On the floating island above the Athos tree, Patrick stood on the balcony of his castle with a tea mug in hand as he stared into the afternoon sun; he wore a white bathrobe and slipper. His hair was wet as strands lay on his shoulder.
"I have been far from home; mother must be sick of my absence by now. Grace, what's the time-space difference between my home universe and this cultivation universe?"
"One year or a cycle in this universe is a month in yours, Master. Should I perhaps make an interdimensional call to her Lady?"
"No. Because the moment she realizes there is such a thing, that will be the day I lose my free time, as she would like to know every second of my day, as she was back then."
Patrick spoke as a smile crossed his face while thinking about his mother. He steadily sipped from the mug again as he continued.
"I will visit her after a decade here. Besides, after leaving the Immortal Realm, I still have to visit Thalia's home universe and meet her parents."
"Master, what about the God Realm? It seems the god, Asura, still holds the grudge he had against you in the First Realm. And many other gods have noticed your existence; some are even watching through their avatars as we speak."
"Grace, I could care less about some puny gods. They can watch for all I care. Also, why call themselves gods when they can't even descend to the lower realms? If one calls themselves a god, they should be at least able to do as they please, or it's nothing but borrowing the title."
Patrick spoke condescendingly; he shifted his attention down the Athos Tree as he spoke to Grace.
"Grace, give me an interactable projection of the Athos Tree."
Then, a 3-D blue holographic projection of the Athos Tree appeared before Patrick; leaving the mug floating in the air; Patrick spun the interactable projection as he saw the magical designs of the long and massive tree. He exclaimed.
"Quite impressive, lady Marine has quite the imagination. With her magical imagination and science, her contributions will be world-breaking... Grace, make me a workshop below the castle; it's been a while since I played with science—time to refresh my memory."
Patrick waved as he canceled the projection. He turned and entered the castle's living room as he saw Athena, Anna, and Thalia all wearing night lingeries and drinking coffee while staring at the outside scenery through the glass walls. Patrick spoke as he walked past the living room.
"Afternoon, ladies; see you in a bit."
"Going somewhere?" Athena asked.
"Yes, going to do some science stuff."
Patrick spoke as he stepped into the elevator; the elevator then went down as it stopped below the castle. Two sliding doors opened, revealing a workshop with numerous technological machinery. Patrick stretched his fingers as he walked into the shop.
"Time to introduce the cultivation Realm to technology."
_____
Somewhere in the Central Continent, numerous figures sat in a hall with still faces as they watched a crystal projection of the being called the One Above. This entity was so powerful that he exterminated seven ancient families, including the Gong family, and publicly warned every powerhouse in the Immortal Realm while holding the corpse of the Ancient Gong Ancestor. Such arrogance was beyond crazy.
The figures in the hall were the members of the Star Commerce Alliance, the most prestigious and wealthy commercial group in the Immortal Realm.
"You mean that our investments in the Ancient families for the past hundred thousand cycles have all been for naught?! And all it took was one kid and a few billion middle regional leaders?! Are you kidding me?!"
The leader on the highest seat bellowed with rage as his energy erupted in the hall; he was a Saint King Realm cultivator. The cultivators in the hall had serious faces as they dared not speak. But then, a charming woman's voice sounded from a distance. This woman's voice was quite familiar.
"It's pointless getting angry over it now; the damage has already been done. We must analyze our options and determine the best plan. If our fish has been eaten by a bigger one, why don't we switch to the bigger one and see how we can benefit from it? Perhaps it will yield better results than the last."
From the sky outside the hall, a woman clad in a black hood steadily floated in the air as she approached the hall entrance. The woman uncovered her hood and revealed her beautiful yet serious face; she had long, straight black hair that reached her back. The woman walked into the hall. The cultivators in the hall had respectful faces when they saw the woman; they cupped their hands towards her. With an observant mind, one could tell that this woman's figure was the same as the woman with the Sacred Families. (chap 52)
"I thought you said you were going to the lower realms to gather hidden cultivators; what happened?"
"... Did I? I don't remember any hidden families; it must be a mistake, elder brother. I don't remember such a thing as even going to the lower realms."
The woman replied as she walked towards the leader in the hall. Her brother expressed confusion as he watched his sister deny everything like it never even existed. But he ignored the matter as he spoke.
"Forget it; nothing from the Lower Realms can benefit us now. Tell me, sister, do you have a better idea?"
"Yes, but first, I heard that the Jian family previously held an auction and that an envoy of ours was also present at that auction; let's call them and see what information they can provide. We can use that to see if this One Above is a good kid with overwhelming strength or if he's just a lunatic with the greed to conquer."
"Good, bring him over."
The leader ordered as some cultivators left the hall; not long after, four men arrived in the hall. The one summoned was an elderly man, the same person who was previously in one of the bidding chambers in the Jian Sacred Realm. The elder knelt on one knee and cupped his hands towards the leader; he spoke.
"You sent me, Head Manager?'
"Yes, elder, I am told you were present for the Jian family's auction; is that true? If so, tell me what happened."
The Head Manager ordered. The elder rose as he began explaining everything that had happened in the Jian Sacred Realm.
"Yes, it all began when I received secret information about the Ancient Gong family's Gong Tieshan, going to the Jian family's auction; I found it strange as nothing is interesting being sold at the Jian auction, at least for Gong Tieshan, so I went,..."
