Chapter 824 A Century to Reach the Real Deity Realm
Had the Machine Race Patriarch not pursued him so relentlessly, Kael would never have lured him to his death. At the very least, the Machine Race could have helped keep the Insect Race in check.
“Then what are we supposed to do?” Lucian asked. “If the Insect Race obtains the Immortal Spirit Liquid you refine, they’ll become even stronger. Even if every other race joined forces against them, they wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“That’s why I intend to remain here for the next century and attempt to reach the Real Deity Realm. If I succeed, the situation will become manageable. If I fail, I have other plans.”
Kael did not elaborate.
“Understood.”
The others nodded. There was nothing they could do now except place their faith in Kael. He had never disappointed them before.
“Harper, Malcolm, I have the array compass for a Solar Apex Firmament Array. I need you to deploy it around our homeworld.”
Kael retrieved the array compass and one hundred and eight array flags from his Inner Cosmos. After a moment’s consideration, he handed the compass to Malcolm.
Among humanity’s cultivators, Malcolm possessed the greatest experience with formations. Harper might have been even more talented, but she was still young. She would need many more years of practice before she could rival Malcolm’s mastery.
“A Solar Apex Firmament Array?”
Malcolm and Harper studied the intricate patterns etched across the array compass.
A formation’s power could generally be judged by its array patterns. The denser and more intricate they were, the more powerful and profound the formation.
“I do have one personal request,” Kael said. “When you deploy the Solar Apex Firmament Array, could you take Tanya with you? Even if she only assists with the simpler tasks, the experience would be invaluable.”
“Tanya is my disciple. Even if you hadn’t asked, Kael, I would have taken her with us,” Malcolm replied with quiet authority.
“Thank you, Master!”
Tanya immediately bowed.
For a cultivator at her level, receiving personal instruction from a Planetary Realm Formation Master was an opportunity countless others would envy.
Even a Deity Transformation cultivator would struggle to persuade a Planetary Realm expert to offer more than a few words of guidance, yet Tanya had been accepted as Malcolm’s personal disciple.
That was one of the benefits of being Kael’s daughter.
As humanity’s leader, Kael carried the hopes of the entire race. If he fell, the humans scattered throughout the other galaxies would once again be left at the mercy of the myriad races.
“In that case, there’s no time to waste,” Malcolm said. “We’ll begin deploying the Solar Apex Firmament Array immediately.”
“Thank you. If you need any resources, ask Samuel.”
Kael smiled.
Although he had secured a foothold for humanity, their position remained precarious. The moment Kael left the human homeworld, a single elder from one of the stronger races could inflict devastating losses upon them.
Deploying the Solar Apex Firmament Array was therefore a matter of the utmost importance.
“Patriarch, several visitors are requesting an audience.”
A disciple hurried into the hall to deliver the report.
“Oh? Are they from another sect?” Kael asked.
“They’re human, but they aren’t from Heavenfall Continent. They don’t appear to be from Skyfire Planet either.”
“Is that so?”
Kael’s Spiritual Sense instantly swept across the entire Star River Sect. A moment later, his brow creased.
“Let them in.”
“At once!”
A short while later, three cultivators entered the hall side by side. All three looked haggard from their travels.
Each had reached the early stage of the Planetary Realm, making them an exceedingly rare sight among human cultivators.
“Did you come from another planet?” Kael asked.
“We did, but we aren’t natives of Sunlance Academy’s territory. We came from the distant Starhound Galaxy,” said the middle-aged man leading the group.
Despite his Planetary Realm cultivation, his cheeks were gaunt, and exhaustion dulled his eyes.
“The Starhound Galaxy? You must have traveled all this way because you have something important to tell me.”
The moment Kael finished speaking, all three Planetary Realm cultivators dropped to their knees.
“There’s no need for that. Please, get up.”
With a single step, Kael appeared before them and helped all three to their feet.
“We can no longer survive in the Starhound Galaxy,” the middle-aged man said.
“When the Starhounds learned that humanity had produced an Eternal Realm expert like you, their entire race began exterminating every human in the galaxy.
They wanted to ensure you would never discover any evidence of how they had treated us.
“The three of us escaped through a series of teleportation arrays, but we lost two other Planetary Realm humans along the way—Audra Qiu and Eamon Tong.”
“Have the Starhounds already wiped out the rest of humanity in their galaxy?” Kael asked, going straight to the heart of the matter.
“When we escaped, the entire Starhound Race had already begun to mobilize. By now, they’ve probably...”
The middle-aged man could not bring himself to finish.
Kael looked toward the sky and sighed.
The Broodmother had to be dealt with first. Only then could he turn his attention to the Starhounds.
Even if he traveled to the Starhound Galaxy immediately, he would already be too late to save most of the humans there.
“That will be all. This meeting is over.”
Kael rose from his seat.
“Yes, Patriarch.”
The senior figures filed out of the hall.
“The three of you may remain in the Star River Sect,” Kael told the visitors. “I have urgent matters to handle over the next century. Once they’re resolved, I’ll travel to the Starhound Galaxy and exterminate the Starhounds.”
“That’s all we can do.” The middle-aged man sighed. “Senior Lin, we have long heard that you are the only human ever to reach the Eternal Realm. From now on, you must protect humanity. Without you, our race has no dignity anywhere in this universe.”
“I understand. Someone escort our guests to their quarters.”
Several Star River Sect disciples stepped forward and led the three cultivators out of the council hall.
Kael went alone to the Alchemy Pavilion, selected its finest alchemy chamber, and sealed himself inside.
He opened his status panel.
After killing so many of Sunlance Academy’s most powerful cultivators, he had accumulated another considerable sum of Eternal Points. Without hesitation, he invested every last one into his cultivation realm.
[Eternal Tier 2: 20%]
Kael nodded in satisfaction. He then withdrew the ingredients needed to refine Immortal Spirit Liquid and placed them into the alchemy furnace.
Time raced by.
For a mortal, fifty years was an entire lifetime. For someone as powerful as Kael, it passed in the blink of an eye.
Fifty years later, Kael surveyed the fifteen jade bottles beside him. Every one of them was filled with Immortal Spirit Liquid.
At the same time, he had exhausted his entire supply of ingredients, including every suitable material he had taken from Sunlance Academy and Northguard City.
If he wanted to amass another stockpile of this size, his only option would be to raid other galaxies. Many of the necessary spirit herbs and medicinal plants required thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of years to mature.
With that thought, Kael left the Alchemy Pavilion without delay.
“Master, you’ve finally emerged from seclusion.”
Evelyn Zhou was waiting outside.
“Yes. Have Harper and the others finished deploying the Solar Apex Firmament Array?”
“Look at the sky, Master.”
Evelyn pointed upward.
Kael swept his Spiritual Sense across the heavens and immediately detected the faint fluctuations of an enormous formation.
Following those fluctuations, he crossed the distance in several flashes and arrived at the formation core.
Malcolm, Harper, and Tanya were making the final adjustments.