That gathering was meant to last all night, but it stayed calm and peaceful, with the four Kingdoms pretending to have a kind of fake friendship. All the major figures of the kingdoms were present, except for the three main rulers.
Lanaya chatted with Darian about random things; sometimes they talked about the handsome men from the other kingdoms, or even the women. Darian answered everything, always emphasizing that none of them were even remotely close to his wife in beauty, personality, or any other aspect.
After hearing that over and over again, Lanaya soon started teasing him, saying someone couldn't be as beautiful and powerful as he claimed. Darian just laughed, explaining that she didn't really understand what true beauty was.
Lanaya got very curious about this incredible woman and, of course, asked where she was.
Darian just answered casually. "You've already seen her before. I can't explain anything about it right now. But don't worry, I'll introduce her to you in a few days. Then you'll understand just how amazing and unmatched she really is."
Time passed smoothly. Darian felt more at ease because he sensed, through the karma of the most powerful people from the Green and Black Scale Kingdoms, that they were all normal. If they were bastards like the ones from the Golden Scale Kingdom, the strongest among them would've made that clear to him.
So that kingdom was just a rotten apple that had appeared, and it needed to be eliminated quickly before it contaminated the others.
After a few hours...
In the middle of the night, something caught Darian's attention. He felt an extremely intense dark karma suddenly appear on the planet.
He quietly sensed it, noticing it approaching the city... then slowly entering, heading toward the royal castle.
Clearly, it was hiding itself and taking advantage of the gathering, when the strongest figures of the kingdom were distracted. It had to be someone absurdly powerful by the universe's standards, managing to slip in without being noticed by the kingdom's guards, who weren't weak.
It moved through the castle, heading somewhere underground.
Just as Darian was wondering whether he should do something... that figure quickly moved to leave, retracing its path and disappearing from the planet.
Darian just snorted, but kept silent about everything.
...
When the first rays of sunlight appeared on the horizon, the gathering ended, and all the guests said their goodbyes.
They would spend the day preparing to enter the Sacred World, since in 12 hours, the perfect moment for entry would arrive.
...
When the sky turned orange, just minutes before the end of the day, Darian gathered with three thousand people from the White Scale Kingdom.
These people were among the strongest in the entire kingdom. Leading them was Prince Davion, who, despite being considered young, was second only to the King in terms of raw power.
Darian spent the previous hours reading about the past in the kingdom's library. Soon, he fully understood what Niara had done there.
Niara didn't know how to properly manipulate space-time to seal the core of that power so that the people of the universe could survive. So she used a Dragon Mark technique with her Bloodline. It was a simple technique she had learned back when she lived in Vadise.
She created four marks with her Bloodline, which together formed a kind of inscription that sealed the space in a crude way.
These marks sustained themselves by absorbing Qi from the universe itself. But every 50,000 years, when her power was at its weakest, the absorption mechanism would activate.
That was the perfect moment for the people of the universe to safely enter and leave the Sacred World. They had exactly 7 days to explore and then return.
The place had four entrances, divided among the four kingdoms. Inside, it was basically a vast region that used to be part of the universe, filled with countless galaxies and dead planets.
Half of the place was completely contaminated by the power that the natives called corrupt, and even the strongest wouldn't dare get close. But in the other half, that power had almost completely faded. There were countless ancient planets, where sects and terrifying powers once existed. There were endless treasures and things to excavate.
In short, every 50,000 years, the four Kingdoms would send some of their best people to explore the place and find treasures.
Within those historical ruins, the treasures belonged to whoever found them. The other Kingdoms weren't allowed to fight over discovered items. To ease tensions and reduce the chances of conflict, the gathering happened the day before, so everyone could drink and build some sense of camaraderie.
Although there had been some clandestine fights throughout history, due to their similar strength, there had never been any large-scale battle.
King Ostarion personally appeared before that army and warned them: "All of you must be extremely careful. Don't risk your lives for treasure. Your lives matter the most. Stay close to the ten guardians at all times, because they can protect you from the flow of corruption."
Everyone nodded. Even though the safe region had very little of that terrifying power, sometimes a sudden surge would break off from the contaminated area and invade the safe zone. If they were caught in it, they would die without even being able to scream. Fortunately, the four kingdoms had protection against that.
After hearing that, everyone entered a transportation inscription. They were taken to a valley in a secret region within the Kingdom.
The valley was protected by a massive rock formation. When Darian arrived, he noticed that the space at the end of the valley was constantly shifting.
"This is one of the four entrances to the Sacred World. The spatial channel is still forming. Looks like it'll take a bit more time to stabilize," Lanaya explained beside Darian.
