In the city of dawn, inside a secret chamber in the biggest auction house, Michael was telling Lord Astang about his hypothesis as well as the news that his "mysterious master" had brought from the forest. He felt respectful towards the expert in front of him from the bottom of his heart.
In his past life, Michael had lived until the age of 100. Not too long even from the perspective of humans. The time spent in torture was unclear. Thus, Michael's experience of life was nothing much against the ancestors of humanity, let alone a prehistoric dragon like Astang. In Aterna, power and age were measures of respect. If an old ancestor was at their deathbed, they would naturally be extremely weak. But no one would try to harm the person or try to torture him even if they had irreconcilable grudges. This was the basic respect given to those who had lived longer than you.
For an expert like Astang who had plenty of both, even Karslon Dumbledore would have to call him a senior.
Astang listened to the story with great attention. He was observing all of Michael's expressions as well as the other people in the room. He considered all the things Michael had said in great detail and found that the information was likely accurate.
While he could find a few areas where he was unsure, like the mysterious illusion expert and the mysterious monster that was probably as strong as himself. But these facts, though without evidence, were likely to be true as well.
After Michael finished explaining his findings, he waited for Astang's response. He felt his heart beating wildly at this moment out of nervousness. If Astang refused to act, his future path would turn extremely difficult.
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Michael knew the level of devils' power. He also knew the probable timeline of invasion. Thus, his first goal had been to gather enough influence to begin advance war preparations. The second goal was to increase his personal power to the immortal realm before the timeline - 50 years.
While Michael's claim of life essence being present at the heart of forbidden forest being guarded by an extremely powerful monster was completely true, there was naturally something more that was there. It was a law inheritance!
It was commonly known to all that after reaching the perfect realm, one could start to feel the laws around themselves. This was due to the fact that the body and soul were extremely pure in the perfect realm. Then, one would comprehend the laws and finally distil them into their bodies and souls to form a law body and a law soul. This was the method of cultivation currently practised in Aterna. No one knew what to do after reaching that stage.
But, at that stage, the individuals could seemingly live forever - hence the name immortal realm. It should be understood that the immortal experts could also be killed and there were instances of this in history. So, the name was a bit of a misnomer.
But, there was always something in the world that broke the norm. Law inheritance was such a thing. When a powerful expert died, they could converge all their understandings to form a law inheritance. Naturally, one would need to be in the immortal realm for that. With the law inheritance, one could start using the laws before reaching the perfect realm! Michael planned to obtain that law inheritance. Then, he would start practising the law giving him leverage. While he would continue cultivating his body and soul, his law level would rise. And, as soon as he reached the perfect realm, he would be able to form a law body and perhaps a law soul to reach the immortal realm in both body and soul.
There was also the fact that the treasures were inside a ruin that stood in the middle of the forest. Michael believed that an immortal expert once resided there. Later, at the time of his death, he left behind a law inheritance. The monster was probably that master's contracted beast guarding the inheritance. While the proper process would have been to break the illusion array and defeat the beat to obtain the inheritance, too much time had passed as the inheritance remained unclaimed. The beast had grown too strong and it was almost impossible for Michael or anyone below the immortal realm to get it.
All this was Michael's hypothesis. Michael was planning on using the bait of life essences to kill the beast. He was not worried about the inheritance being claimed by someone else before him. In fact, there was a third test for the inheritance as well. It was a gate that would only open if one solved the soul array imprinted in it. To do so would require one to be at least in the immortal soul realm.
In his past life, after the attack of the devils, the Aterna alliance decided to form a temporary base in the forbidden forest so as to trap the devils in illusions and kill them. It was then that they discovered the beast and the ruins. Michael had been the one to solve the third test. But, Michael did not receive the inheritance. It had been given to the dragon prince who was in the perfect body realm at the time so that he could step into the immortal realm. There was definitely politics involved behind the decision but there was also the fact that Michael's body was only in saint realm and for him to reach the immortal realm would take too long. There was also the fact that Michael was primarily a soul fighter and thus, the races decided to give the opportunity to a talented body cultivator.
In this life, as Michael was pursuing both the body and soul cultivation, he had to get the inheritance before others. As he remembered the answer to the inscription wall, he would go in later to obtain the inheritance!
This was Michael's full plan. He would reach the immortal realm in both body and soul and unify the plane. Then, he would lead the plane to war against the devils. While there was no guarantee of victory, this was the best he could do.
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After pondering a bit about the information, Astang decided to inform the head of God's Hand about the information. If the leader gave his approval, he could go forth and organize an expedition to obtain the resources. Michael and the other three were led out to their luxurious quarters. While they waited, Astang was already discussing the plans of the expedition and the distribution of resources with the head of God's Hand. After finalizing all details, he called for the human convoy and finalized the deal.
Michael and the rest secretly returned back to Redster. Reez and Jerome were so excited that they had trouble acting as nothing had happened. Even after returning to their clans, they were seen with frequent smiles, quite unlike their previous image of a strict ancestor.
Michael himself was eagerly waiting for any news to arrive. The entire Rageberg family had gathered later to discuss the future with Michael. When his brother and sister heard about what Michael had done, they were so shocked that they could not speak for a long time.
> Tresline : Michael, you have done something too big! This was very risky! But, if we really get those two ancient families as our protectors, it will be a grace for the family. Our family would also be set to last for thousands of years!
