The throne room of Emperor Jevian Lloude Dust was considered a great show of humility.
A simple construction of plain wood. A small and humble room, perhaps as large as the house of an affluent mortal family. This was the pattern with the emperor’s image. He had no clan—no lineage. He took no wives or concubines and had no children or relatives.
Praise be unto Emperor Lloude Dust, for he lived only to serve the greater good, the survival and well-being of the Yixine Empire.
But the reality of it, beneath the shiny surface, was quite different.
He wasn’t humble. He was pragmatic.
He didn’t renounce a lineage for the greater good—he did it to have no weaknesses.
Indeed.
His humble throne room was no sha to him, for nobody was qualified to strip him of face.
For who could do anything to one of only two second-step diamond path cultivators in the entire realm? The Grand Queen was a recluse, so she, as the only other cultivator with comparable power to his, certainly wasn’t going to get in his way.
Emperor Jeevian, for all his glory, had a nasty secret. His story of coming from a humble upbringing was categorically a massive lie. In truth, he wasn’t from this realm at all. The residents of this world had no hope of ever reaching rank two of the subdivinity stage. Even the Grand Queen could only do it due to the assistance of the Great God himself, and the second rank was the most he could help her reach.
So who was he? Where had he co from? It was a long, harrowing story of getting stuck in a collapsing mystical realm for nurous millennia. Detached from any worlds, he had floated in the void, barely kept alive by a self-inflicted stasis that threatened to break apart with each passing mont.
However, in a miracle of profound, heavenly fortune, the broken mystical realm found another reality to attach to.
But… to his abject terror… the new world he found himself in…
It was a lost realm.
Yet, he found this might not have been the worst thing in the world. First, in such a place, he was virtually invincible. Sure, there was an outpost maintained by the Heavenly Alliance to ensure that no hidden threats could appear, but so lower-realm wench calling herself a queen stood no chance against a forr prodigy of Descending Heavenly Dragon Clan.
But there was a problem. It was the very reason the Heavenly Alliance had cut this realm off from the connection to the Omnirealm—the Monster Apocalypse. These creatures were no sacred or even demonic beasts. They were a horrific abomination, a foul play by the Devil Anarchy aiming to ensure that, since they couldn’t claim it, nobody could have this realm for themselves. An act of mutual destruction.
If he could find a way to cope with it or find a way to use the mutated, disgusting sin disguised as spirit powers to his advantage, he would be unstoppable. Indeed. Nobody could have this realm. But he wanted to claim it. As soon as he rid it of the infestation or found a way to suppress it, it would be his alone to rule over as he pleased.
That was the ultimate aspiration of Emperor Jeevian Lloude Dust—the supre ruler of a desolate, abandoned wasteland—and future god of this realm.
The divine authority he had here, although hampered by the existence of that Langen puppet, was quite incredible. He could sense lesser subdivinity stage cultivators in the range of the entire Xinkummar continent, as long as they weren’t hiding in a mystical realm. Until this mont, this had been his most significant tool for remaining in power. Nobody, not a single individual, could ascend past rank three of the divine spark stage without his permission and stay on the continent.
With all these plans in place and the authority and rule he had established, one could only imagine how he felt when that divine authority suddenly vanished. One could only guess what was going through his mind as he spotted Hosolar the Starflailer’s projection above the capital.
And one could only presu just how furious he felt when he learned that the demigod was after his greatest hope for solving his predicant.
***
In the middle of the oh-so-embarrassingthrone room, Emperor Jeevian Lloude Dust, together with the Great Four—Beanna, Kingean, Carfen, and the newly ascended Xondir, kowtowed to Hosolar the Starflailer and his companion—a silver-haired woman on the first step of the diamond path.
All the servants that usually populated the palace were nowhere to be seen. Hosolar had dismissed them, as he couldn’t bear to stand in the presence of such lowly beings.
His pitch-black hair covered a part of his heavenly forehead, and his piercing gaze shone orange with the might of a supernova.
He looked down on what he must have perceived as little more than specks of dust below his feet and smiled. “Greetings, Emperor,” he mouthed the title mockingly, sneering at Jeevian’s sweaty form. “Who you are and where you’ve co from is none of my business,” he declared dismissively, “all I need from you is information.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the emperor breathed out. “I have been trying to track the child myself for quite a while.”
“Oh, have you now?” Hosolar asked, snorting at that. “Not even your heavenly predisposition, it seems, has been enough to make any headway, then?” he teased.
Swallowing bile, Jeevian forced the words out, “I have indeed been unsuccessful in tracking him down. He possesses incredible power and—”
“Look, I have no interest in playing the role of your superior. Spare the excuses, and tell whether you know anything of value.”
Jeevian shook profusely as he whispered, “I… I don’t know anything, Your Eminence.”
