In Phoenix City, Rai was as busy as ever.

Although he was especially in a good mood today as Ozul had gone to finish some jobs. With him there, he didn’t need to worry about anything at all.

He was supposed to prepare a team for each mission listed on that parchment for today. Yet here he was, free of his duties.

"Should we tell that dragon lady that he is hiding here?"

In the courtyard, Rameel squinted his eyes at Rai who was making weird faces while lost in fantasy.

Rai was hiding from Ember. If she knew that he was free for the day, she would surely dump more work on him. As such, he had taken refuge in the courtyard where Ozul’s group usually trained.

"Forget it. I don’t want trouble with him," Alden shook her head. Although that man didn’t act like it around them, she always felt danger around him.

Rameel agreed with her. It was just that his presence in the courtyard was too overwhelming and disturbing their cultivation.

As Rai lazed around the courtyard, his dog ears perked up.

With a solemn demeanor, he asked, "What is it?"

A subordinate of his he had trained was hiding nearby. "There is important information about the tasks..."

"Go on," Rai waved his hand, prompting the hiding man to continue.

In the distance, Alden and Rameel noticed Rai talking to the air when suddenly he jolted up. A sense of urgency was evident on his face as he stormed out of the courtyard.

"What could’ve happened?" Alden wondered aloud, but as they were so weak, there was nothing they could do even if she knew.

Outside the courtyard, Rai rushed in the direction where the target for the 2nd task on that parchment was supposed to be.

"Just when I thought I could rest!

I hope you are smart enough to retreat, you brats!"

. . .

In the Realm of Shadows, two figures stepped out from the Spatial crack.

"I didn’t expect anything less than this," laughed the old man, noticing the welcome already waiting for him.

"The Lord of Shadows awaits your presence," the cloaked figure spoke with a neutral tone, showing no bias.

Behind Old Gu, Minho gauged the man’s strength and estimated that he would have a tough time dealing with him.

Old Gu was there to meet the Lord of Shadows, so he quietly agreed to follow him.

Though he couldn’t help his curiosity. "How did you know that we would be appearing here?" He asked while trying to think of different ways such a trick could be achieved.

"I was only instructed by the Lord to guide you," the cloaked man replied.

Minho sharpened his eyes at him. If not for the fact that Old Gu would disapprove of it, he wouldn’t have stood for the disrespect.

’An Empyrean who doesn’t even hesitate before a Heavenly Virtue... Hmm.’

Old Gu curiously observed the man ahead of him. His eyes then wandered off to observe the surroundings.

With the entire Realm surrounded in shades, it wasn’t really a pleasant sight. Yet, he wasn’t bored since it was his first time visiting this particular Realm.

After all, unless approved by the Lord of Shadows, no one was allowed to come and leave here as they pleased.

’Yasashii Hito huh... No one knows how strong he has gotten since then...’

Old Gu couldn’t help but be impressed by that man’s skills. After all, even his arrival was somehow instantly known to him.

The last time he had seen that man was at the funeral of the Wise Seer.

Given that they were martial brothers who both grew up under the teachings of the Heavenly Emperor, his presence was still a surprise to many considering everyone called him the Demonic Emperor.

As they reached the castle more grand in structure than that of the Heavenly Emperor, Old Gu couldn’t help but chuckle.

Everything about that man seemed polar opposite to ’God’, so it was no wonder the Demonic moniker stuck with him.

Once inside, they were brought to the room before their guide took his leave.

"This is one face I never expected to see in this room," Qingyu chuckled, slouched on the couch placed on the side.

Old Gu also saw Baoshi who quietly nodded at his presence.

Meanwhile, Minho remained on edge. If his Lord had come here to somehow taunt these people, then the chances of them being able to escape weren’t looking good.

"Bold of you to appear here now," the Lord of Shadows said in a calm voice. His dark pupils seemed to hold a world inside them.

"Now? Is it because I paid a visit to the Emperor?" Old Gu chuckled again, "I assure you, I did not come here after being rejected by him."

The Lord of Shadows stared at him silently, before nodding and beckoning him to continue.

"I have a proposition for you."

Lord of Shadows gave a signal to the other two Virtues present in the room. Understanding the importance of this meeting, they promptly left the room.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to convince the Phoenix to not interrupt me for what I am about to do," Old Gu went straight to the point.

"And I am supposed to comply without asking your reasons?"

"Yes. It is my business and mine alone to know."

"Why should I help you then?" The Lord of Shadows asked without betraying his emotion. It really seemed like they were talking to a wall.

"I will promise you not to support Kami against your forces."

"And you still refuse to join me?"

"I have no intentions to participate in this childish war."

The Lord of Shadows smiled for the first time, "Childish you say. But that means you would not go against me even if I don’t do you this favor."

Old Gu remained silent. It was true, he really had nothing much to offer or at least nothing else he could offer would have any value to that man.

"I assume you would not take your chances," he finally replied boldly.

Silence fell in the room at last.

The Lord of Shadows remained quiet for a few seconds before his lips parted to say, "I do not make promises."

Seeing his confusion, the man elaborated, "The Celestial Beasts are not my subordinates. At most, I can try to convince her."

Old Gu abruptly let out a laugh which echoed in the room.

"Yasashii Hito..." he uttered his name out aloud, "You really are the spitting image of the Emperor. If not for all of this, I would assume you to be his son."

But it quickly became apparent that the Lord of Shadows did not share the same humor as him.

With his eyes darkening further, the air around the man came to a standstill as he ordered with masked emotions, "You can leave now."

Old Gu realized he might have crossed a line as he smiled sheepishly and grabbed Minho to leave.

This was already more than he could ask for.

. . .

In the Realm of Abezan, Ozul and the trio arrived in the remote country where the target was supposed to.

As they entered, the four of them stopped soaring through the sky and landed on the ground.

Unlike before, there were hundreds of people watching. It would do them no good if word spread and their target was alerted of their presence.

"How far is it?" asked Zier, realizing that they didn’t seem to have a clear direction.

Raven shrugged, "The information is lacking. I can only guess the whereabouts."

However, after seeing the city map, she spotted an isolated area on the outskirts. Such abandoned places were easy to hide in.

As such, they rushed toward the place only to come across an abandoned warehouse hidden behind dense trees.

If not for their keen senses, they might not have spotted the building from that distance.

As the trio walked forward, they noticed Ozul had stopped in his tracks. Alerted, they quickly took out their weapons noticing that even he was taken aback slightly.

If they knew the thoughts swirling around his head, they wouldn’t have stayed there.

’A Sage...’

Right as they were moving, an overwhelming presence of a Sage had entered the warehouse from the other direction. He was so fast that Ozul simply didn’t have enough time to cover the presence of the trio.

Sensing that the Sage was not one of their own, he knew that luck really wasn’t on their side.

Considering the distance between them and the warehouse, the Sage would have already sensed the Transcendent aura of the trio.

To prove his point, a gust of wind blew in their direction, and a man appeared behind them!

The four quickly turned to find the Sage inspecting them curiously before a vicious smile appeared on his face.

He had thought the group of Transcendents near the warehouse were from the Sect for their task. Upon arriving here, he instantly realized that they were Ember’s subordinates.

"Do you remember me?" The man smiled, noticing the hidden panic in their eyes.

The three of them vaguely remembered him as the man sent by the Sect to bring them here from their Broken World.

Meanwhile, Ozul was lost in thoughts. For the longest time, he wanted to absorb a Sage to boost his power, yet there was never an opportunity.

This time, however, he was unprepared.

Not only that but a peak Transcendent had also appeared beside the Sage at that time.

Their opponent was a Sage and a peak Transcendent!