Michael had been having a bad feeling ever since he had mastered the second level of his skill "intuition". But he had no way of figuring out where the danger would strike from. To get away from any possible dangers, he decided to bet on his most reliable connection - Sheryl. Michael was aware that Sheryl's family could, in fact, be the reason for the "danger" he was sensing. But he was betting on Sheryl's relationship with her father and Gordon Marx's sensibility. Michael was indeed close to the Marx princess but had never laid with her. And while Gordon could definitely kill Michael with the flick of a finger, there was no reason for him to actually do so. For the Marx family to not interfere with his endeavours until now meant that Gordon was okay with Sheryl having feelings for him. Considering all this, he decided it would be best to go into secluded cultivation in the Marx mansion. Remember, the Marx mansion was a place that someone with three transformations would be hard-pressed to forcefully enter.

Thus, Michael went over to Sheryl's home and got himself an extended accommodation. He entered secluded cultivation trying to reach the celestial path. The feeling of danger was already heavy and Michael knew that the next moments were going to be very crucial.

Sheryl easily allowed Michael's stay. Secluded cultivation did not always mean being completely cut off from the world. Finding the celestial path could not be done with incessant hard work alone. One needed a balance of hard work, relaxation and comprehension of one's spirit as well. This allowed Michael to spend a good amount of time with Sheryl and there was no reason for Sheryl to say no to this. Michael also continued working with Denise on several different research projects. Normally, this would have been a perfect life. But the nagging feeling of intuition did not seem to go away. Michael stayed in the place for about six months. It was then that something big happened. Sheryl Marx's hand was asked by the young noble of another family - the Ritz family. The Ritz were upstarts in the world of nobles of the plane - founded by a great genius - Romer Ritz. Romer Ritz was a legendary genius, someone who walked the path of excellence. He was a "celestial" and had gone through three transformations. His combat power was no less than Gordon Marx and he was also an important figure in the Black Lotus Sect. Given that he was a celestial, he was actually more valued than Gordon Marx at a personal level. But, Gordon Marx was the face of the entire Marx family. A few of the Marx family experts were upper transformation realm cultivators - like Killian Marx. This was something that Romer did not have - background. Had he also been backed by upper ascendants, he would have had more influence than Gordon.

The young noble of the Ritz family was named Geoffery Ritz. He was also renowned to be a talent, though not as much of a monster as his father. He had lived for several hundred thousand years and was already an ascendant with a single transformation. He was not especially impressive - only four law marks, considering that he was the single child of Romer and had many resources available to him from his birth. But, he was still an ascendant! And ascendants demanded a certain amount of respect. Let alone the fact that his father was a celestial ascendant and quite a powerful one as well, he himself would have been a valued guest of the Marx family. The Marx family invited the young master over for dinner to discuss his proposal.

Michael was not really surprised at this event. Given that Romer was lacking a backing force, it was reasonable for him to marry his son into a powerful family and form a strong alliance. Adding the banner of Marx family to his personal power, he would have much more influence. This was a wise and correct move - quite commonly seen in all worlds. Michael did not know if the Marx family would agree. But Sheryl was quite confident that the family would reject their terms. Michael had no idea why she felt that way. As the day finally came, the Marx mansion finally opened up for the new guests.

Sheryl had never been happier in her life. Michael had shifted to her mansion which made it pretty easy to see him. Sherryl was young, but she was not foolish. It was true that her earlier infatuation had been with Michael's looks and his aura. But later, she saw something in him that was different from others - sincerity. Michael had been very diligent in his role as a teacher and he made sure that all his students learned well. After the survival course ended, he had vanished for a while before reappearing again. It was then that he became her personal tutor. The more she interacted with him, the more she could feel his sincerity. He was approaching her for her background - she knew that. But never had he tried to manipulate her or make use of her family's power. Sheryl knew that one day, he would ask for something. And she knew that he would be disappointed. She wanted to tell him to stop wasting his time. Things were not as they seemed and she was not who he thought she was. But she was already in love. Michael had profound knowledge about many things. He was a master of martial arts and surviving techniques. His cultivation was also not bad for someone his age. Sheryl had a feeling that Michael was probably someone with a big backstory of his own. But she knew that he would not share it if he did not want to.

Even though Michael had suppressed his aura and looked like a harmless scholar, his arrogance and ambitions would reflect in his eyes every once in a while. When she found about the proposal from the Ritz family, she immediately told Michael to gauge his reaction. And Michael's reaction showed unwillingness deep in his eyes. He truly knew how to hide his thoughts and nature. But she could read it all. After all, she had seen him so intently over the past few years. She calmed him down and began to make preparations for the meeting. After all, she had a young noble to reject.

She got ready and called up her maids. After getting ready, she waited at the portal. Finally the rumoured young noble appeared along with one other person. His aura was overwhelming! Sheryl found it difficult to breathe. After all, Geoffery was an ascendant and she was only in the conception realm. There was no comparison. But at the same time, another powerful aura surrounded her and completely dispersed Geoffery's aura. She turned to find Uncle Jack standing behind her. She heaved a sigh and welcomed the guests to the meeting hall.

Uncle Jack followed her closely. Jack was her father's follower and the master of security of the household. He was an ascendant who had gone through two transformations. He was also a martial-arts master and combat master and Darius' teacher. As he was there, she truly felt safe. After they got to the meeting room, Gordon finally met with them. She introduced them to Michael as well who was also there. After all, it was customary for teachers to be present from both sides or from nither sides. Geoffery's teacher was actually an ascendant who had gone through two transformations. Michael, on the other hand, was only in the conception realm. Sheryl felt sorry that Michael had to bear the humiliating comments from the duo due to his lower cultivation. But Michael seemed to brush off all those comments with his smile.

