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nWhen Reila's eyes finally opened, she saw the familiar blurry silhouette of her husband Nilo, and her son Than, who kneeled next to her with worry, and gasped in relief soon after realizing that she was fine.

n

"Rei, look who is here..

" muttered Nilo before helping his wife up, and allowing her a clear view of the tall young man who she had believed she would never see again.

nReila's large eyes suddenly started to well up, and her heart began to beat rapidly. To see his brother being devoured by an entity which she did not comprehend was too much for her, and had caused her to feel the same way the same way she had felt after the death of either of her parents. A permanent loss.

nIf not for the child she was carrying, her will to live would have likely been forfeited.

nWhile Jerigh's news should have given her some hope, she had never believed that her brother was truly back, and instead thought that this man which owed everything to her brother, was simply trying to look out for them, even if it meant lying.

nTo see Daniel stand in front of her, and look at her the same way he did when he came back home, covered in bruises, and flaunting a scrawny bag of silver coins with a big smile, was akin to see a dead relative come back to life.

nNow she couldn't care less if Daniel was truly back, or if the person in front of her was the indifferent entity which had possessed his body. She still used all of the power of her cultivation to rash to him, and wrap her arms around his chest.

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"Hey sis.. I am home..

" muttered Daniel, immediately feeling Reila tightened her arms around his body, as she realized that this young man was really her brother.

nAfter what felt like ten minutes, Reila finally let go of him, and took a step back to check on Daniel. He was now much taller than her, and with a striking appearance. With eyes that hid a golden hue only intended for heroes and gods.

nIt was right then, that Reila felt a slight tug at the bottom of her dress.

nWhen she turned to look back and down, she noticed the cautious figure of her son, Than, who was peeking at the heroic figure of Daniel from behind her leg.

"Who is he?

" asked Than with cautiousness, and yet a hint of bravery.

nThe thought of Daniel when he was at her son's age, could not help but make Rei smile. She then kneeled next to her son, and said,

"This is your uncle. If you want to become the strongest person in the universe, you have to beat him first.

"

nThese few words were enough to trigger the already present fighting spirit of the little boy, who turned to look at her mother with a flippant expression, and said,

"Is he stronger than dad?

"

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"A little bit.

" She answered while narrowing her eyes, and looking back at Daniel, who looked back at her with confusion.

nWith a naughty expression on his face, Than turned to look at Daniel, and said,

"Uncle, I have already beat dad today, so let me show you how strong Than Hiel is!

" He then dashed in Daniel's direction with the speed of a cultivator at the first rank of spiritual, and martial cultivation.

n

"What? Hold on!

" Said Daniel before raising his hand in surrender. Unfortunately, that did not stop his nephew from reaching him in a matter of seconds, and throw a punch at his stomach.

nBefore the punch could hit, however, a small shadow jumped out of the folds of Daniel's clothes, and after turning into the shadowy silhouette of a demonic wolf, swallowed the kid whole, then disappeared leaving Than on the ground, scared, and crying.

nThis sudden event caused Reila and Nilo to be shocked, and grab their son with haste. They then looked around in hope to find the beast made out of dark essence, which wasn't nowhere to be found.

nThan kept crying in his mother's arms, until finally, Daniel approached him while holding a small wolf cub by its scruff, and said,

"It's nothing. Look, it was just this rascal.

" While this wolf cub possessed long teeth, and a thin tail much longer than the rest of its body, its semblance was still extremely cute, and was immediately able to warm the coldest heart after a single look.

nAs Than looked at the cub with sparkling eyes, Daniel looked at both Nilo and Reila with an apologetic look, and added,

"I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting that.

"

nSeemingly unaffected by what had happened before, Than looked back at Daniel, and asked,

"Uncle, what is that??

" His voice was filled with interest.

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"This is the king of..

" Responded Daniel before stopping himself. Then, before handing a dark essence sphere over to him, he added,

"A wolf cub. He means no harm. Here, give him one of these, and he will play with you.

"

nStill scared, Than grabbed the dark sphere from Daniel's hand, and threw it out of the house, causing the wolf cub to turn into an intangible shadow, and dash out to give chase. Moments later, the cub reappeared next to Daniel's foot, munching on the sphere as if it was a piece of candy.

nAmused by this, Than let go of her mother's dress, and approached the wolf cub, that immediately stood up, and ran away from him by circling Daniel's legs.

nAfter seeing Than and the demonic wolf cub play catch, Reila let out a breath in relief. She then turned to look at Daniel, and said,

"I have just finished making breakfast. Come on, let's eat.

"

nDaniel had heard these exact words thousands of times when he was younger, and even if he had more pressing matters at the moment, he was not going to refuse. So he stopped his nephew from running laps around his legs, and after squatting next to him, he asked,

"Does your mother still leave eggshells in the eggs?

