The headquarters of the God-Demon Corps is located in Brighthelm Holy City, and the Corps itself was founded by the legendary Bright Sacred Emperor. However, the Bright Sacred Emperor hasn’t appeared in the God Realm for hundreds of thousands of years—rumor has it he’s gone traveling in the Chaos Universe.
To enter the Chaos Universe, you need to possess peak God King-level strength. Otherwise, the ever-present chaotic currents there will tear you apart, body and soul, with no hope of rebirth.
With a flash of light, Ian Song and Galen Mu appeared on a teleportation platform inside Brighthelm Holy City.
"Come with me."
Galen Mu leapt off the platform and led Ian straight toward the God-Demon Corps headquarters.
Before entering the teleportation platform, Galen Mu had explained some basics to Ian: the laws of the God Realm are so powerful that building a teleportation array is extremely difficult.
Only a God King-level formation grandmaster can construct one.
What’s more, teleportation consumes a huge amount of energy. Just sending the two of them from Yushan Prefecture to Brighthelm Holy City cost ten thousand god-crystals.
So even Galen Mu wouldn’t use a teleportation array unless it was urgent.
This time, if headquarters hadn’t ordered him to bring Ian over as quickly as possible, he wouldn’t have used the array at all.
Stepping out of the teleportation building, Ian saw a colossal statue standing in Brighthelm Holy City.
The statue was a thousand zhang tall, so lifelike it radiated a sense of divinity. What struck Ian as odd was that, just looking at it, he actually felt an urge to worship.
Galen Mu chuckled, "That’s the Bright Sacred Emperor’s statue. Every god who comes to Brighthelm Holy City goes to pay their respects. Want to give it a try?"
"No need, business comes first!"
"I don't know!"
With Galen Mu leading the way, they quickly arrived at the God-Demon Corps headquarters.
As for Heavenly Gods, there were more than anyone could count, and even quite a few God Kings living in seclusion within the city.
Soon, Galen Mu led Ian to a small palace.
"Brennan Cliff, subordinate Galen Mu has brought Ian Song!"
"Come in!"
A familiar voice came from inside the palace. Ian’s heart skipped a beat—he hadn’t expected the Elder Galen Mu mentioned to be Brennan Cliff.
As expected.
Once inside, Ian saw Brennan Cliff sitting high up on the elder’s chair.
To be a branch commander in the God-Demon Corps, you need to be at least a Six-Star God-Demon.
To be an elder, you have to reach Seven-Star God-Demon and get approval from more than sixty percent of the Elder Council.
Before the campaign against the Owens Family, Brennan Cliff wasn’t an elder, but now he was—most likely thanks to that pseudo–God-King godhead.
"Subordinate Galen Mu greets the elder!"
"Subordinate Ian Song greets the elder!"
The two of them both bowed respectfully.
Brennan Cliff smiled, "Galen Mu, you may leave. I want to speak with Ian Song alone for a moment."
"Yes, Elder!"
Galen Mu shot Ian an apologetic look, then left. Clearly, he’d known all along that Brennan Cliff was in charge of this mission, but had deliberately kept it a secret.
"Ian Song, do you know why I made an exception to let you join this mission?" Brennan Cliff asked.
"I don't know!" Ian replied.
Ian replied, though inwardly he guessed Brennan Cliff was probably looking to settle a score.
"Let's go!"
"Elder, I will keep that firmly in mind," Ian said.
"I hear the Owens Family gave you half a share of their resources?"
Brennan Cliff pressed him again.
Hearing this, Ian’s heart chilled. Brennan Cliff was clearly after that half share of resources. Ian shook his head, "Elder, not at all. With my status, how could they possibly give me half a share?"
"Is that so?" Brennan Cliff’s face grew colder. "This mission is extremely dangerous. People dying along the way is nothing out of the ordinary. Fortunately, the roster isn’t set in stone yet. If you’d rather not go, I could help you withdraw."
Heh.
Ian sneered inwardly. The guy was trying to use the mission as leverage to make him cough up the resources, but once meat is in his mouth, he’s not about to spit it out.
"As a member of the God-Demon Corps, I’d never complain about sacrificing myself for the Corps!" Ian declared.
Brennan Cliff’s expression grew even colder. "Don’t be ungrateful, Ian Song. Don’t think that with Silverwing and Redmoon backing you, you can ignore me!"
"I wouldn’t dare, Elder!"
"Wouldn’t dare!"
Brennan Cliff sneered, "If you’d revealed your array-breaking skills earlier, the Owens Family’s resources wouldn’t have ended up with those three. Just for that, I could charge you with betraying the Corps!"
Faced with Brennan Cliff’s threats, Ian remained perfectly calm.
