Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

I swear to the heavens to protect this empire from any threat it may face. I swear to the heavens to serve the people of this empire and keep them safe from any harm the others may cause. I swear to the heavens to be lawful and enforce the law of the empire. I swear to the heavens to above always follow and obey the Emperor.

Alex read the words that hung in the air in front of them all. The information outside only said what the oath was about, not what it exactly was.

Only now did Alex get the exact oath he was meant to say to become a Lightsworn.

I swear to the heavens to protect this empire from any threat it may face.

That part of the oath felt fine for him. After all, as Lightsworn they were meant to protect the empire.

I swear to the heavens to serve the people of this empire and keep them safe from any harm the others may cause.

This was like the job of a normal police officer back in the central continent: serve and protect. It made sense why one would make such a vow.

I swear to the heavens to be lawful and enforce the law of the empire.

That oath was fine for the most part, except if there was ever a law change. What would Alex do if they changed the law to something worse?

'It's highly unlikely that would happen,' Alex thought and finally focused on the final part.

I swear to the heavens to above all always follow and obey the Emperor.

That, to him, felt like the most suspicious part of the oath. Follow and obey the Emperor? What if the emperor told him to go kill innocent folks? What if the emperor changed and it was now some douche?

And he had to obey the Emperor above all? The previous Oaths would mean nothing if the order came from the emperor directly. That let him use the Lightsworns as his personal group of slaves.

It was probably true that the Emperor wasn't the sort of person who would do such a thing. However, it still didn't help the fact that there were possibilities.

Alex fell into a dilemma on whether to say the oaths or not. Perhaps the dilemma would have been less hard on him if there was a way to get out of the oath through a sort of time limit or someone letting him free from the oath.

However, there was no such thing.

The only way Alex saw getting out of the oath was by leaving the Empire entirely or going to the forests to live like a hermit.

"I swear to the heavens…" One of the men close to him started saying his oath and soon the others followed suit.

The people around the room that were not the newcomers kept a close watch on who said the oath and who didn't.

Soon, aside from a few including Alex, everyone said the oaths.

"If you do not want to say the oaths, we understand. You are free to leave," the man in the front of them all spoke to the remaining few.

Half of them immediately bowed and left with no hesitation. The other half, including Alex, still couldn't decide.

In the end, all of them, except Alex, made a choice. Now, only Alex remained.

He looked at the oaths once more and thought of the things he would have to do. Then, he thought of the things he would likely obtain.

His arm.

"Are you saying it or not?" the man asked Alex.

Alex took a deep breath. 'Screw it. If anything bad happens, I will just leave this Empire,' he thought and opened his mouth.

"I—"

"I wouldn't say that if I were you," a voice spoke from next to him as a hand appeared around his shoulders.

The voice felt… familiar.

Alex quickly turned around to look at the new arriver. It was a young man that wore a stark white robe and had a head full of long golden hair that ended on black tips.

He had circular earrings with wavy spikes poking out from every side, and a smile hung on his face as if it were an accessory of its own.

"Brother Shen!" Alex called out in both shock and joy. "What are you doing here?"

"You should have let me know if you were alive. Why didn't you come to find me?" he asked.

"I—"

"Hey! Who are you?" the people in the room were now staring at them.

Shen Jing slowly turned his head towards the man in front of them all and brought his hand up to his face before putting a single finger on his lips.

"Ssshh," he sounded.

Suddenly, the whole room went silent. It wasn't just silent but rather suppressed. Every single person in the room could feel a pressure on them that they had never felt before.

"I'm talking here, so it would do you good if you kept quiet for a bit," Shen Jing said and turned back around to Alex.

"So? Why didn't you come to find me?" he asked.

"Come where?" Alex asked. "Brother Shen, I don't know where you live. Hell, I don't even know who you really are."

"Ah, right," Shen Jing said as he scratched his chin. "That's a problem, isn't it? Unfortunately, it is going to have to stay that way. So? Are you okay? How's Pearl?"

"We're doing fine," Alex said. "How did you find me?"

"I found you earlier this week," Shen Jing said. "I wanted to go talk to you, but you instead teleported away to who knows where."

"I had to go around the Empire searching for you and I only found you here this morning," Shen Jing said.

"Eh? Why didn't you just ask the people where I was teleported to?" Alex asked.

"I could do that? Ahem, Let's not talk about that," Shen Jing said and looked to the screen with the oath.

"They are making you say an oath?" Shen Jing asked.

"Yes," Alex said. "I will finally be a member of the Lightsworns after I finish saying the oath."

"I heard these people say the oath," Shen Jing said. "It wasn't a bad oath, but there were too many loopholes one could exploit. You are better off not saying it."

Alex gave a dejected look at that.

"What's wrong?" Shen Jing caught his sad face.

"Well, if I don't say that, I won't be a Lightsworn," Alex said.

"Why do you want to be an Empire's lapdog in the first place?" Shen Jing asked.

"I told you before, brother Shen. After becoming a Lightsworn, I will have a chance to meet with the princess and use her healing crystal to see if I can get my arm back," he said.

"Ah, right. You did say that before," Shen Jing said. "So why bother with this oath? Let's just go meet with the princess and be done with."

"Meet the princess?" Alex was shocked at the boldness.

"Yes, where is she?" Shen Jing asked.

Alex shook his head. "I don't know," he said.

"What does she look like?" Shen Jing asked.

Alex shook his head again. He really did not know anything about the princess.

Shen Jing turned his head at the man whose eyes were wide with shock and fear still. A single call for silence had left him reeling in fear.

"You! Where's the princess?" he asked.

"I…I do not know, senior," the man barely spoke up.

"Anyone here knows anything about the princess?" Shen Jing asked. However, not a single soul answered.

Shen Jing shook his head and sighed. "Well, this isn't working," he said.

"What do we do then?" Alex asked.

"Well, one person should be able to help us for sure," Shen Jing said.

"WhoooOOO…" Alex couldn't finish his words before he was picked up and taken away somewhere.

When his blurry vision became normal again, he was in the middle of a large hall with a very tall ceiling.

The entrance was behind him with large doors made of the most exquisite wood out there. The pillars and walls were also made with probably the best item one could find.

The purple accent looked quite good all around the hall with even the chairs looking majestic.

Alex was standing behind Shen Jing and couldn't see the front, but on both sides of them were people sitting on great chairs that looked at him, or rather Shen Jing with a threatening look.

"Calm down, I'm not here to hurt anyone," Shen Jing said as he looked at the people that looked like they were about to attack him.

Alex slowly walked out from behind him and saw what was in the front.

At the center of the room on the opposite side was a young man with long black hair and a clean-shaven face that wore purple and gold clothes.

Alex had a suspicion that he knew who this was, and the suspicion got answered when he saw the golden crown full of intricate gemstones on the man's head.

This was the Emperor of the Luminance empire.

"Who are you?" The Emperor asked calmly. "What are you doing in my Palace?"

"Are you the Emperor?" Shen Jing asked.

"Insolence!" a man stood up, but the Emperor put up his hand to stop him from speaking any further.

"Yes, I am the Emperor," he said. "Who are you?"

Shen Jing shook his head. "It doesn't matter to you. We're not here for you in the first place. We're here to see your daughter for a small thing. Call her here, the one with the healing crystal."