After starting the expedition, Astang got more and more nervous. While the mapping of the land in the forest was going very well, the speed of the expedition was very slow. This feeling was shared by his wife and the other immortal experts as well. They had all come to this place to find a way to prolong the lives of their loved ones. Thus, they wanted to finish it as quickly as possible.

When the expedition reached the central region - the heart of the forest, the immortals naturally grew more excited. According to the information they had, the ruins were only 5 kilometres from where the boundary started. 5 kilometres was a very small distance for immortals. If they wanted, they could cross the distance in the blink of an eye, pretty much like teleportation. Also, when saints charged or ran at high speeds, they would create sonic booms. After all, a flesh and blood body travelling at such speeds would create shockwaves in the air. Perfect realm experts could charge at greater speeds but the shockwaves produced were less! This was as they could wield the power of laws. As for immortals, if they did not want shockwaves, there would not be the slightest disturbance in the environment when they moved at inconceivable speeds.

The central region had a very profound array formation that was countless times more powerful than the array they faced before. There were terrifying monsters residing inside as well. A single immortal expert would only be able to turn away at this point. But Michael had devised a method for these immortal realm experts to gather their power and suppress the formation.

Thus, they quickly began to bring up their form as they issued orders for others to do the same as well.

The non-combatants started setting up camps and overnight, the preparation for the raid was complete. Since the formation was very complex, they would just suppress the formation and slaughter everything that was inside.

At dawn, all 9 immortals stood in front of the army and started using the power of laws in their bodies - the immortal energy to suppress the array. The immortal energy burst forth like a tsunami merging together and a pressure descended on the entire region! It was as if the entire area around the heart of the forest had been plunged underwater! The array formation shook as the scenery in front of the army distorted as if space itself was being wrapped!

Of course, it was due to illusion energy and space was not actually being wrapped. But, it left a great impression on the experts of the army. More than 50 perfect realm experts and hundreds of saints looked on in awe as the entire formation was suppressed completely. The scene in front of them changed to show flatlands. There were no trees inside this area. And, several beasts were roaming around who all sensed the presence of the army. All of them had beyond the saint realm cultivation. Their eyes shone as they let out roars. The combined might of these roars was like a sonic attack that rattled the hearts of the army!

The immortals were looking at the scene as if waiting for something to appear. As the beasts charged towards them, the army of experts also howled as they charged towards the beasts.

As the two sides collided, a massive shockwave erupted in the area leading to a rising dust cloud. The lands quaked and trees more than a kilometre away fell!

Each member of the army was an expert in their own right. But, all the monsters had terrifying vitality and great cultivation. Booms echoed around the place. The battle was extremely brutal. The immortal experts were standing in the middle of the battlefield looking at the entrance to an underground ruin that seemed too old to be dated. The beasts did not dare to approach these people. Their instinct told them that they would definitely die as long as these experts wanted them dead. The terrifying energy erupting from the immortals made it so that even if the monsters wanted to attack, they would not be able to reach them.

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As soon as the immortal realm experts released their pressure, Michael who was about 20 kilometres away from them suddenly felt difficult to breathe! He was incomparably excited, but nervous at the same time. He immediately went further back into the forest and went inside a hole he had dug in a huge tree. This was his plan during the battle. Just hide! The experts that were currently fighting were characters that he would have to take seriously and any one of them could kill him. In a battle like this, he had no place to join. Thus, he decided to hide for the time being.

It was not that Michael was scared. His experiences were so extensive and his willpower was so firm that even when facing an immortal realm expert, he would not back down. But being fearless did not mean being reckless as well. If retreat was the best option in a circumstance, Michael would choose to do so. This was his own philosophy.

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The battle continued between the army and monsters. Through their coordination and teamwork and the immortal expert's support, the allied army from the empire managed to slay most of the monsters. Only a few monsters were able to escape into the forest. The battlefield looked like a meteor shower had struck it. The entire region of 5-kilometre radius ground had been pulverized to become sand! The dust created due to the fight would have brought down the visibility to zero but it had been pushed back to the ground by pressure from immortal energy. As a result, the area looked like a desert in the middle of a forest!

There were many casualties in the expedition team as well. But, it was well within acceptable limits. The army was already beginning to celebrate but the expressions of immortals in the group were still pensive. The monsters here were powerful but none were in the immortal realm. They knew that someone in the perfect realm judged the monster to be in the immortal realm. So, it should indeed be the case. The immortals kept suppressing the array formation as they proceeded to the entrance of the underground ruin.

After inspecting the entrance, Astang decided to be the first to step in. But as soon as he put his step inside the entrance, a terrifying sense of danger assaulted his senses! The ancient dragon jumped back in an instant creating a gap of 10 metres between him and the gate. The experts in the army felt as if he teleported.

