Human power, pressure, explosions... Powerful forces could cause all types of phenomena.

The golden immortal woman had lived for hundreds of thousands of years and she could even distort the flow of time. She had the power to obliterate someone by shooting them with an arrow made out of concentrated spiritual energy.

A being in the range of influence of that destructive power couldn’t lift a finger. Not even the golden immortal herself could move.

However—

[How?]

Grid, who was the target of the golden immortal’s arrow, suddenly appeared in front of her. That was impossible. Something was wrong.

The woman was bewildered. She quickly realized what was going on. Since when did the man in front of her wield a staff instead of a sword? His eyes also had an uncanny aspect, as if they were beads, not eyes that resembled those of an immortal. She could tell by looking in his eyes that he had been through a lot...

However, those bright eyes were a type of mask. There was a vague sense of uneasiness behind the confidence in his eyes. This was proof that Grid had glimpsed the enormity of the universe. His eyes would never become clear again.

[An out-of-body incarnation?]

The woman realized that the Grid in front of her was a clone and her face turned red. An incarnation so perfect? It had to be a Super Galaxy Treasure. It also had to be somewhat weaker than the Treasure that had slashed the black mountain in a single blow, but because it was an incarnation, it was extremely valuable and powerful.

[I never thought there would be so much delicious prey in the lower world.]

The woman felt rewarded for coming to the lower world. It would take her a long time to restore the ruined black mountain. But once she killed Grid and claimed both his sword and his incarnation for herself, she might still come out on top. This might help her become a great immortal…

The woman was unable to suppress her joy and smiled. Finally, she let go of the bowstring. The sudden appearance of the incarnation made her incredibly happy. She was ready to fire her arrow. Nothing could change the outcome that had been predetermined.

Everything was bathed in a golden light. It was kind of hard to see. She fired the arrow…

There was a loud explosion, and destruction followed. The golden light disappeared. The woman could finally see again and realized that something was wrong.

[......?]

She could no longer smell the salty water of the sea. Instead, she smelled fresh grass. She was in a forest. The ground had collapsed where the arrow had been shot, sucking in the entire forest in that spot. A giant tree that seemed to reach the sky, which was located in the center of the forest, was falling.

The replica of the world tree, which connected worlds, couldn’t withstand the pull of the destroyed forest. The arrow had been incredibly powerful. The immortal had put all of her strength into it, only for things to end up like this…

The target she had set was now nowhere to be seen. Well, that wasn’t exactly the case. The immortal was in a different location altogether. She had been hovering over the sea, but now she was under an absurdly large tree.

[It felt as if I was sinking... Did he send me here?]

The woman figured out what had happened. The clone had played an important role in her enemy’s plan. Her eyes filled with killing intent shook slightly. She couldn’t maintain her composure. Her enemy could send someone such a long distance away without the help of a teleportation circle? That was impossible, even for an immortal.

Cultivators’ teleportation techniques required the construction of a large formation and an astronomical amount of spirit stones. Individuals couldn’t pull off something like this. However, Grid’s clone had sent her away without even issuing any warning. He hadn’t even asked for her permission.

Only a great immortal could do something like this. She couldn’t believe it.

[There are some very old records in the upper world.]

The golden immortal moved swiftly. In an instant, she made it to where Grid’s clone was, grabbed him by the neck, and subdued him. She noticed that the clone’s left shoulder and thigh were twisted and she aimed for this weak point.

The clone had barely recovered from the wounds he had gained when fighting against Du Baeryong.

[They are records that the immortal world might not be the only upper world in the universe. This record was based on the existence of a being called a Warrior.]

The veins on the back of the woman’s hand bulged as she gripped the clone by the neck. Her blood and spiritual energy made it inside the clone. Every time the woman’s veins throbbed, the clone twitched. From head to toe, the clone kept turning blue and red.

[A Warrior is a being born under the protection of the gods in a world where demon kings and gods exist. Millions of years ago, it was said that a large number of great immortals died in a massacre committed by a monster who appeared in the immortal world for an unknown reason. The methods that confused the immortals at that time were a divine sword that could cut through anything and a sort of magic that could perform all types of miracles...]

The clone’s dark eyes started to glow orange. It was a color that resembled the eyes of the golden immortal woman.

The woman whispered, [Your master resembles a Warrior. It is likely that the creator of this world referred to the home of the Warriors with the intent to create a Warrior from scratch...]

She was taking control of the clone only to suddenly pull back. A sword that looked like an iron rod slammed into the spot where the woman had been standing.

Jingle.

The clear sound of bells rang through the otherwise silent world immediately after.

