Chapter 73: Old Enemies Meet

Year 4537, Day 229 

Both my parents have now passed away. There is truly little left that binds me to this world. 

Almost everyone I truly knew is gone. 

It is time for me to leave. 

As an inner disciple and cultivator of the Transcendent Realm, I have earned the right to migrate to a superior four-star world. 

Theoretically, the upper limit of such a world is the Tenth Realm: the Realm of Return to Origin. 

That is still far beyond my current level. 

After all, aside from Immortals, they are the true masters of the world. They are even sometimes called half-Immortals, with lifespans approaching millions years. 

In any case, one could say that from this moment on, a new chapter of my life begins. 

… 

A feline nearly twenty meters long moved silently through the branches of towering trees. 

This was a forest of staggering proportions, comparable to the Great Forest of Yggdasia, maintained by the elves for decades in Alandal. 

Here, every tree stood at least seventy meters tall, and many reached eighty or even ninety meters. 

Some treetops even stood out from the rest, indicating that the trees measured in the triple digits. 

Such trees were naturally thick and resilient, and even a battle between Rank 3 beings would have little impact on this ecosystem, at worst destroying a few trees that would regrow in just a few years. 

The feline, which didn't appear particularly imposing compared to the immense flora, continued its slow pursuit, soon spotting the prey it had been tracking for nearly a kilometer. 

The foliage parted, revealing a war beast resembling a rodent, barely five or six meters long. 

After circling it for a while, the magnificent feline finally found a favorable angle and, with a silent and graceful motion, leapt forward with claws and fangs bared. 

Crack 

The prey didn't even notice the enormous animal leaping nearly fifty meters before its vision turned black as its neck snapped. 

The feline with large ears proudly carried the carcass in its jaws, lifting its head high with pride. 

Rumble 

Its ears twitched as it suddenly heard a strange sound of distortion behind it. 

The feline spun around and found itself face to face with a bizarre singularity no larger than a fingernail. 

Before it could even wonder what it was, the strange singularity began emitting odd flashes of lightning, quickly transforming into a swirling gray disk that grew visibly larger. 

Although the beast had the intelligence of a young adolescent, its instincts were razor-sharp and screamed at it to flee. 

It didn't know why, but as a predator, the beast trusted its instincts implicitly. 

It immediately dropped the prey it had just captured and began running with all its might to escape as far as possible. 

As a creature which focused on speed and agility and was on the verge of becoming a spiritual beast, its speed already approached 100 meters per second. 

The beast would never know it, but the reflex saved its life. 

As it bolted, the portal continued to expand, soon reaching nearly two hundred meters in diameter and tearing apart all the trees in its path. 

And it wasn't alone. A dozen other portals also opened nearby, though only two others reached such proportions. 

Once the portal stabilized, six small silhouettes emerged quickly, seeming insignificant compared to the portal's immense size. 

Sylvera glanced around and saw several Rank 5 beings stepping out of the portals. 

"Marshal Sylvera, I should have suspected that the Great Army of Alandal would take part in an operation of this scale," said an orc cultivator from the Nascent Soul Realm, standing nearly four meters tall. 

Sylvera smiled at the towering orc. 

"Lord Brak'Gor, it's been eighty years." 

The two embraced, though the scene appeared peculiar since Sylvera stood only about three meters tall when upright and ten meters long from head to tail. 

Although their past interactions were brief, they had clearly maintained fond memories of their encounter. 

After all, Brak'Gor, who at the time was barely Rank 4, had been one of the few, outside the Great Army, to join the war of that era. 

Moreover, as a warrior race like the Nagas, it was only natural for individuals with similar principles to appreciate each other. 

Ahem

As the two enjoyed their reunion, someone cleared their throat behind them, interrupting the moment. 

Brak'Gor turned to glare at the source of the sound but quickly lowered his gaze upon meeting the fiery eyes of an angry Drake. 

She was the chief of the most powerful tribe in Yvengoth and the undisputed master of her world. 

Yet, although she never backed down from conflict, she clearly knew when to hold her ground. 

She quickly released the Naga, not wanting to face the prospect of a life-or-death battle with a jealous Drake. 

Sylvera, for his part, felt a chill run down his spine and slowly turned around, meeting the piercing gaze of his wife. 

"Um, Ilbert, do your thing, please. Try to make it so our ships can be hidden under the canopy," he said hastily, attempting to change the subject. 

As Isabella tried to bore a hole through his skull with her gaze, the Grand Mage smiled and raised his staff, made of mithril and the core of a magical beast he had slain twenty years prior. 

Rank 3 Spell: Plant Manipulation

He cast the spell thousands of times simultaneously. 

