Finally, the Green Mountain Ancestor could no longer hold it in. He threw his head back and broke into loud, raucous laughter that rolled across the surrounding peaks. "Brat, you have done it! You are going to completely destroy my world, aren't you?"

Liam awkwardly smiled. "I apologize. Please accept the treasure land world as compensation. I have completely cleared it out."

The Green Mountain ancestor's eyes sparkled with a mysterious glint. "Completely, huh? Then I assume you have achieved what you set out to achieve."

"Indeed, senior, I have."

"Are you sure about this? I can still help you teleport out of this mess."

Liam smiled and bowed a little. He knew exactly how much the ancestor would have to sacrifice to get him out of a situation like this. He was grateful that the ancestor still offered to help him. However, he firmly shook his head.

"Senior, I have no intention of leaving this place. I have run for a long time. I want to stop running now."

The ancestor became silent for a moment. He then nodded. "Go. Fight to your heart's content. Give me a show I will not forget in this lifetime." He then turned around and activated a teleportation formation. All of the sect members gathered in the great hall immediately used this formation and left the world.

The ancestor did not leave. Instead, he found himself a comfortable place atop one of the distant peaks and sat down, casually producing a wine gourd as though he were preparing to watch an entertaining tournament rather than a confrontation involving some of the strongest forces in the cosmos.

Liam lightly chuckled, turning his attention to the many forces gathering in the world.

With the Green Mountain disciples gone, the sect suddenly felt strangely empty despite the absurd number of cultivators filling its skies.

Golden fortresses belonging to the Celestial Court occupied one side of the heavens while crimson warships belonging to the Blood Court stretched across the other.

Between those two enormous forces were representatives from ancient clans, dynasties, supreme sects, and organizations that had traveled across enormous distances merely to discover what could possibly have caused such a gathering. More continued arriving.

Spatial passages opened throughout the upper atmosphere, while others appeared beyond the world itself as the more cautious factions chose to observe from a distance.

Ancient cultivators concealed themselves within folded layers of space, communication treasures transmitted everything they witnessed toward distant worlds, and countless divine senses repeatedly swept across Green Mountain as information about the confrontation continued spreading throughout the surrounding regions.

Yet for all the cultivators now occupying his home, Liam was almost completely alone.

Liam stood between two of the greatest factions in the cosmos with only his three soul avatars, two of them caged, and compared with the armies surrounding them, the four identical figures looked almost insignificant.

Xerathuna naturally noticed this as well.

Her earlier unease gradually disappeared as she watched the last traces of Green Mountain's teleportation formation fade. The old bastard had chosen not to interfere, exactly as he had promised, while Liam had inexplicably refused the opportunity to escape and remained behind to face her.

Did he really think possessing a few soul incarnations was going to help him survive this? She gnashed her teeth, wanting to already be done with all of this. The rat bastard had bothered her long enough.

The Blood Prince also finally spared a glance to take note of Liam. "So that's him?" He muttered indifferently.

Xerathuna glanced toward him. "Yes."

"Don't worry, I will take care of him. I will also make sure whatever treasure he stole from you returns to your hands."

"Yes, my love. I trust you." Xerathuna sweetly smiled.

Around them, the other factions were reaching similar conclusions. Most had arrived because the simultaneous mobilization of the Celestial Court and Blood Court suggested that something extraordinary had happened within Green Mountain. However, now their attention shifted.

Everyone started paying attention to the insignificant young man standing at the center of everything. Questions spread rapidly.

Who was he?

Why did the Celestial Court want him?

Why was the Blood Court involved?

And why did three Dao Kings have exactly the same face as a Transcendent?

Liam could feel the divine senses examining him from every direction. Some disappeared the instant his misty-white eyes turned toward them, while others belonged to cultivators powerful enough that they didn't bother hiding their curiosity. He ignored all of them.

Liam's gaze moved toward Xerathuna. She was already watching him. Neither spoke.

The distance between them was enormous, yet Liam could clearly see the satisfaction gradually returning to her face as more Celestial forces emerged through the golden gates behind her.

