Michael was at the cave where he had almost died with Mubal and Karslon. He was looking at the place and setting up the formation for the sacrificial ceremony. The number and quality of treasures that were being invested in this case would make the poorer immortals cry tears of blood. Karslon himself had a very bad mood throughout the process as he kept grumbling about how he lacked experience in teaching disciples.
Michael ignored his old teacher and helped Mubal set the ceremony altar. As they were redoing the ceremony after many many years, only ancient records were available for reference. This caused lots of trials and errors. But in one chance, the formation lit up with wondrous colours and the entire cave became dazzling. The plane-will descended. Michael felt as if he was standing in front of an entire world where he would have no way to resist. But this surprised Michael.
He still remembered his blessing ceremony and remembered trying to stop the plane will from going back. At the moment, Michael did not have such a feeling. Had he felt this kind of pressure back then, he perhaps would not have dared to do what he did. Michael soon figured out the reason for this change. Michael back then was a baby, with no cultivation or power. Thus, he could not fathom the power of the plane-will. But now, he had the power of an immortal-realm expert. Now he could figure out how powerful the plane-will truly was. And it was powerful! Michael did not know if, on the path to cultivation, he would ever surpass the plane-will. He did not know if it was possible at all. But he still hoped to one day reach such a level that would similarly leave even immortals in awe.
The rest of the ceremony was simple, Michael had to make a request and provide the compensation for the request. After the ceremony was completed, all the countless precious treasures shattered and the energies inside of them went and merged with the plane-will. Karslon looked like he was going to vomit blood after seeing this. But there was nothing he could do. After that, the plane-will started to create a visual phenomenon.
The laws danced around Michael - wonderful and mysterious. Then a vibration emerged from his surroundings as the entire cave seemed to tremble. Following that, the entire cave and the hill were blasted apart as golden light started condensing. The golden light kept on condensing before exploding! The explosion did not carry any physical or soul energy but still, boundless light emerged and scattered in all directions going unhindered for thousands of kilometres. The light seemed sentient and no obstacle could block it. Soon, the phenomenon was visible from almost all corners of the plane!
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On that day, the disturbance spread across the entire plane and the power of laws thrummed in response. The immortal-realm and perfect-realm experts over all the four major powers of the plane could feel this new power. The same thought seemed to appear in all their minds simultaneously:
A peerless treasure is emerging!
This caused a flurry of activity as almost all the perfect-realm experts and higher took out their fastest flying steeds and raced in the direction. The light was visible to saints and others as well. They too started to move with their fastest speed towards the treasure's source. They were not interested in taking the treasure as their own as they did not have the power to protect it themselves. They just wanted to take a look at the peerless treasure and broaden their horizons.
The light kept shining for many hours, sufficient for several immortals and perfect-realm experts from the four powers. Astang, Karslon, Kevin, Ragnar, Desborn, Alice, Jerome, Reez and the other figures were also able to arrive. No one wanted to disturb the process of the formation of treasure. If they disturbed it now and it reduced the power of the treasure, it would cause all the rest to turn angry at themselves.
Soon, even immortal slayers arrived on the scene.
The leader of god-beasts, someone with the mixed bloodline of roc and dragon - Igor.
The leader of the world's most fearsome assassination organization - Grimjoy.
The leader of the races of Gargoyles - Goliath.
The protector of the world's end - Memphis.
The lord of mysteries - Morpheus.
This caused all the present people to pale. Each of the immortal slayers had gotten their title after killing an immortal-realm expert in a one-on-one battle. Thus, they were naturally feared and were considered very influential.
Karslon got very, very nervous. While Michael was planning to do a spectacular resurrection, wasn't this a bit too much fanfare? Even all the immortal-slayers had arrived!
The truth was that after reaching the top end of the power spectrum in Aterna, one would find it extremely difficult to make progress. As not many people were blessed with soul-cultivation talent, soul-cultivation of these top experts was very difficult. Another way to increase their power would be to obtain a suitable treasure. At their level, even a sword reinforced by a grandmaster and made from the best available materials was not enough to break through their skin. Thus, after the visual phenomenon reached its climax, even immortal-slayers were moved! They all came to try their hand at getting whatever was being revealed.
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As the people got more and more tense, as if a battle was going to erupt, the light got dimmer. The light congealed in the form of a human shape - giving a huge shock to everyone.
Someone said:
> A humanoid treasure?!
This caused everyone to feel even more confused. Most treasures were in the form of accessories or weapons. When had there been a human-shaped treasure?
Before all their eyes, the light faded revealing Michael.
Almost everyone could see that what had emerged was a full-fledged human and not some human-shaped treasure.
Those who knew Michael felt shocked beyond what they thought was possible. After all, the only permanent thing that they knew was death. How could someone come back from the dead?
Many had not seen him personally but they had seen his portraits. Those who had no idea of who he was were also quickly informed by the rest.
