“There’s a problem, Mr. President.”

Luthor frowned. There was always a problem. Whenever the head of homeland security visited his office, there was never not a problem. In fact, over the years, Luthor had associated the man’s face with the definition of the word. “What is it this time?”

The head of homeland security tapped on his bracelet, and a hologram was projected into the air. A beautiful woman appeared, and Luthor recognized her as the strongest person in the Moon Lotus World, Ancestor Rachel. “This woman,” the head of homeland security said, “has murdered several police officers. While investigating, our federal agents were killed by her as well. We have lost twenty capable personnel thanks to her.”

Luthor’s brow furrowed. It didn’t seem like the head of homeland security was going to say anything else. If that was the case, then…. “Why are you telling me this?”

“One of the personnel we lost was a peak soul-seed cultivator,” the head of homeland security said. “You knew him: Officer Andrew Stone. At this point, there are only two ways to deal with her. As the president, you get to decide. The first method is to hold the Moon Lotus World hostage, use it to threaten her. We predict the likelihood of this method working is fifteen percent after taking the target’s cultivation method into consideration.”

“What’s the second method?” Luthor asked. The first one was distasteful and had a low percentage of success. Could it really be called a method?

“We call Maximillius out of seclusion and have him deal with the target,” the head of homeland security said. “There is a ninety-nine percent chance of Maximillius defeating her, but the difficulty of this method comes from convincing him to do our bidding.”

Luthor rubbed his temples with his fingertips. He could feel his hairs graying at this very moment. Every since he became president, choice after choice was presented before him, and the worst part was he never knew if what he was doing was correct. No one congratulated him for picking the right choice, but there were always critics no matter the choice he made. The pressure was nearly unbearable, but as the president, nearly a trillion lives depended on him. He couldn’t falter because of one criminal. “Persuade Maximillius to capture Ancestor Rachel. Killing her may bring about negative consequences.”

“Yes, Mr. President,” the head of homeland security said. He placed his hand up to the earpiece on his head. “Commence Plan A.”

Luthor’s expression darkened. Clearly, the head of homeland security already knew what he wanted. He presented the first choice as a dismal one before offering the plan he really wanted to implement. What would’ve happened if he had gone with the first choice? Perhaps the head of homeland security would’ve tried to persuade him to go with the second one. Luthor shook his head as his room emptied out. It didn’t matter. Logically, using a false immortal to subdue a peak soul-seed cultivator was the best choice. Maximillius probably wouldn’t like it, but if lives could be saved at the cost of a false immortal’s displeasure, then the false immortal’s feelings didn’t matter. Officer Andrew Stone was a good person, and Luthor didn’t want to see any other important officers die to a criminal. Coming to think about it, Luthor never asked why Ancestor Rachel had attacked police officers in the first place. Well, it didn’t matter. The situation had escalated to a point where Ancestor Rachel was in the wrong no matter how it began.

***

“Is it alright for you to linger in one place, Ancestor Rachel?” Azalea asked the woman who was cultivating in the middle of the room with her legs crossed. “If these people are anything like the sects we’ve dealt with, they’ll continue coming after you until you’re dead.”

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“Or until all of them are dead,” Rachel said, keeping her eyes closed. Not too long ago, she had defeated and beheaded a very difficult opponent who was just as strong as her. In the process, she had suffered internal injuries. “This isn’t the first time I’ve offended an annoying party. In the past, I had a conflict with an arrogant prick. I don’t even remember his name anymore, but after killing him, I had to kill his brother, his cousin, his uncle, his father, his mother, his aunt, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather before it was finally over. Now that I’m at the soul-seed stage, I can probably skip all the way to the great-great-great-grandfather because the rest will know it’s futile to fight me without enough strength.”

Azalea’s expression darkened. In other words, Rachel meant she was going to stay here and fight all the enemies in their living room. Couldn’t she have done it elsewhere? Why couldn’t she take the hint and go fight on an island far from the apartment that they were renting and would have to pay for if it happened to be damaged by a conflict? Oh, right, Rachel couldn’t take the hint because she severed her ability to read the room and take hints. “Since you defeated a soul-seed cultivator, the next wave will either be multiple peak soul-seed cultivators or the false immortal. There isn’t much information about the false immortal on the internet. Other than his existence and his name, everything else about him is classified.”

Grandpa Vremya turned his attention away from his screen. “How confident are you in defeating the false immortal?”

“Absolutely confident,” Rachel said. “There’s no chance of me losing.”

Grandpa Vremya’s eyes narrowed. “How confident are you in defeating him without destroying the apartment’s internet connection during the fight?”

Rachel snorted. “What kind of question is that?” she asked. “When we fight, everything near us will be destroyed. You saw the aftermath of my previous battle.”

“Yes,” Grandpa Vremya said. “I did.” He pressed a few buttons on his keyboard and swept his hand over his desk, packing up everything important.

“Are we going back to the Moon Lotus World?” Azalea asked. She stood up and packed her things as well. “I think my father will be quite interested in the things here.”

“Back to the Moon Lotus World?” Grandpa Vremya asked and wrinkled his nose. “A webpage takes ten seconds to load over there. The ping will make it impossible to play. We’re going to an internet café in the neighboring city.”

“You’re not sticking around?” Rachel asked. “Witnessing a battle of this caliber will prove helpful to your future cultivation.”

“Maybe you should stay,” Grandpa Vremya said to Azalea. “It’s not necessary for me since I’m a peerless genius, but you might gain something by watching.”

“I believe your peerless genius will help me achieve immortality regardless of whether or not I watch Ancestor Rachel fight against a false immortal,” Azalea said. Perhaps she would gain some insight by witnessing a high-level battle, but she’d have to survive to realize those gains. The previous battle left a massive crater in the middle of the city, and if the place hadn’t been evacuated earlier, thousands of people would’ve died. The next battle promised to be even more intense. She might’ve been a nascent-soul cultivator, but she wasn’t brave enough to withstand the aftershocks of a false immortal’s attacks. Besides, if Grandpa Vremya didn’t need to watch, then neither did she! She wasn’t any less talented than him. In fact, she had formed her nascent soul earlier than him. What did that mean? She was obviously more gifted in cultivation speed!

Grandpa Vremya let out a sigh. “I could help you achieve immortality, but it’s too late to leave now,” he said and shook his head. “If only my opponents understood how outclassed they were, they would’ve surrendered at the twenty-minute mark instead of dragging the match out for fifty minutes. We would’ve had plenty of time to leave if they weren’t morons.”

Azalea’s expression darkened as a strong pressure descended from the sky. Wouldn’t they have had plenty of time to leave if Grandpa Vremya hadn’t been so addicted to his stupid game? Now, they were trapped in a city where a great battle was about to take place! Azalea hadn’t even seen Rachel’s opponent, but the spiritual pressure coming from the sky was enough to make her blood run cold. Could Rachel really survive against someone like this?