Only six months before Michael's coming of age ceremony, something important happened in Aterna - the ascension of two immortals.

When someone ascended to the immortal realm, they would distil the laws that they practised and form their immortal energy. This would cause the laws in the plane to vibrate. Ascension was not something that could be hidden. Once someone ascended, any person who could perceive the laws would come to know of it.

One day, the laws started vibrating in the entire plane. Many people were surprised and were waiting to see who the new immortal was. While ascension would be felt across the plane, finding the person undergoing ascension was impossible without special methods. Thus, people were very interested in finding out the identity of the new immortal. After the ascension event was over, Karslon informed the immortals of the plane that it was his personal secretary Darif who had ascended and become a new immortal.

Darif was someone who was heavily involved with the affairs of the light tower. He was also known to handle many of Karslon's businesses and had wide social contacts. Thus, his ascension called for a celebration. Many people congratulated the newly ascended immortal. But while people were quite familiar with Darif, very few people knew that he was the shadow agent of Karslon and the entire light empire. After all, Darif had been able to deceive Michael's All-Seeing Eyes for many years and tailed him from the shadows. It was only before the hundred-year war that he went into secluded cultivation after gaining new inspirations. And now, his cultivation bore fruit as he ascended to the immortal realm.

After Darif's ascension was announced, a small scale celebration was organised in the light tower and all immortals and close friends were called. This was the usual tradition.

After Darif came to terms with the happenings of the plane during his seclusion, he was very shocked. The entire plane's power situation had undergone a tremendous change! But as he was aware of Karslon's thoughts and the possibility of Michael being backed by some otherworldly power, he found it justifiable.

But only a few days after Darif's ascension celebration was held, the plane laws started vibrating again. What was even more shocking was that the intensity of vibration exceeded all known records. It was as if the person ascending was going to become an immortal slayer right after ascending.

Many people again speculated about the rise of another immortal-slayer. But it was easily guessed who the newly ascended immortal was. After all, very few geniuses in history had ever had the potential to reach such a level right after ascending to the immortal realm. Sure enough, the next day, Astang announced the ascension of his daughter Maria to the world quite jubilantly. He called for a grand celebration unlike Darif and invited all immortals and influential people across the plane. Of course, Michael was invited as well.

Michael was the king of almost half of the plane, his words were the law. Any celebration had to have his blessing. Of course, Michael did not visit these celebrations all the time. He would often send his knights or family guards to represent him. Of course, the ascension of immortals was a huge deal and he was going to attend personally.

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Maria's breakthrough was widely celebrated by the ancient community. After all, there had been too many years since someone ascended from their race. It also let them know that while success was extremely difficult, it was not impossible. Many people became hopeful about the other candidates that were to be given life essence. There were few who had talent comparable to Maria and they too held a decent chance to ascend.

Thus, in their celebration, the god-beasts invited many people to hold a grand celebration. This was also a way for the god-beasts to open their lands for the other races. Initially, the god-beasts were very secluded. But, Michael's warning had forced them to think otherwise. Besides, now the entire plane was already preparing for the war against invaders.

The god-beast ancestors knew that the plane-will was extremely weak after the war and thus if a foreign invasion truly happened, the plane might truly end. This would mean that almost all life in Aterna will die in the law ocean. Clearly, the upcoming battle was going to be about survival. Also, the prize for the successful defence of the plane would be enormous. The plane-will was bound to bless the individuals and their races who played key roles in those battles. Thus, it was also a good way for the ancient races to break the calamity that they were facing currently.

The ancients were afraid of ventures and interactions with the other races and it was rightly so. While there were many experts among them, their foundation - their numbers were too poor. In fact, even the elves had better reproductive rates than the god-beasts. But contrary to this, the cultivation resources that they held were too valuable. It was sufficient to say that there was an extreme wealth gap. If the three races were to attack, it would be hard for them to defend themselves. That was why the ancients had surrounded their lands with extremely powerful formations and no one could enter unless given specific permission. Only someone with Michael's power could breach it with brute force.

Michael's rise had put great pressure on the god-beasts. There were many conflicting opinions among elders. Some wanted to fight against Michael and try to kill him. This was because they perceived Michael as a danger to their foundation. Unfortunately, Michael never gave them the chance. His power was beyond a single person but with their powerful foundation and by sacrificing many experts, they might have been able to bring him down. But it was a huge price and many others were not ready to pay it. Before the elders could decide, Michael suppressed the light empire completely and got many allies strengthening his position even further. It became such that even if the entire god-beast races were to mobilise, they would still be defeated. The only possible way would be to wake up ancient experts from their slumber and have a final battle. Even then, the chances were too low.

But then, Maria succeeded in becoming an immortal and was heading off to kidnap Michael. Initially, Astang was scared out of his mind! Heavens! Who in this world would dare to kidnap the overlord of three empires - Michael Rageberg. Even if the ancient experts were woken up, there was no one who could achieve this. He immediately told his daughter about the recent happenings. He had wanted to dissuade her but never had he thought that his advice would have the opposite effect.

After Maria found out that Michael was not only handsome but powerful as well, she wanted to have him even more!

And while she could not use force, there were still other methods. She talked with Igor and gathered many elders on her side. It was to open the god-beast alliance to the outside world and form an alliance with the other three races. To solidify the alliance, it would be through Michael's and Maria's marriage.

This was indeed a feasible plan and the elders immediately started discussing it. It was easily seen that Michael was gathering the power of the entire plane to resist the devil's invasion. But there was no guarantee that the invasion would happen. If it really did happen, even the god-beasts would have to fight. But if it did not happen, making an alliance with Michael would mean giving him the command of their leadership. After all, there could be only one leader in an alliance. With Michael's power, he would definitely not be under the ancient's control. The only possible way was to bend the knee before Michael, even if on the surface.

But this was indeed a good direction for the tribes to grow in. They could ask for Michael's protection in exchange for the alliance. There were many other secrets that the god-beasts had which could be used to forge this alliance with Michael. And if there was a marriage involved as well, it would truly join both sides together.

Thus, the elders got together with Igor to formulate how to proceed. Meanwhile, the preparation for the grand celebration event was also being done.