In a three-kilometer radius, trees suddenly creaked and twisted as spiritual energy stirred. 

The tallest branches of every tree intertwined while many trunks moved, merging with others to form massive pillars several dozen meters wide. 

Simultaneously, other trunks decomposed, transforming into various branches as the typical canopy grew over ten meters higher. 

In less than two minutes, the dense forest had transformed into a vast open space devoid of any trees, save for a few enormous trunks that supported the dense canopy of leaves over eighty meters high. 

The other Rank 5 beings remained silent, and some even launched their own techniques, modifying the terrain to their liking. 

While cultivators weren't as versatile as mages in elemental manipulation, they had their own techniques for controlling nature. 

From above, the forest appeared untouched, but the space beneath the branches had fundamentally changed. 

"Alright, bring everyone over. There's no danger here," Sylvera declared. 

One of the two other Drakes turned back and soon re-entered the portal. 

All the armies followed suit. 

Shortly after, thousands of intermediate existences emerged from the portals, followed closely by hundreds of thousands of various soldiers. 

While most of the other troops had already arrived, the two largest portals had yet to send through even a single soldier. 

Rumble

The portal leading to Alandal trembled. 

The Drake finally returned, followed closely by numerous intermediate existences, but what caught everyone's attention was the fact that no one was behind them—not a single soldier. 

As they wondered what was happening, the portal trembled once more, and a massive shadow began to materialize at its center. 

The shadow grew rapidly, soon filling the entire portal, until finally, the ship's prow appeared in view. 

It was a colossal metallic structure, but it was far from slow. 

In just a few seconds, it had emerged from the portal, revealing its immense size of nearly two hundred meters long. 

Under the stunned gazes of the crowd, the portal trembled again, and another ship emerged, followed by a second, a third... 

As they marveled at such a force, the portal trembled once more. 

If this was their reaction to a regular ship, imagine their reaction to the flagships. 

Soon, the entire Great Army had arrived in this world. But as the generals and other senior officers of the Great Army looked proudly at the other armies, they suddenly saw another fleet emerge from another portal, seemingly not much weaker than their own. 

… 

As soon as everyone had arrived, the portals wavered for a moment before disappearing. 

Nevertheless, no army set up camp, all waiting patiently for what would come next. 

"So, this is a world superior to ours." 

"It's the first time I've seen other divine armies this strong; the others were really weak." 

"True, none of the groups here are weak, especially those two and their strange metallic constructs." 

"But it's strange; the concentration of spiritual energy doesn't seem higher than in our world." 

"It's real. I find it hard to believe this is truly a superior world." 

"Indeed, but it feels like the level chains have disappeared." 

"I agree. Even though I'm only at the beginner stage, I feel as if there's constantly something trying to stop me from progressing. This sensation is incredible." 

"Like a weight has suddenly been lifted off my shoulders." 

In the center of the vegetative cavity created by Ilbert, nearly four thousand intermediate existences had gathered, none using even their spiritual senses. 

If not for their artifacts, weapons, and attire, one might almost think it was a gathering of mortals. 

A few hundred meters away stood another small committee of just 36 individuals. 

"The Yvengoth troops number 50,000 soldiers, 310 intermediate existences, and three Rank 5 beings. 

"The Great Army of Alandal has deployed a total of 83,000 soldiers, including 844 Rank 4 officers and six Rank 5 beings." 

"The Nyma army has deployed 100,000 soldiers, including 900 Rank

 4 beings and four Rank 5 beings." 

"The army of..." 

The leaders of each faction had all gathered to directly present their forces, hoping to establish a clear hierarchy from the outset. 

All were at Rank 5, chosen by their respective worlds to act as guardians. 

Guardians could be considered as the children of their worlds. As long as the world didn't die and they weren't killed, they would live as long as the world itself. 

However, an inferior plane could only have a maximum of four guardians, and that was because the students had used their most precious materials to give their divine domain a solid foundation. 

The Drake couple wasn't guardians; they were only "tolerated" thanks to Liam's intervention but were forbidden from participating in any conflict. In fact, they were more focused on trying to have another child.

In the infinite spatial void, most worlds could only have one or two guardians, or potentially none if their foundation was too weak. 

After all, a guardian had to make a contract with the world and "share" its source. If the world's soul or source was too weak, it was impossible to form any contract. 

Thus, guardians were rarely changed, and each world chose its guardians wisely. 

For this reason, gods didn't intervene in the choice of guardians. After all, regardless of their level or connection to the world, they would never know it as intimately as the world knew itself. 

Therefore, most armies had only two guardians, which was also the norm for participating in this expedition. 

