“As I think about it, I wonder how Father is doing. He’s all alone at the academy…”
Just as Rose muttered to herself, a sudden flash of light caught her attention.
“Father?! How did you get here?”
“Dad, is this Rose-sister?”
Hearing the unfamiliar voice, Rose was stunned. Read exclusive adventures at empire
What was going on?
Just now… did someone speak?
Why did she hear someone calling her father?
And calling her sister too?
What the hell…
Could it be that while she was away, her father remarried and had a child?
Normally, she should have been happy for him, but something about this felt awkward.
“Hello, Sister Rose! My name is… Big White.”
Suddenly, Rose felt something darting from Daniel’s body toward her.
Without thinking, her hands instinctively reached out to catch whatever it was.
Looking down, she saw a fluffy, white little creature, jumping excitedly in her arms.
It had a small leaf on its head, making it look incredibly cute.
“Father, what is this?”
Rose was still unable to process the situation.
Then, Daniel explained what had happened in the time she had been away.
After hearing the explanation, Rose could barely believe it.
The little creature jumping in her arms, looking so playful and cute, was actually her little brother? And on top of that… it was the Will of the World of this world?!
Impossible!
How could this be? Was she still dreaming?
Then Daniel asked,
“I came here to ask for your thoughts. Would you like to come with me to the God Realm?”
If Rose wanted to go, it wouldn’t be a problem.
But after thinking for a moment, Rose shook her head.
“No, Father. Like you said, the future world will also ascend, and being here or in the God Realm, it’s all the same. Besides… the task you gave me, I haven’t completed it yet.”
She still hadn’t finished planting all the saplings of the Tree of Origin.
“Since you’ve made up your mind, I won’t say more.”
Rose had grown up, and she had her own plans.
“Goodbye, Father.”
Daniel smiled and disappeared.
Rose stood there, tears welling up in her eyes.
Afterward, Daniel found the others, gave them some divine stones, and, after making his last arrangements, returned to Crossbridge Academy.
In the past few days, Crossbridge Academy had also undergone some changes.
After Daniel upgraded the previous lv9 forge to lv12, the lake that had been the source of power could no longer contain all that energy.
It began to overflow.
Seeing this, Daniel decided to overhaul the entire lake.
Before, the forge’s power had only affected the lake.
But this time, with Daniel’s modifications to the magic array, the entire Crossbridge Academy was affected, even spreading towards the Riverside city.
The tears that had accumulated were then guided by Daniel, transforming into a rain—one that drenched the entire world.
…
A few days later, Elise stood on the academy’s grassy field.
In the distance, many curious students had gathered to watch.
This time, Elise was about to enter the God Realm.
Daniel, the headmaster, was going as well.
Isolde and the others stood by, watching the scene unfold.
Daniel, about to leave for the God Realm—this meant he was leaving them.
Reflecting back on the years spent at the academy, it felt like a dream.
When it had been on the verge of closure, with everyone disheartened, Daniel had stepped in.
With unmatched determination, he saved the academy.
Not only that… now, Crossbridge Academy and Riverside City were both known as sanctuaries.
All this… in just a few years!
As they saw Daniel, tears welled up in their eyes.
They hadn’t expected to part ways so soon.
“Let’s begin.”
Daniel said to Elise.
The familiar process unfolded once again for Elise.
A massive door appeared in the sky—the portal to the God Realm.
Then, an inexplicable force pulled Elise toward the door, lifting her into the air.
“Dad, Elise-sister is leaving! How do we follow her?”
Big White, perched on Daniel’s shoulder, asked eagerly.
Seeing Elise about to enter the door,
“Don’t worry!” Daniel replied.
Just as Elise was about to cross into the door, Daniel’s figure disappeared.
Then, following Elise, he entered the portal as well.
…
God Realm.
In every God King’s domain, there was a designated Ascension Island to receive those advancing from the lower realms.
Each Ascension Island was created by a God King, specifically designed to help mortals who ascended to the God Realm quickly adapt to the new rules of the realm.
There were guides in charge of ushering the newly ascended.
Naturally, these guides formed their own groups.
In the God Realm, if one didn’t belong to a group, they would soon be devoured by others who had ascended before or by locals.
For those who had just ascended, it was a harsh reality—without a powerful guide or group, they would be consumed by the established powers.
This was the difference between realms.
Unless…
The world’s rank was high enough.
The guiding light of the Ascension Island’s portal flickered.
This signaled that another soul was ascending to the God Realm.
Soon, an elderly man walked out from the portal.
The onlookers shot him curious glances.
From the guide’s group, one person walked forward and began talking to the newly ascended elder.
“Ah… He’s not from our world.”
Ascenders from the same world naturally trusted each other more.
After all, they shared the same origin, and a sense of camaraderie naturally developed.
Unless… they were particularly bad-tempered.
“Crane, has your world not had anyone ascend for a long time?”
“Yes… because our world is facing problems. The last person to ascend from our world has been in seclusion for hundreds of years,” Crane said, his voice heavy with worry.
As their world continued to decline, Crane feared that there would never be another ascendant.
It was something he had only realized after arriving at the God Realm.
A human-god-level world should have had many ascendants, not just one every few centuries.
But their world was different.
This meant something had gone terribly wrong.
Crane knew that if their world couldn’t produce any more ascendants, their group would eventually be devoured by stronger forces.
The God Realm was beautiful, yes.
But for those who had just ascended, it was a cruel world—a world where only the strong survived.
If their world’s ascension guide wasn’t powerful enough, they would be consumed without a trace.
“Sir, please give us more divine stones! Our world only produces one ascendant every century. I’ve notified you immediately! This one is a fine specimen, capable of doing great work!”
A group of ascendants nearby, always on the lookout for fresh meat, had already spotted the newly arrived ascendant.
They had no sense of morality, nor did they believe in helping those from the same world.
For them, ascendants were just a commodity to be sold for divine stones—objects of luxury and entertainment.
The poor ascendant had no idea what fate awaited them as they were whisked away, sold for a good price.
This was the true nature of the God Realm—devouring others without mercy.
There were few groups that worked together across different worlds.
But because of their power, no one dared challenge them.
However…
Crane knew this situation wouldn’t last long.
Once their world ran out of new ascendants—or was destroyed—then they too would be absorbed by other powers…