The two immediately grew wary, mobilizing all their Divine Power and preparing for any sudden developments.
"What do you mean by this, Lord Juhun? When it comes to things in a secret realm, I've only ever heard that the capable claim them through competition. Don't I even have the right to give up competing?"
Maurice had a rather straightforward personality.
The instant he sensed the threatening aura, he became displeased. Forgetting the gap in strength and status between them, he could not help but question Juhun.
Seeing that Maurice had lost his patience, Juhun no longer intended to keep up the act.
"Heh heh."
Juhun was far stronger than the two of them.
He could clearly sense their bristling wariness.
But he was not worried in the slightest.
Within this secret realm, he was the strongest.
With the Immortal King's authorization on top of that, what could he not do?
"Ah, there's no need to hide it from you. I'll tell you outright. Your entry into this secret realm today was arranged long ago. Your missions were much easier to complete than everyone else's. Surely you knew that, right?"
The moment they heard this, a sense of foreboding and conspiracy surged into their hearts.
"The birth of an External Divine Artifact is no simple matter. Especially a Destiny Divine Artifact once possessed by an ancient god—the requirements are exceedingly harsh. To bring it forth, a considerable price must be paid."
"Actually, the Immortal King initially had no intention of using you. He could have simply found people from Anxing who were highly similar to you and thrown them into that golden lake to resolve the matter."
"But after thinking it over, the Immortal King decided to use you instead."
According to Juhun, the Immortal King had not initially intended to