Despite six months passing in chaotic space, no more than a few days had passed in the Canis Major Realm. In these few days, the Lycan Race had taken a different approach from expected - preparation. The upper-echelon elites of the Darnixian race watched onwards as the Lycan's fitted their realmships and set up formations with solemn gazes.
In the outer space of the Canis Major Realm, nine figures dressed in black with dark crimson flames embroidered on their opulent robes stood atop a realmship. These nine cloaked figures had terrifying auras that seemed intent to drown the world in darkness while incinerating all within it. It was a frighteningly intense aura that left one's heart palpitating.
At the lead of this group of nine, a handsome young man with black eyes, pale skin, and a slender body held a black scepter in his hand. This scepter was as tall as the man, nearly two meters, and emitted pure black flames. Atop this scepter was an orb with the silhouette of a phoenix. This phoenix seemed ready to take flight one moment, but the next, it was perched calmly on the scepter. It gave one a feeling of being remarkably lifelike.
With this scepter in hand, the heavenly laws of fire and darkness seemed obedient to this man's existence.
"Lord Alexander, the Lycans actions...what are your orders?" An elderly woman that was a remarkable beauty despite her age stepped forward and humbly asked. As she did, her position was slightly bowed and her eyes looked downwards, as if looking at the young man before her was a disrespectful act. This elderly woman may seem servile, but she was by no means weak. Her aura was controlled but boundlessly vast to the point it was stifling.
"They wish to fight to the death?" Lord Alexander, the Lord of the Darnixians, questioned with a slight smile. "No, that's not it." As his eyes that seemed to contain all the world's darkness gazed at the Lycan's overt actions, his smile slowly faded. "This isn't the preparation of a cornered animal facing extermination, but preparations of a war." The others behind him trembled at this, their expressions varied but solemn nonetheless.
The most optimal conclusion was the Lycan's unequivocal surrender, forcing them to become true slaves of the Darnixian race for eternity. However, even a cornered animal can still bite. If the Lycan's truly threw all caution to the wind, burning all their potential in a last bid of war, this would leave them suffering untold losses. This was not an outcome they wished to see.
"Do you mean?" The elderly woman, Lady Amber, eyes narrowed. Despite her words that seemed to be questioning in shock, she contained a deep malice and malevolent intent in her eyes. All these emotions seemed to flare aggressive whenever she looked at a Lycan, regardless of their cultivation base or gender. Her feelings towards the race were undisguised and unmissable - pure and unadulterated hatred.
"Call Sir Eitan," Lord Alexander commanded. The elderly woman's eyes flickered and she brought out a talisman. After a few seconds, a spatial ripple surged nearby as a middle-aged man dressed in a black robe with silver borders arrived. His steps caused slight shimmering to occur, as if he wasn't stepping in midair but an entirely different dimension.
The middle-aged man was Eitan Gal, the cultivator that had single-handedly driven the Lycans to despair and kidnapped King Moshe's daughter. His aura was indistinct and unstable, as if he was neither here nor there. This left one feeling discombobulated as they looked at him, leaving a discomforting feeling in the depths of their minds. Many of the figures standing behind Lord Alexander, excluding Lady Amber, subconsciously took half a step backward.
"What is it?" Eitan spat, his attitude was eccentric and even before an individual such as the ruler of the Darnixian Race, he simply held no respect. His posture was relaxed, his eyes scanning about carelessly, and his expression oddly casual. It was as if he was before no one in particular.
"..." Lady Amber stayed silent, but the depths of her eyes blazed a fire effusing killing intent. She did nothing to hold back her emotions, but Eitan only glanced at her and rudely scoffed. "If you keep staring at me like that, maybe next time I won't let you be on top." Eitan sneered, his eyes roaming the surprisingly well-proportioned figure of this elderly woman.
Ignoring these two, Lord Alexander directly spoke, "The Lycans seems to be preparing to fight, with the intention to win. Are you sure their escape route is closed?"
"Hmph! Not only am I sure that even if that old fool Abrams took personal action, he still wouldn't be able to escape, but their realm formation has been completely segregated! Unless they gained the support of a peak Heavenly Commander, there's nothing to fear from these mutts." Eitan picked his ear with his pinky, sniffing casually, he turned his gaze towards a female figure in the back. His eyes roamed her body thoroughly, "seven out of ten."
His attitude caused the Darnixians to frown, but they didn't speak a single word. Even the woman who was rudely judged kept her mouth shut, but the depths of her eyes did spew intense fire.
