At that mont, all the Planetary Class experts rushed toward The Martial Paragon, unable to contain their fervor.
"Greetings, Martial Paragon!"
"We pay our respects, Martial Paragon!"
"Greetings, Martial Paragon!"
"We pay our respects, Martial Paragon!"
...
...
The air humd with their collective excitent as every person present dropped into a deep, respectful bow. Their hearts hamred against their ribs. It was a well-known fact that The Martial Paragon rarely graced The Milky Way with his presence anymore; he typically only returned to welco a newly ascended Stellar Class powerhouse into the fold.
Because of his long absences, and the fact that Ignis was the only human to reach the Stellar Class in the last twenty thousand years, many among these Planetary Class experts had never seen him in person.
Yet, even for those who hadn't, his voice and his likeness were etched into the very soul of every human warrior. They recognized him the instant they laid eyes on him.
"Lillian, isn't it? I am The Martial Paragon." He ignored the bowing experts and moved directly toward the girl and Noir, his voice heavy with regret. "I am deeply sorry that such scum exists within our race. I promise you, I will investigate this matter thoroughly."
Lillian’s face flushed with excitent at being addressed directly. She nodded frantically.
"Noir, shrink down. We’re safe now!" Out of an instinctive, absolute trust in The Martial Paragon, she patted the dragon's massive head.
"Roar!"
Noir let out a low, warning rumble at The Martial Paragon. The sound was a clear threat—a promise of violence if the man dared to make a move. Only then did the beast begin to contract. His gargantuan form, which had spanned hundreds of thousands of ters as a Tier 7 Void Beast, began to collapse inward until he was once again a tiny lizard. He took flight and landed softly on Lillian’s shoulder.
The scene sent a shockwave through The Martial Paragon’s mind. He had encountered Void Beasts capable of altering their size before, but usually only by a factor of two or three. He had never heard of anything that could shrink from a hundred-thousand-ter behemoth into a few dozen centiters of lizard.
This three-headed creature from The Black Dragon Realm is far from ordinary, he thought, his expression grim.
However, there were more pressing matters to attend to. He turned his gaze back to the Planetary Class warriors.
"Rise."
He looked at these guardians of the human race, his voice cold and sharp. "Who is in charge of The Ministry of Education on Terra? Tell them to get over here right now!"
He wanted to see exactly who had allowed such a toxic, parasitic individual to serve as an Instructor. If the youth were raised by people like that—like the unconscious students nearby who cared only for profit—they would be the very first to betray humanity when the tides turned.
"Martial Paragon, the Minister of Education for Terra is Silas Hallowell. However..." A Rank 7 Planetary Class king stepped forward, his voice faltering at the end.
"Silas Hallowell? That boy? However what?" The Martial Paragon’s brow furrowed. Silas was the son of Leon Hallowell, one of the High Guardians. He had always known the boy was a bit of a brat, but Leon’s loyalty to humanity was beyond question.
Because of that, The Martial Paragon had even gifted the boy cultivation resources in the past, directly fueling his rise to the Planetary Class. He hadn't expected the boy to end up in a position like The Ministry of Education, nor did he realize he was the one responsible for the rot at Terra First Junior High.
"Silas Hallowell betrayed humanity to defect to The Xis. His actions resulted in the loss of twelve S geniuses and over three hundred S-rank talents. The evidence was irrefutable, and he was executed personally by Leon Hallowell. Furthermore, due to the shock and guilt of his son’s betrayal, Leon Hallowell’s internal energy beca unstable. He is currently at risk of qi deviation and is undergoing ergency treatnt."
The Planetary Class expert spoke with his head bowed low in respect.
"What? He dared?" Fury erupted from The Martial Paragon. It was a bitter irony that the son of a High Guardian would turn traitor. "Has it been fully investigated? Who else was involved with him? Pass down my order: conduct a total purge. Investigate everyone connected to Silas Hallowell. If you find even a hint of a problem, execute them imdiately. No trials needed."
"Martial Paragon, the investigation is complete. This is the list of every traitor within our ranks. Over the past few days, the High Guardians have been moving in secret to eliminate them. Ninety-nine percent of the nas on this list have already been dealt with."
As he spoke, the expert uploaded a data file to The Martial Paragon.
The Martial Paragon’s pupils contracted. A list? And it was already handled? He opened the file, and as he scrolled through the nas, his face grew pale.
The sheer scale of the betrayal was far beyond anything he had imagined. He wasn't a fool; he knew there would always be spies, but the sheer volu of traitors made his blood run cold.
Tens of trillions of people. Based on those numbers, it was the equivalent of the entire population of tens of thousands of life-bearing planets.
"Is this list confird? There's no mistake?" He sucked in a sharp breath, asking the question even though he already knew the answer. The records were ticulous—each na was accompanied by a list of which geniuses they had betrayed, what rewards they had received from alien races, and even video evidence of their cris. There was no room for error.
"Martial Paragon, this data was provided to us by Lance, the High Guardian. It is absolutely accurate," the expert replied.
"What? Lance, the High Guardian? When did my brother beco a High Guardian?" Lillian’s mind went blank.
Only two days ago, Lance had told her he had just reached the Great Grandmaster rank. How could he suddenly be an elite High Guardian? That was a title reserved exclusively for the most powerful Stellar Class warriors.
The mont the Planetary Class powerhouse spoke, Lillian, standing not far away, couldn't help but let out a sharp gasp.
As her cry rang out, the faces of every Planetary Class expert present went pale. It all clicked. This dragon-taming girl was Lance’s sister. It made perfect sense—who else in the human race could provide a powerful Stellar Class Void Beast as a re pet if not Lance?
