[The Stone Catacombs]

On the other side of the world, opposite the pavilion where all visitors would first arrive, the Stone Catacombs stood as a symbol of strength and regality at the top of a towering mountain. The catacombs had been the seat of an ancient king during an era known as the Period of Lawlessness in the Primordial Expanse. This ancient king was called Grum the Conqueror, and he had been one of the people who benefited the most from the Period of Lawlessness! He had been a warlord, and he amassed a massive fortune from taking control of other worlds. That was why he stood against any form of peace and tried to use his power to ensure that the Primordial Expanse would remain in a state of war. When the Primordial Expanse tried to come together to forge a peace treaty and end the wars, King Grum unleashed his army of millions on those other worlds and tried to put an end to everyone who supported the peace. But even though the ancient king had been powerful, he had seriously overestimated his own strength, and he failed to predict how desperate the other worlds were to finally end the Period of Lawlessness. King Grum was marked as a Rebel King who had to be eliminated for peace to reign, and the Rebel King didn't stand a chance against the combined might of the Primordial Expanse. Nine great rulers of nine of the most powerful worlds formed an alliance against the Rebel King, and together they formed the Legion of the Great Nine.

The nine rulers joined forces with a great Celestial being, and together they charged against the Stone Catacombs and pushed the army of the Rebel King back behind the walls. The Rebel King tried to form a stronghold inside the Stone Catacombs and began to make plans for a counter, but his army was outnumbered and his plans could not stand up to the might of the multitudes of other worlds. In time, the Rebel King was chased all the way back into his throne room, and with no allies and no armies to protect him, he was slain with a sword that stabbed into his heart and pinned him to the throne, and his land was taken away from him.

As a reminder of what they fought for, the nine rulers of the nine great worlds cemented their alliance with blood and magic, and they swore an oath of peace in front of the Celestial. The Primordial Treaty that governed the running of the vast majority of the Primordial Expanse was drafted and signed by most worlds, and the Primordial Expanse was divided into nine regions that would be governed each by one member of the nine rulers, with the great Celestial acting as the Grand Overseeer of all Domains. These Primordial Domains acted as both protection and watchdogs for each other in order to ensure that no world would attempt to go against the treaty and begin another war like the Rebel King. The Stone Catacombs of the Rebel King, which had been the last to fall, was commandeered by the rulers, and since it was the land upon which their peace was founded, they declared that it would be a neutral region and a world governed by its own rules and only used by the rulers for official matters. The throne room where the Rebel King was killed was transformed from a room into a meeting chamber with ten thrones that towered high over a central region! The sword that had slain the Rebel King was embedded in a stone mound and placed at the center of the meeting room to remind them of what they had overcome in order to achieve this peace. The room was renamed the Hall of Fallen Heroes and chosen as the official meeting place of the Council of Nine and One.

Jason walked through the hallways of the Stone Catacombs with a slight frown on his face as he read through all this information. Jason had already learned about the origin of the Stone Catacombs and how it was taken from the Rebel King, and even though Jason wasn't happy about the current situation, he couldn't help but feel a bit of respect for the council and what they had done in order to ensure that there was peace. Earth hadn't even been a part of the Primordial Expanse when all this was happening, so they hadn't been affected by it, but Jason knew that if Earth had joined the Primordial Expanse when it was still in the Period of Lawlessness, then there was no way Earth would have survived that first Green Gate! Earth would have been swarmed by attackers and conquerors from other worlds, and they would have been enslaved or completely wiped out by some other powerhouse!

'We're really one of the luckiest worlds out there.'

This thought passed through Jason's mind, and Jason raised a brow when he heard Esdath speak up.

'Hoho, so you are aware of the Period of Lawlessness, are you? I remember quite a few warlords attempted to take control of our world during that era. I would not say that the era was a terrible time, especially for us of the Eastern Mountain sect. After all, there were many great advancements in our cultivation from the wars we fought. The dangers we faced forced us to evolve! As they say, peace breeds weakness, but constant adversity forces you to grow stronger. I would suggest you keep this in mind.'

Jason narrowed his eyes at Esdath's words. Jason would usually ignore the things that Esdath says to him, especially when it doesn't concern his training. But right now, Jason couldn't deny that Esdath made a lot of sense. Although Jason had grown rapidly in the previous week and he made a lot of progress in his rune crafting and Qi meditation, Jason knew that the progress he made would be nothing compared to what he would've achieved if he had spent this week fighting against various opponents. There was a completely different benefit to be gained from battle, and the benefits gained there were far greater than what you can gain from just regular training!

'I managed to grow from A Rank to SSS Rank in just two months of constant fighting as a superhuman. But I haven't been in any other battle since then, so I'm struggling to reach the TITAN Rank. I hate to admit it, but Esdath might be right. I need to keep fighting if I want to continue growing stronger.'

'Oi! Why do you hate to admit it!? I'm always right.'

Jason scoffed internally as he heard Esdath screaming again, and Jason turned to the left when he felt Gina take his hand. Gina smiled at Jason and asked him if he was alright since he had been spaced out for a while now, and Jason just shook his head and said he was fine. He was just thinking about some things. The hallway that the group was walking through reminded Jason a lot of the castle hallways he always saw in a lot of old fantasy movies. It was a long passageway with an arch over the top and various windows at the side that opened to allow you to view the vast sky outside. The windows on the left side of the hallway gave a direct view of the Pavilion where Jason and the others had arrived from, and Jason felt his eyes trail towards the pavilion when he noticed that someone else was arriving at the Catacombs. Jason stared out the window with narrowed eyes, and he frowned when he saw a woman with bright red hair and golden eyes standing inside the pavilion and talking to the Head of the Faceless Keepers.

'So Hesabeth also agreed to be present for the hearing. I hoped she wouldn't be here. She's going to be a bit difficult to deal with.'

Jason hadn't forgotten about the strange woman that he met on Ruen after he fought against the Lich, and honestly, Jason had no idea how to approach dealing with her. Jason was used to dealing with complicated women in his life, but Hesabeth was something else entirely.

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