He had used countless moves, yet Grey had only needed one.

And not just any move.

Grey had defeated him using the same technique City Lord Albert was most proud of.

Wasn't that essentially beating someone at their own game?

Naturally, the spectators erupted into a massive commotion, and Grey was fully aware of it.

But he didn't care.

Because at the end of the day, what would people believe?

That he possessed a heaven-defying comprehension capable of grasping any technique after seeing it once, or that he simply had access to similar techniques?

The general public would never know where City Lord Albert had obtained his technique in the first place. Given how rare techniques were, it wouldn't be strange for two powerful figures to possess the same one.

A normal person would think logically and conclude that it was merely a coincidence.

Convincing the City Lord himself, however, was another matter entirely.

Grey had acted in the heat of the moment. He had used the same technique to defeat Albert, crushing him in the very domain he excelled in. It was effective, but it backfired just as quickly.

While it didn't outright expose his heaven-defying comprehension, it was more than enough to plant doubt.

And doubt was dangerous.

At present, Grey didn't have many enemies aside from the High Order, but that didn't mean he could afford to be careless. As for the High Order, they were already dead set on killing him, so this revelation wouldn't change much.

Speaking of the High Order, during the battle, Grey had noticed foreign thoughts surfacing in his mind.

They belonged to the Infernals.

Memories were being conveyed to him, fragmented yet clear, and all of them were related to the High Order. Apparently, many of their members were scattered across deserted cities in the southern region.

And they were hunting Infernals.

That made Grey pause.

Because the Infernals being attacked were at his level of power.

Meaning there were thousands of "Greys" spread across the southern region right now.

If Grey mobilized his Infernal army and jumped a 1st-level 3rd ranker, that existence would lose.

Decisively.

With that realization, fear simply didn't exist for him.

Even if the High Order possessed an overwhelming number of evolvers, Grey had numbers of his own. Superior ones.

Within a few weeks, he would wipe the High Order's branches from the southern region entirely.

Once and for all.

Just then, Albert spoke again.

"Starting today, you are the City Lord of Mandate Province. No… the Ascension Province," Albert said with a bitter smile.

"The Mandate Province was built with my blood, sweat, and tears. I hope you won't let the province, or the southern region, down."

He stared deeply at Grey, emotion flickering in his eyes.

Albert had never imagined the day would come when he would lose his position as City Lord. Yet, deep down, he knew this was inevitable. Power always moved forward, and those who couldn't keep up were left behind.

Still, he didn't regret giving it to Grey.

"City Lord Grey," Albert continued, his voice low. "When you said you wanted to overthrow the Federation… you weren't joking, were you?"

"Why would I joke about something like that?" Grey replied, shaking his head.

Of course, his desire to overthrow the Federation was partially driven by his wish to spread his evolutionary path and end their rigid differentiation system. They didn't care about the world below, focusing solely on the floating cities and their own interests.

As a righteous individual who definitely didn't want to overthrow the Federation just so people would cultivate his path, Grey naturally couldn't tolerate such blatant differentiation.

Naturally.

"The Federation… they're ruthless," Albert said slowly. "If not for their iron grip over the southern region, I would never have lowered my head to them."

His fists clenched.

"It was because of them that my father died."

Bitterness seeped into his voice as he continued.

"Several hundred years ago, when the floating cities were still in their development stage, recruiters descended en masse. Back then, corruption fields were running rampant across the central region of Blue Star, and the High Order was extremely active."

"The Federation took countless promising evolvers from the southern region and sent them straight into the central region to fight. It was an all-out war."

Albert's gaze dimmed.

"My father perished there. At the time, we were merely a prominent family within a city. But once he died, we lost everything. With no powerhouse to back us, others swallowed what we owned without restraint. In the end, only my mother and I remained, struggling just to survive."

"The Federation did nothing," he said coldly. "Not for us. Not for anyone. No one who fought corruption fields or the High Order received compensation. Not the survivors. Not the families of the dead."

Silence hung heavy.

"In the end, my talent was average," Albert said, looking directly at Grey. "There was no one to help me, and I wasn't talented enough to be noticed by the Evolvers' Association. So I went to the outer rings, searching for opportunities on my own."

"And perhaps the heavens pitied me."

"I found one."

Albert inhaled deeply.

"I encountered an ancient ruin in the outer ring. It was filled with treasures that had never been seen before. That was where I obtained my chance to step into the 3rd rank."

"The Heavenly Lotus… and the Heaven Opening Immortal Sutra."

"…."

Grey's expression turned serious the moment the word Lotus was spoken.

But he said nothing, allowing Albert to continue. After all, with cosmic energy this thin, the appearance of a 3rd ranker without a fortuitous encounter was nearly impossible.

"The Heavenly Lotus," Albert explained, "is a rare treasure that gathers spiritual energy and condenses it into seeds. These seeds only form once every fifty years. To consume them safely, one must comprehend the Heaven Opening Immortal Sutra and form the Heaven Opening Seal inside their elixir field."

He paused briefly.

"But the Heavenly Lotus has dried up. Completely. Not even ash remains."

Albert's eyes narrowed.

"This happened two weeks ago, when a strange heavenly phenomenon appeared during the events near Ashspire City's secret realm."

He stared intently at Grey, searching his face for any reaction.

Then he continued, "That ruin was also where I obtained the Seven Rings of Burning Heaven… and the Heaven Opening Sword Line."

The implication lingered heavily between them.

Finally, Albert asked, his voice low but sharp.

"City Lord Grey… could it be that you also encountered the Heavenly Lotus and the Heaven Opening Immortal Sutra?"

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