That night was long in the best way.Two people who had been apart for three months didn't need many words to fill the space between them. Kael started things, Evelyne followed, and from there everything found its own way, warm and unhurried, like two people who knew each other well enough that there was nothing left to prove.Before, when Evelyne hadn't yet reached this level of cultivation, there had always been a limit Kael kept. He'd had to hold back. But this was different. Peak Immortal Realm had given Evelyne a body that far surpassed any ordinary human limit, and for the first time in his life, Kael didn't have to hold back at all.The result was a kind of exhaustion he had never known before, not even after the most grueling training session he had ever put himself through.---Some time later, both of them lay side by side on the bed.Evelyne with her eyes half-closed, her breathing steady again but her whole body still warm. Kael beside her, staring at the ceiling with one

Five days had passed. Only five days since Kael had stood in that valley and announced something no one had believed could happen, and already the Upper World was different from anything it had ever been throughout its entire history.The Sky-Piercing Sacred Dragon Sect, the Heaven-Splitting Celestial Sword Sect, the Golden Lotus Sect, and the Demon Sect. Four powers that for hundreds of thousands of years had lived in tension, rivalry, and sometimes open hostility, now standing under the same roof. Not perfectly, not immediately warm, but at peace. And peace was foundation enough to begin from.The Upper World, for the first time in living memory, was quiet.---The day before they left the Upper World, Kael brought Evelyne and Lein to Lotus Cloud Market.Grandma Bai was in the back of the shop when they arrived, sorting herbs in the way she had done thousands of times, and she didn't look up right away when the door opened. She only turned when no customer's voice came through with

Inside the craft, the air felt different from Earth. Thinner, colder, with something in it that Kael couldn't name but immediately recognized as not from here.The first thing he saw was dozens of figures standing in formation, averaging two meters tall, their entire bodies encased in armor made from no material he had ever seen on Earth or in the Upper World. Its surface reflected light in an unnatural way, and from between its plates flowed something that felt like energy, but different from the spiritual energy he knew. More mechanical, colder.Kael could tell the armor wasn't easy to penetrate. An ordinary cultivator at Soul Realm or even Immortal Realm would struggle against it.Fortunately, he was no ordinary cultivator.Every head turned toward him at once, and from the arm of each armor, folded weapons extended open. Barrels that didn't resemble any Earth pistol or rifle, but something thicker and shorter, with tips glowing a deep blue.Energy rounds. He could guess that witho

The elf woman moved her chin to one side, activating the communication system inside her helmet in a way only someone who knew how could manage. A small blue light on the side of the helmet blinked twice, then a short tone sounded, a frequency ordinary human ears couldn't pick up but one that Kael's senses, which had long since surpassed that limit, caught clearly.Signal sent.The woman lowered her chin, then looked at Kael with an expression that was working very hard not to look like what it actually was."I've done it." Her tone was flat. "Am I free to go now?""Yes." Kael released the energy supporting her body, letting the woman stand on her own feet even though both arms were still in a condition that didn't allow for much movement. "You can go." He looked at her for a moment. "And I know you'll be back. A temperament like yours can't stop here." The corner of his lip lifted faintly. "But remember, when that time comes, it will truly be the end for you and every last one of you

"...Who did this to you?" Vaern Thael's voice dropped several notches, colder. The kind of voice that made the air around him feel heavier. He stepped closer, eyes narrowing as he looked at the woman. "Was there an ambush along the way?" The woman raised her face. Behind the pain still running through both her arms, there was something else in her eyes, anger that hadn't faded, and a humiliation that hadn't been avenged. Her name was Lyraen. "No." Her answer was brief, but her tone was sharp. "No ambush. No trap." She paused, as if replaying the events inside her head. "But... that planet has one anomaly." Her voice lowered. "Very powerful. Powerful enough to defeat all sixty Galactic Warriors." Several soldiers nearby who heard those words immediately tensed. Lyraen continued, her lips curling slightly with unmistakable contempt. "Not only that... he was also incredibly arrogant." Her eyes narrowed, recalling every word Kael had spoken. "He said that if we came b