Gordon Marx's presence was like a behemoth that suppressed all the chaos going on in the mansion. All the intruders gave up trying to escape or fighting. They all gathered together looking dejectedly at the sky. Gordon descended with a sombre expression on his face. Never had he expected to be plotted against by someone so formidable. After hearing the information from his subordinates, he had rushed back at top speed but it still took him more than 2 minutes to return. And that was all it took for the entire mansion to crumble. Different parts of the state were destroyed - the buildings had fallen and the parks and gardens had lost all sense of beauty. But this was not what caught his eye. For the Marx family, these possessions hardly amounted to anything. He immediately found his daughter amidst the chaos and went over to her. The barrier that had been stopping Geoffery and his teacher gave way to him easily. He checked her condition, and his eyes registered shock. His expression changed visibly as he took out a communication talisman and contacted someone.
Michael's heart sank. Gordon Marx was a powerful cultivator with huge influence. Even after his breakthrough, Gordon could kill him as easily as he could before. The distance between them was as vast as ever. For someone like that to be this shocked, could something serious have happened to Sheryl?
Gordon then stored her body in his spatial treasure and placed his attention to the gathered intruders. In total, there had been a total of 9 intruders - 2 rank-3 ascendants, 2 rank-2 and 5 rank-1. But surprisingly, only one of the rank-1 were left standing - Geoffery Ritz. The others all had their bodies completely destroyed! Gordon glanced at Michael with shock. Michael felt a tremendous pressure landing on him with that gaze. The pressure was tangible and enough for him to rotate his celestial energy across his body and soul to resist the pressure. The pressure kept on increasing for a while before Gordon lost interest in testing out Michael's limits. He turned to the five remaining people standing as he waved his hands.
The power of his law-marks erupted with supreme aura. The world trembled and the entire city shook! Michael felt that this power could decide the fate of everything. The commotion caused all the people in the city to stop whatever they were doing and look towards the Marx mansion. Two more people across the city of liberty looked in the direction of Marx mansion as their eyes shined with similar power as Gordon. They were the leaders of the Black and Tang family. When Gordon released his powers, they were the first to notice. But they did not try to interfere and only observed from the sides.
The third and fourth transformations were much more distant in power-level than a demi-ascendant and an ascendant. After one completed all four transformations, one would complete an entire big realm of cultivation. The laws that one practised underwent a huge bottleneck and any further progress became dependent on finding their own personal way. As a result, the power that they wielded was beyond what one would expect.
Gordon's simple wave created a huge storm of energy that rushed towards the five standing cultivators. All their expressions changed as they brought forth their own energy to stop the incoming energy storm. But they were still overwhelmed. The first to fall was surprisingly the other rank-2 ascendant. His body was destroyed and even the law marks in his body were crushed! His soul barely escaped, damaged severely. The two rank-3 ascendants too were injured severely but they managed to preserve their bodies. Geoffery was also protected by a powerful treasure - similar to the one which Sheryl wielded. But the treasure shattered after protecting him from the brunt of Gordon's attack. But the remaining energy still badly injured him making him lose consciousness! His teacher also had to destroy another law mark to keep his body from crumbling. In the end, he was the only one left standing. Gordon's face showed surprise. He had not put his full power into the previous attack but he did not expect anyone to remain standing. He was truly surprised by the rank-2 ascendant remaining - Geoffery's teacher. Before he could launch the second attack though, the skies of the city lit up. The entire city felt the pressure from the arrival of a powerful expert! Both Melinda Black and San Tang came out of their meditation chambers and looked up at the sky with serious expressions.
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The sky rumbled as the spirit clouds were scattered to reveal a figure giving off a golden light. Michael had trouble looking at the features of this figure. All he could make out was a blurry outline. The light dissipated revealing a man in his twenties - at least that was how he appeared. The density of law marks in his body was not comparable to Gordon Marx, but there was something about him that made him seem like the emperor of heaven and earth! There was another source of power in his body that did not lose to his law marks! And he was one with the entire world - the mark of a celestial! This was the first time Michael was looking at a celestial - apart from himself. Michael thought about the legends of only other celestial who would appear here - Roamer Ritz. Gordon flew up to meet his rival calmly.
> Roamer : There is no need to take this any further Gordon. We have already lost five ascendants while your side has not lost a single fighter. I believe this should be enough to please your heart.
>
> Gordon : You dare to sprout reasoning before me! You were the one who attacked my home and now you want to walk away scott-free? Do you think that you can win against me?
>
> Roamer : Even if I can't win, I can still take you down with me! Don't force my hand. Hand over my son and my men and we will forget everything about this incident. There is no reason for our enemity to be resolved now. We can always sort things out in the selection battles before heavenly realm opens.
>
> Gordon : You lack the qualifications to negotiate. I can only kill all your people. You have offended the Marx family - and that includes figures like Ancestor Killian and others. I can't let these people go as the leader of Marx family. It is not something that I can decide.
But before Gordon could continue further, his expression changed drastically. That was because Killian Marx himself had sent a voice transmission to him.
> Let those kids go. That brat Roamer has joined the Norohans. If you kill them, the matters will escalate and even divine ones will be involved. Right now, we need to maintain the divinities' favour or else entire Marx family would be wiped out in selection battles.
Gordon looked at Roamer Ritz with a pensive expression before saying slowly
> Gordon : You are indeed very ambitious. Reaching the upper ascendant realm will not be easy. But you have made your choice and you will have to follow through. But I am not sure that Norohans will be able to win.
>
> Roamer : The greatest event of the epoch is on our doorsteps. If I were to chicken out now, what qualifications would I have to chase immortality? So what if my path leads to death?! Its only death!
>
> Gordon : Indeed! So what if the path leads to death? Very well said, Roamer. We shall meet again in the selection battles. We shall settle our matters then!
Gordon's and Roamer's conversation was private and no one was able to overhear - not even Melinda Black and San Tang. But the next course of action pretty much revealed what the final decision was. Roamer took away all the people that were left along with the souls of the fallen ones. The Ritz family had indeed suffered great loss. Five of their powerful cultivators had their bodies destroyed and even if they could recover, it would take a few centuries. But what they gained was much more valuable - the backing of Norohans! Norohans were another family of the human race, though they were not associated with the Liberty Federation. They were, in fact, as huge as the entire Liberty Federation themselves! The reason was that they had existed for much longer than the Federation and hence, their total power was comparable to the three big families combined, if not more. They were one of the 8 ancient families that served another super-force - Sky-Spitter Sect. Sky Splitter Divinity was also a three-star divinity with power comparable to Black Lotus Divinity. Roamer, in essence, had joined the Sky Splitter sect.
Michael knew that things that were beyond Gordon had decided the result of this skirmish or else these people would not be leaving the Marx mansion. And he was too weak to interfere or even know of the secrets involved. He left after a while and entered a secluded chamber to heal his injuries. And thus, a fight of epic proportions came to an end. The city resumed its operation and it was not long before people figured out what had happened. This event sent shockwaves not only across the Federation but the entire Black Lotus Sect. But in all the commotion, no one noticed the rise of a new celestial. Neither Marx family nor the Ritz family spread any information about the battle. Everything was buried in hushed tones by the participants of the battle.