be allowed. We took the burden away from them."

"Oh!" Scarlet spoke up. "I remember now. I think I heard about this a long time ago. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the war that started because someone in the previous royal family was about to break through to the Celestial realm? I remember grandfather talking about the new royal family getting rid of the old one before they could get a new Celestial."

Wu Tanglan's face fell slightly, not appreciating how the news of the events wasn't to his narrative. A strong power taking over a weaker power was a matter of course. But a strong power destroying the weaker power because it was gaining strength was something that was completely different and looked down upon.

"I hear the people of the Twin Scar realm still don't fully accept your authority," Scarlet said. "Don't your people have a prophecy of some sort too? Something about the old royal family coming to power and getting rid of the new one?"

The monkey harrumphed loudly. "The prophecy of the Promised Prince. That's nothing more than a bedtime story created by people of the old regime who could not get past the fact that every one of the previous royal family was dead. Not a single soul remains, so they can do nothing but resort to stories."

Scarlet said nothing, turning back around.

Alex wanted to keep asking questions, but the moment had passed. Any question he asked now would only agitate the monkey even further, so he decided to just focus on the task at hand.

He looked forward and continued gathering all the poison plants, this time at a much faster rate. Time passed quickly, which neither Pearl nor Scarlet could tell since there was no day or night cycle within the Talon.

So, they had to rely on Alex to tell them exactly how long it was before the trial would come to an end.

There were 8 more hours. Then 6. Five hours remaining and then 4. Then 3. And 2.

And 1.

As the minutes of the last hour counted down, Alex alerted both Pearl and Scarlet. He had been keeping an eye on Wu Tanglan, and he knew the monkey would rush at any moment now.

He talked to the two through their bond.

"Take out your pills and eat them."

Scarlet and Pearl did not question him and immediately ate their pills.

Wu Tanglan noticed, narrowing his eyes.

Alex grimaced inwardly. Now came the hard part.

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