As for the expert who had been silenced and bound by The Martial Paragon, his eyes widened in sheer, utter disbelief at Lillian’s words.
In that instant, he plumted into the depths of despair. He had assud Lillian’s brother was just so student at a top academy, never imagining it would be Lance—the strongest man currently leading the human race.
Lance was a legendary monster, a man who had effortlessly erased the emperors of the four great races. And he had treated Lance’s sister like that? Despair gnawed at his soul. He knew with terrifying certainty that no one in the entire human race could save him now.
Lance? It’s him? That boy again?
The Martial Paragon’s pupils constricted. It made sense. If not for Lance, who else could have unearthed this data? Even The Human Supre Core had been scrubbed of this information by the interference of the four great races.
That explained why he had struggled for so many years to root out the spies planted within their ranks. He had known there were traitors, but he never dread the rot ran this deep. The numbers were revolting. At this scale, it ant one out of every hundred experts was a turncoat.
He began to doubt himself. Could the human civilization he built truly reach glory? If word got out that a tenth of their powerhouses had turned traitor, they would beco the laughingstock of the galaxy.
RUMBLE!!!
Suddenly, an aura capable of shattering worlds descended from the heavens.
The pressure was so imnse that every planet in The Sol System froze in an instant. The sun and its orbiting spheres stood still, beginning to tremble violently under the weight of the coming power.
The Martial Paragon’s expression twisted in shock.
"A Galactic Realm powerhouse? What is happening!?"
Panic flared in his chest. Why would a Galactic Realm being appear within human territory? And to freeze the entire Sol System upon arrival—this wasn't a social visit.
He forced his head up, straining against the pressure to look toward the source. What he saw made his heart nearly stop.
A gargantuan spacecraft, its diater comparable to the Mother Planet but its total mass a thousand tis greater, was currently hovering directly above the Mother Planet.
"A Tier 9 ship... That’s a legendary Tier 9 ship! How is this possible!?"
The Martial Paragon felt the last of his hope wither. If it were a Galactic Realm expert of the first or second stage, he might have been able to buy a few seconds by staking his life. But a Tier 9 ship was an existence comparable to a Star Sea Realm titan.
Why would such a supre entity descend upon a backwater place like the Mother Planet?
"Huh? Why did The Martial Paragon and the others stop talking?"
A confused voice drifted from beside him.
The Martial Paragon’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. It was Lillian.
She and that Noir dragon weren't suppressed by the pressure?
Wait... could it be!?
A staggering, impossible thought took root in his mind.
"Lillian, are you alright? I felt Noir go all out. What happened!?"
A worried, frantic voice bood from the sky.
HUM!!
The space nearby warped and rippled, and in the blink of an eye, Lance appeared directly in front of Lillian.
"Brother?!"
Lillian let out a cry of pure disbelief. The next second, she sprinted forward and threw herself into Lance's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
"It’s really you! You’re finally back!"
Burying her face in his chest, she let out all the tears she had been holding back. For the past few days, she had acted as if nothing mattered, as if the bullying didn't hurt. It wasn't because she was thick-skinned; it was because she was too sensible. She didn't want Lance to worry.
She knew Lance was talented, but she thought his combat power was only at the Great Grandmaster level—after all, that’s what he had told her before he left.
But this was The Imperial Hub. Great Grandmasters were common, and Planetary Class experts patrolled the streets daily. She was terrified that if her brother found out she was being mistreated, he would do sothing reckless and get himself killed.
She had no idea—until she overheard The Martial Paragon—that Lance had already beco the High Guardian of the human race.
As Lance held her, his eyes turned cold, overflowing with a terrifying Psionic Pressure.
"Blake, transmit everything that happened to her over the last few days to . Now."
His voice was like ice. Knowing Lillian’s personality, she would never cry like this unless sothing truly horrific had happened.
"Understood, Master. Data transmitted. All involved personnel have been locked on target."
Blake wasted no ti, executing the command instantly.
In a heartbeat, every mory of Lillian’s experiences at Terra First Junior High flashed through Lance’s mind. Seeing how every lowlife felt entitled to bully his sister, Lance’s fury ignited into a white-hot sun.
HUM!!
He instantly released the suffocating power that had been gripping The Sol System.
The Martial Paragon and the others suddenly felt their bodies relax as their mobility returned. Finally, they were looking at the legendary youth in the flesh.
"High Guardian Lance! It’s really him!"
"Hiss... Was that terrifying aura just now his power? It’s monstrous!"
"I felt like the entire universe stopped spinning... was that real?"
The surrounding Planetary Class experts were buzzing with excitent. They hadn't yet realized the sheer scale of the storm that was about to break.
"Lance, it’s , The Martial Paragon," the leader said, his voice laced with anxiety. "Don't be impulsive. I will handle this. I'll give you justice!"
The other experts were baffled. They didn't understand why the Paragon sounded so desperate.
"There is no need for you to lift a finger," Lance said, his voice eerily calm. "My sister was bullied. As her brother, I will claim the debt myself."
With that, he raised his right hand toward the void.
PLUP! PLUP! PLUP!
Brilliant, blinding rays of light erupted from his palm.
In an instant, these streaks of light shot out toward every corner of Terra. They didn't stop there—they surged outward toward Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and every other terraford planet in the system.
"What is he doing!?" The Martial Paragon’s face went bloodless.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Warning! Mass casualties of high-level combatants detected! Warning! High-level life signs are vanishing across human territory!
A frantic, high-pitched alarm began to scream inside The Martial Paragon’s mind.
System Notification: A massive stockpile has been detected!
You can instantly unlock 28 Advanced Chapters on my Patreon.
/yivan
Reviews
All reviews (0)