The inside of Luxurion was just as luxurious as its exterior, perhaps even more.
After all, with a castle the size of a planet, how would one fill the space?
Naturally, the entire structure had high ceilings that could easily accommodate Giants in their full size or beasts with huge forms, but that was still only enough to fill a bit more space.
Luxurion was like a world specifically created for training and events. It was armed with countless facilities which could house hundreds of thousands of practitioners easily that contained state-of-the-art mana technology to train various facets of one's strength, as well as a plethora of arenas and ballrooms and other facilities of similar nature.
Damien and Elena entered through the main entrance of the palace, which was on the North side. This entrance was used for public events where outsiders would enter Luxurion, as its other facilities were largely reserved for the Angel Race alone.
It was their treasure, after all. Regardless of its universal importance, the Angel Race made the final decision on how it was utilized.
Nevertheless, for the Grand Assembly, many areas of Luxurion that had originally been closed to the public were opened.
"At this point, everything is basically free game. We can do whatever we want until someone tries to stop us," Damien muttered as he glanced around.
There were many people already in the halls, but they were spread sparsely in comparison to the size of the hall itself.
Many younger practitioners were leaving the main entrance hall one by one to explore Luxurion, which gave Damien the idea to do the same.
"Luxurion's facilities are famous throughout the universe, but those outside of the Angel Race could only ever dream about them in envy. Now that we have the chance to experience that dream, why not do it right?" Elena commented in agreement.
The two left the Ancient God Clan behind as they'd agreed prior and explored the castle.
'Xinyue's attitude had completely changed since she found out about my position. I don't know if it's grievance or something else, but it's not fun to see…'
Damien didn't have any particular feelings for Xinyue, but she was an acquaintance that he'd spent some time with. He didn't like that she now looked at him like an enemy targeting her clan.
'Nothing can be done about it. If I was in her position, I'd probably be the same.'
Damien shrugged it off and focused on the scenic walk he was taking instead.
As Elena said, what the Ancient God Clan needed was time to accept their fate.
'If they want to view themselves as slaves, I should leave them with the Black Dragons and show them how those who were forcefully submitted are actually treated. Maybe their views will change.'
The Black Dragons under his command were currently experiencing hell in the name of disciplining, but that wasn't a story that needed to be told.
'Putting aside useless thoughts, these facilities are truly amazing. They're only a step better than what was available in Hidden Death Valley, but a step at that height is a thousand steps in regular terms.'
If he wanted to benefit from training right now, these facilities would be a perfect tool. Unfortunately, his goal was elsewhere.
'For 2 months, I have to entertain myself without causing too much trouble and getting a target placed on my back. To start, I should scout the level that the average genius is at so I can make a plan to move forward.'
The end goal was to thoroughly crush the competition, but doing so this early would be idiotic.
As the saying went, the first to show their cards would always lose.
Damien explained his reasoning to Elena, who had the same thought but for different reasons, and the duo made their way to the castle's battleground, a place where tens of arenas existed as one to create the greatest conjoined tournament venues in the universe.
The arenas were already in use, with several tens of geniuses waiting to fight and even more sitting in the stands.
As Damien had no interest in weaker fights, he went to the arena emanating the strongest mana fluctuations, which was also coincidentally the smallest one.
The stands could only hold a hundred or so people at most, and the ring was only a few tens of meters large.
Two men stood on opposing sides of the arena. Their eyes were closed and their postures suggested they were meditating, but to the trained eye, a fearsome battle was taking place.
Silently and imperceptibly, leaving behind only the furious fluctuations of their existence, laws clashed in the air between the two geniuses.
They battled purely using the concepts they were learning without mobilizing these concepts as attacks.
Damien's brow raised when he saw it.
'Smart. They can still show off, but they can conceal a majority of their power by fighting this way. After all, no matter the strength of one's comprehension, it's useless without techniques to properly utilize it.'
Even more so, law concepts could go through a myriad of changes as one found methods to militarize them.
"They're not matching each other, but doing their best to force the other to attack through suppression. It makes me want to try," Elena said through sound transmission.
Damien nodded in agreement, releasing his All-Seeing Eyes to get a more tangible view of the fight.
As time went on and multiple battles started and ended, he became more certain.
'Their comprehension is impressive, but it isn't anything special. At most, they're average among Eien's forces and slightly above average in Hidden Death Valley. If these people were placed on the Dimensional Leaderboard, they wouldn't even make the top 5,000.'
A frown formed on his lips.
'If they represent the average state of geniuses in the universe, it's not just a matter of this assembly being boring anymore. The universe will genuinely suffer if it can only rely on a small number of heroes.'
He fell into thought about how he could influence this situation for the better, only to be jerked back to reality by a hand that firmly landed on his shoulder.
"Damien, you're really here!"
A man's voice came from behind, making Damien sigh.
'I guess I'll think about it later.'
He turned around with a somewhat forced smile to greet the man.
"Atticus, I didn't expect to see you here," he said, brushing the man's hand off his shoulder.
Atticus clicked his tongue. "If you were surprised, I wouldn't be standing here so relaxed."
He sat down beside Damien, greeted Elena as "sister-in-law," and began a conversation with the duo as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Damien's expression turned wry.
He truly did appreciate Atticus and would forever be thankful for his recommendation that gave Damien access to a prime training location like Hidden Death Valley, but…
Atticus had become a bit strange after their last fight.
Damien only experienced it for a few minutes before running away to fight the next genius, but he had a foreboding premonition.
In his head, he sent a silent prayer.
'Atticus, for the love of god, I beg you not to make me everyone's target on day one.'
Was it a prayer or a jinx?
Fortunately for Damien, he wouldn't have to wait long at all to find out.
