[Present day].
A moment later.
Han Xiao stared blankly at the dozen or so elderly people before him.
The man seated in the center was the leader of their Thousand Worlds Alliance. It was said that the Alliance Leader had never once stepped out of their secret headquarters, remaining here to cultivate, comprehend the Great Dao, and nurture generation after generation of Thousand Worlds Alliance disciples.
Naturally, Han Xiao had met the Alliance Leader before. When he was young, he would listen to the Alliance Leader's lectures every so often.
The belief upheld by their Thousand Worlds Alliance—that the Heavenly Dao interfered too deeply with heaven and earth and needed to be corrected through the power of living beings—had been personally explained to him by the Alliance Leader.
Every child raised at the headquarters would leave to train abroad after reaching the First-Rank True Immortal Realm. After making a name for themselves, they would publicly announce their entry into the Thousand Worlds Alliance. This raised the Alliance's prestige and also made it easier to explain why batches of experts kept appearing within the Thousand Worlds Alliance.
In truth, the Thousand Worlds Alliance's greatest secret was this headquarters that no one could trace.
And of the dozen or so elders behind the Alliance Leader... he had only met three of them.
If Han Xiao's senses were correct, these were more than a dozen Golden Immortals! Half of them were above the Fourth-Rank Golden Immortal Realm!
There were even two experts at Golden Immortal Perfection here.
This forced Han Xiao to reassess the true strength of his Thousand Worlds Alliance.
If they had one or two Grand Beginning Golden Immortals, wouldn't they be able to challenge the Eight Great Immortal Palaces directly?
A thought suddenly flashed through Han Xiao's mind. With a