"

nWhat Daniel saw next on Than's face, was an expression which could only mean

"Don't even get me started.

"

nAfter letting out a hearty laugh, he patted Than's shoulder,

"Then I guess she also punishes you for anything you do not eat. Come on.

" He said before allowing the wolf cub to disappear in his shadow, and followed his sister upstairs.

n-----

nNether Dimension, Murderous God's palace.

n

"My lord, a confused entity from another dimension? Are you sure about that?

" Asked a man in priest clothes, to a man covered by loose robes which left nothing to be seen.

nThe half naked man did not even bother to answer back to this priest, and instead waved his hand, and turned him into a fine mist of blood. He then said to a second priest who, completely unaffected by what had just happened, stood next to the deceased one,

"I want to see what kind of dimension can spawn a multi-dimensional being. Bring me the projector, I might have found a new playground after more than two million years.

"

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"Right away my lord.

" Responded the second priest before once again looking at the half naked man, and asking,

"Who will take your place while you consciousness is gone?

"

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"I don't care. You can rule this dimension until I get back.

"

nOverjoyed by the man's words, the priest fast paced out of the hall, and came back a few minutes later while holding a rusty astrolabe. On the side of this object were roughly two hundred holes, and only a few of them were still emitting a bright white light. To anyone with a bit of common sense, it was clear that this item had only a few uses left.

nBefore the priest could say a single word, the half naked man had already appeared next to him, grabbed the artifact, and reappeared back on his throne. Once there, he placed the object on his legs, and after resting his hands over it, he injected his consciousness into it, allowing his body to fall asleep.

nWhen he opened his eyes, he was floating in a seemingly boundless room. In front of him was a wall which extended beyond what the eye could see, and was covered in man-sized holes. Each hole was as dark as a moonless night, and seemed to give a different vibe than the other.

nOnce in this room, the half naked man breathed in deeply a few times, until finally, he disappeared, and reappeared a few million kilometers lower than the point where he previously was. In front of him, was a door that, according to his sense of smell, emanated an odor similar to the one he had felt when Edmund had interrupted his ceremony.

nWithout waiting any longer, he floated straight into the door, and when he reappeared on the other side, he found himself standing in the middle of a road.

nAs a bodiless consciousness, this man floated around aimlessly, until finally, he found another person. A good looking young man which appeared to be in his early twenties, and was at the fifth rank of martial cultivation. He was walking around with a large pot of soup and a bag filled with empty bowls, which he offered to the homeless people that lived in the run down street.

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"Mhh.. you seem stronger than the others. You will do for now.

" muttered the floating consciousness in dissatisfaction, before moving towards the young man, and entering his body along with the air he breathed in.

nThe young man, who was now pouring a scoop of soup into the bowl he had just handed over to a homeless old woman, appeared to be confused at first, but he quickly relaxed, and showed a polite smile.

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"Thank you, young man.. We would have died of hunger long ago, if not for your kind heart.

" Said the old woman with tears in her eyes.

nHowever, instead of giving a dismissive and embarrassed response like he always would, the young man turned to look at this woman, and said,

"A heart for a heart then?

" He then pierced the woman's chest with the metallic spoon, and scooped her heart out.

nThe other homeless people, which would usually swarm the young man in hope to get some food, were now running away in panic, screaming with horror, and hoping not to be next.

nUnfortunately, the screams ceased one after the other, until once again, silence came back to join the cold night.

nThe ground was soaked in blood, and mutilated bodies were everywhere. The only person standing, was the young man, who while carrying a lute bag which dripped with fresh blood, walked away while biting onto the heart of the first old woman he had killed, as if it was a juicy apple.

nOn his face, was a malignant smile.

n-----

nThis peaceful period of time appeared to be long lasting, and in the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

nIn these three years, Daniel and his friends had been left in peace. Instead, his academy had gained a lot of popularity, attracting a vast number of students who, just like their peers, wanted themselves to be emancipated by their parents, while not actually being in constant peril.

nMany times had Daniel tried to create missions which could help him reunite with the last five members of his group, but unfortunately, whenever he tried to create one, the requirements would always be absurd, and demand him to be at a ridiculously high level of cultivation, or find himself at a specific point in space, thousands of years in the future.

nUnable to find a quick solution to this problem, Daniel decided to increase the strength of his group up to that of a faction, so that his standing within the universal government could grow to a point where he could demand for an intergalactic artifact.

nUnfortunately, the only way that his system had found to reach this goal, was by having him complete in the competition between civilizations, and win as an individual participant in the senior competition.

nThe requirement for that to happen, was for him to reach the hundredth and ninetieth phase of high immortality.

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