In close proximity to the elven capital, a huge arena had been constructed as people were streaming in from various locations to enjoy the elven lands. Never had the secluded elves opened their lands in such a manner to the outside world. More and more people came to see the natural scenery and the peerless beauty of the famed elves. The preparations had been going on for a long time and so, the maintenance was also perfect. The law enforcement troops of elves made constant patrols rounding up many criminals daily. After all, none of the visitors had seen the elven paradise before.

A huge number of people came flooding the city establishments with people and gold. Several treasures were gathered and a huge amount of capital flew into the elven country. Wine and stories were part of all taverns as people bragged to pretty elven waitresses about their battle achievements. The number of people who tried something shady was too low. Only those who were confident in their backgrounds would try anything. Unfortunately, normal nobles and commoners f different races did not have such abilities. Thus, it was mostly about wooing the partner so that they willingly follow you to bed - not an easy task considering that the competition for the same was extremely high. Bar fights over waitresses seemed common sight and the city patrol was tired trying to keep the crowd in line.

As the world they lived in did not have much advancement in technology, music and stories were the prime entertainment source. Most of the stories were about Ashley's peerless beauty and how even immortals were constantly falling in love with her. Many who had seen her portrait knew it to be true as well. The other major topics were the various immortal-experts who were going to be the challengers in the battle of immortals. Currently, 3 barbarian chiefs in the immortal realm, 2 immortals from the light tower and one elf were challengers from the light empire. The reason for most of their involvement was not to get the elven princess for themselves but for their princes who had gone head over heels for her. The same was true for the other empires as well. All in all, there were about 20 immortals ready to spar among themselves.

It was a hidden agreement among many of them to give face to the elven immortals and they were there to stop others from succeeding. After all, if the most beautiful woman in Aterna was won by the dark empire, the light empire would have to bear the shame. The dark empire, on the other hand, seemed to be wanting to reverse their humiliation in the hundred-year war. The neutral empire and god-beast immortals were mostly there for fun. After all, not every immortal-expert was a horny idiot like Ragnar.

In one tavern, a pair of master-disciple was sitting in a corner enjoying the din and stories about the various illustrious individuals that were being talked about. The stories about the private lives of these notable figures seemed to the most interesting topic between individuals. Suddenly, one person spoke:

> While you all seem to focus on the different immortals, I feel someone else might win the entire tournament.

These words incited laughter from the entire crowd. They laughed at the man making unreasonable claims. One old man spoke:

> Listen young man, there is no doubt that the winner overall will be some prestegious immortal. How could others compare. The Battle of Experts will chose 10 most powerful perfect-realm experts in the competition. Even the most peerless of geniuses have never been able to defeat an immortal as a non-immortal. They might be able to last a few hundred moves or might even be capable of enduring a protracted battle. But to win is a fantasy. Even immortals find it hard to win against one another!

The words got approving nods from most of the crowd. It was true that in a battle between immortals, rarely a clear victor came out. The reason was that the immortals had crazy recovery abilities but limited strength. Thus, even if an immortal expert stood against three or four immortal experts, the chances of dying were still low. After all, killing an immortal was something that very, very rarely happened. Or else, immortal-slayer would not have been the highest title in the plane.

But the young man who had spoken earlier seemed unconvinced. He said loudly:

> How many immortals have risen back form the dead?

His words caused all the laughter and noise to die down. The entire tavern grew quiet. There were somethings that mortals should not barge in - the concept of death was one such forbidden territory. All races considered death as the final rest. Anyone that experimented on the dead was seen as a heretic by the entire plane. This was also the reason that the concept of necromancy never appeared in Aterna. Michael's resurrection was something that had struck the plane to its very core. No one wanted to talk about it.

There were many of the view that Michael was the saviour of the plane but many saw him as the devil as well. There were many reactions to his name now - worship, admiration, fear and so on. It was not wrong to say that his influence in the past six months had gone beyond most immortal-experts.

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The old man cleared his voice and spoke:

> Young man, I may have lived long but there are things that I can not comment on. That kid is one such abnormality. Even immortals have kept quiet about it all. No one knows what is the truth. But I personally don't think that he is that powerful. From what I have heard, he is a saint. That is already very impressive for his age which is less than 18. I have also heard that his soul cultivation is extremely formidable and no one in the plane can beat him in this regard. These claims may or may not be true. But roughly, his power is still too low to win this entire tournament. But again, who am I to make a judgement?

