Away from the activity of the World Tournament, a plan millennia in the making was underway.

The location was the Belmont Holy Land, but, instead of being the luscious boon of nature it was usually, it was shrouded in a dense darkness from within. However, from the outside, nothing had changed at all.

“Have you not contacted King Belmont yet?! He was prepared for an instance like this?!” A Belmont with flowing purple hair raged as his peak saint cultivation raged as he faced off against something that shook him to the core.

“Elder, we aren’t able to communicate at all! We’ve tried awakening the Ancestors from their slumber, but even that’s been cut off!”

The Belmonts that had remained to defend their land were in despair. Just this morning, everything had been perfect, and yet it had all changed in an instant.

They couldn’t believe how easily their communication had been cut off. They had reserved arrays for centuries, dating back to the time of the Celestial Deer Sect, in order to ensure that this never happened. And yet somehow these enemies they had never see before still cut them off. Just what kind of power did it take to cut off arrays created by foremost experts of that level? They couldn’t even fathom it!

That said, if they were to choose, accepting something like that was more acceptable. But, to not be able to awaken their ancestors? This was ridiculous!

The lifespan of celestial level experts could be expanded by tens of thousands of years as long as they induced deep sleep within themselves. The concept was very simple. In a mortal body, over time, damage to the body and, namely, DNA, would lead to aging. However, when one reached the level of a Celestial Expert, that damage was slowed to such a considerable degree that you could live up to ten thousand years as a human and even up to thirty thousand years as an elf or beast.

But, there was a level of control over the body that peak expert reached that allowed them to stop their cells from dividing, thus shutting down their whole bodies and stopping the progression of this DNA damage. This would only be done once a Celestial or Dao level expert reached the very end of their lifespans, unable to transcend. This provided clans with an extra layer of protection from their best experts in times of distress.

Depending on the level the expert reached during their normal life span, they could be awakened anywhere from a single to tens of times without death. And then, after performing this duty for their clan, their good karma would increase, thus allowing their chances of reincarnating with higher talent much better.

This concept of karma was quite complex, and often something one needed to reach a high level of cultivation to come to an understanding of. But, it paints the perfect picture for how difficult it was for an enemy to interrupt such a sacred system. It was simply unfathomable.

However, during that Belmont elder’s last thoughts, he was almost happy that their ancestors didn’t have to come out to face what he was facing.

A massive ball of dense black flames engulfed him and an entire mountain range with a single thought. The destruction was unholy.

Dragons had descended upon the Belmont family Holy Land.

**

Back in the arena, the battle between Caedlum and Uma was raging.

The feral growls of Uma’s ape filled the stadium as she swung her pole toward the calm Caedlum.

Furious booms of fist colliding with stone was grating on the ears, lasting exchange after exchange with blurs of red skin and dense fur flashed across the stage.

“HAHA!” Uma’s growls turned into delighted laughs. Caedlum’s lack of hesitation at using his body to meet her rod was immensely satisfying to her. .𝒎

This was a true man! She thought to herself.

Caedlum remained unperturbed. “Pakal Emperor’s Will. Act 1. Stage 1.”

In an instant, Caedlum’s body grew to three meters tall, his frame expanding to meet Uma’s next coming strike.

His foot slammed into the ground, sending cracks reverberating as fist seemed to glide through the air.

Dyon’s eyes flashed. The first thing he noticed was the similarity in technique. But, he had already guessed that his Demon Emperor’s Will was shared, at least in some portion, with the Pakals. What caught his attention more was this Caedlum’s fist movement.

It seemed so slow… But…

Dyon’s thought were interrupted by Uma’s massive figure flying backwards.

However, instead of hearing a dull and pained cry, Uma’s laughter only increased. “Yes! More!”

Uma flipped in the air, landing softly on her hind legs before leaning her forward to slam her fist into the ground again. But, this time, the shock wave was on an entirely new level.

The raging cultivation of a peak Essence Gathering expert wildly flooded the arena. But, it wasn’t energy cultivation! Her body was just that powerful!

Her once brown skin reddened as her energy amplified, again and again.

Suddenly, the arena cracked under her weight as she tossed her pole into the skies. If anyone was paying attention, they would have noticed that the upward force needed to throw her rod was so much that it cracked the stage beneath her feet! Just how heavy was that weapon?!

Uma roared, bringing her fists to her chest and pounding madly. Her eyes reddened, turning into rubies of dense blood, veined out of proportion.

Just as her rod fell from the her skies, spinning wildly, Uma’s fist found a way to its end, sending it careening toward Caedlum.

Space cracked, wildly distorting reality as the sound barrier shattered to the naked eye. .𝒎

Even Caedlum’s normal calm expression turned serious at this moment. The amount of power in this strike was something her previous attacks couldn’t match up to a even tenth of!

Without time to think, the rod was before him in the blink of an eye.

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