Will was quite protective of his friends. Many a time, he had left them to their own devices, but he had the power to protect them and had every intention of using that power.

'There is no point in having all this power if I can't use it to protect my underlings.'

Thus Will decided to make his presence known at the moment Reinhardt had asked.

The moment he appeared, Alexa was gobsmacked because she had failed to notice Will arriving. Will had only been around level 50 when the empire had first contacted him; now, he was capable of arriving at a location without her noticing at level 99. Alexa was not sure how to feel about this.

'Could he really be Peerless?'

Will was a Supreme Candidate, but his loyalty to the empire had not yet been proven. He was also a suspect in the matter of Peerless Dao Master's identity. Thus his every action caught a lot of consideration. Now that he was exhibiting such skill at such a low level, Alexa started to feel extremely suspicious. Not only that, but Will's crew had experienced growth beyond what she knew them capable of.

She had seen Merlin and Woodsy use Intent and exhibit battle prowess that was far above what their talents were supposed to allow. The Dragonheart Empire had tested them to their limits countless times. As former Supreme Candidates, they had been heavily scrutinized and were under Alexa's jurisdiction. But now she had no idea how this had happened. Woodsy's ability to teach Intent and spells like Soul Chain Share had been the greatest shock of all.

'If the empire possessed someone this knowledgeable in Intent and capable of teaching it this well….'

Even Alexa herself had benefitted greatly from Woodsy's lectures. Her understanding of matters regarding theory and mental energy applications had more than doubled her strength. Hence Alexa could not help but ask herself a question.

'If I became this strong from listening, then how strong s Woodsy for knowing this information?'

As Alexa worried about how to handle this tricky situation, Will looked caringly at his crew.

'I have to give these guys a reason to trust in me.'

Then he shifted his gaze to the 8 cultivators ahead.

'And I have to give these guys a reason to fear me.'

…

Will spend a few minutes talking with his crew. Only Letty, Alice, Duke, Woodsy and Merlin were familiar with Will, while Achilles had only known him for a day.

Since Will had a lot of catching up to do, he decided to chat with his friends and give them a little update on his movements, completely disregarding who was watching.

Will and co's complete lack of interest in Reinhardt caused the latter to feel humiliated. Reinhardt and his companions looked as if they had just swallowed a mouthful of chilli. They were powerhouses that could move unhindered throughout the nearby regions. Only powerhouses above level 100 had the right to disregard their presence in such a manner.

Identification skills had already been used, and Will's level was revealed to the others. His identity was shown as Solitary Sword Sovereign, as one could replace their username with titles. This is what allowed users to hide their identities. Queen Abyss was actually a title that Letty had equipped to prevent her from being known. Her real name was her username, and Eridium had some fame; thus, she did not want to be discovered easily.

The Solitary Sword Sovereign Manual was not well known among weaker domains such as Lower Worlds because they never had those strong enough to even cultivate it. One not only had to have a disposition towards swordsmanship and solitary behaviour, but one also had to have supreme talent in the unorthodox and an aptitude for death attribute skills. One also had to have a preposterous amount of mental strength and be a Natural Born Sovereign to even bring out the full potential of the manual. It was not a manual hard to get, but it was hard to use.

Anyone on Earth with access to the internet could download Darwin's teachings on regarding, but how many people could even understand it, or even worse, apply it? This still did not stop people from calling themselves logical despite not even understanding what they claimed to be the truth. The same applied to cultivation. Anyone on Earth could argue using science despite understanding nothing, while many called themselves swordsmen without even being able to swing a sword. Hence those observing Will assumed he was either posturing or just following a fad.

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Will spent some time congratulating his crew on a job well done. He told him that he was aware of everything that had happened. He had also thanked Woodsy profusely for her efforts, causing the latter to blush with pride. Duke was also congratulated on receiving Hou Yi's legacy. Now that Will had partially unlocked anti-divinity, he was extremely sensitive to divine energy and could feel it growing slowly within Duke.

'Looks like Hou Yi kept his word.'

Duke's potential was, without a doubt, the greatest of all of Will's subordinates, according to the other deities and immortals. Will wasn't knowledgeable enough to understand the logic behind these words, but he had taken them to heart. During the discussion just before parting, Will had been told of the capabilities and talents of the people under him. Will now knew them better than they knew themselves.

'If I do this right, after coming back from this dungeon, we can give Arthur and Musashi a few nasty surprises.'

What leader did not desire to have powerful aides? Arthur had his Supremes, Musashi had his Ten Rings, while Genesis had Cardinal Protectors such as Ezra and Ignius. Will wanted to gather his own crew of capable subordinates as well.

'I need a dope name for them. Something to do with swords. Wait, considering the theme I run with, won't Daoism be better?'

Will also took this chance to observe the Tsimikas Interface. As the leader of the nation, this was not hard for him to do.

[Tsimikas

Security:29

Attack:35

Defence:19

Culture:33

Villager Satisfaction:40

Form: Town

Regents: Queen Abyss, Wonderland Princess, Duke Kevin Dull

Specialities: Mythril Mines, Swordsmanship, Water Element Manipulation.

Nation Power Boosts Water/Metal/Spirit/Spatial Cultivation, Mental Energy Cultivation, Sword Cultivation, Specialist Creation, Truth, Intent, Fate

Nation Power Bonuses: 150% Extra Experience, 40% Attack Bonus, 80% Chance of Specialists being born, 25% Chance of Spiritual Cultivators being born, 1% Chance of Practitioners being born]

Will was quite pleased with the progress of his nation. Nation Power was a boost one got concerning the attributes of the nation's specialities. For example, because Mental Energy Cultivation was included under the list of attributes, one would get a boost in any mental energy cultivation skill so long as they were part of Tsimikas.

These Attributes were determined by the leader of the village. Because leaders used their own blood to strengthen the locals, the locals would exhibit certain traits of the leader. Then in return, the collective attributes of the village would generate Nation Power that provided a boost to anyone that became a part of Tsimikas and fell under the attributes that the nation provided.

Intent, Truth and the other attributes were Will's talents. The fact that Swordsmanship and Water Element Manipulation were specialities did not shock anyone that knew Will. But Fate was a different thing entirely.

Fate was a higher power like Truth and Divinity. It was a power that allowed one to surpass their limits. Simply put, the greater one's Fate, the greater the chance of one surpassing one's limit and breaking through a threshold.

For example, if one was stuck at level 99 and was unable to apply a concept to a skill or spell due to a lack of aptitude, then the best way to go around this would be to gain Fate from Nation Power. This greatly increased one's fortune. Luck was not something easily quantifiable, but good fortune did exist. Luck was often a large factor when one was having a breakthrough!

Only leaders and regents benefitted greatly from Fate, while normal residents only gained a bit. Of course, if the form of a nation increased, the residents benefitted as well. In other words, residents of a Village barely received any benefit from Fate, while the residents of a Town benefitted greatly. This was the true allure of joining a powerful nation!