Divine Emperor of Death

"What!? The troops we sent have been decimated by him!?"

Stood a crimson-robed man with his hand stretched as though he came to a stop while pacing around. His crimson pupils had dilated, appearing to have gone into shock as he seemed to be stunned.

Behind him, a golden-robed man was also shocked.

Both of them seemed young and regal, but their auras were anything but calm at this moment.

"Yes… Patriarch." The messenger who reached to report this matter remained kneeling while also trembling, "That's what we received from investigating the scene after we lost contact with them. The Starlight Jade Wolf Clan also came to his aid, but he managed to kill everyone opposing him and left the scene."

"How!?"

The Fire Phoenix Patriarch raged, unable to believe what he had just heard.

"Patriarch, I'm telling the truth! It seemed that he had summoned his wolf-"

"But she should also just have become an Immortal Beast! Do you think we are fools!?-"

But suddenly, the Fire Phoenix Patriarch went silent, turning around to look at the Earth Dragon Patriarch.

"This… doesn't this seem similar to the story of how he summoned two divine phoenixes to kill an Immortal King Vacuous Beast in the Grand Beginnings Continent?"

The Earth Dragon Patriarch's eyes went wide, "You think he's a legendary beast tamer?"

"No…! Even if he's a legendary beast tamer who can tame such- ugh! There's no way even a legendary beast tamer will be able to control us dragons and phoenixes with such a gap. What I'm trying to say is that there should be no way for him to even tame an immortal beast in the lower plane, so how come he has a way to..."

The Fire Phoenix Patriarch stopped speaking, but the brows of the Earth Dragon Patriarch squinted.

"…"

Their eyes flashed as they suspected Davis of possessing a peerless treasure that might be capable of unleashing superior prowess for a short amount of time. However, such treasures would happen to require self-sacrifice, so they couldn't understand how under the heavens that death-attributed wolf the Emperor of Death was famous for having as a mount managed to become so powerful while still being an Immortal Stage existence that shouldn't have crossed High Immortal Stage at the very least in prowess.

It couldn't be that it was its natural prowess, could it?

Their eyes narrowed into a complex gaze as they stared at each other. Numerous thoughts ran through their head before the Earth Dragon Patriarch opened his mouth.

"All things said… if he has such power… then we should try rec-"

"Nonsense!" The Fire Phoenix Patriarch waved his hand, "Most Divergents have extreme power, but it also brings them and the others around them to ruin. If we try to take him in, then our powers will also fall."

The Earth Dragon Patriarch's expression fell, "Are you telling me that I don't have the same guts as the Starlight Jade Wolf King?"

"Of course not. Although he's more powerful than us both, he cannot match us when it comes to overall power. Our dragon and phoenix clans can easily triumph over his clan if we decide to be serious. That's why he has probably decided to be ruthless to his own power and recruit that Divergent so he has a chance to go against every power in the Candidacy."

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again. All we have to do is take back our inheritors before Davis Alstreim could affect them with karmic burden. Our last inheritors are also young and susceptible to love, unable to understand what cultivating means as a whole. Being with Davis Alstreim is the same as keeping an assassin whose true intentions are unknown by your side. That assassin's poisoned dagger will reach your soul when you expect the least, even if it isn't the intent of that assassin to harm the one who fed him in his weakest time."

"However, I suspect the poison has already seeped into them, so we must kill him and retrieve them to sever the karma. The heavens will reward the innocents for killing Divergents in the form of karmic luck, and the stronger the Divergent is, the more karmic luck people will receive! Not only are we doing a virtuous favor to the world, but it could even have the slightest bit of effect over our result in the Candidacy."

The Fire Phoenix Patriarch declared with a heated expression on his face, "More than anything, he killed our people. This cannot be forgiven!"

"Patriarch is wise!"

A group of elders who rather appeared young approached the Fire Phoenix Patriarch and bowed, "We're afraid that if we don't act soon, then someone else will plunder our inheritances from Davis Alstreim."

The Earth Dragon Patriarch also felt convinced, his expression churning with some hostility. There could be some space to maneuver if Davis Alstreim had at least left the soldiers alive after proving his point, but to have killed everyone, that was going too far.

He remembered that their intent was not to kill Davis Alstreim but to capture him. However, it seemed like the Fire Phoenix Patriarch was intent on removing this cancer from the world once and for all.

"Yes. Quickly use every available personnel to find them. He must've taken the spatial rings of the soldiers we sent, so track them as well. However, we can't lower our guard."

The Fire Phoenix Patriarch turned to look at the Earth Dragon Patriarch.

"Patriarch Klavius Rocksunder, I must trouble you to activate the Inheritor Tracing Formation belonging to Isabella."

"Why must I activate ours, Patriarch Killian Zenflame?" Patriarch Klavius Rocksunder turned his head away, still not feeling right about this matter, "I haven't signed the Blood Soul Contract yet, and I don't want to sign it anymore since we already know that he has appeared."

"Patriarch Klavius, don't be so cold."

Patriarch Killian Zenflame's expression became solemn, "If I weren't in your Earth Dragon Clan's Prefecture at the moment as a guest, I would've personally headed to the West Ascendance Monument to capture him even with the price of shedding my pride. I could leave now and still make it, but I can't capture him if I don't know his precise location. If I go back to my Fire Phoenix Clan to activate the Inheritor Tracing Formation, then it will be too late-"

"Fine, fine. Have it your way. Hmph!"

Patriarch Klavius instantly took out a messaging talisman and commanded his people to take out the formation while he signed the Blood Soul Contract. This was an unneeded delay but was still better than looking blindly into the vast First Haven World.

The moment the formation activated, the immortal inheritance was theirs. There was no changing it.

Soon, the Inheritor Tracing Formation was brought in.

It was in the form of a formation disc, but it held intricate runes carved over it and perhaps even inside. Once it was activated, it would detect the true soul essence of the master of the immortal inheritance through karmic connection the blood had with the clan. This treasure wasn't made by them but came with the previous immortal inheritor, who had appeared tens of thousands of years ago.

It was in that immortal inheritor's treasury, giving them the opportunity to find the next trial or the immortal inheritor. But since the trial was in the sealed Grand Beginnings Continent, they had no way to enter and could only wait for the immortal inheritor to appear.

<strong>*Bzzz!~*</strong>

Patriarch Klavius Rocksunder did the honors of activating it without many pleasantries before the formation disc pointed in a direction, causing everyone's lips to curve before they followed it.