The Southern Continent was completely silent.

What they were currently witnessing was unbelievable.

Kailen Darkhaven had become a guest elder of the Lotus Assassin Syndicate—a syndicate which had extremely powerful powerhouses but preferred keeping a low profile, until now. Lotus led the powerhouses of her syndicate to the Insidious Assassin Syndicate with Kailen Darkhaven and Julian Seir. Effortlessly, they completely annihilated the HQ of the Insidious Assassin Syndicate.

That was not the end.

From there, they hopped from one city to another, effortlessly destroying and rooting out the branches of the IAS across the Southern Continent. No one had expected something like this to happen. When the Insidious Assassin Syndicate targets you, it means you are dead. When Kailen Darkhaven offended them, many had assumed his death was only a matter of time.

This thought actually further became an undeniable fact after he used unconventional methods to actually destroy their branch in Richtchard City. It was only a matter of time before he died. However, not only had he killed all their elite geniuses at the Rank 3 novice-stage transcendent level in the Southern Continent NGU competition—by using tactical and scheming prowess against them, without personally lifting a finger—he actually went ahead to get the backing of the LAS.

And what they were currently witnessing was the outcome.

Many came to understand why he was being referred to across the Southern Continent now as "The Engineer." It was as if he was always one step ahead, completely unpredictable. Such people were very terrifying. Not only could someone like that use combat prowess in battle, they had the ability to scheme their way out of dreadful situations and survive when the need came. It was very difficult to kill someone like that.

At this moment, the large guilds in Everdawn City sighed in defeat. If the Lotus Assassin Syndicate (LAS) was this powerful, then they would be screwed if they tried anything against Kailen Darkhaven. They had to swallow their pride and let the matter of the deaths of their geniuses slide.

If the LAS went out of their way to effortlessly eliminate the Insidious Assassin Syndicate completely from the Southern Continent because they wanted to kill their guest elder, Kailen Darkhaven, that meant that if the guilds tried anything against him, they would meet the same fate at the end of the day. No one wanted to die because of the deaths of a bunch of geniuses. It was not like revenge would bring them back to life, right?

Many sighed at this point. It seems that Kailen Darkhaven’s eventual rise was inevitable. No one in the Southern Continent doubted his abilities anymore. He was too unpredictable...

Many were even speculating that he could become one of the finalists to compete at the national level. It was possible. Others also felt that these thoughts were too far-fetched. After all, the Southern Continent is just one of 30 continents across the empire. Each continent would present geniuses representing one guild and their continent, who had defeated every opponent from their continent to get to the intercontinental level.

None of them were ordinary. No one looked down on Kailen Darkhaven. But it was too early to say that he could emerge as a finalist. All the same, only time would determine the actual outcome of the intercontinental competition.

However, one thing was certain. Everyone in the Southern Continent was hoping that Kailen Darkhaven could pull off something miraculous. The Southern Continent had never had a finalist from the intercontinental competition to compete on their behalf at the national level, after all. At this point, everyone was hoping things would be different this time. They could not wait for the next three months to come.

**** 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Mr. Darkhaven, I suppose there won’t be any need for you to visit the artificial secret realm of my friend then?" A hologram of Dexter Hemsworth was before Kailen, who was currently relaxing at a beach close to the residence the LAS had provided for him. Julian was also living in the villa.

Kailen nodded. "Thank you, senior."

Dexter was not surprised. He nodded. With the artificial secret realm and principle fragment tower the LAS would provide him, the secret realm of his friend would definitely pale in comparison. He sighed. Kailen’s rise had been too quick. What he had done was miraculous. To think he would now be at a point where he won’t even need the artificial secret realm of a Rank 5 novice-stage space transcendent because he now had access to better resources for cultivation.

Also, Kailen’s current backing was nothing short of terrifying. Hemsworth was a Marquis of the Venzula Empire—a title given to mayors of cities in the empire. However, Kailen’s backing, though unaffiliated to conferred empire nobility, was equally powerful. He could not treat Kailen as a junior anymore.

He nodded. "Very well, sir. I’m rooting for you. Perhaps the Southern Continent can make a name for ourselves at the national level with you on our side this time around."

