Deep within the massively wide territory of the Immortal Gate, an elderly man, gowned in a long black ancient robe, floated in a courtyard in a lotus position as he meditated with closed eyes. The elder man had short grey hair, a beard, and an elderly masculine face. The man had a slim physique and broad shoulders.
Suddenly, the elderly figure frowned as if annoyed while tensing his jaw; opening his lips, he spoke.
"Speak!"
The elderly man's heavy voice reverberated throughout the scene as it caused the space to tremble. Suddenly, an Arkmenian with six wings appeared from the void and knelt before the floating elder; he had a face of anxiety as he spoke with an anxious tone. (Note: All Arkmenians are speaking Arkmenia)
"Ancient Elder, we lost contact with the warriors sent to the Jian sacred realm. From their last shared memory, it seems an unknown being intervened and eliminated them. I have also noticed massive groups of cultivators all around the middle regions heading for the Ancient Jian family's territory; whoever helped the Jian family is preparing for war. And most importantly, Ancient Elder, this unknown being, also killed a descendant of the Ancient Gong family, but there hasn't been any response from them yet."
The Arkmenian went silent as he waited for the Ancient Elder to respond; he thought the elder must be displeased with the news. But contrary to the Arkmenian's expectation, the elderly man remained unfazed as he continued his meditation. The elder then spoke.
"Take Hu Longtian and only spectate the battle. See who is helping the Jian family and report back. As for who wins, let their strengths be the definitive factor."
"As the Ancient Elder commands, I shall bring Dao child Hu Longtian and only spectate the battle."
Done speaking, the Arkmenian re-entered the void as he left the scene.
The instant the Arkmenian left, VOOM! A huge wave of black energy erupted from the elder's body as it completely shattered the surrounding void space. He assumed an irritated expression as he slowly opened his eyes. His eyes were pitch black. The old man stared into the void as he maintained his disgruntled expression.
____
Athos Realm
Inside the massive hall of the Athos castle, the leaders of the middle regions stood in formation. Two hundred leaders were in the hall, with each ruling at least two hundred million cultivators. They all had faces of anticipation as they awaited the being who called them.
Standing far from the leaders were Jun Moxie and his daughter, Jun Mulan. Jun Mulan stood beside her father with an expecting expression. The five Jian Saint Ancestors, the Bored Immortal, Jian Jui, and his son, Jian Mun, stood before the Jun Moxie. Jian Mun had a terrified expression as he stared at lady Marine; he had witnessed this woman manipulate an entire realm.
She easily created a massive tree that would take decades to reach half of it, let alone the very top. And despite how powerful this woman they now call God Fairy is, she is but an underling to the One Above, which raises the question; how powerful is the One Above? These thoughts roamed Jian Mun's mind as he realized how monstrously powerful these beings truly were.
Fairy Marine stood before her branch-made throne as she stretched her hand, causing the throne to grow bigger and more majestic than it previously was. She then made three more beside the main throne; two on the right and one on the left. She then elevated the three thrones in the air, making the thrones as high as twice her height. All this happened in five seconds.
Fairy Marine stood slightly far below the thrones as she assumed a respectful demeanor. As if knowing what's happening next. And as expected, the space trembled as a massive wave of pressure descended in the hall; although the pressure wasn't aimed at the people in the hall, they all at least felt their souls shake with terror, causing some to sweat profusely.
Then, Fairy Marine spoke.
"All kneel before the One Above!"
As said, every cultivator within the hall went on their knees as they bowed their heads towards the thrones.
Patrick, Athena, Anna, and Thalia then materialized from the void and sat on the branch-made thrones. Raleigh appeared and stood directly below Patrick. Patrick then gestured.
"Rise."
Every cultivator rose from their knees as some instantly looked up to see Patrick.
Shock, disbelief, wonder, and curiosity; all these words can be used to define the facial expressions of the cultivators. Some male cultivators were more fascinated by Patrick's youth and the power he wields at such a young age. While the female cultivators were amazed by his looks, some couldn't even help themselves as they blushed when looking at Patrick. Jun Moxie only sighed with defeat when he saw Patrick.
But while everyone was more fascinated by Patrick, one particular person was more concentrated on the three women sitting beside him, and that person was Jun Mulan.
She had witnessed Fairy Marine making three extra thrones beside the main one; seeing the extra thrones made her heart instantly double-beat, but after raising her head and seeing that the three extra thrones were filled, her heart finally sunk. Her mind went numb for a while as she ransacked her brain with countless thoughts and questions.
'He already has three!? And each of them looking like a goddess at that!? Does this mean I don't have a chance anymore?! I thought that Fairy was his woman earlier, but looking now at his women, I don't dare imagine myself as beautiful. Wait! Why am I even surprised? A being like him, having even a thousand women, should be natural. Yes! He may already have three, but that doesn't mean he won't have more.'
Jun Mulan thought in an instant as she calmed herself.
Athena, Anna, and Thalia chuckled on the high throne stand as they noticed Jun Mulan gazing at them. But the three Goddesses didn't spare her a glance; they knew that if Jun Mulan were Patrick's wife, her system would have activated before Patrick even came to the Immortal Realm. And as his wives, they share a feeling of sisterhood only they can understand, as this would make it so Patrick's wives would never fight themselves, even if they haven't met Patrick yet.
Patrick stared at the cultivators impassively as he continued.
"I need not say much since you already know why you are here. An hour from now, you will be fighting the warriors from the ancient Gong family, and then you shall proceed with wiping out the ancient Gong family and their allies. You need not worry; none of you will die, not even a single cultivator. After today's victory, you will be compensated well enough to last a lifetime. Now, prepare your warriors, for today marks the end of ancient families."
