"Isn't the training trial once every hundred years? It's only been eighty eight years."

"I don't know what's going on either. Anyway, it opened in advance. Didn't you notice how many people have returned to the Demon territory recently?"

"No wonder. I was wondering why the guards in every city have suddenly become so strict."

"Training trial…?"

Ethan repeated the words silently in his heart.

He remained calm on the surface, continuing to eat and drink, but his hearing was fully opened. In the noisy inn, conversations overlapped like ripples on water, yet fragments of useful information were steadily pieced together in his mind.

An early training trial.

A large-scale recall of demon cultivators.

Stricter control of cities and passes.

This was not a coincidence.

Something big was brewing in the demon territory.

Ethan lowered his head and took another bite of the roasted pork leg, his expression indifferent, as if he were merely a wandering demon enjoying food. Yet deep inside, his thoughts were already racing.

…

Thirty miles east of Netherfall Pass.

Inside a secluded cave, layers of formations flickered faintly before gradually dimming.

A man sat cross legged in the center of the cave.

He wore a ghostly mask, expressionless and cold. Blood-colored light flowed around his body like mist, surging and retreating in rhythmic waves. After a long while, the light finally dissipated.

The man slowly opened his eyes.

A terrifying sharpness flashed within them.

"Ten years…"

"Ten whole years."

His voice was hoarse, yet filled with suppressed madness.

"I've finally returned to the Upper Supreme Realm."

He clenched his fists. The air around his knuckles distorted faintly, unable to withstand the pressure of his aura.

This man was Thousand Faces.

The cultivator who had once escaped from Ethan's hands at the cost of everything.

"Ethan…"

He whispered the name, grinding his teeth until veins bulged on his neck.

"I hope you don't die too early."

"I will personally send you to hell."

The hatred in his heart was so thick it was almost tangible.

That battle had not only nearly killed him—it had destroyed his original body and shattered years of accumulation. If not for his secret techniques and countless preparations, he would have vanished from the world long ago.

"The Heaven and Earth Reversal Technique has finally cooled down…"

"I need to refine another fake body."

Thousand Faces' gaze darkened.

After nearly dying once, he had become far more cautious. Without absolute certainty, he would never recklessly provoke a terrifying existence like Ethan again.

"This body's talent isn't bad."

"If I continue cultivating, reaching the Ultimate Supreme realm isn't impossible."

"Once I step into the Ultimate Supreme…"

His lips curled into a cruel smile beneath the mask.

"Ethan, I'll settle everything with you."

"And the incomplete stone tablet…"

"How long do you think you can hide that secret?"

Just as his thoughts reached this point, his expression suddenly changed.

A powerful mental fluctuation appeared outside the cave.

The surrounding space rippled unnaturally.

Thousand Faces stood up abruptly, his eyes turning solemn.

Dark blue light streaked through the air like tearing silk.

A woman walked out from the distorted space.

She had short, neat hair and eyes as deep and cold as the ocean. Her figure was slender yet voluptuous, wrapped in a fitted outfit that emphasized every dangerous curve.

A mask covered her face.

Yet even without seeing her features, her presence alone was enough to suffocate.

What truly shocked Thousand Faces was not her beauty—

But her aura.

Divine power.

Pure, overwhelming divine power.

An Ultimate Supreme.

"Who are you?" Thousand Faces asked coldly.

"Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets."

Her voice was mechanical and indifferent, as if emotion itself had been stripped away.

Thousand Faces' pupils shrank sharply.

He looked at the token in her hand, and his heart trembled.

So it was her.

No wonder she had found him so easily.

Few people knew this truth, but Thousand Faces had always belonged to Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. His identity as a wandering cultivator was nothing more than a carefully crafted disguise.

Only in critical moments would the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets call him.

And now—

They had called him.

"I, Thousand Faces, pay respects to the Deputy Pavilion Master."

He knelt on one knee without hesitation, cupping his fists respectfully.

"No need."

The woman's gaze swept over him calmly, sharp and merciless.

"After all these years, you're only at the Upper Supreme Realm?"

Thousand Faces' fists clenched involuntarily.

If not for Ethan…

If not for that battle…

He swallowed the resentment in his heart and forced a smile.

"Compared to you, Deputy Pavilion Master, my talent is lacking."

"My progress being slow is only natural."

The woman did not respond to his flattery.

Her eyes remained cold and unreadable.

This was Celeste.

Deputy Pavilion Master of Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets.

The younger sister of Lucas.

A shadow that rarely appeared in the world, yet one of the Pavilion's most terrifying trump cards.

Few knew her existence.

Even fewer knew her strength.

"I came to you because there is something important," Celeste said calmly.

"You've been active in Skyreach Territory."

"Then you must have heard of a name."

Her gaze locked onto him.

"Ethan."

At that moment—

The killing intent in Thousand Faces' eyes exploded.

His fists trembled violently, veins standing out like twisted snakes.

He did not merely know that name.

That name had almost ended him.

"Yes."

Thousand Faces spoke through clenched teeth.

"I know him very well."

"Previously ranked first on the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets' Heaven's Prodigy List."

"Backed by the Blood Tavern."

"A physical cultivator."

"A peerless genius rarely seen in Skyreach Territory for thousands of years."

His voice grew colder with every sentence.

"His combat power is terrifying."

"He possesses divine weapons."

"When he was only at the Seventh Turn Mahayana realm, he crushed and defeated two Inferior Supremes, relying on the power of the artifact."

A/N:

Extra chapters

100 power stones - 1 Extra chapters

200 power stones - 2 Extra chapters

Massage Chair - 1 Extra chapters

Luxury Car - 2 Extra Chapters

Dragon - 5 Extra Chapters

Magic Castle - 15 Extra Chapters

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