"Before I obtained the Vault of Divine Blade Heart, I had many sincere friends, like Senior Sister Isolde and the others, who cared about me from the bottom of their hearts."

"But now that I possess the Vault of Divine Blade Heart, my surroundings are piled high with a massive group of bootlickers and sycophants. They only pretend to care about me because I possess it, but in reality, they do not care about my life or death at all."

"Dealing with these people every day truly makes me both exhausted and disgusted!"

Seeing Aya’s appearance full of vexation, Alex’s expression was somewhat complicated.

Aya realized she had said the wrong thing and hurriedly explained. "Junior Brother Taryn, do not misunderstand! I am not blaming you for specifically yielding this Vault of Divine Blade Heart to me back then. It is just..." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Seeing her nervous, incoherent appearance, Alex could not help but laugh. "Senior Sister Aya, you do not need to say it. I understand."

"But in fact, sycophantic villains and sincere friends do not conflict. Because your surroundings were already gathered full of sycophants and bootlickers from the start. They were just disguised on ordinary days."

"After possessing the Vault of Divine Blade Heart, it instead allowed you to clearly see the true faces of these people, saving you from wasting your feelings trying to build sincere relationships with them in the future."

"Is that not quite good?"

Aya froze for a moment, nodding thoughtfully. "Right... that seems to make sense..."

"Besides, it is not like you have no sincere friends here at Broken Sword Peak." Alex smiled faintly.

"Am I not your friend?"

Hearing these words, Aya was so moved that the tip of her nose felt slightly sour, and she almost shed tears.

Since coming to Broken Sword Peak, she had also doubted and wavered. Giving up her excellent prospects to follow Taryn to Broken Sword Peak, was it ultimately right or wrong?

Admittedly, her arrival had made the major elders flock over, indirectly causing Broken Sword Peak to be revitalized.

But if she had chosen Spirit Artisan Peak or Hundred Souls Peak back then, would she have better prospects now?

At this moment, after hearing Alex’s words, the wavering and suspicion in her heart instantly crumbled and melted away.

Sure enough, following Junior Brother Taryn to Broken Sword Peak was the most correct choice she could have made.

"Junior Brother Taryn, you must be hungry, right? I will go make some venison for you right now!"

"No, no, no, I have had enough venison, please absolutely do not go through the trouble!"

Over the past few days, Alex had attended banquets at the Heavenly Flame Dynasty, managed the Heaven Sacrifice Ceremony, cultivated the Immovable Lord Technique, and refined the Demonic Flood Dragon’s blood and body.

He was truly exhausted to the bone, he needed to return to his own worldly paradise and properly rest for a few days.

In the evening, Aya made a few side dishes and warmed a pot of wine. She was sitting together with Alex in the cave dwelling, drinking and chatting.

Suddenly, Sylra walked in with wide strides from outside, his face fuming with a rage that seemed to pierce the heavens.

"I am furious, I am absolutely furious! Damn it, it is pissing this old man off!"

Seeing Sylra’s furious appearance, Aya immediately stood up.

"Senior Sylra, what is wrong?"

Alex, however, merely glanced at him and silently drank his wine, too lazy to even pay attention.

Sylra was currently the oldest and most senior figure in the Divine Blade Sect, his emotional control was incredibly stable. Even if angry to the extreme, he would definitely just remain gloomy and silent.

To show such a loss of composure, there could only be one possibility.

Mhm, it was hundred percent faked.

Fortunately, Aya picked up the conversation, giving Sylra a step down so he could continue his act.

"Aya, this old man just went to Spirit Artisan Peak to attend a meeting to discuss the Elemental Trial. And guess what? Those few old geezers actually disagreed with our Broken Sword Peak participating!"

"What?" Aya froze slightly, instantly filled with righteous indignation.

"On what grounds?! Not to mention that our Broken Sword Peak has been revitalized and our strength is not the slightest bit weaker than the other peaks."

"Even if we had not been revitalized, we are still one of the ten great main peaks. On what grounds are we not allowed to participate?"

"You are absolutely right!" Sylra nodded indignantly.

"This old man flew into a rage on the spot and argued strongly with them. Only then did they finally compromise and permit our Broken Sword Peak to send one person to participate!"

"Hmph, those people are simply bullying us too much!" Aya was ultimately still young, easily led by the nose by Sylra. She patted her chest and said loudly.

"Senior Sylra, leave this matter to me! I will defeat all the other opponents, snatch back the championship, and ruthlessly slap their faces!"

Sylra suddenly sighed, saying bitterly. "Aya, very regrettably, you cannot participate."

"The minimum requirement for their compromise was that you are not allowed to represent Broken Sword Peak. Because you possess the Vault of Divine Blade Heart, they all believe that if you participate, their disciples would have absolutely no chance."

"These people are simply pushing us too far!" Aya said indignantly.

"I am also a member of the Divine Blade Sect. On what grounds am I not allowed to participate?"

She was angry for a moment, then suddenly thought of something, revealing a look of excitement.

"Senior Sylra, it does not matter! Since they only said I am not allowed to participate, then we can just let Junior Brother Taryn participate, right? He was the champion of the entrance examination back then."

"Defeating the people from the other peaks will be a piece of cake!"

"If we send Junior Brother Taryn, he will definitely win the championship of the Elemental Trial and fiercely fight for a breath of pride for us!"

Sylra’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly nodded with an excited smile. "You are exactly right!"