There was an ear-splitting roar and the ground collapsed even more. Unfortunately, the forest of trees had sunk underground and almost all of the greenery was now lost.

The woman gritted her teeth. She was extremely angry for missing out on the incarnation. [Why are you trying to hinder me?]

Jingle jingle...

What was up with all the bells? The woman had a bad feeling about the man who had just showed up.

[I thought Grid had lost the fight, but it turned out to be a clone.]

Martial God Chiyou stared right at Grid’s clone. The golden immortal became even more displeased.

[You seem to be quite familiar with its master. Okay, I’ll kill you first, and then I’ll get my hands on it.]

The immortal was still gripping her bow in her left hand. The weapon turned into mystical characters and once again scattered like dust in the wind before changing into two long swords.

Chiyou found this interesting.

[Are you the best among those… cultivators?]

[Bah, how should I know?]

Every immortal was incredibly powerful. They were wary of each other and rarely cooperated, even if they were in the same faction. In other words, the golden immortal woman always moved independently, and she had no idea how many immortals had descended into this world. Thus, she couldn’t claim to be the best.

Nevertheless, she was powerful. This surprised Chiyou quite a bit.

Chiyou’s eyes widened as he recovered his weapon from deep underground and blocked the woman’s attack.

[The Hwan Kingdom is also a god realm, so I was wondering who was causing so much trouble down there. It turns out that you’re confident in your abilities. It was worth coming here.]

[Let’s see how long this leisurely attitude of yours will last.]

The woman’s double swords deflected Chiyou’s sword and dispersed again into mystical characters. Instead of changing into the form of weapons this time, hundreds of characters clung to Chiyou’s sword.

The woman blocked Chiyou’s counterattack with a talisman and smiled.

[Break.]

The characters clinging to Chiyou’s sword exploded. Of course, Chiyou reacted quickly. The moment he sensed that something was off, he threw the sword at the woman. However, he didn’t make it out of the explosion’s radius in time and his right hand blew up.

Chiyou frowned. He rarely did that.

The woman had anticipated that Chiyou would react to her attack. She had unfolded a shield and was unharmed.

[Annihilation.]

The woman made a gesture and the characters that turned Chiyou’s sword into powder moved like a swarm of bees. They changed into the form of a large harpoon which resembled a thunderbolt and rushed at Chiyou.

Chiyou turned his head just in time and narrowly avoided the harpoon. A long red line appeared on his cheek where the characters had grazed him. This small wound proved to be critical.

[Decay.]

Chiyou’s wound rotted rapidly. The bright red wound turned blue and black and half of Chiyou’s face melted.

The golden immortal’s weapon wasn’t a pestle, sword, spear, or a bow. The mystical characters were her real weapon.

The woman saw Chiyou’s decaying face and approached Grid’s clone again.

[Just be obedient and accept your face. Wouldn’t it be better for you to be reborn as my clone, who will one day rise to the realm of great immortal, than to just be an imitation of something...? Tch.]

The woman unfolded the characters in the form of an umbrella. Chiyou’s kick landed on top of the umbrella and caused dozens of ripples on its surface. A huge shockwave occurred from the ripples and swept across the remnants of the forest.

[Who are you?]

The woman gritted her teeth and endured the gut-wrenching pain. She couldn’t believe that Chiyou, who should have rotted and melted away, had recovered so fast. This was a miracle performed by a golden light instead of red blood.

[Are you perhaps a real god?]

Even a great immortal, which had the highest realm among the immortals, looked human. They were certainly stronger than anything else in the world, but in the end, they became much weaker when they got hurt. The more severe their wounds, the closer they got to death. That was why they couldn’t call themselves gods.

However, Chiyou surely transcended death. The woman had a gut feeling that she couldn’t kill him using normal methods.

Chiyou’s expression became bitter. The moment she believed he was a god, he felt divinity stirring in his heart. Chiyou feared that he would become stronger and immediately denied her claim.

[I’m not a god. I’m just a specter who can’t die.]

He pressed his palms to her shoulders. The woman’s protective shield couldn’t withstand the strength of the martial god and broke. Every time, the mystical characters swirled violently and tore Chiyou’s hands to shreds, but that didn’t really do anything.

Chiyou definitely bought him some time. Grid’s clone understood what Chiyou was trying to tell him with that look in his eyes. He squeezed out the last of his mana and a spear of magic fell from the sky and stabbed the woman in the head while she was solely focused on Chiyou.

The martial god joined forces with Grid’s clone, who had a much lower level than him. The boost in levels that Grid’s clone would receive from this endeavor could go down in Satisfy’s history as the greatest bus of all time.