The people all started talking among themselves about the various theories that they had. It was just that a formless pressure had subdued the entire crowd. This was the pressure from a single name - Michael Rageberg.

The disciple looked at his master and said:

> Teacher, I want to meet this Michael Rageberg more and more. People said that he was the greatest genius in Aterna. Then, he even got back from being dead. Currently, there is hardly anyone that would claim otherwise. If I can defeat him in battle, I will instantly become famous. Our martial lineage will get the recognition it deserves.

>

> Master : You are too hasty in your judgement. Never underestimate your enemy. You are definitely the greates genius in Aterna. Your talent is something that few in history can match. But that kid also deserves his reputation. His soul-abilities are indeed high. He is about the same age as you and he too has the same cultivation. While I believe that our martial arts are supreme and unchallenged, one can never be too confident. You are entering the battle of commoners tomorrow. Do your best. If you reach the battle of princes, you will naturally get to face him.

>

> Student : Teacher, you are right. We visited the entire plane and saw all forbidden lands. In the entire world, I did not even hear of someone who could match my talents. There are powerful experts in the plane but their talents are nowhere near mine. Only Michael Rageberg is a talent that can match me. I want to compete against him to see who is better!

While no one noticed this duo in the corner, anyone would be shocked to see their cultivation. The teacher was an immortal-realm expert! As for the student, he was only a teenager - not a man yet but still, his cultivation was at the early saint realm! Michael was the only one who had done so in public knowledge. But now it seemed like there was someone else as well.

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In another inn in the city, the gargoyle prince - Romain Goji and his father, the immortal slayer - Goliath Goji were taking shelter. Most of the immortals were given accommodation in the best rooms in the elven royal palace but Goliath did not want to be surrounded by so many immortals. As Nicholas inside his castle was more than his match alone, if he was to step into the elven castle, he might die. While it was very unlikely for the elves to try anything - better safe than sorry.

Goliath was extremely strong physically. He could match Igor in brawn. But his soul was too weak. He was only in the early-solid-soul-realm. Even with an ordinary soul guard, he would die easily to some powerful soul-experts in Aterna. Currently, he had the most powerful soul-guard in the plane. It raised his souls' defence to peak-sublime-soul-realm. If he focused on defence, he could barely withstand Karslon's soul attacks. Thus, he was very afraid of soul experts. But the synthesis of soul-guards needed someone with powerful soul cultivation. His last soul-guard was made by Karslon.

This was also the reason he was here. He had seen Michael and felt that boundless soul energy. It was stronger than Karslon! He was sure of it. Michael was the greatest soul expert in the present day Aterna. He came all the way to the heart of the enemy territory because he wanted to make a deal with him and also confirm some of his doubts.

As for the prince Romain Goji, he was here to see the level of other princes. Initially, he wanted to be the one to win the tournament. But when immortals themselves jumped into the fray, what could he even do?

Romain asked his father

> Romain : Father, you were there when the human prince, ... , you know came back to life. What happened then? Even you are unsure? What about the other immortal-slayers?

>

> Goliath : We discussed it later among ourselves. We could not see anything about the process of his reincarnation. It might be possible that this is an entire sham. But spies have told that his life lamp at the light tower had shattered. His death was confirmed by Ragnar. It is very unlikely for immortal experts to make mistakes as their perception is very powerful. Thus, it might be that he indeed came to life. No one knows if the plane-will is really protecting the kid. Grimjoy said that there was no power of plane-will around him but there is another power that gave him a sense of danger. Thus, he is a complete mystery. No one knows how powerful he is. One of the reasons so many immortals took part in this tournament is because we all five immortal slayers used our influence to test his abilities. Plenty of experts from different cultivation realms are participating. We will definitely know his power and the secrets he is hiding by the end of the ceremony.

Now it seemed that the reason for the huge popularity of the event was the immortal-slayers' interference. The father and son talked about a few different things and secret pieces of information. They too were waiting for tomorrow to see the grand opening.

Michael had never considered this as part of his plans. But if he knew about this, he would perhaps have thanked the immortal-slayers for giving him a proper stage to show off. After all, Michael was the one who raised the challenge. Of course, he had to be the main character.

This was the time that he had planned for about two decades. His entire second chance was building to this step. This was his fight for the right to leadership of the plane. Thus, there was no way he would go easy on anyone. He was going to win. He was going to prove his might to the world. He was going to be a hero and unify the plane!