With that, Abdin left the room. As he exited, he cast one final glance at the likeness of his sister standing at the threshold before departing.

He then made his way to where Renga and Leader San were waiting.

Munniq would be the first person he would kill. This was the only way to verify Yunus' story. If Munniq was responsible for the changes in his bloodline, the truth would be revealed upon her demise.

He knew his cultivation status better than anyone else. Killing Munniq would be an arduous task if she was on the same level as Silver Mask. And, unlike before, he now had only one chance to survive. Allowing himself to die would only give Yunus an advantage.

His current priorities were to discover Munniq's hideout and enhance his cultivation. He believed he could confront her with a cultivation of five thousand years. The only obstacle was her control over deva-level golems. If Abdin wasn't adequately prepared, the same situation as before would repeat itself, with the golems potentially depleting his cultivation while Yunus observed from the sidelines.

Five thousand years seemed insufficient. He needed at least fifteen thousand years: five to deal with Munniq, another five to defeat her golems and five more to eliminate Yunus.

The real challenge lay in acquiring the necessary pol years within the available time frame. It would be nearly impossible if Yunus kept interfering in the background.

Finally, Abdin decided that he would pretend to cooperate with Yunus for a while until he could achieve his goal.

Eventually, he arrived at an arena where he observed from a distance a group of around five hundred men indiscriminately firing upon approximately two hundred others.

Abdin changed his stance, clenched his fist, and struck the ground with force. A swarm of countless miniature lightning bolts erupted from his fist, filling the arena. Each bolt descended upon an enemy soldier, instantly reducing them to ashes.

Once the dust settled, only the men who were previously surrounded remained.

Leader San and Renga rushed forward, kneeling before him. "Commander..." they began.

Abdin was in a foul mood and didn't wait to hear what they had to say. He flew away.

He reappeared a short distance away above the castle, amplifying his voice with ten years' worth of pol before speaking.

"Anyone who knows that they arrived at the castle a month ago should come forward," he commanded, his voice echoing throughout the castle. However, no one seemed to take him seriously. He was still unknown to many. Most simply gazed up at him, assuming he was an entertainer, while others continued their activities, unfazed.

Yet some hesitated upon seeing Abdin's ability to fly, unable to read his cultivation no matter how hard they tried.

A few individuals recognized his face but the prevailing news around the castle was that the Commander had died. They wondered where someone who looked like him had emerged from.

Abdin vanished and merged with the building directly beneath him. The structure groaned and exploded as the debris transformed into a colossal stone golem.

The giant golem raised both hands and forcibly ejected the occupants from the building. It then surveyed its surroundings before locking eyes challengingly with the people at its feet.

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Silence fell, and no one dared to make a sound. Moments later, before the held breath could be released, the next building exploded. And then the next.

Panic-stricken cries filled the air from all directions.

Abdin destroyed over a hundred buildings within a span of a few minutes, compelling everyone to answer the Commander's summons.

He extended his spiritual sense to search around the castle and ensure that every worthy cultivator stood before him. Some people remained within the buildings, but their numbers were insignificant and many were either paralyzed by terror or having already lost consciousness.

The demolished buildings created an expansive field in the heart of the castle, and Abdin flew to the sky to scan the people below him. His eyes blazed with infernal lightning, threatening to incinerate them all.

"W-Who are you?" a man in royal attire stammered, his voice trembling.

Abdin could see that the man's legs were trembling as he spoke. He also noticed the absence of any Pseudo-Deva among the group below him, and the few core formation experts present remained silent amidst the crowd.

The fact that none of them could gauge Abdin's cultivation intimidated them.

Instead of responding to the question, a warrior golem emerged from the ground just behind the man. Before anyone could react, the warrior struck him on the back of his knees, resulting in a sickening sound of bones breaking and forcing the man to kneel.

"You are not worthy enough to speak," the warrior golem said. "That," he pointed upwards, "is the Commander, the one and only king of this castle."

Abdin frowned slightly, feeling inwardly proud of the golem, but he didn't reveal his emotions.

He waved his hand, causing the clouds in the sky to darken instantly, with lightning bolts and sparks crackling within them.

To emphasize his point, he pointed at one of the giant golems created during his earlier demonstration, and a bolt struck it. The giant golem disintegrated into ashes as soon as the bolt made contact, which was then carried away by the wind.

Having made his message clear, Abdin looked down at those below him from his floating position.

From their perspective, he presented a striking image. Above him, lightning churned and sparkled, epitomizing the personification of a harbinger of death.

"Out," he said, slowly pointing towards the gates.

More than half of the gathering fled even before he could finish his sentence. The rest hesitated briefly before following suit.

Several bolts of lightning loomed above them, and they realized that since a single bolt could destroy such a colossal entity made of stone, their bodies wouldn't pose much resistance.

Furthermore, Abdin's cultivation remained unreadable to them. The wisest course of action at that moment was to leave and report to their superiors for reinforcements.

An hour later, the castle had been cleared of any lingering individuals. Even the unconscious ones were removed and deposited outside the castle.

He commanded a sweep of the entire castle, forcibly opening every building previously occupied by guilds or empires and seizing their belongings to be stored in the treasury.

Those greedy individuals had been caught off guard, indulging in their newfound riches, believing they had stumbled upon an easy acquisition. Then, out of nowhere, the true owner emerged and shattered their dreams.

In the aftermath of his actions, Abdin convened a meeting with his new council. San, Renga, and Cemu surrounded him, each casting wary glances at their feet, anticipating what was to come.

Abdin's sour disposition hadn't gone unnoticed by them.

Renga desired to inquire about the whereabouts of his son-in-law but lacked the courage to do so.

Leader San also wanted to discuss the Will of San but was afraid of saying the wrong thing.

They still remembered how the Commander had ordered Sulat's death, and none of them wanted to follow in his footsteps.

"I want the entire Will of San community to relocate here," Abdin said, addressing San. "All five mountains and their students, and the entire Biyakis empire. As quickly as possible."

The councilmen blinked. They had already concluded that the castle would keep expanding and trampling the settlements in its path. But they couldn't figure out why Abdin had an insatiable appetite for inviting people.

As an older man who was also very smart, San had started to suspect that it had to do with the nature of the Commander's cultivation method. He figured that Abdin probably received some bonus whenever he invited newcomers, which made San wonder if he could also benefit when his students relocate. That would be unlikely. But if he wanted to gain more trust from the Commander, he needed to be at the forefront of inviting people to the castle.

"It is as good as done, Commander," San said. "I shall inform Tairen and everyone at the Will of San, and I assure you there won't be any setbacks from my side."