C19 -

He couldn't believe it. Just now he was still looking down on that measly native organization that called itself 'sect' and the next second he was sent flying. He, an Ascension-realm elder of the thirty-fourth strongest sect on the main continent! Was this some kind of joke? He had a record of even fighting head-to-head against half-step Divinity-realms, and yet he was defeated in one blow? No, not even! The enemy didn't even strike yet and he was defeated already.

'Shit, this kid is definitely a Divinity, and he seems stronger than the sect leader....'

While regretting his actions, he crashed into the mountain, where they set up the teleportation array, at lightning speed, shocking everybody.

Trying his best to stand up, he staggered towards the sect leader's tent.

'I have to warn the leader, this is a disaster!'

When he arrived at the tent, some people hurriedly came out, taking the beaten-up elder to the lazaret.

'No... I need to...'

Before he got the chance to report the imminent danger, he fainted, his body sacking to the ground.

The last thing he saw was his sect leader storming out of his tent furiously.

An hour later.

A few men were standing around the unconscious elder's makeshift bed.

"Can somebody tell me what the fuck this is supposed to mean?"

A muscular, red-haired man had a furious fire in his eyes as he glanced at the people standing around him.

"Theti, calm down. Your nephew is only unconscious and not in lethal danger anymore."

A bearded old man said calmly.

"Yes, grand-elder..."

"You are the sect leader, Tethi. You need to free yourself from impulsiveness."

The bearded man deeply glanced at the red-haired sect leader.

"I know, but how dare those puny natives attack an elder of our sect! They clearly don't know how high the heavens are!"

Although the man seemed to have calmed down, there were still traces of anger in his voice.

"They need to be taught a lesson!"

The man started flexing his muscles.

"This tiny Ascension-realm snake might be strong enough to defeat my nephew, but I'll pay him back ten-fold!"

The old man sighed. It was obviously not as simple as the sect leader made it out to be. How could a native Cultivator beat an elder that was basically unrivaled below the Divinity-realm?

'But maybe the heavens intended a lesson for Tethi...'

The grand-elder couldn't help but worry about the sect leader. He raised him as his own son after all and saw himself as Tethi's father.

'But there shouldn't be a Divinity-realm existence on this island either... the snake probably found a strong inheritance somewhere and relied on it to defeat our third elder...'

He stroke his beard, seemingly deep in thought.

'Tethi is obviously blinded by emotions right now, and might not be able to exert his true strength... I'll have to help him should he lose the battle...'

While the grand elder was thinking, Tethi was already equipping his battle armor and sharpened his saber.

"Grand elder, I'll teach those ants a lesson."

He bowed towards the grand elder. Even though he wouldn't admit it in public, he was really grateful to the old man for raising him and owed him too much.

"En, just do what you want to do. I also don't approve of their response."

The old man slightly nodded and then turned around, walking back to the tent.

Tethi then turned towards the magnificent courtyards deep in the forest, a flame dancing in his eyes.

'Just you bunch of bastards wait for me!'

A few hundred thousand miles away, a girl dressed in a silver robe suddenly felt a shiver run down her back and stared into the distance.

While cultivating, she would usually shut off her senses as to not get disturbed and there was the only situation that would disrupt her calm mind.

'So my brother already activated the array? That was faster than I expected.'

"Yan'er, did you sense it too?"

Suddenly, an old voice resounded throughout the mountain she was meditating on.

"Master."

The girl turned towards an old figure that was standing in the shadow of a nearby try and bowed her head.

"My brother must have successfully finished his array design. I felt the ripple in space and I can't possibly be wrong!"

The figure waved their hands, thoughtfully looking in the same direction as the girl did previously.

"Haaa, your brother truly is a genius prodigy. Too bad he decided to join that backwater sect, leaving you with us."

Noticing that they might have worded that wrong, the figure quickly added.

"Don't get me wrong, Yan'er. You two are both prodigies of a generation! It's as if you are loved by the laws of space themselves. I have never seen such an ingenious teleportation array design such as the one you two invented."

The figure sighed slightly.

