Chapter 983 Late-stage Heaven Ascension
"Do you understand the severity of what you are saying, Old Thunder? If we let conflict break out, not only would my blood brother die, but the rest of the kingdom will be dragged into a war that we don't want!"
King Lutheran stated gravely.
Even if he was the king, he still had to answer the people's outrage if the empire killed several hundreds of Transcendent-level experts from their kingdom.
Otherwise, King Lutheran would lose the heart of the people!
However, the empire had five Paragons! And that was only a glimpse of the empire's strength! Who knew how many more Paragons the empire had!
Thus, ultimately, King Lutheran would still decide to go against the people's wishes and deny the war to the best of his power and authority.
Even if it means going down in history as a coward!
"Of course, I understand what I'm saying," Old Thunder calmly said. He completely understood the weight of his words.
"The High Council of Elders had deemed the current Crawford Empire's rapid growth beneficial for everyone. And by everyone, I'm talking about both humans and beasts alike, whether they are inside the Human Domain or outside of it."
"The stupidity and blind greed of the supremacist faction is an excellent excuse to bring the Geyser Kingdom under the empire's rule and unite the entire Human Domain. We need this kind of preparation and unity if we are to stand strong on the day the demons above descend upon us."
Hearing about the demons above, King Lutheran quickly calmed down before seriously asking, "Is the day drawing closer, Old Thunder?"
"Indeed it is," Old Thunder nodded and said, "The subsequent Cataclysms have weakened the spatial layers. The world doesn't have much time left before those vile creatures descend upon us."
The Cataclysms were only the appetizers; there was still a Doomsday.
"Nevertheless, I have already delivered the temple's opinion. So I am returning to the temple. No one from the temple will interfere if you still want to save your brother despite everything I said, Your Majesty."
Just as Old Thunder prepared to leave after saying that, he abruptly recalled something and paused his steps.
"Oh, right," Old Thunder turned around and said, "You said your brother got caught up in the supremacist faction's scheme. However, that is incorrect."
"Duke Flugerd is your blood brother; he is not stupid. Furthermore, he is a Half-step Paragon. It would be wrong of you to think that Duke Flugerd had absolutely nothing to do with the supremacist faction until a few days ago."
"In fact, Duke Flugerd has been secretly involved with the supremacist faction right from the start. Haha, you can even say Duke Flugerd was the very reason the supremacist faction was formed, Your Majesty."
"Haiz, everyone has their own ambitions," Old Thunder sighed and said, "Alright, I believe I've said enough. I'm truly leaving now."
Shortly after, Old Thunder took off and shot into the sky, quickly disappearing beyond the clouds like a flash of lightning.
King Lutheran remained frozen on the spot, stunned by Old Thunder's parting words.
Many issues he had subconsciously pushed aside resurfaced in King Lutheran's mind before he raised his head to the sky and let out a long sigh.
"So you always wanted the throne, huh? If you had just asked me, I would abdicate the throne to you… Is the throne more important than blood?"
King Lutheran shook his head with disappointment.
"I've been considered a wise king all my life, but unfortunately, I will have to make an unwise choice this time. No matter what, he is still my brother," King Lutheran softly muttered.
Alas, such is what it means to be the older brother.
Even if what King Lutheran's little brother does makes him furious and want to choke the living sh*t out of his little brother, he would still find it in his heart to forgive him.
After equipping his armor, King Lutheran took off from the royal palace.
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Durham Territory
After visiting over twenty cities and towns in Durham alone, Leon didn't encounter a single problem with the Demon Gathering Arrays.
There were only a few cities left to visit before Leon was done with the Durham Territory.
However, Leon could conclude early that the devil worshippers hadn't targeted the Demon Gathering Arrays in Durham.
On the other hand, Leon had accumulated so much demon energy from the Demon Gathering Arrays that he had reached a critical point.
As such, Leon was forced to temporarily stop his travel to sit down in meditation and make the breakthrough in his demon cultivation.
Faelyn and the two Winter Cats, Rainshine and Snowscar, guarded Leon as he absorbed the last bit of demon energy for his breakthrough.
Swoosh!
The moment Leon condensed the last bit of demon energy into the black revolving core, his aura slightly surged, marking his successful advancement to the Late-stage Heaven Ascension Realm.
He was not far from the Truth Manifestation Realm.
Nevertheless, the energy requirement for the next breakthrough had drastically increased once again.
It was new territory from the Peak-stage Heaven Ascension Realm onwards.
How much energy was needed to make the core germinate?
Leon did not know.
But he was sure of one thing; he won't be shattering his core to enter the Void Realm like in his previous life.
"Congratulations on your breakthrough, my Lord," Rainshine and Snowscar congratulated with their heads lowered subserviently.
"Un," Leon acknowledged them with a nod.
The breakthrough was unexpected and had delayed our trip again. Nevertheless, we've almost finished visiting all the major settlements in Durham. Let's quickly wrap things up here and check on Valaran after," Leon stated.
"Yes!" Faelyn and the two Winter Cats answered.
Shortly after, Leon opened the Dark Passage before everyone stepped inside and moved to the next city.
Fortunately, Leon's group swept the remaining settlements with Demon Gathering Arrays in Durham without a problem.
As Leon suspected, the devil worshippers did not touch a single Demon Gathering Array in Durham.
However, that could also mean that the devil worshippers concentrated on the Demon Gathering Arrays in the Valaran Territory.
"Let's hope the situation isn't too bad in Valaran…"