>
> Leonor : Yes! You have done great kid! Now, we will have powerful experts giving protection to the territory. We can focus on developing without any reason to fear!
Both Tresline and Leonor were much older than Michael. Currently, Tresline was at the peak vicous soul stage and had reached the early emperor realm. Leonor, on the other hand, had already ignited his vital force and stepped into the saint realm! There were currently 3 saints in the Rageberg family. As saints could live long, all three had a good chance to reach higher levels. With the recent income of the family due to selling energy crystals, they were already accumulating resources needed to advance further.
Only Tresline was a cause of concern. As her time was spent in soul cultivation, she had been unable to make too much progress in body cultivation. At the age of 35, she was only an early emperor, not too outstanding. If she could not ignite her vital force before reaching the age of 50, she would have to go into life and death cultivation to step into the saint realm. That's why Michael had asked for a life essence crystal for his sister. With the crystal, she would easily step into the saint realm and this problem would be resolved.
When Michael told the family members about this, they became very emotional. Especially Tresline, who even started crying after holding Michael. This problem had already weighted on her mind. She felt that she would be the only disgrace to the family. At this moment, she felt that all the tension had left her body. Sitara and Collins felt proud of their son. While they wanted to know more about what Michael did to get such a master and why his master would let him keep the life essence, they could feel that Michael was unwilling to tell them.
Leonor too was happy for his sister. Though, he felt embarrassed as well. While he was the eldest son and was supposed to help his family and protect his younger brother, it was his younger brother helping the family and obtaining protection for him! In his mind, he resolved to reach the perfect realm so that the Rageberg family would have more glory. Even if he could not beat his brother in talent, he could still have his back.
Collins said
> Son, I do not know what you have planned but I can already feel that the scope of your thinking is bigger than what Rageberg territory can handle. You are a dragon not meant to lie in this small area. I knew that you would take flight to distant reaches where we would not be able to keep up. Its just that you grew up way too fast! Tell me, what are you going to do now?
>
> Michael : Father, Mother. I know that you think that I am too young. But, I am doing things that I am confident in. On the way back, I even killed a saint by myself! I already have the capability to protect myself. I also have sufficient intelligence to make my way in the world. Therefore, I am going to adventure for the next two years. I will directly go to the final test from there. As you know, after the test, I would be given the right to freely enter and leave whenever I want. Then, I would spend my time together with you all!
Leonor and Tresline were even more shocked. They did not know that Michael could already kill saints. Collins acted like he already knew what his son was going to say. He was about to agree when Sitara said:
> Sitara : No! It does not matter that you can kill saints or talk with immortals, you will not go adventuring now! You are only 10 years old. And while your soul cultivaiton is very formidable, you are not some unrivalled expert! You can go after you grow up a bit more but not now!
>
> Michael : Mom, while I also want nothing more than to stay here with you, there is something that I must do! Please do not stop me this time! I promise to come back safe and sound! There will not even be a scratch on me. Besides, high priest has already made a long distance commnication tool. I will be able to talk to you from anywhere in the light empire. Why are you stopping me?
>
> Sitara : So what? If you get into trouble, what will I do? Why are you so hurried? Why not grow your strength before?
>
> Michael : Mom, time is something that does not wait for anyone. There is something that I must do. Let me go happily. I will not stop even if you disallow it. There are some things that are greater than just us and I will defy you if that is what it would take!
Before Sitara could blow up and give her son a good beating, Collins interrupted in between taking Sitara with him. The couple had an intense argument that night. As both were powerful saints, almost entire Redster could hear what they said! But none of the common people dared to complain. After all, nobles in this world were not nominal and had real terrifying power.
The day after, Collins told Michael
> Son, I have talked with your mother. While she is still unconvinced, I will make sure to placate her. You need to be safe. You have made the Rageberg family proud! What you have already done is more than what I could possibly do in my entire life! You have already payed your debt to the ancestors. I just wish for you to be safe. Know that talent is not equal to power. And there is no one or nothing that can not be killed! Thus, caution is a virtue. You can go and do what you need to do. I will be there two years later on the day of final test! Show Aterna that my son, Michael Rageberg is not a baby genius who needs protection of his ancestors but a young tiger that will rule the jungle in the future!
Michael was truly touched by his father's words. He could feel the love and warmth behind these words of experience. Later, he left the castle that very day by himself. He had decided to stay the majority of the next two years in the forbidden forest. After all, he needed to be there anyway. As for the beast there, he was confident in not alerting it at all. After the expedition, he would take the law inheritance and increase his combat power. Later, he would ask Jerome and Reez to finish the tower's mission.
The only thing that was difficult was to stay in the forest for too long. After all, there were saint realm monsters in there. But, Michael was prepared to flee when required. After all, with his techniques, fleeing from the perception of beasts in the forest was child's play.
At the same time, all major figures in the empire got a letter. The letter a seal in the shape of a hand where all the fingers seemed to look like god-beasts. This was an official letter from God's Hand, asking all kingdoms to send envoys to the city of Dawn to discuss an expedition to the forbidden forest! The reward mentioned suspected life essence crystals! The entire empire seemed to seethe with the news. All the races' leaders called for meetings with their members to decide who would take part in the expedition.