"Understood." Lord Alexander's eyes squinted as he looked towards the Lycans that seemed like busy ants. The uncomfortable feeling in his heart continued to grow stronger. "Prepare combat formation 77!" He decisively ordered. As the ruler of a race, there was no way he would be lax under the assurance of another. A member behind him nodded, his body bursting into black flames and disappearing.
Seconds later, the realmships set up a specific formation, while many different numbered groups of individuals were being grouping together in preparation.
"Too cautious! As if I'd let anything happen to my wife!" Eitan coldly spat. Obviously, he was dissatisfied by Lord Alexander's disbelief in his assurances. "I told you, you don-"
CRACK!
A sound of glass fracturing resounded throughout the entire realm. It was so incredibly loud that many low-level cultivators eardrums were destroyed, their eyes bleeding, and bodies shivering in fright. The crack started off as small as a hairline fracture, but then, BOOM! A booming explosion occurred on the outside of the crack, a force pressing on the crack caused it to widen considerably. At this point, it could fit a single man.
"What?!" Lord Alexander, Eitan, Lady Amber, and the rest was immediately startled. It wasn't simply them, the Lycans were shocked, their hearts tightening and eyes suffusing hope! Abrams' eyes shined as he saw this crack expand, his reckless bet relying solely on his belief of the heavens had borne fruit!
BOOM!!
Another explosion occurred. No longer was the crack the size of a man but expanded to fit a fully grown tree.
"Shit! Who do you think you are?!" Eitan loudly shouted. The eyes that once contained deep casualness now contained rage and fury with hints of insanity. With a step, the spatial void rippled and he entered. In less than a second, he was already outside of the realm by the crack. In the Canis Major Realm, only he could freely enter and exit the realm as he pleased.
Inspecting the crack, his eyes became further enraged! Twelve silver lights of different shades rotated around him. These lights seemed to be near him but also in a different fold of space. As the silver lights shined, the crack was visibly repairing at remarkable speeds. It only took a blink before the crack was thoroughly healed.
With eyes of fury, Eitan looked towards the vastness of the Border Expanse. "You think I can't sense your aura? Even if you hide in chaotic space, I, Eitan Gal, can still find you!"
CLAP!
CLAP!
CLAP!
Three resounding claps sounded nearby. Eitan Gal looked at an area just a few hundred meters away from him, his eyes shining with silver light.
Yan Zaizen exited chaotic space, his amber-gold gaze suffused with confidence and amusement. "You truly know how to disappoint. I thought you could fix it from afar, so I made the crack a little bigger, but I guess that's the limitations of an array, right?" Yan Zaizen's words were like stabs towards Eitan, his expression twitching slightly.
An array had many benefits, but also many detriments. For one, to keep the technique active, the array must be active. However, to keep it active, it required those who could operate the array to always be in direct control of the array. If there was no one commanding it, then the array would immediately go inactive. This was why Eitan Gal had to keep the array nearby at all times.
As for formations, they were often self-operating, typically requiring maintenance. Formations would often utilize Spirit Forms or True Spirits to operate instead, allowing the efficiency to rise.
There were also other limitations as well, such as the inability to repair the art from afar.
"You're currently using the array to power three separate spatial arts, it must be quite a strain, huh?" Yan Zaizen smiled slightly. The first art was the barrier that isolated multi-layered space, the second was the realm segregation, and the third was subtly influencing space within the realm. This was why the spatial vortex was seamlessly interfered with, the art was previously active and thus harder to notice. Even Yan Zaizen only discovered it after entering a spatial tunnel under its influence.
It was also through this that he could soundlessly rob the Lycan race's Ancestral Burial Chambers. Unlike Yan Zaizen, this man didn't have the ability to freely enter and exit chaotic space. After all, that required either the half-Imperial Law of Space or Imperial Law of Spacetime to do.
"Who are you?" For the first time, Eitan's expression was solemn and dark. Despite not showing it, it truly was a tremendous strain on his mental faculties to remain in control of three separate, realm-sized arts.
"Oh, I guess I could use the words you said before! False Bravado and nothing more!" Yan Zaizen originally prepared for a vast battle with the intricacies of space within, but this Eitan Gal wasn't close to his peak, nor could he be. After all, if he diverted his attention to a full battle, the arts he was currently sustaining would collapse and he'll have to deal with the restrictions of the realm formation. If that happened, even he wasn't sure he could easily escape.
"Well then, I'll just take those." Calmly speaking, Yan Zaizen's eyes emitted dazzling brilliant silver light. This silver light expanded endlessly to cover both him and Eitan Gal before converting into silver rain. For thousands of li, including within the barrier, a formless influence pressed against all.
