Immortal Kingdoms

"Holy shit…" muttered an ordinary-looking middle-aged man who was sitting in the shade of a green tree. Then, he turned to the little girl who seemed to be eleven years old.

The girl had an adorably fierce expression, her brown eyes spitting fire as she said, "Uncle, no cursing!"

This man laughed awkwardly and said apologetically, "Okay okay! I'm sorry! Look, a fairy just told me that your Godfather is already back home, why don't you go check it out?"

"Really?" Leona jumped off the stone bench, excited. Over the past few months when her Godfather was in 'seclusion', she would always go on a cultivation tour through the city. One day, she found this pitiful 'homeless uncle' who despite being the opposite of her Godfather, always dressed in black, gave her a warm feeling.

Still, whenever she offered to help this uncle, he would say something about trying to find some good spot for a good show, yet being unable to find one.

Eventually, they settled for this large tree that had a clear view of the massive lake and the Imperial palace.

"Really! When did this uncle ever lie to you? You should hurry home…" The middle-aged man spoke somewhat urgently with a smile.

Just then, the guards nearby seemed to have received a message, approaching and whispering something to Leona who gasped in amazement. Then, she told this 'homeless uncle' that she will make sure to help him find a good spot to watch his show some other day, quickly leaving with the guards.

When they left, this middle-aged man stood up, dusted off his butt, and sighed. "These fucking lunatics!"

After this middle-aged man in black turned around, he took a step and disappeared from the city, not even the grand formations detecting his movements.

Only his voice lingered in the calm breeze.

"These fuckers really think that the children of my House Eternus are easy to bully?!"

A few minutes after he disappeared, the sky shook and the atmospheric membrane split apart with a deafening explosion.

…

Outer space was a cold and dark place. In this darkness, a winding river of asteroids circled a massive floating landmass contained within a dense sphere of opaque energy.

Looking from far off, this dense layer of pure white energy began to accumulate hints of black spots that extended into thin and long fissures, so small they seemed imperceptible to the eye from such a high vantage point.

However, these little, almost negligible cracks caused an old woman dressed in green robes to sigh. This woman's face was riddled with wrinkles, looking just like the bark of a tree thousands of years old.

Her waist was bent slightly, swaying gently as though on the verge of falling over. Looking at this old woman, it was almost like it if it weren't for her walking stick, she would have long tumbled over and drifted away into space.

Curiously enough, from the butt of her walking stick and on the dry surface of the dead asteroid, a patch of greenery would spread without the slightest fluctuations of energy, as though it was natural for vegetation to grow in outer space.

"My children have truly sinned," this old woman with a pair of pointed elven ears sighed, her heart feeling heavy as inconsolable grief clouded her eyes.

"Don't think about it too much, Elf Sovereign. This man deceived not only us, but his allies from the higher realms as well," an old man in white robes spoke from a distant asteroid. In fact, he was so far away that he looked no different from a speck of dust, yet his voice sounded ever-so-clear and low, as though he was standing right next to you while whispering softly.

"This is all because all you so-called intelligent creatures do is think and think! It's so infuriating! Even when my people are doing nothing but mind our own business, we get dragged into your mess nonetheless!" A roar of unrelenting anger slammed into the river of asteroids from another far corner, shaking the sea of rock and dust.

This person wasn't standing on an asteroid per se. No, his entire stature was as large as an asteroid, with massive bat-like wings, an obsidian long tail, and the body of a bald eagle clad in glittering black scales.

His yellow eyes were dripping in resentment as his slitted pupils reflected the image of an old man in ashen grey robes. This old man sat lotus-style in the void, in the middle of the triangle formation of the Human Sovereign, Elf Sovereign, and the Beast Sovereign.

Each of them had their unique pocket dimensions unfolding to seal the old man within. Illusive images of large trees, mountains, seas, and countless beasts kept flashing in and out of existence to attack the old man.

"Haha," the old man who seemed to be trapped in the sea of images, his hands locked in a particular hand seal, laughed out loud as his row of decaying yellow teeth flashed with cruelty.