Just then, ferocious energy started emerging from the ruins as if a sleeping beast had been awakened. The aura rose all the way to the immortal realm but it still seemed to grow stronger! It was as if the beast was something beyond immortal! As the experts were going to issue retreat for the army, a howl erupted from the depths of the ruins.

The lands quaked! The dust that had been pressed down by immortal energy erupted in an explosion! The howl was so powerful that the non-combatants stationed 15 kilometres away in their camps all suffered from their eardrums rupturing! They were quite weak and thus, they suffered from multiple internal injuries. The combatants on the battlefield were no better. As they were much closer to the source, they were hit much worse. All saints suffered several different internal injuries with a few of the weaker ones fainting. The perfect realm experts fared better but they too felt their brains ringing. Michael, who was about 25 kilometres away hidden inside a thick tree too heard the howl. The tree shook as cracks developed around the trunk and wooden splinters fell on top of his head!

At this moment, all the people were feeling terror. Michael himself was feeling that he had made a mistake. The beast was much more powerful than in his previous life! Initially, Michael had thought that the beast, hidden in a place with such profound life source would have been growing stronger with time. But this was clearly not the case. It seemed like the beast was reaching the end of its life.

In fact, he might very well die here. If even a howl could be this devastating, what was to say about its power. Any random attack in his direction and he would die a miserable death crushed by the shockwaves. Even as he felt helpless, the desire for power that had been planted in his heart seemed to grow.

Power! Only through power would he have happiness! Only through power would he be able to protect those he cared about!

Intelligence and schemes were useful between those of similar level. But, with an absurd difference of power, nothing mattered - intelligence, morality,.. - nothing. Michael swore to himself even as he was shivering in terror: "Immortal realm, there will be a day that I shall surpass that!".

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The immortal realm experts understood the gravity of the situation. There were too many people around here. If they fought here, the entire expedition army would be finished. That could not happen. These experts were the foundation of the empire. Immortal experts would be countered by other immortal experts. Even if they were invincible, they were too few in number. They naturally could not guard the massive area of the empire.

They quickly formed a formation surrounding the entrance. They were waiting for the monster to emerge. Then they would work together to somehow lift it off the ground and then hit it with their full power. It was all to lead it away from the battlefield.

Even as they took formation, the ruin entrance exploded and a black coloured beast stood in front of them looking at them with bloodthirsty eyes!

All the experts moved at the same time. The elves and beast-humans who were the swiftest pounced at it from four directions. The beast dodged the first two blows at his head quite easily. But as it did so, both the beast-human immortals struck at its feet. The first two attacks had been feints to distract it! It could not dodge by mere manoeuvres this time. Thus, it chose to jump.

Beasts fought with instinct. This would always be true no matter the realm. Even those with rudimentary intelligence could not fight with tactics or strategy. It was all brute force. Thus, making them fall into traps was easier as well.

As soon as it was in the air, the remaining 4 experts except Astang seemed to burst with energy hitting the beast higher and higher! The monster could naturally block those moves but they were not aiming for its vitals anyway. These blows landed with full power without any consideration of techniques. The beast flew up into the air like a rocket. While it started coming down, Astang let out a roar and jumped. A circular crater erupted around him in an instant! All the dust was pulverized together by pressure forming a rocky surface!

Astang too flew up aiming at the monster and the moment they were passing each other, he released a fist strike. This strike was different from all the blows so far. It was the most powerful combat technique Astang knew. The monster guarded with its arms but they were shattered! This was the first time it was injured. The shockwave from the impact reached the ground raising a dust storm! The saints watching the battle were slammed into the ground by the shockwaves! Only the more powerful ones could keep standing.

The tree Michael was hidden inside broke in half! The sky became visible to him and he could see the monster flying away like a meteor! This was the power of an expert standing at the peak of Aterna.

After hitting a home-run with the monster, all the 9 experts vanished without a trace. They had all gone to chase the monster and kill it.

The entire army was stunned to see a fight of this level. The saints could only catch a glimpse of the immortal experts when they were in the midst of attacking, but that was all. Even a peak emperor without the power of vital force would only perceive the fight as the air exploding and the ground quaking! Mortals could easily confuse an angry immortal with a natural disaster!

While the entrance was open for the expedition army to go into, none of them dared. The monster that emerged had been too terrifying. If something else awakened, they might as well all be buried here. Thus, the entire army of experts retreated with heavy expressions. They shifted the base camp further away by 20 kilometres. All they could do was to wait for the immortals to arrive.

While Michael was tempted to try and get inside the ruin to see if it contained any treasures aside from the inheritance, the ruin was around 25 kilometres away. Michael would still need an hour to reach there breaking through the illusions. The return trip would be the same. The immortals might return anytime. Thus, he decided to let it go. He also sat down after using illusion energy to mask his presence waiting for the immortals to come back.

While the battle had been quite one-sided, the results were yet to be known. Michael did not know yet that the results of this battle would change many things in the empire and would even be tied to his fate.