Mystic Realm of Isolation!
Eitan Gal's felt frightened. The art was simply too fast that before he could even think, he had been fully surrounded. His array of silver light rotated around him, attempting to defend against the silver rain. "What?!" Startled, he realized that he couldn't access his array's power, as if he was isolated from it thoroughly.
"I got this idea from the Xiao City's Lord. Normally, it wouldn't work, but from someone who purposefully keeps their possessions in a pseudo layer of constructed space, it makes it remarkably easy." Yan Zaizen dashed forward, his speed wasn't fast nor slow, but it still reached one of the shining silver lights no more than a few meters away from Eitan Gal.
"You!" His heavenly might discharged outwards from his body, silver-colored might surged to overwhelm Yan Zaizen in its torrential energy. However, Yan Zaizen only calmly looked at this exploding might. "You're not even close," with a chuckle, he ignored Eitan's attack and reached out. With a swipe, the light dimmed and turned into a star-like silver object. This object radiated profound spatial laws and seemed to originate from the heavens itself.
"Ambitious!" Eitan grew enraged, watching his Regalia of the Heaven being snatched left his mind exploding with soul-devouring, bone-crushing intent! His heavenly might collapsed around Yan Zaizen, attempting to crush his form in an endless surge of energy. Yet, as it smashed against Yan Zaizen's form, it shifted through his body like a ghost.
"One down, eleven to go." Yan Zaizen remained unconcerned. As the first regalia was stolen, the arts it previously maintained collapse as if it never existed. The barrier faded, the segregation line vanished, and the subtle influence that burdened space within the barrier disappeared.
"How?! You...you're there!" His eyes bulged to the size of eggs. Yan Zaizen was literally a few meters away from him, he could sense his aura, physical body, and even the sound of his heartbeat, but the attack went through him like a ghost! As a spatial expert, he was familiar with spatial isolation arts and personal creation of independent layers of space, he had done this very thing to hide his regalia, but this baffled him beyond his imagination!
"You're aiming in the wrong direction, in the wrong time, in the wrong space." Yan Zaizen coolly said, his hand reaching out another regalia. With a calm swipe, it was in his possession.
"What?!" Unable to comprehend Yan Zaizen's words, he kept launching fierce attacks infused with spatial laws. The was even a spatial blade that seemed intent to slice through all folds of space, but when it reached Yan Zaizen, it went through him as if he didn't exist.
Realizing the situation turning badly, he stepped forward to enter the spatial void, but as he did, he felt the world turn topsy-turvy, and his body remained in place. At this point, his mind was near a total collapse. As someone who reached the Sovereign-level in a World Law such as space, this was far beyond his comprehension! It was as if his hundreds of thousands of years of knowledge was overturned.
"An illusion?!" As he drew to this conclusion, he utilized various illusion-dissipating methods, but nothing came about. The silver rain continued to fall endlessly, but not a single bit of it touched his body.
"Wait…You're…" It was as if he had a eureka moment, his mind gained some understanding, but the core of it eluded him. It was at the very tip of his tongue, of his understanding, but it just seemed impossible.
"You're getting there, just a little more. You can get there," Yan Zaizen urged as he retrieved the seventh regalia. His movements were as if he was retrieving his keys for his house, casual and carefree. He moved around Eitan easily, his hand reaching for the eighth regalia.
"Impossible! It's impossible! You can't do that...could you?" As time passed, he slowly calmed down, his eyes suffused with the light of calculation. "A realm? A sub-realm? No...time laws? Wait...Wait!" It seemed as if he was on the border of obtaining enlightenment into a profound law that exceeded his understanding, but Yan Zaizen grabbed the last regalia.
SNAP!
With a snap of his fingers, the silver rain vanished and so did he. The only things that remained were words that seemed to have been said long, long ago. "Thank you for keeping these things safe for me, I appreciate it. Truly."
Eitan Gal turned around and realized that an intense battle with the realm formation fully active was currently erupting between the Lycans and Darnixians. The Darnixians were entrapped by the realm formation, being bombarded by experts in a ferocious assault. They seemed to be suffering loss after loss quickly.
"This...this seems to have been going on for a long time?!" Eitan was deeply startled, his mind was nearly blown by this occurrence. This battle and the resulting destruction seems days old, but...how was that possible? It's been only a minute at most…
"Oh, also! Thanks for the offering, I'll enjoy it all!" Yan Zaizen's voice sounded once more, but this time, it caused Eitan's heart to quake. Offering?! Instinctively, he checked his heavenly dimension and his eyes turned blank.
"How?!"