Kailen merely nodded warmly. He was not doing anything for anyone, but for himself. However, he didn’t need to explain himself to anyone. Dexter ended the call, leaving Kailen to his thoughts.

"I wonder how Arrie and the others are doing?" A smile appeared on Kailen’s face. "It’s been long. I really miss them. I should visit them after the National Guild Union competitions before I enroll in the academy."

Kailen mused to himself. "Also... my identity as the first transcendent from the light region of the universe will come to light after winning the national competition, just as Dawnseer explained. I get why she said it would invite unwanted trouble. After all, attention comes with unwanted eyes all the time. But why do I feel like there is more to me being the first transcendent from the light region of the universe? What does it mean to the people in the chaotic region?"

Kailen thought. He decided to do some research online.

The first transcendent from the edge region of the universe: he saw a picture of a man. He was a human. "Sage Transcendent Ling Feng."

Kailen did some research further on him. This man was currently at the Rank 6 expert-stage transcendent level. He was currently one of the most powerful people in the chaotic region of the universe. Each of his feats were very staggering. He was also the founder of the Lord Council.

The Lord Council was a council of all expert-stage transcendent powerhouses in the chaotic region of the universe. When one gets to the expert-stage transcendent level, one gets the title of "Lord." When one gets to the Rank 6 expert-stage transcendent level, one gets the title of "Sage."

There were currently 20 sages in the chaotic region of the universe. They were all at the Rank 6 expert-stage transcendent level. They were the leading authorities of the Lord Council, presiding over the Lord Council, full of all the expert-stage transcendent level powerhouses. However, they rarely interfered in matters in the chaotic universe. They only made appearances when something that threatened the chaotic region of the universe as a whole appeared.

As for the Rank 7 expert-stage transcendent level, Kailen found out that no one had been able to reach that level. It was a very large chasm to cross. Even in a million years, none of the sages had managed to get to that level. It was simply too difficult, even if one had a very high principle comprehension speed and all the time in the universe on their side.

One had to know that as one advanced in ranks in the transcendent levels, breakthroughs naturally became difficult to achieve, and the strength gap between one rank and another was simply too large. Kailen understood this reasoning perfectly. He was, therefore, not surprised the sages were stuck at the Rank 6 expert-stage transcendent level.

Also, it seemed—just as the Will of the Universe had said—the six vimodial seats had not made an open appearance in the chaotic region of the universe before. They were simply uninterested in anything. They were the most powerful entities in the universe, who could end everyone on a whim, but no one even knew they existed. How terrifying was this? If they had made any appearances, even the sages would be dead by now, after all.

The only thing they were interested in was killing the Will of the Universe—which ultimately meant killing Kailen—and becoming the ultimate overlords of the universe. However, they wanted Kailen to fully mature before they acted against him because they were beings of ultimate pride, who would not see any form of satisfaction in killing their rival and nemesis, the Will of the Universe, before Kailen had matured to his full potential.

Kailen sighed deeply. He had a very long way to go. Anyway, he also now understood what being the first transcendent from the light region of the universe meant to the people in the chaotic region.

The first transcendent from the edge region of the universe, Sage Ling Feng, had become one of those revered persons in the chaotic region of the universe, performed dazzling feats, founded the Lord Council, and stands at the peak. Many would compare the first transcendent from the light region to him. Some would think he could become extremely powerful too, even if he does not get to Sage Ling Feng’s level. It would be more of a philosophical thought, not a special thought.

They would think he should become an ally. He should be roped into their factions and controlled, so that they keep a leash on him before he rises and becomes a threat to their power. If he rejects their offers, he should be eliminated. After all, Sage Ling Feng definitely dominated empires and slaughtered his way to the top. No power would want someone who could represent a similar potential left unbridled. No one wanted to be a stepping stone for someone like that in this era.

Instead of fear at this realization, Kailen smiled. Did he not experience the same thing in the light region of the universe? Back when he became a universe-level powerhouse, almost everyone wanted to control him or kill him.

But what was the outcome?

A glint of coldness flashed through Kailen’s eyes as he enjoyed the warmth of the sun and the cool sea breeze, his shirt and baggy jeans billowing in the wind, legs in the wet sand.

"What a hassle," he chuckled.