When Darian left the castle's meeting hall, he was guided by the Emperor's orders to a small building near the royal castle, where he could stay for a while. There was a simple, humble room inside, meant only for beasts to recover from injuries and rest.

Everyone on that planet lived training and fighting day and night. The poorest or weakest lived in wild areas outside the cities. The stronger ones — or those with money, belonging to families — lived inside the cities, using countless Supreme Artifacts for training that were available to everyone.

Nothing was restricted, but everything required either resources or courage. If someone had no money, there were two options. The first was to earn some through missions the Spiritual Guardians were required to do.

The second was to go into the wild regions of the planet — like that desert Darian had visited — and mine resources there. Then they could trade everything in the city and spend a long time training. In short, every Spiritual Guardian had the chance to grow stronger if they put in the effort.

The training places in the cities were made using Supreme Artifacts or arrays. On Earth, Supreme Artifacts belonged only to the greatest clans of the empire, and there probably weren't even thirty of them in total. But on that planet, every city had dozens.

Those beasts didn't bring artifacts from other universes, like weapons or items with complex effects. They focused entirely on tools that could help train and strengthen the next generation. It was a completely opposite mindset from Earth, where Supreme Artifacts were chosen only to assist in completing S-Rank missions.

Back to the present, Darian stepped out of the building and looked toward a distant tower. He sensed a distinct black karma there, unmoving — possibly watching him in secret.

"The Wube family... if you think I'm the same as before and that I'll go easy on you, you're dead wrong." Darian muttered, walking forward without a care.

That family was powerful and influential on that planet, but they couldn't do whatever they wanted. Darian had already confirmed that Painita and the Emperor weren't bad people, nor fools who could be easily manipulated. So, for now, he was safe.

Darian moved with a clear destination in mind.

Besides the royal castle, there were two colossal buildings on opposite sides of the capital. One was the Merchants Guild, run by the Wube family. Obviously, he wasn't going anywhere near that... not yet. When he did, it would only be to cause chaos and destroy everything.

The other building was a massive marketplace for the planet. There, they sold items meant for beasts — nutritious blood, cores, and other materials.

These were resources collected from dead powerful beasts or found naturally in other universes — nothing processed like pills. Because of that, the Wube family and the humanoids didn't have a monopoly over that kind of trade.

Darian walked straight through the front. A half-human clerk came to greet him. Darian discreetly handed him a spatial ring.

"Please, check what's inside. I want to sell everything in there, I need local currency."

The clerk remained indifferent, nodded, and went through a back door.

...

An hour later, a group of six humanoid beasts — all with seven rings — came from the back with shocked expressions. The clerk was leading them, almost desperately looking around for someone.

When he spotted Darian, his face eased up, and he almost ran to him. "Sir, please, come with me."

Darian nodded and was led into a private room along with those powerful beasts from the market.

He wasn't surprised at all. What Darian had handed over was just a small part of the lowest-grade resources from the Heavenly World.

But even those lower-tier resources were considered Supreme Treasures in that universe. They were formed from primordial Yin and Yang — something nonexistent in most universes.

Remira had spent many years gathering all kinds of resources with the people, just for him. And right then, all the barriers dividing that world into three had been broken.

The people had been told that their world was about to end and that Darian would take them to the true one. So, everyone was collecting as many resources as they could, day and night.

As for Darian... he had so many terrifying resources that his inventory was completely full, forcing him to use every spatial ring and crystal he had to store it all.

All those beasts in the room tried to negotiate for the items, tense expressions on their faces. The total value was almost impossible to pay, so they had to ask for discounts or buy only part of it.

But Darian didn't care about getting the highest profit possible. He just pretended to negotiate for a while and, in the end, agreed to sell everything for an insanely high price — though still reasonable enough for them to pay.

Of course, he made sure to act as if he were doing them a favor. Beasts hated favors or tricky deals, so they would go out of their way to repay him later.

Darian received so much money from that planet that not even the Emperor himself probably had that much in his personal treasury. With that, he went straight to the capital's training grounds.

He chose the most expensive one, because the beasts were simple — the pricier it was, the harder it got, and the better the results.

When he entered, he found out the place was so expensive and dangerous that only members of the royal family could train there. It was the main training field and the planet's greatest treasure — aside from the blood of the Primordial Dragon, of course.

It was called the Berserker God Array.

The whole building contained several rooms linked to a divine array brought from another universe, made specifically to train warriors.

There were two ways to use it. The first was the least used, since it was insanely dangerous. The person had to isolate themselves alone in a room, and the array would distort space, forcing them to endure the spatial pressure with their own body.

The minimum time was half a day. Out of every three attempts, two people died miserably, with no chance to retreat. There had already been several princes killed there — so few dared to risk it. It had been years since anyone tried.

The second mode was the most popular. Two people had to enter together and fight each other. The activation cost was insanely high, which was why few used it. The array created subtle distortions that disturbed both sides during battle.

There could only be one winner. Killing wasn't required, but once decided, the winner would receive a huge amount of energy that fused into their body — that energy was Qi, the purest power found in at least mid-level universes.

Qi greatly stimulated the body, and could even make one's Bloodline denser if the winner was below average. However, the array could tell when someone wasn't fighting seriously or if the battle wasn't fair. In such cases, the winner got nothing.

Princes and princesses often paid others to accompany them in these trainings. However, finding a sparring partner who matched their level was always a challenge.

Even so, countless people dreamed of becoming a prince's or princess's training partner. Earning such a position didn't just mean rising in the hierarchy and gaining connections — it also came with many other benefits.

Darian heard all of that from the clerk and didn't even think twice. He rented a room for the first type of array usage, for an indefinite time, and left a deposit worth a full week — an absurd amount that left the clerk stunned.