"My Asmodian planet has paid far too large a price to be stopped here and now! My other two peers have entered into a deep sleep and transferred their portions of Asmodian's Will to my body. You three should know that this is nothing as simple as a mathematical equation of one plus one plus one equals three! Fall into despair!"

As the old man spoke, his eyes suddenly widened to their limits, his head, therefore, drooping as though he fell asleep. The moment that happened, his already stretched taut pocket dimension of smoke and ash began to thin, more beasts, mountains, rivers, and steel-like vines lashing out on his seemingly defenseless body.

BOOM!

The three attacks landed on his body simultaneously, and a wave of absolute devastation spread like a ripple on the surface of a tranquil lake. These asteroids the size of a moon from the lower realms fractured like crumbling bread, like brittle wood, like shallow ice smashing into solid rock.

These once gigantic asteroids were smashed into little chunks of fist-sized stones that were launched in all directions as the three apex cultivators didn't expect Sovereign Ash to wholly ignore their attacks that were capable of collapsing an entire hidden dimension in the folds of space.

Space-time collapsed onto itself as a frightening black hole appeared. However, this black hole quickly shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye, landing in the palm of a young man with long black hair.

The old grey robes were in tatters now, revealing a vigorous well-sculpted body. This young man had vacant grey eyes, a cold smile, and some kind of a domineering will revolving around him.

He held the now flattened black hole in his palm as though it was a plathing, looking at the stunned party of three with his apathetic eyes.

"The bodies of your inferior life forms are truly pathetic! Anyway, this should be enough for me," this Sovereign Ash who seemed to grow much, much younger in a split second suddenly muttered.

Then, his eyes seemed to go past the petrified three, past the atmospheric membrane, and past the Sky Mountains to curiously inspect that landmass that was apparently out of order when compared to Arcadia as a whole.

"Little girl Arcadia, I wonder if you've managed to nurture a good carrier while I was injured. Well, it doesn't matter, I won't give you any more time to do so."

As he spoke, he flung his right arm as though he pitched a fast curved ball, streaking past the alarmed Human Sovereign, Elf Sovereign, and Beast Sovereign as though they didn't even exist.

"You dare!" All three of them screamed at the same time.

Space cracked open as a towering mountain peak descended into the world, a massive river crashing down like a raging waterfall as it wrapped around the mountain, creating one curtain of water after the next.

From the curtains of water, a vast bamboo forest spurred into existence, firmly constructing a tall and fortified green wall with an emerald halo revolving around it.

Then, a loud bestial roar shook the void as a massive leviathan rose from the water, its mouth wide enough to swallow earth in one bite and have enough room to draw in the rest of the solar system.

The Human Sovereign, Elf Sovereign, and Beast Sovereign stood shoulder to shoulder as their essence, energy, wills, and laws merged seamlessly to create the unique pocket dimension that represented their respective cultivation paths.

The leviathan swallowed the seemingly minuscule black disc, then plunged into the water where the bamboo wall bent and contracted to seal the beast. Then, everything was sucked into the core of the massive mountain, before the space was torn open, taking in this mountain.

Then, silence.

A few breaths later, a silent explosion ruptured in the folds of space, its ripples causing the black specks and cracks on the atmospheric membrane to expand.

Pffft!

The Sovereigns shook, their bodies trembling as blood leaked from their lips.

The man in tattered grey robes raised an eyebrow, impressed.

"You actually survived a blow that concentrated the opposing wills of two planets compressed into a black hole! You three have a bit of skill, I give you that." The man clasped his hands behind his back, his eyes sharp.

"However, Little Arcadia, if these three are your final trump card after so many years, I'm truly disappointed."

The three Sovereigns had ugly expressions, not understanding the context of this man's words, but they knew things were going way out of their control.

Although they didn't know what was happening, a wave of terror still gripped their hearts, but all of them knew this terror wasn't their own, but it was something that stemmed from the depths of Arcadia's will that merged with their own wills.