Expedition

A purple-haired man with a resolute face and an air of iron-fisted authority sat quietly in his designated seat.

Watching the few people still fiercely arguing at the meeting, Slod knew that if it weren't for the fact that they had the backing of a Saint Realm powerhouse, he would have run for the hills long ago.

As a genius, Slod had joined the army at sixteen, reached the level of a Level 6 Warrior by twenty-one, and after receiving high-level training in the military, officially stepped into the ranks of Level 7 Warriors at twenty-seven, Level 8 at thirty-eight, and became a Level 9 Warrior at sixty-four.

Slod had always believed he was a true genius, until the time from when he reached Level 9 at sixty-four until now, at two hundred and sixty-eight years old—a full two hundred and two years—his strength had remained at the late stage of Level 9, while even an unremarkable comrade of his had slowly but steadily approached him from being a Level 4 Warrior, eventually surpassing him.

Slod had felt jealousy, but he hadn't let it cloud his judgment; after all, he was a commoner by birth, someone who had risen from the ranks to become the Violet Thorn Duke of the Anlan Kingdom.

His own life story was already a living legend, but the further one progressed in cultivation, the harder it became; he had been stuck at the late stage of Level 9 for nearly a hundred years, and if nothing unexpected happened, he would likely never reach the peak of Level 9.

A few years ago, Slod still held onto that thought, perhaps because he had relied on his talent to surpass countless others, so when he was eventually surpassed by someone else, he came to understand those he had once left behind.

His talent had likely hit a wall at the late stage of Level 9, and that was probably all there was to his life.

But when the opportunity finally arrived, Slod grasped it with absolute decisiveness.

It was a peak Level 9 powerhouse from the Fenlai Kingdom.

Within the Anlan Kingdom, many Level 9 powerhouses found themselves in a similar situation: they had seemingly sailed through to the Level 9 Warrior tier, but every tiny bit of progress thereafter was incredibly difficult.

This was the result of talent being exhausted.

So, when someone offered a helping hand, none of the dozen or so people present hesitated.

Why was it that while a peak Level 9 powerhouse was only marginally stronger than one in the late stage, their actual status was far more transcendent?

Ultimately, it was because those at the peak of Level 9 had pushed their cultivation of Battle Qi to their own limits, which meant they could potentially cross from Level 9 into the Saint Realm at any moment.

This was the reason for their transcendent status.

"If you ask me, I think we should pick someone to make an example of, otherwise, these guys won't just fail to support us, they might even drag us down later."

Everyone sitting at this meeting was a Level 9 powerhouse. Among the seventeen, Kevin was considered relatively impulsive; having been a genius since childhood, he had enjoyed the dividends of being a prodigy, but after hitting a bottleneck where he couldn't advance, he had joined the Resistance Army without hesitation.

Kevin's talent wasn't particularly high among this group; at least, after over a hundred years of cultivation, he was only at the early stage of Level 9. Being at the early stage wasn't exactly strong, but it wasn't weak either—after all, if he were truly weak, he wouldn't be at this meeting.

However, most of the people here had previously held the status of Duke, with only a few still holding the title of Count. It was precisely because his strength was on the lower end and his status was at the bottom that Kevin wanted to prove his worth, preferably by rallying a few others to take down a Level 9 Warrior who refused to fall in line, thereby cementing his own position.

"Who do you want to take down? Speak up, maybe I have the same idea."

The speaker was also among those with lower strength in the group, also at the early stage of Level 9, which was why he had taken the initiative to group up with the other early-stage Level 9s among the seventeen.

"If you ask me, why not take down that old geezer who has gained a lot of fame in recent years? It's said he rules over seven or eight million people, and his territory is rich in iron ore; our army could get much better equipment."

Slod, who had been somewhat distracted, suddenly heard a territory that sounded very familiar. He reined in his thoughts and looked at the men before him, saying with a mocking tone, "You wouldn't be thinking of targeting Starfire City, would you?"

"Oh, oh, it seems the Violet Thorn Duke has the same idea as us." An old man with a hooked nose raised his small eyes, clearly surprised.

"I have no such plans. If you want to go, I won't stop you, but I might need to help you find a good spot to bury you later so your descendants can benefit from the shade," Slod said with a faint smile.

"Violet Thorn Duke, do you think even if they all attacked together, they might still be killed?" the man sitting at the head of the table asked.

"Respected Golden Grand Duke, do not underestimate this fellow. I am the closest to his territory, and I know very well how powerful he is. Once, his strength was not even worth my notice, but that stopped thirty years ago. Even then, his strength had already surpassed mine. Now, he has likely reached the peak of Level 9. A few ordinary Level 9 Warriors joining forces would likely be no match for him."

Faced with the explanation from the Violet Thorn Duke, Slod, the Golden Lion who sat at the head of the table and was addressed as the Golden Grand Duke, put away his contempt.

Unless it was a Saint Realm powerhouse, no one would underestimate a peak Level 9 warrior.

That was an existence that could turn from a pawn into a player at any moment. The reason he himself could be called the Golden Grand Duke was because his own strength had reached the peak of Level 9, making him a seed for the Saint Realm who could advance at any time.

If you can avoid offending them, you should do your best to avoid it.

After all, if this person were to break through to the Saint Realm, as long as they hadn't offended him, they would basically not lose their lives.

If a Saint Realm expert were willing to come forward and establish a kingdom, he believed none of them would go against such a person; at worst, their current scheme would simply fail.

As for the Anlan Kingdom suddenly having a Saint Realm expert standing up for the Anlan Royal Family, they could just ask the Saint Realm expert behind them to mediate the matter.

At most, the mission would fail, but such a failure would not be due to a lack of effort, and his actual status would not change. In fact, because he would have over a dozen Level 9 Warriors under his command, his status might even increase.

Although this increase in status was negligible compared to his own hope of breaking through to the Saint Realm.

"Since it is possible that he is a peak Level 9 powerhouse, then we should avoid him as much as possible."

Far away, Karl naturally had no idea that he had almost become the chicken slaughtered to warn the monkeys, but since the Resistance Army needed to consolidate the province, someone else would inevitably become that chicken.