Perhaps she thought his decision to remain was arrogance, or perhaps she believed he had finally realized there was nowhere left to run.

Liam didn't particularly care which explanation she preferred. He had already made his decision. He was going to fight today. He was going to fight with everything he had, and he was going to see this all to the very end.

Now the only question was when should he...

Snapping him out of his thoughts, a disturbance caught his attention. Liam initially did not care about it, as spatial passages had been opening left and right, almost continuously for some time, but something about this one felt strangely familiar.

His gaze shifted toward the distant sky as a relatively modest portal stabilized between two mountain peaks, looking almost laughably unimpressive compared with the colossal gates and formations surrounding it.

A man stepped through. He took perhaps three steps before stopping.

As soon as Liam saw him, his expression immediately changed.

Derek!

So many questions instantly flooded his mind? Where did he go? How was he doing now? Was he too late for Derek, just like he had been for Mia? Did he also suffer just like Mia did?

But before he could do anything, Derek himself teleported right next to him, silently standing by his side.

Liam looked at him. The two of them exchanged glances. There was no need for anything else to be said. Liam could see it was still the same Derek after all these days. His gaze then fell on the giant axe resting on Derek's back. The weapon had a mysterious gleam to it.

It looked like Derek had personally gone through something and won in the end. His heart raced in excitement. He always knew Derek was meant for great things. This only proved it.

"Welcome back, brother."

Derek smiled. "Good to be back."

Liam chuckled. Good to be back? To get slaughtered? And yet the man was genuinely happy.

There were countless things Liam wanted to ask him, and judging from the way Derek's eyes briefly moved over the three soul avatars, there were probably just as many questions going in the opposite direction.

Neither of them chose to ask anything now, however, because this was hardly the place for catching up after a long separation. Still, Liam couldn't stop himself from taking another look at Derek. He had changed.

The difference wasn't merely his cultivation, although that had clearly undergone a tremendous transformation.

There was a steadiness to Derek that hadn't been there before, something Liam recognized immediately because he had seen the same thing countless times in cultivators who had been pushed to their limits and somehow emerged from the other side.

Whatever had happened after they separated, Derek hadn't spent that time peacefully cultivating somewhere.

"How did you know to come here right now?"

"That oracle guy sent me a message. I completely lost track of time in that place, but thanks to him, I was able to recover and get out."

Liam was a little surprised, but he also knew why Kedan was going above and beyond. "I don't need you here, you know. You can go back home. Your family has missed you a long time."

Derek shook his head with a firm smile. "I am right where I belong."

Countless divine senses immediately shifted toward the newcomer, attempting to identify his cultivation, origin, faction, or anything else that might explain why he had crossed the battlefield without hesitation and positioned himself beside the person both supreme factions had apparently come for.

Several ancient cultivators searched their memories for Derek's face and came up empty, while others became far more interested in the enormous axe resting across his back.

Xerathuna barely spared him a second glance. One more person hardly mattered.

If anything, she found it amusing that Liam's acquaintances were beginning to crawl out of whatever holes they had been hiding in. Let them come. Once Liam was dead, anyone foolish enough to stand beside him could be dealt with according to how deeply they had involved themselves.

Soon another interesting spatial disturbance emerged.

The heavens several thousand kilometers away suddenly darkened as enormous amounts of demonic energy poured through a rapidly expanding spatial fracture.

Unlike the countless controlled teleportation passages that had been opening throughout Green Mountain, this one seemed to force itself directly through the surrounding spatial restrictions, tearing open a jagged wound that spread several kilometers across the sky.

The Celestial Court reacted immediately.

Golden formations illuminated across several fortresses while ranks of paladins turned toward the disturbance, their combined divine energy surging in response to the unmistakable demonic presence.

Two figures stepped through. Both were women. Both were demons.

Many were shocked to see the demons suddenly showing interest in this sector, but among everyone, Liam was the most surprised. How could he possibly not recognize them? His two wives!

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