The scene went silent the soon as Patrick finished his speech. The Bored Immortal, the Jian Saint Ancestors, Jun Moxie, and the middle region leaders all had opened mouths and bulging eyes as they frenziedly stared at Patrick; some of the female region leaders unconsciously fell on their ass as they couldn't handle Patrick's overbearing and preposterous words. And indeed, Patrick's words were in every way preposterous.
'He wants us to fight the most powerful family in the Immortal Realm?! The ancient Gong family?! Not only that but also to wipe them and their allies out? Wouldn't that be us versus six ancient families? Is that even a fight? A single ancient family could easily wipe out the middle regions, yet he wants us to fight five extra more? Wouldn't that be suicide?!'
'Wait! He said that none of us would die. How is that even possible? The ancient families are packed with Saints and Saint Kings, and we are but a bunch of Star Celestials with a couple dozen Saints realm cultivators; how are we even supposed to compete!? We may have the ancient Jun family with us, but they are the weakest compared to the eleven other ancient families.'
'That may be the case, but don't we still have the ancient Jian family? Also, that woman they call their God fairy; isn't she powerful enough to make the Jian family submit to her? This grey-haired man doesn't look any weaker than the Jian Saint Ancestors. And most of all, we have him, the One Above, even that God Fairy bows and respects him, which places him as the most powerful person among everyone here.'
The cultivators exchanged thoughts as they realized how heavy the situation was. Some came here only to see the being controlling the entire middle region, but now they are being thrown into a war with the ancient families. Note that none of these leaders would ever even dream of offending an underling of the ancient families, let alone their leaders, so their reactions of hesitation and panic are only natural.
But among the hesitant cultivators, Jun Moxie stepped forward as he energetically knelt on his knee and cupped his hands towards Patrick; he bellowed.
"I, Jun Moxie, and my entire family will happily fight behind the One Above. We only pray that the One Above leads us to battle and our lives shall be at the mercy of your quest!"
Seeing and hearing Jun Moxie, some cultivators exchanged glances as they slowly lost their hesitant expressions. But then, the Jian Saint Ancestors, the Bored Immortal, and some regional leaders went on their knees and supped their hands towards Patrick, accepting to be his soldiers in battle.
Seeing that all the bigger powers were kneeling, the remaining cultivators also went on their knees as their coherently cupped their hands over their heads, saluting Patrick. Like that, all the leaders in the hall went on their knees and accepted being Patrick's soldiers.
'Why do I feel content by serving this man? It's as if I will go against my nature if I reject serving him. I am even willing to die at his word. How bizarre.'
'I felt elated and ecstatic when I knelt just now; what was that? Are we serving a God?'
The cultivators felt their souls feel content and elevated as they knelt towards Patrick. They didn't even have the will to reject being soldiers of Patrick; it felt like going against their existence by attempting to decline.
Seeing all the cultivators kneeling before him, Patrick steadily rose from his seat and stood with hands behind him; he stood like the God he was as he spoke.
"I'm content with your decisions; I assure you, regret won't be the word you say after today."
_____
Outside Athos Realm, the billions of cultivators of the Gong family and the millions of Arkmenians continuously poured out from the void as they occupied the skies and ground outside the Athos realm. They had multiple gigantic beasts, the smallest being at least a thousand miles long. The hundreds of millions of Arkmenians filled the skies as they shadowed the setting sun. The billions of cultivators finished pouring from the void and stood in formations. Then, their leader, the grand general, materialized from the void as he floated before the barrier of the Athos realm with arms folded on his chest.
"Scoff~ Does the Jian family think they will be safe by reinforcing their realm barrier? How pathetic. Strength Increasing Dao!"
The burly man scoffed as he spoke. Then, one of the four shining orbs beside him shone brightly; his eyes also shone similarly. He tightly clenched his right fist as he heavily punched at the realm barrier; the man's thrust alone caused the space to form multiple cracks and even fold.
Boom! Crack!
The space formed a massive crack. Hearing the sound of a space crack made the grand general scoff even more, but before he could say his words of ridicule, he raised his head as he saw that the crack sound didn't come from the realm barrier but rather from his hand. Seeing this, the grand general assumed a serious expression as he watched his right hand form multiple cracks like glass. Then, Shatter! The grand general watched as his right hand began shattering like glass, slowly rising to his elbow.
But before the shattering reached his shoulders, the grand general casually sliced off his right arm as it shattered like glass.
"It countered my attack? Scoff~ The Jian family must be that scared to use all their resources to reinforce their realm barrier. But unfortunately for them, it's useless against me."
The grand general spoke as his right arm simultaneously regenerated; he casually tested his right arm as he frowned as if noticing something. With a look of realization, the grand general inhaled as he bellowed to his warriors.
"Activate your shields, now!!"
But unfortunately for the grand general, his command was too late. The skies above the billions of cultivators went dark; countless gigantic blue portals appeared as long golden swords instantly rained down on the cultivators. The millions of gigantic swords rained down as they caused long, exaggerated booms, massacring millions of the Gong family warriors. Some Arkmenians weren't an exception as they were also caught in the raining swords, reducing their numbers by a few million.
The grand general was impassive as he stared at the millions of massacred Gong warriors. He assumed a smirk as he spoke.
"Good, the Jun family is also here; now that makes my job quite easy."
But then, Patrick's voice reverberated throughout the surrounding.
"Then why don't you try and find out how easy your job is?"
Then, the realm barrier slowly began opening.