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The meeting continued for a while before Gordon's expression changed. He stood up in a flash. He then turned to the duo and said

> I am sorry to you two but I have some urgent work. Please forgive me for not being able to entertain you!

>

> Geoffery : Don't worry uncle. I know that you are very busy. I am in no hurry.

>

> Gordon : Then, if you will excuse me.

Gordon then vanished from his position. But it was not as if he had moved too fast to not be tracked. He had split up space and stepped out of the plane! This was something only peak powerhouses could do. If one did not cultivate space laws, one could use brute-force of one's cultivation to break the space and travel. But as the required power was huge, only upper ascendants used such methods. Of course, environment mattered as well. In a plane like Aterna, perhaps even Jack would be able to easily break space. In fact, Gordon's ability to break space in Jupyter surprised the guests present. They both thought at the same time

A treasure!

Of course, no one could confirm if their conjecture was true. After Gordon was gone for a while, they both looked at each other before trying to grab Sheryl!

The change was so abrupt that no one saw it coming, no one except Michael. Before any of them could make a move, Michael grabbed Sherryl who was beside him and blasted away from the spot. Michael's speed was actually much slower than the Ascendants. But his action created a window that allowed the guards of the mansion to act.

> What Gall!

Shouts and roars echoed before many people came and surrounded the two. These guys were the main people guarding the mansion. There were three ascendants with an aura somewhat more powerful than Ritz young noble and one more aura comparable to Jack. These were five ascendants who were in the mansion. At the same time, reinforcements had been called as well and even Gordon had got the word. Of course, they would take time to arrive.

Jack solemnly said:

> What is the meaning of this behaviour? Are you showing hostility against Marx family? Is this your father's stance?

Geoffery smiled and said:

> It is too late now. Gordon is not here, and the rest of you won't be able to stop us.

The teacher broke a bracelet and space in the room shattered revealing three powerful auras! These three were ascendants as well but they were even more powerful than all the others. In fact, two of them were in the third transformation realm! Their combined power caused cracks to develop all around. After that, Geoffery also broke a spatial treasure and more auras were revealed - a total of four ascendants at the first transformation stage. This was a backup of seven ascendants. This was enough force to flatten even the Federation Academy. As soon as these auras were revealed, a terrifying formation light rose from the ground and covered the entire mansion. The entire space seemed to converge and the spirit energy of the entire city of liberty flowed in a storm to the Marx mansion. This was the guardian formation of the mansion.

 As the guardian formation activated, boundless heaven and earth energy entered the mansion and several restrictions chained all the intruders! Each of these restrictions was filled with the power of a great-spell. The restrictions were so strong that a mortal would have a hard time moving and even demi-ascendants would only be able to struggle weakly. But, the problem was that these opponents were ascendants. While they too were heavily restricted, their battle power did not drop by a whole realm to balance the power scale. The Marx family were at a disadvantage in their own home ground! This was a huge deal! In the history of Federation, such things had rarely happened. But the Marx family could also not be blamed. Encompassing space to store living cultivators was a technique that only space law practitioners could use - that too only upper ascendants. Of course, it did not mean that one's primary law had to be space law but that one must have some comprehension with it. If someone reached the upper ascendant realm with space laws as their primary law, they would perhaps be able to kill weaker divinities! But how could a supreme law be easily cultivated? Even among the several upper ascendants, there were very few that even had a little bit of space law knowledge. These space masters were known and valued by all super-sects. For such a person to scheme against the Marx family, who could have possibly stopped it?

As a result, in their own home, the Marx guards were in a defensive stance. The offenders had a clear goal - Sheryl Marx. They knew that their time was tight. The Marx family was not low on cultivators and if Gordon made his way here, none of them would be able to leave. Thus, they too were looking for possible ways to capture the princess of the Marx family. The cordial environment had turned extremely tense in just a single moment.

> Jack : Very good!! So some senior wants to have a feud with our family, huh? Why do you need to hide yourself? Come out if you dare! Ancestor Killian Marx will skin you bastards alive!

>

> One of the ascendants : Dog! Keep quiet. Surrender and we won't have bloodshed. We only want the girl. No need to make this a big issue. The one who has ordered this is obviously not afraid of the Marx banner.

>

> Jack : You call me dog but what are you? Roamer Ritz himiself is no more than a dog! Earlier I respected him. After all, making it on his own in this place is not easy. He is even a celestial. But for him to be subservient to others, I no longer feel any respect!

>

> Geoffery : You bastard! Seniors, we have the advantage. These guys are obviously not making way. We need to hande them. Please take care of these experts. After all, we are the stronger party. As for these demi-ascendants, even restricted, I can kill them all. Let's grab the girl and get going.

>

> Michael : You need to ask for my permission first!

Michael's words came completely unexpected startling all the experts present. What was incredible was that his voice had forced them all to look to him! It was as if as soon as he spoke, people had to look at him.

> Geoffery : Kid, get lost. I don't have time to kill you today, so you should patiently wait for your death.

Michael looked over at Geoffery and said

> Is that so? I guess then I will have another dance with death!

Following that, his aura bellowed. It seemed to be expanding and imploding. Michael then gave a smile that chilled the hearts of all the cultivators here.

> Let the world know that I walk the path of celestials, unafraid in life or death - I shall control life and death!