The clerk said nothing, since the place was open to anyone. Still, it was absolute madness for someone with only four rings.

Darian entered the room, and the door closed behind him, activating the array.

The clerk waited carefully for the signal that indicated the participant had died. But… hours passed, then days…

Five days later, the door opened again.

Darian walked out calmly. His body was releasing a faint grayish aura. He could feel that his physique had been pushed to an extreme, and he wanted to test himself to see how many FiendGod strength points he had — to then start his real training.

That place was truly amazing. The spatial power was brutal, but it wasn't designed to kill the person directly. The array adjusted the pressure according to the user, keeping it just a bit above the person's physical limit.

People without strong willpower wouldn't last long inside. It was pure torture to stay under pressure stronger than your limits for hours.

When Darian entered, the level was one. But when he activated his stellar physique, it rose drastically to keep balance. In other words, this was an incredible way to train anyone to surpass their limits.

But… it still couldn't compare to a real life-and-death fight. Even so, you couldn't be in those kinds of battles all the time, so having something like that was really useful.

He wanted to stay longer, but unfortunately, his emblem alerted him. The time to fight and stop being a commoner — to become a soldier — was getting close.

As he left the building, a figure was waiting for him at the door.

"Mr. Darian, do you still remember me?" said the person with a smile as he saw him come out.

It was the same prince who had given him a seat before.

"My name's Zelkov. I'm the nineteenth prince in rank."

Darian gave a small nod and went straight to the point. "May I ask what you need from me?"

"Ah, I've got huge respect for Mr. Darian. That day when you slapped one of those humans from the Wube family, I almost shouted with joy. That bastard... You have no idea how hateful he is! I've wanted to do the same for ages, but I never got the chance. And even if I did, I wouldn't dare. I wouldn't be able to beat him," Zelkov said, laughing.

"I heard you came here to ask Princess Niara to marry you. That's incredible! The First Princess is the Matriarch's favorite daughter. Don't think she's kind or forgiving with us just because we're her adopted kids. If we make mistakes, we're punished — actually, even harsher than others. I, for example, used to be the twentieth prince, but the nineteenth was killed by the Emperor. So now, I'm the nineteenth."

"He killed a prince? Why?" asked Darian, thoughtful.

"My brother had some shady dealings with planet Runedell. I don't know the details, but the Emperor got so angry that he chopped his head off — without the Matriarch knowing. If she found out, she'd be so furious she'd attack Runedell, and that would cause a disaster... Ah! Please, don't tell anyone I said that! If the Emperor finds out, I'm done for!"

Zelkov went pale, realizing he had spilled a secret that only a few in the royal family knew.

Darian smiled faintly. Despite having an adult body, the young prince had the aura and behavior of a child — completely sincere in his words. Darian's caution eased instantly.

Feeling his energy, he noticed Zelkov had a beast Bloodline even denser than a draconic one, but his intelligence was clearly below average. Even so, for some reason, he had been accepted as a prince.

"Don't worry, I'm not a gossip. Besides, the Matriarch is my future mother-in-law, and this place will be my second home," Darian said calmly, reassuring him. "But why would it be such a problem if she attacked that planet? Couldn't the Matriarch defeat the other Spiritual Sovereign?"

Zelkov took a deep breath, a bit tense. "No Spiritual Sovereign would ever be crazy enough to attack another's territory. There are absolute rules between the seven immortals of the universe. No matter what happens — if one of them strikes first, the other can summon the remaining five, and all of them must unite to eliminate the attacker. That's why all conflicts are handled by the Spiritual Guardians. Even if there are wars or big battles, no immortal can intervene or attack directly."

Hearing that, Darian understood. He remembered the power Remira had shown before — with just a wave of her hand, space shattered, and two immortal demons were nearly killed.

If two full immortals fought, the entire universe they lived in would be affected by their powers. That's why this rule existed: to prevent fights between them. If it ever happened, everyone would join forces to wipe out the aggressor as fast as possible to minimize the damage.

Then suddenly, Zelkov remembered why he had gone there in the first place. "Mr. Darian, I actually came because I thought of something that could help you level up quickly. That way, you won't have to waste so much time."

"Oh? What is it?"

Zelkov smiled brightly. "In your battle to become a soldier, we'll sign a contract before the fight. Once you win, you'll be promoted and can immediately become my training partner, taking the position of Instructor. After all, every prince and princess has the right to choose one soldier and turn them into an Instructor once a year. I haven't used that right yet — this could help you a lot. I just hope that when you rise in the future, you'll look out for me a bit."

Darian agreed right away. If that young man had shown even a trace of malice, he would've refused. But fortunately, that wasn't the case. So he could take advantage of Zelkov's status to climb ranks faster.

Hearing his positive answer, Zelkov got excited and hurried off, saying he'd prepare the contract and wait for him at the battle arena.

Darian nodded and began strolling slowly through the city.

His match would take place in a few hours, but he went out early to eat that special fish again at the bar. He had more than enough money, and that meal also helped strengthen his body — though the stronger he became, the less effect it had.

...

After a good meal, he headed to the arena at the time shown on his emblem. When he arrived, he saw Zelkov waiting with a contract. Darian signed it immediately, and then was led straight to the martial stage.

As soon as he stepped in, he felt several hidden gazes watching him.

They were concealed, but he sensed them easily — Painita, the Emperor, and several powerful figures he had seen earlier in the hall.

'Why the hell are they watching such a small fight?' Darian thought, snorting in disinterest.

The martial stage was empty, but as soon as he stopped, a figure appeared on the opposite side, walking toward him slowly.

When he saw his opponent, Darian narrowed his eyes.

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