When the Throne Cleansing Divine appeared, everyone became silent and looked toward the middle.
Before the woman could speak, a man stepped forward. This man’s aura was equally powerful to the woman’s, and on his back, two large black, fleshy wings flapped leisurely.
The man was clearly a Demon Monarch, one of high status and strength.
When Yasenia thought that these two would be the protagonists and speak, she saw another man step forward. He was tall and handsome with a profound aura as vast as the ocean. ‘A human from the [Astral Death Sect]... That’s unexpected.’
The Divine and Demon didn’t say anything, just glancing at the man once before looking away. The three people stood silently in the sky, close enough that a surprise attack would result in catastrophic consequences for the receiver.
‘Who are they waiting for?’ Yasenia was curious, but she didn’t dare ask. The worst thing she could do at this moment was draw attention to herself.
It was only five minutes later that a presence flew over from a distance. Yasenia was quick to pick up the presence because it felt extremely familiar. Looking over, she saw a gargantuan winged creature flying over and quickly shrinking.
Once the creature changed forms, a wild, muscular, and attractive man took his position by their side.
Yasenia’s eyebrows rose faintly. ‘A Dragon. An extremely powerful one at that.’
The Dragon spoke, his voice mellow and attractive, with a hint of devilish charm. “Sorry for making you wait. Especially you, Lady Astarea. A beauty like you shouldn’t be made to wait.”
Yasenia’s lips twitched. ‘Well… He is a dragon. I guess being a player is expected. If I didn’t have my family and a heart to maintain it…’ Yasenia knew that without Tatyana teaching her since she was little, she would’ve probably been a relatively promiscuous dragon because of her almost unstoppable lust during her mortal years.
Astarea didn’t even blink. Her golden eyes, matching her hair, moved among all the present people, and she spoke up. “It is clear that there are too many groups who want the [Star Breaker Realm Bead]. We need to agree on a method that won’t cause bloodshed.”
The demon, with a bulging body over three meters tall, snorted once. “Just because you say that, it doesn’t mean that it needs to go that way.”
His deep rumbling voice made even the bones tremble with it.
Astarea looked upward with a flat expression. “What do you suggest? If the demons want an all-out war, we are not afraid to start it. Here, you don’t have any advantage, so I am confident in my demon-slaying abilities.”
The dragon crossed his arms and spoke. “You are all a pain. This is why we told you to settle it outside first. Now, with everyone having a similar level of strength, it is difficult to give it to any one person or faction.”
The demon looked at the dragon and scoffed. “What are you suggesting then, Dragon? That we should all back down because you have your eyes set on it?”
The dragon smiled confidently. “You seem to understand. This treasure, I fancy it. So, naturally, I will take it. I am the strongest creature here, so it is only natural that it must fall in my hands.”
The human spoke for the first time, his tone paced and calm. “There is a legend about this treasure. It says that the [Star Breaker Realm Bead] has the ability to choose its owner. How about leaving it to fate instead of fighting together?”
Astarea looked at the man with a squint. “I don’t know what you are planning, human. But don’t even think about doing anything strange.”
The demon and dragon also looked at the human warily.
Yasenia’s eyes widened slightly at this. ‘...Does the human faction have the advantage? It is very different from my mortal days… All three factions are wary of them.’
Taking a glance around, it was easy to understand why. Humans formed more than half of the numbers gathered here. In terms of sheer power, the human faction was clearly superior to the other three.
Thankfully for the Demon, Dragon, and Divine, humans were prone to creating enmities amongst themselves, so not all humans would fight together for the treasure as a collective.
Astarea continued after warning the human. “We, the Divine, are clearly the most just among all races. Even if we want to use the bead’s ability to choose its own owner, we should do it outside. If you all retreat and give the bead to us, we will create a proper tournament based upon the bead’s qualification standards.”
The dragon sighed. “Astarea, I like you very much, but that’s too much. Do you think we are lacking in intelligence? Look at the human; he is looking as if your head is filled with feathers instead of anything valuable.”
Astarea’s calm eyebrows twitched twice, making Yasenia’s lips arch faintly. ‘That annoyed her. I thought she was an indifferent Divine, but she is only acting as one.’
