"Yo, old man. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Damien spoke in a light tone with a relaxed smile decorating his face. He was thoroughly satisfied with the improvement he had made in the past week or so, and it had left him in a good mood.
A mildly annoyed yet cheerful voice responded to his words. "Brat! Since you were able to answer my call, it seems you've found a way out of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range!"
On the Celestial Star Palace's flying boat, Tian Yang sat in one of the rooms with a bright smile on his face.
He truly didn't think his disciples would be able to do it. The 3000 Beast Mountain Range had been enveloped in the mystical Myriad Illusion Veil ever since the previous Great War, and in that time countless cultivators had gone to try their luck, thinking themselves better than the rest.
But of all those cultivators, not a single one managed to make it out of the mountain range alive. To think that his disciples would be the first ones to do so, how could he not be excited?
That is, until he heard Damien's next words.
"Rather than saying we escaped the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, it's better to say that the 3000 Beast Mountain Range no longer exists."
Damien thought about it before Tian Yang called, and he decided it'd be best to let the old man know about what had happened here.
Damien's vision was far wider than it was before he entered the mountain range. Things he didn't understand before clicked into place much easier whenever he thought about them. Of those things, was the fact that Tian Yang definitely wasn't as simple as he made himself out to be.
The White Dragon King, Fire and Ice Phoenix Matriarchs, Elvira, and Lucius, these were all 4th class beings under his command now. And besides Lucius being entry-level, the rest were all experienced veterans of the class.
But even when compared to them, Tian Yang's aura was far vaster. Either the old man was nearing the peak of 4th class or…
Whichever one of the two it was, the thing that mattered was that Tian Yang's voice was definitely loud enough to impact the fate of the entire Cloud Plane. Him knowing about the First War and the plans of the Nox would be anything but detrimental.
As Damien spoke about his and Ruyue's adventures in the mountain range, Tian Yang's face went through a range of expressions. From curiosity, to excitement, shock, and even a bit of horror. The tales he heard were something he never imagined would come out of his disciple's mouth.
'To think the Forbidden Zone was holding such a secret within…even the mission I assigned him led to something far greater than expected. The Death Seed, Primordial Undying Realm, an ancient war, a battle between Demigods…what kind of insane disciple would get involved with such events besides mine?'
Tian Yang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. On one hand, both of his disciples had become far more powerful than their peers could hope to match. Damien had even unlocked a Time affinity, which was necessary to practice the sect's staple Divination Techniques.
On top of that, somehow this kid had managed to gain not one, not two or three, but six whole 4th class subordinates! Not to mention the million-strong of lower-class subordinates he had, Damien had wantonly built a force that was on the same level of power as a mid-sized sect, maybe even a large one!
Tian Yang sighed. "Brat, I'm almost jealous of your luck. Although I understand that you had to put in a great deal of work before gaining what you have, it's still something unimaginable to most people! Anyway, where's little Yue? Let her see me as well."
Damien nodded and brought Ruyue out of the Sanctuary. Once he did, he handed her the transmission talisman and let master and disciple talk as they pleased.
The following conversation wouldn't involve him much, since he had already said his part. He still had a few more things to check up on within the area before he finally made his way over to the Empyrean Dragon Realm.
'Food supplies have been covered for now. The elves brought in a great deal of produce and seeds, and with their natural affinities, growing crops will be a breeze, especially with the fertility of the Sanctuary's land. However, the current housing situation isn't ideal. If it wasn't for the people being satisfied with the high mana density in the Sanctuary, they would probably rather revolt than live there.'
He needed materials. Wood was a given, but civilization was too advanced to just build plain wood houses and be content. His gaze traveled to the massive abyss that was left in wake of the Heaven Shaking battle that had occurred.
'That leads…well, I guess I'll see how far down it goes once I travel down there. But now isn't the time for exploring. I need to grab an insane amount of metal and ore and bring it into the Sanctuary.
He flashed above the abyss and began traveling down. His All-Seeing Eyes were activated to help him actually have vision in this endless darkness.
'Hmm, no notification. I guess it only shows up when I read peoples' statuses.'
Damien didn't travel in the center of the abyss. He stuck to one of the walls and transported any useful metals and minerals he could find into the Sanctuary.
'If I knew something about the materials of this world, I could probably sort out what's useful from what isn't, but it can't be helped. At least the All-Seeing Eyes allow me to somewhat differentiate.'
He traveled down further and further, exploring a few naturally formed caves and tunnels where more useful ores were present. There were plenty of signs of subterranean beasts in the area, but he assumed most of them had gone extinct due to the Divine Mana that had invaded the area.
'I got everything I can up here. Maybe I should go down to the bottom? I heard that if I reach negative thirteen on the y-axis, I can find diamonds.'
He continued to descend, but the abyss didn't seem to have an end to it at all. He couldn't understand how such a massive hole had been formed in the clash unless the two Demigods had purposefully dug down as they attacked.
'Or maybe…it was already here to begin with? The clash above only served to expand the abyss and create an entrance from the surface…the Heaven Swallowing Beasts were living far below the Endless Snow Mountain, to the point where a single bellow from them could shake its foundation evenly.'
There were definitely more mysteries to this abyss than what it looked like on the surface. The Heaven Swallowing Beasts were already enough indication of this, since the existence of their race alone was something extremely rare within the wider universe.
'But I can't check it out right now. Perhaps I'll come back in the future…if I don't forget because of all the bullshit that seems to follow me everywhere I go.'
Even as he descended, he had been continuously picking up ores and minerals from the walls of the abyss. And he did so in quantities far surpassing what would be necessary to build basic infrastructure for everyone in the Sanctuary to live peacefully.
After recklessly moving millions of people into the Sanctuary last time, his control over warping space and transportation increased significantly. Moving a few hundred thousand kilograms of weight at a time didn't seem impossible to him anymore.
Of course, when they were living beings, the situation changed a bit. It was far harder to transport living beings than it was to do the same with inanimate objects. It was why when he first awakened teleportation, he couldn't take anyone along with him unless he wanted to turn them into a flesh ball.
'Wait, then how did I manage to save Elena from the dungeon back then?'
He suddenly realized an inconsistency in his memories that he didn't even see in the Trial of Self not long ago. Well, since the Trial of Self started after he was already trapped in the dungeon, it was more like he was never shown.
'Something is off. Not only Elena, but Zara as well. When I was still too weak to carry another person with me during teleportation, I somehow still managed to save both of them by doing just that…'
From his memories, it almost seemed like a plot armor moment where he simply was able to do it because he needed to be able to do it.
But plot armor didn't exist in real life, nor would space confine its laws to abide by his wants and needs.
If things went as they should have, Elena would've been trapped in the dungeon with him as well. Zara would've most likely died in the hands of that Wyvern.
Sadly, Damien didn't have enough information. To this day, he still didn't know about the odd spatial phenomenon that had occurred when he first forged his resolve in the dungeon.
There was only one thing he could currently deduce.
This situation…wasn't so simple at all.