"Can you travel with me when we go in? I feel like going with you will definitely bring me more luck and more treasures." Lanaya said with a mischievous smile.
Before Darian could answer, an Elder of the Kingdom frowned and said, "Princess, don't be reckless. The King already said that entering the Sacred World is also an important opportunity for Darian. Since he's not part of the Kingdom, he has the right to find his own opportunities and keep them. You'll end up harming him like that."
Lanaya stuck out her tongue and made a face. "I'm just joking. If he doesn't want to take me along, that's fine. My luck is already enough. Hmph, why does Father like him so much, to the point of letting him keep everything he finds?"
Everyone around heard that exchange and was surprised. That was because whatever they found would normally be handed over to the Kingdom, and they would be rewarded accordingly. No one kept what they found. But apparently, the guest Darian would keep everything for himself.
The Elder snorted. "The King is rewarding him for helping with something very important."
Lanaya looked confused, not knowing what Darian had helped with. But everyone there looked at her and nodded, understanding perfectly.
"Kid, I really need to be alone. But be careful with Gofan when you go in. He doesn't have good intentions," Darian warned gently. He was worried Lanaya might get tricked. That child was way too pure and naive. Still, she was definitely strong and knew how to defend herself.
"I know. Besides, the Sacred World is huge. I might not even run into him, and if I do, I'll just ignore him," Lanaya said.
That Elder and Prince Davion exchanged glances, feeling more at ease. Only Darian could've warned Lanaya about something like that. If either of them tried, she would've exploded right away and gone against them on purpose.
Everything was settled, and now they just waited patiently.
A few minutes later, the sky and earth trembled. The mist faded as the spatial channel ahead gradually stabilized.
"The channel is ready. Quick, get in!" Davion shouted.
The channel would only stay stable for an extremely short time. They had just a few moments to enter before it closed.
Getting in was the hardest part; once inside, they could leave at any time within seven days.
Everyone rushed through the channel.
Moments after their figures disappeared, the channel closed, forming a massive vortex in the air.
Then...
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
Shortly after everyone entered the Sacred World, explosions shook the White Scale Kingdom in nine different locations. The city trembled, and countless people looked around in shock, not knowing what had happened. Cries of panic echoed everywhere.
"What happened?!"
"Is this a surprise attack?!"
Countless cultivators took to the skies. Chaos reigned for a while.
"Don't panic! It was nothing more than a small prank to scare people. There's no danger. Everyone can return to their activities." The King's voice echoed throughout the city, calming everyone down.
At the same time, word spread that nine explosive artifacts had gone off in nine different locations across the Kingdom. It caused a huge uproar, but didn't result in any significant damage.
Everything happened too suddenly, causing quite a stir, but things quickly settled down. The Kingdom's guards were investigating in a hurry, being as careful as possible.
But inside the Kingdom's main hall... King Ostarion's face was dark.
Beside him, the expressions of his wife and the other top figures who had stayed behind were just as grim.
"The link of the Goddess's blessing has been cut. Lanaya and Davion are in danger." Ostarion's gaze crackled with intensity, and a terrifying killing intent rose within him.
Besides the four goddess marks sealing that space, Niara had also left a pure rune imbued with her power in the four kingdoms, which they called the Goddess's Blessing.
It was something quite simple. It was made so that the four kingdoms could connect with up to 10 people, allowing them to gain a bit of her power. This helped them purify and eliminate the corruption that existed in the universe.
But in the present day, all of that had already been eliminated, so this blessing no longer had much of a purpose. Because of that, they started using it whenever they had the chance to enter the Sacred World, where that corrupt power still existed.
All four kingdoms chose 10 people and connected them to it, almost completely guaranteeing their safety inside. Both the prince and the princess were connected to make sure nothing would happen to them.
But... now, everything had been cut off.
After entering, there was no way to send a message asking to come back.
Darian was the only one who would know when and how this was done. Obviously, it happened in the middle of the gathering.
"Looks like we were sabotaged... the only ones who could possibly do this are those bastards from the Golden Scale Kingdom," said a white-haired elder.
The fact that their enemies dared to do something like this meant they had been preparing for it for a long time. But realizing that now was already too late.
The King said darkly, "Now, all I can do is wait for changes. But if my beloved son and daughter are killed, I will definitely make them pay a terrible price."
The white-haired elder sighed. "It seems your ruling skills are still not perfect. You're already making decisions based on emotion."
