After returning to Abope City, Solanky instructed Leon to establish himself as the city's new Saint.
The moment Leon released his aura, every citizen instinctively recognized him as their former guardian. Yet they immediately realized something had changed. His presence was vastly different from before. The aura he now radiated was immeasurably deeper, carrying a pressure that eclipsed his previous strength by countless times.
Following closely behind him was a young man with gray skin and flowing white hair.
For the first time since entering the Beyond Realm, Solanky revealed his true appearance in public.
Leon floated toward the city lord's residence and declared in a commanding voice,
"Treat this young man with the same respect you would show me. He is my honored guest."
The officials within the residence were both stunned and overjoyed.
Before leaving the city, Leon had merely been an early-stage Saint-level transcendent entity. Now his presence suggested he had crossed into an entirely different realm. Judging from his physical body alone, he rivaled newly ascended Saint Emperor transcendent entities.
Within the Beyond Realm, only powerful Saint Emperors and beings above them could naturally possess bodies spanning several kilometers. Those beneath that level found their physical forms restricted to only a few hundred meters in size.
The reason was simple.
The Beyond Realm contained only limited physical energies capable of refining gigantic bodies. Spiritual energy, however, was nearly limitless. Since portions of the Spiritual Realm overlapped the Beyond Realm, many Saint-level beings chose to cultivate enormous spiritual bodies instead, allowing them to unleash the full might of their compact physical forms.
...
Solanky entered the inner cave within the city lord's mountain residence.
Treasures lined every wall.
Divine weapons, cultivation resources, precious herbs, and rare ores filled the chambers.
Yet among all of them, only one item caught his attention.
A pair of golden boots.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward.
With a wave of his hand, the boots disappeared into his internal world.
He intended to study them later, as they seemed to resonate faintly with his Void Shadow Steps.
Extending his spiritual sense across the entire city, Solanky searched for traces of the female officiator.
He intended to eliminate her with Leon's assistance.
After several breaths, he frowned.
Her aura had vanished days ago.
She had already left Abope City before his arrival.
Giving up the search, Solanky stretched out his hand toward a distant corner of the city.
Moments later, a glass jar streaked through the air at incredible speed before stopping directly in front of him.
A smile appeared on his face.
"I borrowed your identity," he said softly.
"I should repay you."
"The debt between us concerning life and death is settled."
"As compensation, you may continue serving the city lord as an alchemist."
The glass jar shattered.
The imprisoned mid-stage entity stumbled out before immediately kneeling in terror.
Solanky tossed him a spatial storage ring forged from precious minerals.
"It contains the wealth of your enemies," he said calmly.
"And the possessions of more than one hundred mid-stage and peak-level entities."
The alchemist stared blankly at the ring.
"My... enemies?"
"I don't understand."
Without answering verbally, Solanky appeared before him and gently touched the space between his eyebrows.
A strand of spiritual energy entered the man's consciousness.
Instantly, memories unfolded before him like scenes from a movie.
He witnessed everything.
The conspiracy.
The ambush.
Their deaths.
The battle.
The treasures.
When the memories ended, tears welled in the man's eyes.
He immediately knelt and kowtowed three times.
His respect had become genuine.
Not only had Solanky avenged him, but he had also returned every treasure seized from his enemies.
The total wealth exceeded five million Red Entity Life Crystals.
Even many Saint-level transcendent entities did not possess such enormous fortunes.
Solanky simply smiled.
He transmitted his voice to Leon.
"I am leaving for the gathering point designated by the Desolate God token."
Leon immediately replied,
"I'll escort you."
Solanky accepted.
The two disappeared from the city lord's residence.
Moments later, they left Abope City altogether before teleporting once more to the coordinates contained within the token.
...
When they arrived, an enormous stone platform came into view.
Thousands of cultivators had already gathered there.
Some sat cross-legged in meditation.
Others quietly observed their surroundings.
Solanky immediately noticed something unusual.
Every person on the platform was a peak entity.
Not a single transcendent entity stood among them.
The reason he had brought Leon suddenly became clear.
He had expected the female officiator to ambush him before he reached the platform.
The platform itself represented a protected zone.
Anyone who successfully reached it would be safe.
As Solanky flew toward it, he was only a hundred meters away when killing intent suddenly erupted.
A streak of light shot directly toward him.
The female officiator.
Her palm struck forward with overwhelming force, intending to kill him before he reached safety.
"Just as expected," Solanky thought calmly.
Before the attack could land, Leon spread his four wings.
With explosive speed that even the officiator struggled to follow, he appeared before Solanky.
His fist collided with her palm.
BOOM!
Space itself fractured.
The female officiator was blasted backward, while Leon remained perfectly still.
Her entire arm went numb.
Grinding her teeth, she charged once more.
Leon refused to yield.
His wings flared open as he spun through the air, whipping his massive tail toward her like a divine spear.
The officiator drew her sword.
CLANG!
BOOM!
CLANG!
BOOM!
The violent exchanges echoed across the heavens.
Peak entities standing on the platform watched with wide eyes.
Even the transcendent experts observing from afar could scarcely believe what they were seeing.
Leon possessed a physical body powerful enough to exchange blows directly with someone stronger than himself without suffering any disadvantage.
Meanwhile, amid the chaos, Solanky quietly landed on the platform.
Without attracting attention, he blended seamlessly into the crowd.
High above, hidden within empty space, a half-step Peak-Turn expert watched everything unfold.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"What a cunning youngster."
"He deliberately used the commotion to conceal himself among the participants."
"He may truly possess the qualities worthy of becoming one of the Desolate God's disciples."
The battle between Leon and the female officiator came to an immediate halt once they both realized Solanky had safely reached the protected platform.
The officiator snorted coldly.
With a slash of her hand, she tore open space itself before stepping through the rift.
The opening sealed shut behind her.
Leon merely spread his wings.
With a single flap, he vanished as well, returning to Abope City.
The peak entities who had witnessed the battle felt their hearts burn with ambition.
Every one of them longed to become transcendent one day.
...
A majestic voice suddenly descended from the heavens.
"Welcome, everyone."
"The trials to enter the core lands of the Desolate God Region will begin shortly."
The figure suspended above the platform gradually materialized from empty space.
Solanky narrowed his eyes.
The pressure this person radiated was astonishing.
He was clearly stronger than the First Venerable.
Even Elisa, whose strength bordered on the unimaginable, seemed slightly inferior.
Without needing further confirmation, Solanky immediately concluded the truth.
This individual was at least a half-step Peak-Turn being.
That explained why Solanky had failed to sense his existence upon arriving.
The mysterious expert waved his hand.
The stone platform disappeared.
An instant later, everyone found themselves standing in an entirely different location.
Before them stretched the ruins of a shattered galaxy.
Broken stars drifted silently through the endless void.
The half-step Peak-Turn expert pointed into the distance.
Far away, a brilliant star radiated dazzling light.
Within that star rested a magnificent temple.
"That," he said calmly, "is the Desolate God's Temple."
"It is also the entrance to the core lands."
He swept his gaze across the assembled cultivators.
"You have two days."
"Reach the Desolate God's Temple before the deadline."
"Fail..."
"...and you will be expelled from this region."
"Furthermore, you will be forbidden from entering the Desolate God Region again for one thousand samsaras."