The Messenger of Death

"Wow… that would be awesome. Finally, wait, I thought that I would have to make it to the Nirvana realm before you let me cultivate martial skills from your clan?" Alex looked at her skeptically.

He was wondering if she lied to him about that.

"Yeah, you do. That is still the bare minimum, but with the Midas petal with you, do you think that it would be a problem for you to reach that cultivation in a short time." Nana smirked at him.

"What about solidifying my foundation first?"

"I will help you with that. Previously, I wanted you to learn how to do that yourself, however, I need you to absorb the petal. The longer you have it with you, that's how long you will be a target to those that want the petal. Meaning that people from the celestial realm, even those that are not from my clan will come after you."

Nana wasn't afraid of trouble, what she wanted to avoid was the royal families targeting Alex. When it came to the royals, she has always been careful and vigilant.

"I didn't think of it that way." Alex too could see that there was a target on his back and if he didn't get rid of it quickly, those that are shooting at him will hit their marks.

"Before we, or I, use the Midas petal. I wanted to ask you for a favor or three."

"Favors, go on, let me hear what it is that you want." Nana placed her hands on her waist as she waited for Alex to make his request.

"Before I do anything, I want to increase the purity of my bloodlines." He stated.

"So… you need bloodstones? Although they are rare, I should be able to get my hands on one or two if I really search for it." She uttered.

"No, I don't need bloodstones, I have quite a few of those."

"Oh, you do. Then what is it that you need from me, is there something special about your own purification?"

"Something of the sort. Here's how it is..." Alex proceeded to explain to her.

He told her the same thing that Mr. Guardian thought. That because of the multiple bloodlines in him, he wouldn't be able to use the bloodstones like that. Then he told her about some made-up dangers that might take place if he tried to use the bloodstone the same way other people did.

"Then what is it exactly that you need for the purification?" Nana wondered, although she wasn't a bloodline bearer she knew about bloodlines.

Alex relayed to her what Mr. Guardian said to him, and then he told her about the sutra that was giving to him.

Nana frowned after she listened to his narration, she was starting to feel displeased with what has been happening. Not at Alex, but the guardian of the petal.

"He gave you the petal for free too?" She blurted out.

Alex nodded in response to her question. "Why does he keep doing things for you? Are you his relative in some kind of way or is he trying to steal you from me and make you his disciple by giving you all of these, for free?"

She began feeling uneasy about the guardian of the petal.

Alex could see the uneasiness on Nana's face, he could tell that she didn't like what he said but he wasn't sure what exactly she didn't like.

"I think it's because he knows that I possess the bloodline of more than one dragon. He sees a lot of potential in me and wants to help me get stronger."

"I see a lot of potential in you and that's why I took you in as my disciple. Can't you see that the guardian is trying to take you as his own disciple?" Nana jumped to a conclusion.

"Huh? What?" Alex was thrown off by her sudden conclusion.

['Is she jealous?'] He wondered.

['I think so.'] Al muttered.

['But why?'] Alex questioned.

['If only we knew the answers to that.']

"Let's go, I'll help with this because I am your master. Remember this, I was the one that helped you, not that guardian." Nana held Alex's collar and raised him off the ground as she brought his face next to hers.

['She seemed to have gotten angrier than before.'] Al pointed out.

['No sh*t Sherlock!!'] Alex replied in fear of what Nana was going to do in her angered state.

"Yes ma'am," Alex answered.

"Good."

-Whoosh.

Nana took him along to where she had in mind.

Moments later, Alex and Nana appeared above a volcano. They were still in the ordain plain realm.

Nana didn't want to take Alex to the celestial plain realm yet, because he was a wanted man and also because she knew that he wouldn't be able to withstand whatever the celestial plain realm has to offer.

"Where are we?" Alex questioned. Nana was still using the collar of his shirt told him as the two of them were several meters in the sky.

"Look down and check for yourself." She replied curtly.

He did as she said and looked below. "A volcano it is…" he whispered.

Before he could rethink his decision about purifying bloodline, Nana descended into the volcano. Upon entry, Alex could feel the change of temperature and it wasn't uncomfortable to him.

Nana created a little island, with ice. Whenever the magma came in contact with her ice, it wasn't capable of melting it one bit. It was like there was nothing there like the magma chose to ignore the island made of ice.

The two of them landed on this little ice island. "Check it, if it's enough for your purification process." She growled as she spoke.

Alex bent and was about to place one of his fingers in the magma, but he got cold feet.

['Wait, this is magma. I can't just place my finger into it.'] He thought.

Before Alex could retreat, Nana pushed him into the river of magma. "You have the blood of a dragon coursing through your veins and you are scared of touching magma. Hmph!! Disgrace."

"Argh!!" Alex surfaced and began screaming, not because the magma was hot. In fact, to him, it was just the right temperature for him.

"Shut up! It's not that hot!" Nana shouted at him.

Alex only realized that it wasn't that hot when he heard Nana say it. He stopped screaming and looked around him.

['Only my clothes are being affected by the magma, this is no different from a warm bath. I guess I was having cold feet for no reason.'] He thought.

"Is it alright for your purification process?" Nana asked.

"I don't think so, the guardian did say that it would be better if the environment I chose is unbearable for me. It would help the purification process.

"That guardian again? Guardian this, guardian that, what about Nana?" She fumed.

Before Alex could react, Nana dragged him deeper into the magma.

-Boom!!

She destroyed everything in their way as they made their way to the deepest part of the volcano.

Suddenly Nana stopped moving towards the deepest part of the volcano, this time she didn't create any island. She stayed midair and threw Alex into the magma.

Alex wasn't afraid this time, he was ready to enter the magma. He didn't think that there would be anything different with the magma here and the one that she pushed him into.

-Splash!!

Alex dropped into the magma.

"Argh!!" He began screaming his lungs out.

The magma here was completely different from the first one that she pushed him into.

Nana looked down at him as he cried out in pain. "The place is close to the core of the volcano, and the magma here has been active for many years. Coursing and mixing with the QI around this part, making it different from the one that you fell into on the surface. The magma up there was just magma, the one here is magma with QI." She explained.

"Since you asked for unbearable, this should be enough." She added.

"Argh!!!" He continued screaming.

"Shut up and begin reciting the sutra that the guardian gave to you!!" Nana bellowed.

Alex could hear her as she was speaking, but he couldn't bring himself to concentrate.

['Switch with me rabbit, I'll do this myself.'] Al uttered gently. He could tell that Alex was going through excruciating pain.

His skin had already burnt off completely and his meat and tendons were going through the same, slowly.

-Switch.

"Ahh!!" Immediately Al took over, he continued shouting the same way Alex was.

He forced himself to recall the sutra and slowly, he started to recite it, word afterword. After he had recited the first two lines of the sutra, he was finally able to ignore the pain that he was feeling and focus on what was important at the moment.

As if the magma was aware that there was someone in it, and that person had stopped crying but was still alive. The river of magma that Al was in, started to get hotter than it was…