In total, the fourteen student armies included thirty-six Rank 5 beings, nearly four thousand Rank 4s, and approximately 800,000 soldiers whose ranks ranged between Rank 2 and Rank 3. 

If they were a local force, this would be enough to dominate an ordinary intermediate plane. 

"Well, gentlemen, it seems this is the largest operation we have all participated in. Given the scale of our forces, I assume you've all been the supreme leaders of your respective divine wars," Sylvera said calmly, as the leaders all nodded in agreement. 

"I believe the most important thing for all of us is to establish a clear hierarchy among ourselves to avoid internal conflict." 

"Hmph, and who will lead, you?" sneered a large, strange being with tentacles for a beard and purple skin. 

"Why? Does that bother you?" growled Isabella as she unleashed her full pressure on the strange figure. 

Though he was also a pinnacle cultivator of the Nascent Soul Realm, he felt a shiver run down his spine under the gaze of a superior lineage. 

"Enough! Stop this childish behavior!" said another voice belonging to a beautiful night elf clad in ranger armor, representing Nyma. 

"You all know what he said is true, and what just happened clearly proves that we won't accomplish anything without reaching an agreement." 

This led to a long and tedious discussion among the armies, each trying to assert their strength and importance to gain more power. 

But just as they were deep in negotiations… 

"YOU WRETCHES!" 

A cry filled with pure hatred echoed through the clearing as the terrifying pressure of a pinnacle magus descended, accompanied by a bloodlust that instinctively turned every head toward the center of the clearing. 

Rank 2 Spell: Humidification

Rank 4 Spell: Storm Ascendancy

Rank 4 Spell: Stormfall

Mana gathered in the air, forcing the electrical potential in the area a few hundred meters high to plummet suddenly, while the ground potential rose to an abnormal level. 

As the air began to humidify, electrons enhanced by the magus's mana suddenly moved at high speed, drawn to the low-potential zone where a gray, six-armed being stood. 

KRAK

Lightning suddenly struck in the middle of the group as a bolt as wide as a table descended at high speed. 

Though he was also Rank 4, the six-armed man was only a beginner and barely had time to pale as the attack hit him before he could react. 

A few hundred meters away, Ilbert's expression suddenly changed as he recognized the voice of the one who had screamed. 

Rank 5 Spell: Barrier

Just before the lightning struck, a barrier materialized around the gray being. 

BOOM

The lightning finally struck the barrier, sending a cloud of smoke and a shockwave across a hundred meters as the temperature suddenly rose by several degrees. 

Nevertheless, all those present were intermediate existences. Even if they hadn't reacted in time to save the gray man, they had more than enough time to protect themselves from the repercussions of a precise attack that wasn't aimed at them. 

As the dust settled, all the spectators saw the intact barrier with a trembling figure inside. 

But as all the intermediate existences released their spiritual senses, the expressions of several hundred of them darkened, and numerous murderous auras surged through the area. 

"Enough!" Ilbert roared as he appeared hovering above the gathering, unleashing his fury as a pinnacle Grand Mage, suppressing the combat that was seconds away from erupting. 

"Guardian Luminara, may I know what all of that means?" the dark elf woman asked calmly, watching the protective barrier around her subordinate dissipate. 

Still, a few Valyrs raised their heads in anger and seething hatred that even surprised the elf. 

"This isn't normal; there's clearly something else!" she thought. 

She turned to look at Ilbert and saw that, even as he tried to remain calm, he exuded a subtle bloodlust that sent chills down her spine. 

"The scars of war run deep, Queen Miranda, and not all of them are visible," he said with a growl as painful memories from five hundred years ago resurfaced. 

He then turned to the assembly and spoke in a voice that resonated across the nearly 800,000 soldiers present. 

"The conflict between our two races was once taken too far, but few remain alive to still remember the past today. All it brought was massacre and pain, leaving profound marks on all the survivors of my race—marks that will never fade. For the sake of this expedition and to avoid conflict between our gods, this incident ends here and now! I will personally deal with anyone who tries to reignite the war." 

He spoke slowly, weighing every word. 

Despite this, no one dared to retort, especially the lower-ranking existences. For them, everything had happened so quickly that they hadn't even fully grasped what had transpired. 

But as a heavy silence fell over the area, thirty-six heads suddenly turned in the same direction, drawing the group's attention. 

"Well, it seems I've been discovered," a calm voice rang out as a man covered in scales from head to toe, with three pairs of wings, descended from the canopy. 

He wore heavy silver armor, his helmet revealing only his glowing yellow eyes, and a long tail swayed behind him. 

"Don't worry; I come as a friend," he said. "Greetings divine envoys and warlords. My name is Jonas Feng, envoy of the Brotherhood. It's a pleasure to meet you."