Although the System had tasked him with becoming a Seven-Star God-Demon within a hundred years, that didn’t mean he was chained to the Corps. If Brennan Cliff really wanted to punish him, he could just defect and rejoin later if the opportunity arose.
He had so many resources and that mysterious gray liquid—he could just find a place to train for a while and break through to Lower Heavenly God.
At that point, his strength would skyrocket, and he could come back to settle the score with Brennan Cliff.
Seeing Ian silent, Brennan Cliff spoke again: "Ian Song, I’ll give you one last chance. Hand over that half share of resources and I’ll cancel your mission—and won’t pursue charges of betraying the Corps!"
"Elder, I’m actually quite interested in this mission!"
Ian replied.
"Good! Very good!"
Brennan Cliff’s expression turned extremely dark, then he barked coldly, "Guards! Arrest this traitor!"
"Wait!"
Ian suddenly shouted.
"What? Changed your mind?" Brennan Cliff sneered.
"No," Ian shook his head. "I just want to remind you, Elder: arresting me isn’t a big deal, but my sister will be furious!"
"Ha!"
Brennan Cliff laughed disdainfully, "You really think Redmoon can threaten me? I’m an elder now—I can mobilize over a hundred Seven-Star God-Demons. Silverwing and Redmoon may be top-tier Upper Heavenly Gods, but do you think they can take on a hundred Upper Heavenly Gods?"
"So you planned this all along?"
Ian sighed lightly.
Brennan Cliff sneered, "Silverwing and Redmoon are nothing. They’re not qualified to snatch food from the Corps’ jaws—and I won’t let Frank Shaw off, either!"
"Is that so?"
Ian smiled indifferently. "Elder Cliff, drop the act. You’ve only just become an elder; your position isn’t stable yet. If you take people to ambush my sister and her husband, how much are you willing to pay to take them down? If you lose a few more Upper Heavenly Gods, can you handle the consequences?"
Besides, they’re battle-hardened veterans—if they can’t win, they’ll just run. Are you sure you can kill them?
And anyway, they’ve worked with the Corps before. If you burn bridges like this, who’ll ever dare cooperate with the Corps again?
And finally, if you really arrest me, who gets my resources—the Corps, or you? I bet you’ll end up with nothing.
So in the end, you’ll lose your elder seat and gain nothing. Are you sure you still want to arrest me? If you insist, I promise not to resist!
At this point, Ian’s face showed a mocking smile. Since things had already fallen apart, he didn’t bother saving Brennan Cliff any dignity.
Hearing Ian’s words, Brennan Cliff’s face turned ugly. Ian was right—he really didn’t dare go that far. After scheming for years to become an elder, losing it over one mere Upper-Rank God would be a terrible deal.
"Fine! You actually dare threaten me!"
"You flatter me, Elder. I’m just returning the favor!"
"...You...!"
Brennan Cliff was so angry he could barely speak, his killing intent obvious. "I may not be able to arrest you directly, but as an elder, I have plenty of ways to make things hard for you. Everyone on this mission is a Heavenly God—your odds of dying as an Upper-Rank God are very high. Just wait for death!"
Ian smiled, "No need to worry, Elder. I’ve always been pretty lucky!"
Brennan Cliff roared, "Get out! Get out of my sight!"
"Haha, then I’ll take my leave, Elder!"
Ian left the hall with a smile. As for Brennan Cliff’s threats, he didn’t care at all. As long as no Upper Heavenly God targeted him directly, he could handle it.
One day later.
Ian arrived at the Corps’ main mission hall.
Today was the day to head for the Godfall Ruins. He came to meet up with the God-Demon squad assigned to the mission.
"You’re Ian Song?"
After waiting a while in the mission hall, a Lower Heavenly God—a Six-Star God-Demon—came up to him.
"That’s me," Ian nodded.
"Come with me!"
The other man said coldly.
Soon, Ian followed the Six-Star God-Demon into a room and met the squad heading to the Godfall Ruins.
Five Mid Heavenly Gods, eight Lower Heavenly Gods, and Ian as the lone Upper-Rank God—fourteen people in total.
Nobody greeted Ian when he arrived. They all knew he’d offended the newly promoted elder Brennan Cliff, and odds were he wouldn’t return from this mission.
"Let’s go!"
The Mid Heavenly God leader waved his hand. Like Shane Tate, he was a Seven-Star God-Demon, and his combat power probably matched an ordinary Upper Heavenly God.
Soon, the fourteen of them arrived at a teleportation platform. After stepping out again, they found themselves in Voidsky Prefectural City. According to the mission crystal, the passage to the Godfall Ruins lay somewhere within Voidsky Prefecture.