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Before ascending to the Godly Realms Shura had decided that this would be the final stretch of his journey. If there were higher realms to ascend to, or more places to explore, then he wouldn't go. From the experience he had of crossing through from the Lower Realm to the Higher Realm, and then even coming here to the Godly Realms, it had told him that no matter where it was, people still lived the same way. Nothing had really changed for him by crossing through many levels of cultivation or traveling through many places.

He would not have truly lived or enjoyed life by constantly being on the move with his eyes ever turned toward the distant future full of dreams and yearnings. That future would always remain a future after all.

Countless people were blinded by the promise or the possibility of eternal life, or omniscience and omnipotence that they forgot what was in front of them. In their frenzied journey for a higher peak, and then even a higher peak, and then the highest peak, they became blind to the things that already existed in front of them: to truly live the life that was already there.

Shura was guilty of this. Although he was thankful he had realized it early on and didn't have to waste many years.

All of that stuff about immortality or omnipotence was a far away thing, nothing but an illusion people chase after that might not ever come true. Shura didn't want to live like that. Rather than chasing after something that might not be real but is desirable, he was content with living with what he already possessed.

Shura had appeared in an alley. The high buildings on either side cast shadows on him and the ground, causing the alley to be dark. He could see that people were yelling and running on the street beyond the alley. It seemed like they were running away from something.

Those that were slow were cut down by swordsmen in black-and-white robes. Not even the children or elderly were spared. There weren't a lot of these swordsmen compared to the endless stream of fleeing people. They must be more powerful than these people if the people were fleeing even though they outnumbered the swordsmen.

Shura activated his eye technique. It told him that these swordsmen could bring him closer to finding Claira.

Shura immediately left the alley and walked up to the group of swordsmen. With something this direct, there was bound to be a clue. He was eager to finally learn about Claira's whereabouts. It was something that he had kept in mind for so long that he was very eager to finally do something about it.

The swordsmen were all busy finishing off the stragglers who couldn't get away in time. The scene was gruesome and the ground was dyed red with blood. None of the swordsmen had clean swords either.

"Do any of you know of a woman called Claira?" Shura asked.

Shura decided that it was best to keep it simple and terse, so he got to the point.

"You don't?" the swordsman nearest to him asked back. He had an incredulous look on his face like Shura had been living in the wilds and away from civilization to not know the identity of the person he was asking about.

"Ah, so you do know her. Good, very good, tell me everything you know."

"Fool, why would I waste my breath on a dead man?" the swordsman said.

"A dead man, me? You think you can kill me?" Shura asked.

"I don't think I can kill you, I'm gonna kill you!" the swordsman said as he rushed at Shura with his sword.

"Resolving things with violence again... Alright, let's get this over with quick."

The over ten swordsmen rushed toward Shura with their blood-stained swords. There were screams and cries in every direction. These swordsmen can't be the only one involved in this. They must have more of them throughout the city.

"Since you've killed so indiscriminately and without mercy, your deaths aren't unjust at all!"

Shura's crimson sword appeared and flew to the many swordsmen with unnatural speed and agility. In the blink of an eye half of them had already been pierced through the heart and laid dead on the ground.

Shura killed all of them except the man who had spoken of Claira. Shura interrogated the swordsman and he told Shura everything even without being tortured. It wasn't a great secret, after all, so the man was more than eager to tell it to Shura.

Claira was one of the top geniuses in the recent history of the Immortal Empire. She was the first Immortal to have broken through the Gods's blockade of the Ascension Road. She's hailed as one of the geniuses of the current generation and one of the hopes of the entire Immortal Empire for a brighter future. Her status in the faction known as the 'Immortal Empire' was very high. The Immortal Empire was literally an empire of immortals. It was just that these 'Immortals' weren't really immortal, it was just the name of their cultivation state, signifying that they had transcended the weakness of being powerless mortals.

The swordsmen told him a bit more information about this world that he came to. This was indeed the Godly Realms. The Godly Realms was a nigh-infinite and vast land. The entirety of the known and mapped portion of the Godly Realms where the three factions lived was divided into three spheres of influences: The God Realm, the Immortal Realm, and the Heaven Realm.

The God Realm encompassed half of the entirety of the explored Godly Realms while the Immortal Realm and Heaven Realm possessed an equal portion of the remaining half. The Gods were the strongest while the Immortals of the Immortal Empire and the Heavenkin race were slightly weaker than the Gods.

This city was a remote Heavenkin city near the border between the Heavenkin and the Immortals. The relationship between the three factions was antagonistic, but the one that had received the most heat and was in the most danger was the Heavenkins. The Gods gave incentives for the immortals to kill Heavenkins, even though the Gods also battled with the Immortals constantly and both sides were bitter enemies as well.

This was the reason why the swordsman and the members of his sect were here in this city. They didn't have a high position within the empire and hoped to gain power by doing the Gods' dirty works. They were slaughtering Heavenkins, or 'bounty hunting' so they could be rewarded by the Gods.

Knowing where Claira was put his mind at ease. At least she was somewhere under this purple sky. He could rest easy since he knew this. He would find her and talk to her. That was all there was to it. He wanted to know if she was okay or not. That really was all there is to it.

Shura had learned much on his long journey of traveling, cultivating, and fighting. He had decided to let nature take its course. He was bent on living alone. One was born alone, and one will leave this world alone. It was natural. To put feelings, emotions, hopes, and expectations in another weren't something he was keen on. Being alone is simplest, being alone is best.

Even though he thought that he still wanted to meet her one final time, to bring his feelings to a closure.

He wasn't alone. He had his cultivation. Although he might not become omnipotent and omniscient nor eternal, it was something worth doing anyway.

Shura decided to spare the swordsman. Although he did kill a lot, he also supplied Shura with much-needed information. Whether that swordsman continued to live or die, it was up to the man himself. Karma was a thing after all. Even if he didn't do anything, it didn't mean the man himself wouldn't do something, or someone else wouldn't kill him.

By the time Shura was finished with the man, the screams had all died down. He wasn't sure whether everyone who was alive had already escaped, or that the swordsmen were repelled so there were no reasons to scream anymore.

Shura walked around the city. Everywhere he went to there were corpses on the ground. It was horrible. People who didn't have weapons were killed. Not even those too young or too old were spared.

The swordsman had said earlier that the Heavenkin were suffering the most under the attack of both the Gods and the Immortals. Why was this so? It didn't seem like the Immortals had any reason to do it aside from gaining rewards from the Gods, even if they were both enemies. So that means the Gods must have some reason for wanting to kill a lot of Heavenkins. Revenge? He didn't know what was going on.

The cultivation world was cruel after all. But seeing how time flows continuously for decades or even thousands of years and the balance of the three factions still held, the Heavenkin would be fine.

Shura was going to the Immortal World and find Claira.