Among all races, the Divines were probably the species with the fewest desires. Other than a strong desire to reproduce, they were indifferent to most matters. They also considered themselves bringers of justice, and, in many situations, they were truly fair. But naturally, when it really mattered, only a fool would trust them.
The human stayed silent for a little while, listening to the three people discuss back and forth. After a while, he released a breath from his nose before speaking. “I didn’t expect to reach a proper conclusion, but at least I expected a more fruitful conversation. It seems that I will need to be a bit forceful.”
The three non-human beings glared at the man, but it was too late. The human pointed at the shimmering bead below and threw a laser-like light onto it.
“You! What are you doing!?”
“Human!”
Yasenia’s face crumpled. She quickly took out a spatial teleportation talisman, but she couldn’t tear it. The space around her had been locked. It was already too late. Yasenia thought with a wry smile. ‘If I die like this, it will be so… anticlimactic.’
Light exploded from the bead, swallowing everything within hundreds of thousands of kilometers around it. The light could be seen from almost everywhere within the Secret Realm.
A few seconds later, the light disappeared, and everyone who was around the [Star Breaker Realm Bead] also vanished with the light.
There was not a single person left.
Yasenia felt her body floating somewhere before gravity took hold of her fall. Feeling the ground coming, but having her sight still blurred, she spread her wings and quickly softened the fall.
Yasenia jumped once, but nothing happened. ‘Hm…’
Her face was thoughtful, and she decided to fly upward. After she crossed one kilometer in the air, her sight turned white. ‘Aha. So I was right. I recovered my sight when I touched the ground, which means that flying is prohibited to some extent.”
Her Spiritual Sense was unable to reach the floor from her current height, so flying at this altitude was basically useless. When she flew down, Yasenia didn’t recover her sight until she touched the ground. ‘That’s important information. When fighting, I must avoid being thrown into the sky. Pushing someone back a kilometer with my current strength is too easy if you are not careful.’
Yasenia tapped her chin while looking at her surroundings. “Well… I guess I need to start exploring. If we follow what the human said, we should be in a trial space of the [Star Breaker Realm Bead]. Now, the important question is, will everyone know that I got the bead if I complete these trials?”
If she couldn’t find information about it, she would be reluctant to get the bead. Imagine getting the bead, and suddenly, all the previous people reappear in their previous locations. Thinking about the gazes of the hundreds of cultivators made a chill run up Yasenia’s spine. ‘I might actually die.’
She was powerful, but not to the point that she could swagger around the Secret Realm without any care in the world.
“Well, nothing can be done if I stay still. Let’s travel in a single direction and see what happens.”
With that in mind, Yasenia stepped forward and began running. Her speed accelerated, reaching the peak in just a few seconds. ‘Alright. My strength is the same as when I was outside. Can I use my spatial ring?’
Her mind went to her hand, and she thought of retrieving a barrier talisman. As soon as she did, her mind felt a pinch, and nothing happened. A sigh escaped her lips. “Alright… Let’s think positively. I am sharing a realm with some old monsters. There is no way I have more treasures and life-saving methods than they do. So, this is a good thing. If I can’t use them, they can’t as well.”
Thankfully, Draheart, Dramel, and Soluna all lived in her Dantian, not her spatial ring.
While she ran, the barren land filled with rocks didn’t change even when she ran at her full speed for an entire hour. ‘There is nothing here…’
Her eyes scanned everything, and soon, she found a clue. Her nose twitched, detecting a very faint scent of a treasure. Yasenia stopped running and closed her eyes. ‘Let’s see… The direction of the scent comes from…’ Her eyes opened, and her head turned to the right. ‘Over there.’
She moved, her body easily gliding over the hard terrain thanks to her speed.
When she arrived at the location of the treasure, Yasenia looked around, confused. “Hm…? Where is the treasure?”
Her sharp dragon eyes glanced around, and soon, she found something below her. “It’s… underground?”
Her energy surged, and she palmed the ground.
BOOOM!!
The rocks exploded outward, a crater opening below her. Around 200 meters from the surface, Yasenia noticed a large circular platform.
“Congratulations. You’ve found the [Challenger Platform]. Please stay on the platform for 24 hours if you want to earn the right to participate in the ownership of the [Star Breaker Realm Bead]. If you don’t, you will be crippled for a month and returned to the surface.”
Yasenia’s beautiful face crumpled as if she had eaten a bug. “Fuck me.”