Yulan Continent.
Beirut had been closely monitoring the situation inside the Planar Prison.
Sadius was, without a doubt, his best research subject.
When he realized that Leylin had also taken notice of Sadius, Beirut could no longer remain calm.
Although Leylin was one of his observation targets and a likely future partner—possibly the future "Fire Element Lesser Sovereign".
Sadius was far too important to Beirut's research to ignore. He began to seriously consider whether he should extract Sadius from the Planar Prison altogether.
When Beirut saw Leylin's true body pretending to be at the Saint-level limit and approaching Sadius, he almost intervened on the spot.
But then he heard Sadius mention that he had a way to return to the Yulan Continent.
Only then did Beirut recall—Sadius had previously refined the Violet Blood Divine Sword he had left behind in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. Naturally, by sensing that sword, Sadius could open a spatial rift and return to the Yulan Continent.
Upon realizing this, Beirut decided to hold back and continue observing.
But then, when Sadius used the Laws of Destruction to become a Deity—when he unleashed that mysterious "Azure Dragon Transformation" in the Planar Prison—Beirut could no longer sit still.
"You three brats, keep teaching your two junior cousins properly. If I catch you slacking off even a little, I'll make you regret it when I return!"
Nien and Liya had already arrived in the Forest of Darkness.
For a rodent-type magical beast to reach the Saint-level was extremely difficult.
Although these two little mice were of very diluted bloodline, as Beirut's junior kin, he doted on them deeply and had specifically assigned his three sons to teach them.
Nien and Liya had never imagined that someone like Lord Beirut would personally pay attention to them.
And their three Violet-Gold Rat King ancestors weren't Saint-level magical beasts but Deities!
No wonder one of them had casually gifted Sadius a Life Origin Pearl.
"Nien, the three ancestors don't look too happy."
"Maybe they snuck off to the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts earlier and got caught by Lord Beirut."
"Ahem! You two, no whispering. Today you must each cast your Saint-level spell fifty times."
Beirut departed from the Forest of Darkness and swiftly arrived at the Misty Valley of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.
Ever since Sadius had chased the Radiant Pope Heidens northward and vanished, he hadn't returned.
It had now been ten years since his departure.
"Could something have happened to Lord Alliance Leader?"
"Nonsense! That Heidens guy could never be his match!"
And yet Sadius never returned. The magical beasts continued to guard the palace in the Misty Valley. The elemental essence here was dense, so they focused on cultivation, awaiting Sadius' return.
Ten years passed in a flash. Still, there was no sign of Sadius.
Suddenly, a figure appeared inside the palace—even the magical beasts who were cultivating hadn't sensed his presence.
"Who are you?" Reyna demanded as she stared at the old man before her.
At this time, Reyna had already become a powerful ninth-rank magus.
She had decent innate talent, wielded an artifact, and was trained by Saint-level experts. Over the past ten years, she had advanced from a sixth-rank to a ninth-rank magus.
"Big Sis Reyna, who is this guy? How did he get into the Misty Valley?" a little boy suddenly piped up.
Why was there a human child in the Misty Valley?
To answer that, we must go back to the war between Sadius and the Radiant Church.
Previously, Sadius had used a dragon's roar to awaken the minds of Baruch and his son, who had been turned into Radiant Angels.
After regaining their senses, the father and son decided to join the magical beast alliance in resisting the Radiant Church.
Later, after getting along well with the magical beasts, the Saint-level tyrannosaurus rex Harsel learned that the pair were actually descendants of the Dragonblood Warrior clan.
And upon learning that Ando Baruch's youngest son was still alive, Harsel made a decision:
As long as the Baruch clan pledged their loyalty to the magical beast alliance from then on, Harsel would offer them a vial of Saint-level dragon blood.
Faced with such an irresistible temptation, Baruch and his son agreed joyfully—after all, they had already joined the magical beast alliance.
If their clan could once again produce Dragonblood Warriors, then pledging allegiance to the magical beast alliance was a small price to pay.
Thus, Ando Baruch brought his son, Jason Baruch, to the Misty Valley.
The little boy later consumed Harsel's Saint-level dragon blood and the last remaining Blueheart Grass of the Misty Valley. As a result, he successfully awakened his bloodline and became a Dragonblood Warrior—a lineage thought to be lost.
Beirut paid no mind to the two humans. They tried to act but found themselves completely unable to move.
Beirut simply raised his gaze toward the ceiling of the palace.
"They're coming."
In the next moment, chunks of stone began to fall from the rock layer above.
Then, a violet divine sword came tumbling down. A magical array carved into a stone platform was revealed.
As the sword fell, cracks began to appear on the intricately patterned array.
The cracks multiplied, and waves of energy began to leak out.
Soon, several figures burst out from the enormous rift.
"Little Reyna! You've grown so much!"
It was Sadius and his group who had arrived in the palace.
Sadius immediately spotted a girl in her early twenties—her familiar face was instantly recognizable.
Strange… Why was there a little boy standing next to Reyna? Had his former little maid had a child with someone?
Then Sadius finally noticed the small old man standing in the palace.
This old man emitted no aura whatsoever, so Sadius hadn't noticed him earlier.
Who was this old man? Sadius was puzzled.
"Lord Beirut," said Dylin behind Sadius, resolving the mystery.
Beirut!
But Beirut wasn't looking at Sadius. Nor was he looking at Dylin.
His eyes were locked on Leylin's true body nearby.
A Sovereign. A peak Five-Fusion Highgod. Their gazes met.
In the Planar Prison, Leylin's two divine clones had already learned what was happening to his main body.
"Big Brother, Second Brother, head out now. My true body has encountered Beirut on the Yulan Continent. If we're late, that guy might reactivate the sealing formation!"
At this moment, Leylin was deeply concerned for his true body.
After all, it was only at the Saint-level limit and could barely tap into divine power.
How could it possibly contend with Beirut, a Sovereign's Emissary?
So his fire-element divine clone had to arrive in time—only then could his main body survive.
Three Deity-level experts immediately shot out of Leylin City. The other experts in the city were astonished. For Lord Leylin to personally take action, something major must have occurred.
Back in the Misty Valley, when Sadius learned that the little old man in front of him was Beirut, he panicked and tried to flee back into the Planar Prison.
"Hmph." Beirut let out a cold snort, then waved his sleeve, wrapping up Sadius and Leylin in one motion before transforming into a shadow and vanishing with them.
After Beirut left, Reyna and Jason finally regained their ability to move.
Other Saint-level magical beasts, sensing the disturbance, rushed to the scene.
"Father, Saint-level dragon meat!" said a six-eyed Golden Roc as it eyed the Saint-level thunder dragon.
"Don't speak nonsense. This is Lord Sadius' territory. They must be his subordinates."