If, before arriving on the 7th floor, Klaus was disappointed that none of the treasures in the jade vault suited his long-term needs, then now, he was more than happy with his gains. In fact, he was very happy.

Inside his soul sea, the small tome containing the runes for the Immortal Claw Art hovered, releasing waves of ancient aura.

In three places, three of his incarnations were actively working to comprehend the technique and even master the first form. If that were achieved, then perhaps he would be winning the coming battle.

So as he made his way back to the 6th floor, he was happy.

He appeared beside Rory, who had found a small peak and was cultivating there.

"How did it go?" she asked the moment she sensed Klaus’s presence.

He smiled and nodded at her. "Better than I had hoped."

"I guess you had a great fortune, judging by the smile on your face." Rory also smiled, already happy for her man. So far, she could tell the most logical step would be to go back out there before the vault opened.

However, seeing Klaus happy, she felt happy as well and even wanted to know more.

"Relax, I will tell you more when we are out of this dreadful place." Klaus turned and looked into the distance. "By the way, where are the Princess and her people?"

He could see Omen, Slate, and Echo seated in the lotus posture not far from Rory. The only ones he couldn’t see yet were the Princess and her cohort.

"She had found the Pendant and bonded with it. Afterwards, she said she and her teammates were going somewhere, and when you returned, I should contact them."

Klaus furrowed his brow. "There is no signal here, so how do you intend to—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Rory retrieved her bow and fired an arrow into the distance. After traveling far enough, it exploded into fireworks.

"I suppose that works too."

She smiled, and they started to wait. There weren’t many treasures on the 6th floor, so they didn’t even bother to look. However, Klaus already knew they wouldn’t benefit from any of the 10 treasures aside from the Jade Pendant here.

That said, Icon would handle everything when he was gone.

Already, Klaus knew things were going well for him on the outside. While he was on the 7th floor, he sensed he had formed three more connections with powerful beasts.

That was a clear sign that Lady Beyhos had succeeded in convincing the other three god beasts. Of course, that also meant he now had over 9 demigods under his command and several other immortal-level calamity beasts.

However, the battle would be happening on three fronts, and Klaus already knew that having this advantage wasn’t enough.

Crux had already told him that aside from the three of them working under God Beast Beyhos, there were several demigods out there, some even having one foot in the realm of godhood.

So he was aware that during the battle, such powerful existences would try to get their hands on the Jade Queen. Of course, if they were the only threat, he wouldn’t worry.

However, here lies the case where the Heavens Court wouldn’t want their dirty secret to be spread out there.

His Hivemind was so robust that he knew the real threat had yet to arrive. The corrupted heaven warriors were like a big red flag that they would want taken out.

Even if the corrupted warriors somehow managed to kill all humans, they also must be dealt with.

Aside from them, the god beasts would also have to be taken out. This meant gods were coming, and he had to be ready to outsmart them all. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

So he was more than prepared to ensure that when all of this was over, the blow that would strike Heaven’s Court would be one they could never recover from.

An hour later, the Princess and her teammates arrived.

"Before we leave, you all should know one thing," Klaus said, drawing everyone’s attention. "The battle that is about to happen will be between Immortals, demigods, and gods. Now, while I love to risk my life, I cannot say the same for you all, so if you want to walk away, I wouldn’t think any less of you.

Of course, before you can leave, my side would have to win. Though winning at this point is a relative term. I have a bad feeling about the portals leading out of this place, so only by winning can we leave.

However, I can store you inside the treasures I used a couple of days ago. That said, if you choose to fight side by side with me, I will be forever grateful to you. Also, there are bound to be thousands of calamity cores after the battle, so the gain is a bit on the level with the risk."

He let a smile appear on his face.

Rory had already given him her answer, so he was only addressing the rest of his team, the Princess, and her teammates.

Slate looked at Echo and then at Omen. "As long as we won’t have to fight gods, then why not? Sounds like it would be a good battle."

Omen and Echo nodded.

"Thanks, guys, and I promise, you won’t be fighting gods."

They smiled and nodded back.

Princess Evren looked at her teammates, who nodded at her. She smiled and turned to Klaus. "I suppose we will be joining your campaign. However, if I sense my teammates’ lives are at risk, I won’t hesitate to pull them out."

"That is also good." Klaus nodded at her and then smiled.

"Since we are all in agreement, then we should go meet our teammates." Klaus put them inside the Demon Bead, and soon he was gone from the 6th floor, appearing back at Lady Beyhos’s domain.

He would be meeting the three other gods in a few days’ time; afterward, he would prepare a formation he planned to use in the battle.

***

Meanwhile, three weeks after they left the jade vault, it finally opened. The moment it opened, all kinds of humans and beasts rushed inside, hoping to take the treasures for themselves.

However, their greed and anticipation were met with the most shocking sight ever.

The display cases for most of the treasures were there, but the treasures were nowhere to be found. In fact, many saw tracks leading from one treasure to the next, so they rushed to the other floors to explore.

However, even after reaching the 6th floor and finding nothing but display cases, their expressions turned dark. To make matters worse, on the sixth floor, the cloud in the sky was manipulated to write the most arrogant words possible.

"No need to cry over something that is not yours to begin with,"

This sentence evoked a range of emotions in both the beasts and the humans. This led to a battle, one that caused the jade vault to shake.

Their hatred for the unknown person who beat them to the loot had ignited, sparking a rage that made them all lose their reason.

Thankfully, the battle was short-lived. Three days after the vault opened, the seals were undone, and everyone regained their cultivation bases.

A few hours after that happened, they all sensed terrifying presences descending into the Nest. Two days later, corrupted Qi filled the air.

Finally, a week after the seals broke, an egg appeared in a valley 20 km away from the Jade Vault, calling all the presences inside the Nest toward it.

Klaus and his team were the first to answer the call.