A woman stood aboard a covert starship racing through the starry sky, a communication talisman in her hand.
"It's done. With the Radiant Moon Guildmaster's reports, we've gathered almost all present data on Nox pocket dimensions in the Beast Domain."
Her red hair swayed lightly with her movements as she spoke, indifference in her eyes.
"How should we proceed?"
"Am envoy will see you soon. Pass the information to him. Further orders will be provided at a later date."
"Are you pretending to be a robot for a reason? Don't tell me I'm getting cut off already."
"…"
"There is nothing like that. Please maintain professionalism over comms."
"Ha, professionalism, you say? What a joke."
"If you are finished reporting, I will be disconnecting."
"Tch."
The woman clicked her tongue as the talisman's light died down.
Her gaze traveled to the jade slips organized neatly on a table nearby.
The total number was 62, and together, they held information on the location of what was potentially billions of Nox.
Where this information was going to go?
'Nowhere.'
Why would it go where it needed to?
It was no longer a secret in the Bloodlock Clan which side they stood on. Those who opposed were killed quietly, and those who did not were forced under Mana Oath to make sure word never got out.
Such a process was bound to have holes, but when Immortal Blood Asura personally supervised it, no such thing could sprout.
This woman, who was in charge of gathering the information, was called Elyssa Bloodlock.
As for her position…?
'Dammit.'
She sneered to herself, gripping the arms of her chair powerfully enough to turn any normal material to dust.
What else could her position be?
She was just a tool.
Since she was sent to do this work directly, wasn't she the scapegoat they'd prepared in case they were discovered?
It wasn't an uncommon thing. Her mother died in a similar situation, as did the stepmother her father married afterward.
The women of the Bloodlock Clan, as the Radiant Moon Guildmaster said, were suppressed beyond belief.
On one hand, it was extremely impractical to deny them the right to strength when they could benefit the clan as long as they were able, but on the other hand, when the clan itself had other uses for its women, battle power tended to become irrelevant.
As a woman, one could follow one of three paths in the Bloodlock Clan.
Either they could find a clan member to marry and keep their lives stable for as long as said clan member was useful, become breeding tools used solely to produce more quantity for the clan to use as they pleased, or, as it was in most cases, they would become cauldrons.
Elyssa was the last.
The reason she was granted strength was so she could eventually give that strength to someone else.
Just like the others, she'd be brutally assaulted and then thrown away as a corpse with her Legend consumed by someone from the main lineage.
This was the fate she wasn't supposed to know, yet knew from the very beginning.
However, there was no escaping from Immortal Blood Asura.
Those who tried became…examples. The type that made sure none would ever dare follow them in their mutiny.
'How suffocating.' Elyssa thought, frowning unpleasantly.
She was too old to get enraged at it, but that didn't mean she was resigned to it either.
'Just a bit more…'
Her gaze went out the starship window.
In the distance, deeply hidden in the twinkling blackness of the starry sky, was a place she had yet to visit.
One of the only camps in the Beast Domain that was guaranteed to resist her coercion.
'Hmm…'
She felt a new presence enter the ship.
'They came faster than I thought.'
She turned her gaze away from that place and picked up the case of jade slips.
'I guess I need to make myself useful again. Let's not return to the clan quite yet.'
With that, she went out to meet the envoy.
Today was just like any other day.
A constant battle for survival.
***
In a distant corner of the Sector, Tian Yang's eyes suddenly went up, his vision piercing through the atmosphere.
'Hmm, someone was watching?'
He felt a gaze, but it disappeared before he could trace it.
'I wonder who it could be.'
Tian Yang was also stationed in the Beast Domain, along with most of the Human Domain's forces.
Tang Lingzi, Drunken Old Immortal, Shangguan Yu, Bai Xieren, and a multitude of other familiar experts made up this camp.
Of them all, this could be considered the one most influenced by Damien.
They'd been tasked not with finding Nox pocket dimensions, but with raiding them.
It was evidently a move from somewhere above to suppress those close to Damien, but they really underestimated who they were dealing with.
Under Tian Yang's guidance and with the aid of several Supremes from across the Human Domain and others they'd made connections with over time, this camp managed to destroy tens of pocket dimensions with more efficiency than anyone else.
None of them felt aggravated because of their positions.
Because those people at the top made the stupidest possible decision with this placement!
In the first place, Tian Yang was a rare Demigod who'd built a Divinity on Space Laws.
Pocket dimensions? He could find them far easier than anyone else!
They weren't being suppressed at all. Rather, the "autonomy" that was supposed to cause their downfall actually helped them perform to their best.
"Brother Tian? Something wrong?"
A voice came from the side, bringing Tian Yang's focus back to reality.
"Haha, nothing much. I sensed a gaze, but it has already disappeared."
"Hmm, this cannot be overlooked in the current climate. We will need to increase the number of patrol squads in the starry sky."
"Mm, I agree. Nevertheless, why have you come this time? I assume it's not just to have drinks with an old friend."
"Hahaha, can it not be? So many years have passed that you've become an old man before I ever realized."
"Are you not the same? Brother, your sight is a little narrow."
"Never. You still dare underestimate me?"
"You still dare to brag? I heard my disciple saved your ass when you met. Aren't you ashamed?"
"Tch. It is only your luck to have a disciple like him."
Tian Yang grinned proudly.
"Of course it is."
His brows raised as he suddenly remembered something.
"Ah, do you not have a genius of your own now?"
The man sitting across from him smiled wryly.
It was completely different from his usually imposing demeanor.
"You…do you have to brag so much?"
"Hahaha! You were the one who decided to compete! Do not worry. I will not discriminate against my grand disciple because she is your daughter. In fact, doesn't this make the generations fit more accurately?"
"Tch, you expect me to call you father? Win a single drinking contest with me and I'll consider it!"
"Haha, you're on!"
Compared to other places, the atmosphere between these two brothers was like a light spring breeze.
But under their jovial facades were hardened experts well aware of the greater situation of the world without needing to be informed.
Tian Yang, whose power matched the top experts of the universe despite his origins from the Human Domain.
And the Golden Dragon Emperor, whose home was now being destroyed.
Their conversation was light.
But the purpose of their meeting was not this.
Countermeasures needed to be formed.
And other than those in this camp…
…not a single soul could be trusted.
