Han Shuo learned the truth from McKinley.
As it turned out, Baum had not originally been the City Lord of Ethereal City. Once practitioners of the Space-Time Laws reached a certain level of strength, they often needed to wander the depths of the boundless universe to experience the power of space. The former City Lord of Ethereal City had also possessed Upper God Late Stage strength. To pursue greater power, he had been forced to leave the Continent of the Gods and increase his Divine Power in various Plane Passages.
Before leaving Ethereal City, he had needed to find a new City Lord for it. At the time, McKinley and Baum had been the likeliest candidates, and because McKinley had been on good terms with the former City Lord, his chances should have been somewhat better.
However, just then, McKinley had made an enemy of Jia'er, one of the Three Great Light Guardians. Jia'er possessed Upper God Late Stage strength, so McKinley had been forced to hide for a time. Since he had been closest to Baum, he had told Baum where he would be hiding. Little had he known that shortly after he went into hiding, Jia'er would find his exact location.
Although Jia'er had been stronger than McKinley, McKinley practiced the Space-Time Laws and should still have had a chance to tear open space and escape. But just as he finished constructing a spatial passage and prepared to leave through it, he suddenly discovered that someone had destroyed it. This was what had allowed Jia'er to separate his Divine Soul from his Divine Body.
Whoever had destroyed his spatial passage must also have practiced the Space-Time Laws, and their level certainly could not have been low. When McKinley thought it over afterward and recalled that Baum alone had