"But your brother could already improve it to allow more than one person to use it, whereas you still need one or two days to achieve that..."

A slight shiver of excitement was swinging in the figure's voice.

"But the moment you do, those backyard researches won't stand a chance against us. Hahaha, whatever treasure they found will be taken by us in the end."

With a flash, the figure disappeared, leaving only some leaves rustling in the wind. When the latter disappeared, a thoughtful expression surfaced on the girl's face.

'I wonder how you are doing, brother...'

Back in the mountain range, Tethi assembled a large group of sect disciples and marched towards the location of Maren's sect. The massed of Cultivators trampled through the forest.

"Shitty snake, get the fuck out here!"

Tethi's voice resounded throughout the mountains, dripping with arrogance and fury, scaring away any nearby animals.

His aura domineeringly swept across the forest, pressuring everybody in the courtyard. Struggling heavily, Ato put in an effort to walk outside and greet the horde of Cultivators with a mocking smile.

"So you all came to get your death sentence then?"

Although he appeared casual, he was actually sweating inside. This was a true Divinity-realm Cultivator after all! And he didn't know Maren's actual level and chances of winning at all!

"Ha, I heard of you snake! Weren't you a waste that couldn't break through to Divinity without the help of resources? And now you dare to stand in front of me, joking around? HAHAHAHA. Truly an ignorant ant."

Tethi's words made the faces of the Cultivators around fill with disdain and mockery.

"That's right! You natives think too highly of yourself!"

"YEAH! How dare you attack people of our sect repeatedly! And even take this spot of heaven-blessed land for yourself! You forgot how high the heavens are!"

Some people decided to twist black and white, throwing insults at Ato's face.

Hearing his sect disciples roar at the snakeman, Tethi had a gloating expression on his face but still waved his hands to make them silent again.

"So snake, are you ready to face me? Or will you just surrender immediately?"

Tethi started floating above the courtyard, mockingly glancing down at Ato. The latter just had a big question mark on his face suddenly. Wasn't this guy too stupid? Did he really think that his elder got defeated by him?

"Ehm, floaty-man is wrong."

The title was something Ato made up on the spot, successfully making Tethi's head flood red with anger.

"This elder doesn't dare to fight you, but our sect leader wanted to exchange pointers"

With that, he stepped aside.

"Sect leader? BUAHAHAHA. How strong can a backwater Cultivator be after all."

Tethi had tears of laughter running down his face and his disciples nearly fell to the ground while holding their stomachs. This snake was just too hilarious!

"Then where is your so-called sect leader, huh?"

He mockingly looked around the courtyard. When he didn't see anybody, except three low-level ants, inside he wanted to start insulting again, but a dangerous sensation at his back made him shut up.

With a last-minute movement, Tethi avoided a silver flash that was aimed at his neck.

"Hum? So you could actually dodge that strike... as expected of a Divinity-realm."

'What the hell? Where did this masked brat come from?'

His eyes constricted in shock, and cold sweat appeared on his back. The strike just then nearly ended his life! And the scariest part was that he didn't even sense it until it was almost too late!

Raising his guard to the highest level, he mustered up the strange youth in front of him carefully. The situation just now was extremely dangerous for him!

'I can't take this brat lightly! Who knew this sect actually had somebody this dangerous! For fuck's sake, this is a Divinity-realm Cultivator at the same level as the ones on the mainland!'

He noticed the little, black thing in the cloaked youth's hands.

'This is a fucking Divinity-realm ranked weapon! Only the top 30 sects of the main continent would possibly have one! I made a mistake! A big. Fucking. Mistake!'

Suddenly, he remembered something and he frantically looked around. Maren, seeing his panicked expression, had a playful smile on his face.

"Don't bother to look, they are dead."

He casually put his butterfly knife into his sleeve and wiped off the non-existing dust on his shoulders.

That's right! The Cultivator's didn't hold their stomachs with laughter just then! Rather, they suddenly had a knife stabbed into their bodies, as Maren used the chance, when Tethi was distracted, to vent some steam.

"Now then, sir mighty sect leader from the mainland, shall we play?"