"Luo City has fallen into such ruin." Master Lu gazed down from the sky at the crumbling capital of Liang Kingdom, his heart heavy with sorrow.
Liang Kingdom lay in the center of the continent. It had once been the wealthiest and most prosperous region in the world, and its capital, Luo City, was hailed as the greatest city under heaven.
But now the city lay abandoned and lifeless. The only sign of activity was a dark brown pillar of light shooting into the sky from the site of the former palace.
"After years of war, followed by five whole years without a soul in sight, it was only natural for things to end up this way. I wonder how Yong City is faring now." Celestial Master Han, from the Celestial Master Palace of Yong Kingdom, sighed as well.
"Come now, everyone. Once we deal with the monsters, humanity will return here sooner or later." Yan offered some words of comfort, then began laying out their strategy. "The three of you, I'll take the lead in this battle. Stay hidden and wait for an opening. If I end up locked in a stalemate with the monster or find myself at a disadvantage, I'll be counting on you to create an opportunity for me."
"Rest assured, Palace Master." The three Celestial Masters quickly composed themselves. Their leader, Celestial Master Zhang, even assured him, "You remember how that monster, Zhou, died back then, don't you, Palace Master? Don't worry."
"Good. That's reassuring."
Yan nodded, then charged alone into the palace grounds.
As before, he used Teleportation to enter the dark brown pillar of light. Just as he'd expected, he found a smaller pillar within the larger one, also stretching from the heavens to the earth.
"This ends now."
Yan waved a hand, and a massive spatial rift sliced straight through the smaller pillar. For him, five years later, opening a spatial rift of this scale was no longer nearly as difficult as it had once been. In fact, it was far more powerful now.
"Whirrr..."
Under the influence of the spatial rift, the pillar instantly twisted out of shape, then collapsed.
Boom!
A deafening roar rang out. Perhaps because the smaller pillar had collapsed too quickly, the larger one exploded this time. Light blazed so brightly that it seemed another sun had appeared over the palace grounds, about to reduce everything nearby to dust.
But at that moment, the entire area occupied by the palace suddenly separated from normal space, like a fragment torn from a sheet of paper.
The explosion rampaged within that fragment, blasts and flames intertwining as thick smoke billowed through it. It looked like the end of the world, yet none of it affected the world outside the palace.
A moment later, the spaces fused together again. The intense heat sent the surrounding air soaring in temperature, but the explosion had already ended. Aside from a bottomless pit where the palace had stood, nothing else had been touched.
"..."
Yan slowly emerged from thin air, his face somewhat pale. In the emergency, he had quickly separated the palace grounds from normal space and teleported away, narrowly escaping the terrifying explosion without affecting the three Celestial Masters hiding in Luo City.
Still, separating such a vast space had put him under immense strain. Though Yan was far stronger than he had been five years ago, even this was no easy feat.
At the center of the enormous pit, a dark brown horned lizard lay sprawled, its body covered in wounds.
"Phew... How did this happen?"
Yan teleported to the sky above the pit. Waves of heat rolled through the air, but a transparent shield covering his body kept all the explosion's aftereffects at bay.
"Palace Master!"
The three Celestial Masters hurried over from a distance, apparently drawn by the terrifying explosion. Seeing that Yan was unharmed, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"What happened, Palace Master? Was that explosion...?" Celestial Master Zhang stared at the dark brown horned lizard below, so grievously wounded that it couldn't even move. His face was full of shock.
Master Lu, standing nearby, looked even more conflicted. The culprit who had single-handedly wiped out their Liang Kingdom Celestial Master Palace was now lying at the bottom of the pit like a dead dog.
Yan gave a wry smile. "How should I know? Maybe the pillar exploded because it collapsed too quickly. In any case, let's finish off this monster too."
As he spoke, a massive spatial rift tore open beside the dark brown horned lizard.
The lizard seemed to struggle desperately, but its grievous injuries left it helpless. It let out a mournful cry and was swallowed by the spatial rift.
"This dark brown horned lizard seems considerably weaker than the monster in Jing Kingdom. It probably has the power of around 2,500 rounds of the Rhino Emperor Game, and its abilities are nowhere near as powerful as those of the white-gold horned lizard, which wielded the complete power of time." Having dealt with the monster so easily, Yan thought to himself.
In the instant of the explosion, the dark brown horned lizard had protected itself by controlling the surrounding earth and rocks. Its power seemed to be related to earth, making it somewhat like the ordinary monsters that had occupied Liang Kingdom.
Or, to be precise, the dark brown horned lizard was like an enhanced version of an ordinary monster. It was nowhere near as unusual as the white-gold horned lizard, and it didn't seem as intelligent, either.
"Besides, this monster doesn't seem to have that special connection with me... I wonder what the other monsters are like. Are they the same as this dark brown horned lizard, or more like the white-gold horned lizard?" Yan had a vague feeling that if he could figure out the reason behind this, he might uncover some great secret.