Michael opened his eyes. His cultivation was out for all to see. People could feel how powerful his body and soul were. At his age, it was indeed quite an achievement.
The first to speak was Alice Atrexia:
> Alice : How can you be alive?
>
> Michael : Your Highness, the Queen. I am alive because the plane did not want me to die as of yet.
Before others could say anything, Reez, Jerome and Paul came over to him. They quickly gave him a set of clothes and some cloaks. To make the scene believable, the plane-will had gotten rid of his clothes! Michael could only thicken his skin and keep up the act!
Grimjoy said at the moment:
> I have never seen someone come back after being assassinated. You have put a dent on my flawless track-record.
Michael smiled in response and said:
> Lord Grimjoy, there are many out there who you can not fathom. Maybe this will open your eyes blinded by overconfidence!
Michael's response was like a biting remark devoid of any respect for this powerhouse. This scene caused the nearby perfect-realm existences to let out a gasp. Even Karslon was getting nervous. Grimjoy smiled for a while before saying:
> You are indeed correct. I have been too overconfident. You have shown me something that I had never thought even in my dreams. I will remember this lesson. As an apology for my previous slight, I will give you my personal contact talisman. I will accept your one request unconditionally.
>
> Michael : Oh! Even if I ask you to kill Lord Morpheus?
Grimjoy's smile froze in place. The others were getting even more amazed at how a saint was recklessly challenging an immortal-slayer. Igor clicked his tongue in wonder.
What spunk!
Grimjoy replied:
> That is out of my abilities so I will have to decline. Please ask something else.
>
> Michael : Is that so? Very well, I will give you my request two days from now. I believe that finding me would not be too hard for Lord Grimjoy.
>
> Grimjoy : Okay.
Grimjoy was a very talented assassin. He had always fought amidst great danger - much longer than other immortals. He had always killed targets stronger than himself. Only after reaching the immortal realm did he stop personally taking missions. But his senses for finding danger were extremely sharp. And he had a vague feeling of danger from the kid in front of him. Others might not know this but he was certain!
Others were also looking at him as if trying to figure out what was making this dead man move. Ex-Queen Atrexia was definitely spewing killing intent with her eyes. But there was nothing that she could do when Karslon was also there. She could only hope that Grimjoy would assassinate him in his sleep. As if understanding what was going on in her mind, Michael spoke:
> I think a few more assassins after me would not be that bad, Queen Atrexia. Assassinations seem to agree with me. A few more resurrections might even place me in the immortal-realm. What do you think?
>
> Alice : Proposterous! Are you implying that I sent assassins after you?
>
> Michael : Of course not! I am simply asking for your opinion, Queen Atrexia.
>
> Jerome : Prince Michael, you might not know but now this lady is no longer the queen of humans so there is no need to state her as such. Now, your parents are the rulers of the kingdom. You are now the prince of humans.
Michael obviously knew this but still managed to show some shock on his face.
Karslon thought
This kid is such a good actor! There does not seem to be anything that he can't do. It is just that he costs too much!
Suddenly, Astang asked:
> Michael, what did you feel when you, ..., you know, died?
>
> Michael : Lord Astang, some things are best left unsaid. I can only say that I came back because the plane-will wants me to stand against the upcoming invasion. It felt the need to inform you all of this threat and that's why it sent me back.
>
> Igor : Is that so kid? What do you know? Of the invasion?
>
> Michael : Legions of experts. Each one brimming with a tyrannical aura that seems to be from the hell itself. Countless soldiers and Generals so powerful that even you would be dwarfed. Divided, we will not stand a chance.
>
> Igor : Hmm. We will need to take some measures. We can discuss this issue later.
Igor looked at the other immortal-slayers and they seemed to reach a conclusion.
> Michael : Of course. It is not apt to discuss it here.
Almost everyone was expecting to see Michael set off one of these gathered experts. But, surprisingly nothing of the sort happened. This could not be explained with only the presence of Karslon. It was mostly due to the experts being unsure of what to make out of this situation. It seemed that they needed some time to process today's event. Before making sure of Michael's abilities, no one wanted to act recklessly. After all, everyone was more or less aware of the power possessed by the plane-will. If it wanted to protect Michael, no one was capable of killing him.
Michael left with Karslon and the other experts he knew. The other experts too left to their own abodes. There were many thoughts in their mind and restlessness in their hearts.
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News about Michael's resurrection and his words spread life fire among the races of the entire plane. Of course, Michael was the one behind this spreading of information. Shadow-eyes were conveniently helpful in such purposes. This caused widespread panic and fear among ordinary citizens. But this also paved the way for Michael's rise to prominence. Almost everyone in the entire plane had heard of his name now.
The humans were pretty much celebrating the rise of a new legend. A new title became popularly associated with Michael's name - child of plane. Michael had the same title in his previous life. But this time, he was determined to live up to its weight.