Eadgyth quickly responded by slamming her fist on the table, causing it to splinter into fine particles. "I am leaving, old man."
The emergence of a usurper indicates that one of the blessed has been slain. This could involve a blessed member from any of their organisations or possibly one of the two blessed who have not been accounted for.
If it were someone from their organisation, it would mean that an individual within their group waited for a moment when they were absent to strike without interference. This act would represent a blatant insubordination.
The Light region has the highest number of blessed individuals, totalling four. This is followed by the Beast region and the Midas organisation, each with two blessed individuals. The Elf region, the Ortenosse family, and the Loose Practitioner organisation each have one blessed individual, while the Heavenly Archives have none.
The usurper could be from the Light region or possibly connected to one of the two unaccounted areas, and they wouldn't be too concerned about it. However, if the usurper were from their region, it would suggest that they had been planning and biding their time for the perfect moment to strike while meeting the necessary requirements to become an usurper.
Novac nodded urgently and said, "Forgive me, senior, but I have to go back too."
Frankly, this couldn't have happened at a better time for him. He wanted to leave as soon as possible, to avoid questions from Old Tian.
They had come here for the 13th, but the discussion somehow shifted to his family's less-than-stellar actions in the end. 'I guess I should have seen that coming.'
Lying to him was pointless and unwise, as he would know when you were telling the truth. Very few can blatantly lie in front of Old Tian without hesitation, and he was not one of them.
"I understand," Tian said calmly. "You may return to your regions."
"We will continue this discussion another time," Eadgyth said with haste, and her figure disappeared.
Novac gazed at Tian, who returned the gaze, then gave a nod. Novac's figure began to fade, and moments later, he vanished completely.
The Golden Dragon, Jin, couldn't help but remark, "What an inefficient way to teleport."
Eddard shot him a disapproving look, while Tian chuckled softly.
Eddard and the Golden Dragon King were not in a hurry to return to their territory. They were confident it wasn't their blessed who had died; if it were, they would have been alerted by now, so they decided to stay a while longer with their friend.
Aina, on the other hand, seemed to focus all her attention on Tian.
"Tian... How have you been?"
Tian looked at the beautiful sky he had spent so much time creating. How lovely it was. he could feel the burning gaze on him, so he turned to his brothers.
He also saw them admiring his handiwork. They kept looking at the surroundings and commenting to one another.
"Such a detailed world realm he created." Jin sighed exaggeratedly, "I doubt any expert from the beast region could create something like this."
Eddard nodded in approval.
Tian's lips couldn't help but twitch at the corners. They avoided looking in his direction and scanned every other corner of the realm. He couldn't even ask them for help. 'These bastards...'
Tian sighed softly and focused on Aina's beautiful face. He replied with a troubled expression, "You know me; I am very hard to kill."
She has always been interested in him since they were younger. He thought it was just admiration for someone her age and that it would fade over time. However, it became clear that she was very obsessed with him. Even after he rejected her, she declared that she would be with no one else in her entire life but him.
This had caused many resentments from those from the same generation as them, most especially from the elves.
She nodded gently, "Then I will be on my way."
When she learned about Tian's situation, she desperately sought ways to help him. She offered various resources, including the water of life, which she had to obtain by breaking some long-standing rules. Unfortunately, her efforts were in vain, as Tian rejected her assistance without hesitation.
She realised that Tian's rejection wasn't due to a lack of interest, but rather his desire to keep her away from the trouble he was involved in. She could only wait for him to sort out his problems before proposing again.
Tian awkwardly looked on as she turned into motes of light, completely disappearing from his realm.
"Bastard..." a comment came from Jin.
He turned to face his flamboyant friend with a glare on his face.
"Traitors..."
Eddard, the only one who seemed calm at the moment, said, "It is good to see you again, Tian. How long has it been? Ten thousand years?"
The golden dragon king's expression became serious as he continued. "Did you find a way to resolve it, old man?"
Ten thousand years ago, they discovered that Old Tian was slowly dying for some unknown reason. He was ageing rapidly, unlike any other. As practitioners at the soul awakening realm, they had up to a million years of lifespan, but they discovered that at the rate he was going, he wouldn't live up to twenty thousand years.
This had caused them to panic, looking for several ways to stop or halt whatever it was that caused it, but Old Tian stopped them, saying it was just a waste of time and resources.
He seems to know exactly what was going on, or he wouldn't have said that, and he refused to say anything about its cause, stating that he would be going into seclusion for some years.
That was ten thousand years ago. Ten thousand years of seclusion. Ten thousand years without their good friend.
"Sadly, I have hit a roadblock, but I see an opportunity coming my way."
"Does that opportunity have to do with the newly awakened chosen?"
"I knew I couldn't hide it from you two." Tian nodded at Eddard. "I believe the boy is the key we have all been waiting for. I believe I have found a good husband for your daughter, heh," he smirked, saying the last part to Jin Huanglong.
Jin's handsome face changed. "Oh no, not my daughter."
Then his face turned serious as the playful aura around him shifted, "Speaking of the newly awakened, his appearance has caused some changes."
Seeing Jin so serious, Eddard and Tian couldn't help but become curious.
"What has happened?"
"As you might already be aware, Tian, my region has two blessed. They might not be best friends, but they get along just fine. A month ago, after the 13th awakening, they became hostile to each other; they cannot stand being in the same vicinity as one another."
They all wore a serious expression. 'What?'
It is always believed that the awakened would work together to solve the calamities of the era; nowhere was it stated that they exhibit hostility towards each other.
"I interrogated them and found out that they suddenly have the urge to eliminate each other by all means. It would be beneficial, they stated."
They started discussing what that could mean for the world.
When the usurper appeared, it was felt by the chosens, including Alaric. This caused the news to spread quickly among the upper echelons of various domains as they scrambled to locate this usurper.