“Hmph,” he snorted. “I see.” Then, with a mighty kick, he sent Jeevian flying across the room. The Emperor smashed into the wooden construction and burst through the wall, flying all the way into the courtyard, where he landed in the pond with a splash.
The surrounding servants scread to get out of the way, and his Second Wind spirit power activated to fix his broken neck and put it back into shape.
Hosolar turned to the other diamond pathers and warned, “Just stay out of my way. If any of you dare to breathe where it disturbs my search, that will be your last breath. Do you understand?”
They all shook their heads, keeping their mouths firmly shut.
“Good,” he said. “Brivia,” he called the beautiful woman at his side. “I think it's ti for you to step up.”
***
Above Keyishin, the capital of the Yixine empire, the projection of a heavenly beauty appeared. Her visage was impeccable, her glory infinite. She opened her mouth and spoke.
Her story touched many hearts. She spoke of running from a developing demonic organization, now known as the ruined Zearthorn sect, and having to abandon her child to seek another chance at life. She told, through crocodile tears, how much she regretted having to make that decision each and every day of her life.
She plead for her child, Neave Zearthorn, the Lost Child, to return to her. To finally reunite with his mother in a loving embrace and for them to travel to the Great God’s domain together—where they would live out the rest of their glorious eternities as a family.
Tears flowed down many cheeks, and people sympathized with the touching story. Many broke into sects, scouring every room and interrogating every individual for the Lost Child’s location. They sought, yelled, scread, even, for Neave to show himself and co out.
Their calls, however, fell on deaf ears.
***
From the top of the Crystal Palace rchant group outer circle tower, Kalen watched the incredible sight above, unable to restrain himself from crying a bit. What a wonderful tale! What a touching story! Indeed, the heavens had eyes, and they had sent their best to fix this injustice!
And, at this point, unfortunately, his delightful observation of the heavenly appearance above just had to be ruined by the arrival of that snotty kid.
Dukean, the young master of the Emperium sect, stood at the tower's edge, wearing his usual, easy smile as he grinned at him. That brat was definitely up to no good.
“Why now!?” he asked, outraged. “Why do you have to co to ruin this spectacular mont!? Begone! I’m watching history unfold!”
“Oh?” Dukean asked, his easy smile widening. “Brother Kalen, do you truly not wish to show so face after the favor I granted you?”
Kalen winced at that. Of fucking course that had to co to bite him in the ass at the absolute worst mont.
Sighing, he turned around with a disgruntled mumbling and spat, “Speak, you vile thing, what do you want?”
At that mont, however, his attitude was forced to change. From nowhere, a certain man appeared. A man he recognized.
“L… Lord Bob,” Kalen uttered, glancing between the repulsive, disgusting figure and the beautiful Bob, his lovely patron. “I… I had no clue you were allied with…” he spluttered, unable to wrap his mind around what was happening. Sothing about this felt wrong.
“Dun’ worry, mate, hahaha!” Bob chuckled, ever the cheerful man. “This little boy owes a favor, and I just so overheard he had you by the balls! Hahahahaha!” he cackled vociferously. “So I thought I’d do you a solid and tell him to let you off the hook!”
“I…” Kalen couldn’t believe it. “That is… highly generous of you, Brother Bob; you have shown great face by doing this.”
“Nah, don’t worry bout’ it,” Bob said, spitting on the marble table again, but Kalen had no intention of getting irritated. This man had no flaws in his eyes. Nay, he could be compared to a saint!
“What a blessed day this is!” Bob proclaid, caressing his triple chin as he stared simultaneously at the projection of the beautiful woman above and off sowhere in the distance. “I hate to interrupt such a mont, but I need so shit from you!”
“So… Sh…?”
“Stuff.”
“Ah,” Kalen blinked. “I understand. What is it that Brother Bob desires?”
Bob threw a small scroll Kalen’s way out of his dinsion ring. As soon as his gaze landed on it, Kalen froze. “I… I’m sorry, dear sir, but this is… I do not an to offend you, Great Benefactor, but I…” he glanced at the absurd list of items and back to the man before him. “I am not sure whether you can afford all this…”
Without hesitation, Bob pulled another object out of his ring. Kalen’s eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. He had seen many cores in his life. So he could tell at a glance.
This ungodly object before him… It was an S-9-grade, platinum-ranked monster core.
***
Dukean and Neave were told to wait as Kalen had to return to his headquarters to fetch the bulk of the items. In his disguise as Bob, Neave’s foot hopped anxiously. He had yet to fuse his spirit powers here, so the burden of interference was back in full force. And if that wasn’t enough…
“N… Neave,” Dukean tried, “Is that your real—?”
“If you say anything to Marven,” Neave said, “or any of the others, I’m going to kill you imdiately.”
Dukean swallowed his following words and looked away, turning back to the sky where the beautiful woman continued pleading for Neave to return.
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