Ostarion smiled bitterly. "Even though I treat them with severity and cruelty, that's simply inevitable. For my kingdom, my family has paid a very, very high price. If someone were truly willing to take over the Kingdom and could guarantee peace and prosperity, I would welcome them immediately and hand over the throne. I wish I could live a peaceful life and that we could enjoy family love like other families. But... those children... are my weak point. If they really fall, there's no way I can think like a ruler. I'll act purely as a father seeking revenge for his children."
A terrifying desire to kill rose in Ostarion's eyes. No parent would be willing to watch their children be mercilessly slaughtered by others.
"Maybe this matter isn't as serious as you think. Did you forget? Darian went in too. You've already planted the seed, and all that's left is to wait patiently for it to bear fruit," said the Queen beside him.
Everyone looked at her in confusion. That young man, whom no one knew where he came from or how he got there? Where did she get that from?
King Ostarion took a deep breath, then looked at his wife and nodded. He didn't understand either, but he trusted her instincts. After all, she was the one who had asked to invite Darian to go to the Sacred World.
---
Everyone landed on dry ground after coming out of the spatial channel.
Looking around, they found themselves in a world covered by a thin red mist. Just breathing it in brought a burning, restless feeling.
When they looked up into space, they saw, at a reasonable distance, an insanely dense scarlet mass. Just trying to sense it made everyone's mind and soul tremble.
"Everyone has a map, as well as an emergency tablet that lets you sense where the 10 guardians are. Let's split up. Each of you can look for your own opportunities. Don't try to harm others, but stay alert so no one harms you either. Be cautious, sometimes, in the name of profit, words mean nothing," Prince Davion warned.
Even though, by the agreement between the four Kingdoms, they weren't allowed to attack each other inside the Sacred World, sometimes, treasures pushed people to act out of greed. That wasn't rare.
One person would claim they saw something first, then someone else would say the same. There was no way to verify it, so they couldn't blindly trust anyone outside their own Kingdom.
Everyone nodded and split up. Time was limited. They only had seven days, so they had to give it their all to search for their own opportunities and test their luck.
Darian took a deep breath and leaped away.
Everyone else did the same, heading toward other dead planets. The exit of the place was always at the same point, so everything nearby had already been searched countless times; if they wanted to find something truly valuable, they had to go as far as possible.
But what no one knew was that Darian wasn't heading to another planet. He simply moved in a straight line, directly toward the region no one would even dare approach.
He moved slowly at first. After realizing no one could sense him anymore, he activated his Celestial power and shot forward like a flash of light.
In just a few minutes, he reached the boundary and stopped. If he pushed forward directly, he would suffer a lot and be forced to activate his primordial physique.
His senses were pushed to the limit, searching almost desperately...
Searching...
His heart raced, and his fists clenched tightly.
Searching...
"!"
After nearly an hour, his eyes widened. He felt it, floating on a small moon within that overwhelming power, a figure sitting in a lotus position. From the fluctuations, she was deeply immersed in meditation.
Darian swallowed hard. Slowly, she was absorbing all that terrifying power around her. It would take years to consume everything nearby, and then she would move deeper inward.
Half of everything had already been consumed, so she must have been repeating this process for a very long time, without any rest. This woman was completely insane and stubborn.
"Niara..."
Darian murmured, feeling an explosive surge of emotion rise in his chest. She radiated a pure, immortal aura, along with an unmatched draconic power. He couldn't see her clearly with his eyes, and that made him want to rush forward with everything he had in that instant.
For him, since his death until now, only a few decades have passed. But for her... it hadn't been just 5 million years as he had imagined. When she started traveling between universes, some had completely different flows of time. It could've been double or triple that for her.
His mind couldn't even begin to comprehend that span of time.
Was she still the same person he knew? How many times had she cried and hated him for dying? Did she really still want to see him?
He thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.
Just considering that was already a huge disrespect to her. She gave everything she had to become immortal, then searched beyond her universe, training in an almost suicidal way, until she managed to enter a universe with a temple.
It was obvious she wanted to see him. But she wasn't some damsel in distress who would just wait and do nothing. Because of her efforts, Heaven's Will recognized her and helped her, turning her into its missionary.
"She's incredible... if I hadn't come here, she would eventually have reached me without me even expecting it."
Darian murmured, then took a deep breath.
After his death, he lost the contract connection he had with her. That's why she didn't sense him, and he couldn't send her a message.
Darian placed his hand on his chest. Then he activated the power rune that had been placed there by his father.
He extended his hand forward and closed his eyes, focusing all his strength on absorbing it. This power would be the foundation for him to break perfectly into immortality. The time had finally come.