"Palace Master, what should we do now? Should we go to Yong Kingdom?"
Celestial Master Han suddenly interrupted Yan's thoughts.
Yan came back to his senses and looked at him. "Of course. Judging by this battle, these monsters are no longer a threat to me. It's time to reclaim the lands that belong to humanity."
"Is the calamity finally coming to an end?" Celestial Master Zhang asked, unable to hide his excitement.
"Of course. Once we deal with these super monsters, the ordinary ones are nothing but beasts. They won't be hard to eliminate, and then the calamity will be over." Yan smiled faintly.
"Then let's set out at once!" Celestial Master Zhang urged, unable to wait.
"Let's go."
Yan then led the three of them toward Yong Kingdom in the west.
The battle went just as Yan had expected. The monster occupying Yong Kingdom's capital, Yong City, was a dark blue horned lizard whose powers were mainly water-based. It was about as strong as the dark brown horned lizard in Luo City, and Yan dealt with it fairly easily.
The operation went so smoothly that the three Celestial Masters hadn't expected it. At their suggestion, Yan changed his plans and didn't return to Jing Kingdom. Instead, he went to the other five kingdoms in turn, defeating the super monsters occupying each one and destroying their pillars of light.
It turned out that the overall strength of the other seven monsters was considerably lower than that of the white-gold horned lizard that had first occupied Jing Kingdom.
In any case, after five years, the calamity had finally ended at Yan's hands, bringing his prestige among humanity to its peak.
Of course, after defeating the super monsters, they still had to clear out the ordinary monsters wandering through the various kingdoms.
These monsters were easy to deal with after losing their powers, but Jing Kingdom hadn't yet recovered enough to launch attacks in every direction. They could only expand outward gradually. Still, Yan didn't need to worry about such things.
By now, he was the undisputed ruler of the human world. But... it seemed nothing had changed?
"I'm the ruler of humanity, but not the ruler of the world? In other words, there's still a being in this world far stronger than I am—someone who can suppress the entire world single-handedly?"
In the Celestial Master Palace of Jing Kingdom, Yan sat cross-legged in his Quiet Room, deep in thought.
His standing in human society was now unshakable. If that unknown being was only a little stronger than he was, it wouldn't be enough to threaten his position as the ruler of the world.
There was only one possibility: the being lurking in the shadows was far stronger than him, powerful enough to suppress the entire world alone.
"Phew... I'm afraid those Eight Great Monsters are just the ones in the spotlight. There must be someone else pulling the strings behind the scenes." Yan let out a long breath, a heavy feeling settling in his heart.
"Forget it. That hidden being must be under considerable constraints too. Otherwise, it wouldn't have stayed out of sight until now." Yan pushed aside his worries for the time being, stood up, and left his Quiet Room.
"Palace Master."
"Palace Master."
Along the way, many disciples of the Celestial Master Palace greeted Yan with admiration. He smiled and nodded back at them.
Before long, Yan arrived at the Celestial Master Hall, where the Celestial Master Palace now handled its administrative affairs. It was staffed mainly by Celestial Masters who had reached the limits of their potential in solving puzzles and had not made any progress for a long time. Five Grand Celestial Masters currently led the hall.
"Palace Master? What brings you here?"
The one in charge that day was Celestial Master Lu, one of the three Grand Celestial Masters of Jing Kingdom back then. Seeing Yan walk in, Celestial Master Lu hurried over to greet him.
"Nothing in particular. I just came to let you know I'm leaving the capital for a while. I'll be gone for about ten days. I'll leave the affairs of the various regions and the Celestial Master Hall in your hands while I'm away." Yan spoke to Celestial Master Lu.
"Rest assured, Palace Master." Celestial Master Lu didn't ask where Yan was going. Instead, he thumped his chest and promised, "There's nothing important happening anywhere right now, so things are easy to handle. Go take care of whatever you need to do."
"Good. I'll leave it to you, then."
Yan nodded, bid farewell to Celestial Master Lu, and teleported straight outside the capital.
"Less than half a month remains before the five years I promised Sister Yun are up. I wonder how she and the villagers are doing." Yan shot into the sky and raced toward Bauhinia Village.
He hadn't returned to Bauhinia Village in five years, worried that the situation outside was too complicated and that a reckless visit might bring disaster upon the village.
But now, the situation outside had largely stabilized. All that remained was the unknown being he suspected was out there. With the five-year deadline he'd agreed on approaching, Yan decided to return to Bauhinia Village and see how things were.
He raced along, using long-distance Teleportation from time to time. He moved swiftly: when he'd first set out from Bauhinia Village for the capital of Jing Kingdom, the journey had taken nearly twenty days, but now he made it back to the village in just three. The seemingly endless mountain range soon came into view.