A few minutes later, the elder explained everything that had happened, including how Patrick massacred thousands of Saint Kings and many other incidents. Some of the elders in the hall expressed disbelieving faces as they immediately stared at the figure on the crystal hologram, the One Above. But then the leader asked.
"So tell me, is this One Above a psychopathic killer, or does he only have problems with the ancient families and Immortal Gate?"
"About that Head Manager, he always carries an impassive expression as if nothing bothers or impresses him, so it is hard to decipher his morals. But I'm certain his fight with the ancient families was related to Gong Tieshan offending him in the past. That's all I know, Head Manager."
The Head Manager nodded as he waved his hands at the elder, dismissing him.
"At least we have some information about the One Above now, and what is this newly found Athos Realm? Is it where the One Above came from or what?"
"Reporting Head Manager, after a thorough investigation, I found that this Athos Realm was previously the Sacred Realm of the ancient Jian family. But from my sources, it is said that the Athos Realm is countless times better, even better than the Immortal Realm itself; they have abundant amounts of pure Qi, which is said to have formed into solid states."
An elder in the hall replied; this elder was in charge of the secret information department for the Star Commerce Alliance, so it wasn't much of a surprise him providing such authentic info.
"...."
The hall went silent as even the woman couldn't help but be amazed; she then spoke, breaking the silence.
"This is an opportunity for us; if we manage to curry favor with this One Above and provide them with as many resources as they want, we could perhaps convince them to let some of our members stay in their realm for cultivation, even if it is only for a day. We could have thousands of Saints, and Saint Kings like the ancient families did, and even having Saint Ancestors won't be that far of a dream then."
"Your plan is perfect, but how do we get-
Head Manager, urgent news!!"
Suddenly a cultivator rushed into the hall with a scroll in hand as he shouted to the Head Manager. The Head Manager and some elders in the hall instinctively rose as they assumed serious stances, thinking they were perhaps being attacked. But then, the messenger knelt as he presented the scroll to the Head Manager.
"Head Manager, it's a scroll from Athos; they welcome everyone to their inauguration ceremony, regardless of power, status, or cultivation realm. They even provide Time Spirit Stones for cultivators in the other continents to travel directly into Athos."
The Head Manager was confused as he held and opened the scroll. Opening the scroll, it reads:
"By order of the One Above, all cultivators are welcomed to witness the inauguration ceremony of Athos, due a week from now. Attached is a space ring containing enough time spirit stones for continental travel. All are welcome!"
The Head Manager read the scroll as he saw the space ring hanging down; he held the ring as he stared at his little sister beside him. As if thinking this could be a trap, the woman activated her Life Law as green energy shone from her hands and covered the entire hall. She then nodded the 'go ahead' to her brother.
But sending his consciousness into the space ring, the Head Manager appeared in an endless space as he saw countless mountains of time spirit stones. There were at least more than three hundred mountain piles of time spirit stones; with a shocked face, the Head General withdrew his consciousness from the ring. But with a depressed face, he spoke.
"...., You said earlier we could curry favor with Athos if we provide them with resources, but how exactly are we supposed to do that when their invitation gift alone is worth more than our entire net worth?"
The woman heard her brother speak as she frowned, taking the ring from the Head Manager; she also sent consciousness in it as she saw the near infinite amounts of time spirit stones piled up like mountains. Shock and disbelief washed the woman's face as she stared at the ring with opened mouth. But then, the Head Manager had a change of expression, from depressed to enthusiastic, he ordered.
"Everyone, prepare our most sacred beast chariot; gather our strongest soldiers; we leave for Athos in three days."
This was the same with many other powerhouses and continents. Every major power received the scrolls of invitation with time spirit stones to match. Even the commoners were also invited. Some commoners were praising their gods as they were blessed with so many time spirit stones, a currency some of them would have never even seen in their lifetimes.
____
In a middle region of the Central Continent, Lian Zu and many other cultivators sat in a meeting chamber as they discussed. They also received the invitation scrolls with the time spirit stones. But some had suspicious countenances as they second-thought their decisions to go. An elderly man on the high seat spoke to Lian Zu.
"Little brother Zu, my little region has risen to this position all thanks to your wisdom. So what do you think, should we go?"
"... The fact that they just gave us countless amounts of time spirit stones is suspicious. But as someone who annihilated the Ancient families, there is nothing they could want from lesser powers like us. So let's go; this might be an opportunity to see this Athos Realm."
____
At another location in the Central Continent, seven young men and women casually massacred high-level magical beasts; the scene was filled with the carcasses of numerous beasts as their blue blood soaked the ground like a river. Suddenly, a fair-skinned young male with a bun hairstyle paused as he took out a shining object. The young man was quite handsome. He then spoke after reading the message.
"The Ancient Elders had ordered we go to the Athos Realm."
Hearing this, the other six youths stopped slaughtering the beasts as they turned to the young male; a burly youth among the group cracked his knuckles as he spoke with a grin.
"Finally, I get to see this One Above. But most of all, I want to see if he's as powerful as the rumors make him to be, or perhaps it was all a lie. But regardless, I want to challenge him."
"The mission today has been accomplished; we head for the Athos Realm!"
The young male spoke as the other youths began vanishing from the scene, he was the last person to leave the scene, but before vanishing, he murmured.
"Time we finally meet, system administrator."
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