Meng Shan

Boom!

Dylan shot up out of the seawater below. His divine body had already recovered, and he stared at Fang Yun with a trace of wariness.

Dylan wasn't the only one wary of him. The High Priest and the War God were also stunned as they watched Fang Yun hold the Sunset Longbow.

Fang Yun had actually suppressed Dylan!

The War God was especially shocked. He'd only been worried about Dylan before. But now Fang Yun was actually stronger than him!

He'd thought Fang Yun had only just become a god and couldn't be very powerful. But seeing him now with the Sunset Longbow in hand, even the War God wasn't confident he could beat him.

"Heh, that's enough. The fight is over. Dylan lost."

As soon as Beirut spoke, everyone turned their attention to him.

"Lord Beirut!"

Dylan looked deeply dissatisfied. He'd thought he might lose against the Sunset Longbow, but he hadn't expected to lose so utterly, without being able to fight back at all. He hadn't been able to bring his own strength to bear, so naturally he was unhappy with the outcome.

"You have a problem with that?"

Beirut glanced at Dylan casually.

Dylan jolted at Beirut's gaze, then answered cautiously, "No."

"Good."

Beirut nodded, then looked at Fang Yun with a beaming smile. "You're really lucky to have gotten the Sunset Longbow. It belongs to the Queen of Life Elves in the Life God Realm, and it's a powerful Highgod Artifact. It's been missing for nearly ten thousand years."

Beirut was a good actor, and there was a hint of envy in his voice.

A Highgod Artifact!

Hearing Beirut confirm it himself, the High Priest and the other two were shaken and felt a surge of envy. Nurturing an artifact took a great deal of time and divine power. The War God, in particular, didn't even have an artifact of his own.

Yet Fang Yun had a Highgod Artifact despite having only just become a god!

"The Queen of Life Elves?"

Fang Yun nodded. He'd already guessed that the bow came from the elf race of the Life God Realm.

Beirut nodded, but didn't explain the bow's origins any further. He simply announced, "You won this fight. You can decide who gets the Magical Beast Mountain Range."

He didn't care what factions appeared on the Yulan Continent. In fact, the more the better.

Fang Yun glanced at Beirut and Dylan, then said casually, "I only want Stone Sculpture Valley. I don't care about the other areas."

There was no point in occupying the Magical Beast Mountain Range. He'd only fought Dylan because he wanted to experience a battle between gods. Besides, in the original story, Dylan had occupied the Magical Beast Mountain Range and launched the Day of Destruction, saving Linley's life.

Everyone looked at Fang Yun when he finished speaking.

Even Beirut smiled. "Oh? You only want Stone Sculpture Valley?"

Beirut knew about Stone Sculpture Valley. Stone carving was already a popular art on the Yulan Continent, and Fang Yun had made a name for himself in it. He was indeed talented.

But as far as Beirut was concerned, he still had a long way to go. Before becoming a god, stone carving was about technique. After becoming a god, it was about strength.

The carvings in the Necropolis of the Gods had an aura alone that was enough to overwhelm every sculpture on the Yulan Continent.

Fang Yun gave a brief reply.

Beirut smiled. He didn't care whether the Magical Beast Mountain Range truly had an owner. "Heh, all right. Stone Sculpture Valley belongs to you from now on."

As the strongest person on the Yulan Continent, Beirut's word made it official.

Actually, even without Beirut's approval, no one would have objected to Fang Yun taking Stone Sculpture Valley. No one would have dared to, either. After all, Fang Yun had just shown that he was stronger than most people.

As long as the Sunset Longbow remained in Fang Yun's hands, they wouldn't underestimate him.

With that settled, Beirut left.

"The beasts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range won't enter Stone Sculpture Valley from now on."

Dylan looked at Fang Yun and made that promise, then flew away.

He still wasn't entirely satisfied with his defeat, but Fang Yun's choice had done him a favor. He could occupy the rest of the Magical Beast Mountain Range. If Fang Yun had demanded the whole range, and Beirut had backed him, then no matter how unwilling Dylan was, he wouldn't have dared to stay.

After Dylan left, the High Priest looked at Fang Yun and said, "Congratulations on becoming a god, Fang Yun. You should visit the Temple of Life sometime. I have a disciple who also came from Blue Star."

"I'll visit if I get the chance."

Fang Yun nodded casually.

Among the gods of the Yulan Continent, only the High Priest had gone to the Life God Realm, and she'd vanished from sight afterward. The other gods—even the War God, who had Refined a Divine Spark—had eventually become High-level Gods in the Infernal Realm.

O'Brien looked at Fang Yun. He was wary of him, but didn't show it. "You're welcome to visit War God Mountain, too."

After speaking, he gave a slight salute and left with the High Priest.

Watching them go, Fang Yun then flew toward the Rhine Empire. The original story had said very little about the Rhine Empire. Even when it was destroyed in the end, it had barely been mentioned.

Fang Yun paid little attention to this empire, which had barely been more than a bit player.

On his way to the South Sea, however, Fang Yun's divine sense had accidentally picked up on the five people he'd initially sent to the Yulan Continent.

If he hadn't noticed them by chance, Fang Yun would have nearly forgotten about them. After all, the strongest among them was only a seventh-rank warrior, hardly an expert on the Yulan Continent.

Of course, being seventh-rank still meant they could live quite comfortably.

What surprised Fang Yun was that the five had ended up with Kawent.

Kawent was a Saint-level expert from Blue Star who had been famous for a thousand years. He was one of the strongest Saint-level experts on Blue Star.

He arrived at Dolan Prefecture City.

"Kawent Institute?"

Seeing the name, Fang Yun was surprised. "He actually opened a magic academy?"

Kawent Institute was already up and running. It wasn't as lively as the other magic academies, but it already had a few students.

The students' ages, however, were a real surprise to Fang Yun. Not one of them was in the usual age range.

Aside from the students' ages, the grounds looked quite nice, and the buildings had been there for some time. Blue-green vines covered even the academy walls, giving it a distinctive academic atmosphere.

The dean's office.

Besides Kawent, there was a burly man there: Meng Shan, the seventh-rank warrior Fang Yun had sent over earlier.

Although Beirut had told them to go to the Dark Forest if they wanted to return to Blue Star, they hadn't rushed there blindly. They were strong enough to travel around some places, but going to the Dark Forest was extremely dangerous.

So they'd settled in the Rhine Empire for the time being.

Meng Shan was a seventh-rank warrior, and his companions were no weaklings either. In the city where they'd settled, they'd gained a little standing.

A few years later, they happened to hear about Kawent Institute.

Meng Shan then brought his companions and made the long journey there.

Only after arriving did they learn the details of Blue Star's situation from Kawent. Kawent, of course, was also curious about their experiences. Since they all came from Blue Star, he'd let them stay.

The academy had just opened, and most people were still taking a wait-and-see approach. After all, the idea of teaching magic to adults didn't seem very convincing.

So Meng Shan and his companions were actually the first students.

"Have you found Natosen?"

Kawent looked at Meng Shan and asked.

Meng Shan sighed before replying, "Dean, I went to Natosen's home myself. His family hasn't heard from him either."

Natosen was a student at Kawent Institute. Of all the students Kawent had taught magic to as adults, he had the best talent. He couldn't compare to the young geniuses, but he was outstanding by ordinary standards.

After entering the academy, Natosen worked just as hard as those geniuses, too.

But a few days ago, Natosen had "disappeared," and there'd been no news of him since.

The academy didn't have many students to begin with, so his sudden disappearance naturally caught Kawent's attention.

After investigating for a while, Kawent discovered that a number of people had mysteriously disappeared from Dolan Prefecture City recently.