The aftermath of the battle had been way too quick. Lord Astang appeared in the camp like a ghost and gave a single decree - the forest had been conquered and the resources had been acquired. As the illusion array was very formidable, he gave the order to retreat.

When the immortals came back and when they took away the life essence crystals remained unknown even to Michael. The entire expedition returned the next day battered and bruised. While the people did not talk among themselves, they could feel that something was wrong. Michael too felt that something felt off but he was unconcerned. He truly found it hard to suppress his excitement. He had been injured by the shockwaves of yesterday's battle pretty badly. Even still, he wanted to rush into the ruins. But, he knew that the area was very dangerous as not all beasts had been killed. If he were to encounter any single of saint realm monsters, he would die. Thus, he decided to heal his injuries first. Before starting his adventure, he had taken quite a lot of medicinal pills with him. But now, almost half were over. This was how dangerous the forbidden forest was.

As he sat down to heal himself, he estimated that he would be fully recovered in about seven days.

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After about six months of the start of the expedition, a piece of extremely shocking news came out. It was announced by all major races and was a great deal. It was about the death of an immortal!

Immortal experts were peak existences in Aterna. To kill someone with a law body was almost impossible. Even other immortals found killing another very challenging. Only peak experts like Astang might be able to slay another immortal by themselves.

So, an immortal dying was definitely not small news. But, there was more! The different races held meetings with important nobles in their kingdoms to discuss the results of the expedition.

First of all - an immortal expert - someone from a middle tier race had died in battle with the ferocious beast. Empire-Wide mourning was announced by all the major races of the light empire. Humans were quite unconcerned about an immortal's death as they had never had one. But, the native race of that immortal - the fenil race felt that their skies and heavens had shattered! The race only had a single immortal. Now that the ancestor of the race was dead, their standing in Aterna would fall to those of low ranking races.

Humans would also have been a low ranking race if not for their numbers pushing them to be a mid-ranking race.

Even as the fenil race mourned and wept, the loot that was supposed to be theirs was gobbled up by the surrounding races.

But this was not the extent of the damage. While the monster had been slain, two other immortal realm experts had been very seriously injured. Their law body had been contaminated! Such a thing was generally impossible unless these experts suffered a devastating blow. While they had not died, they would not be able to recover in the next 100 to 200 years.

These experts were also from races with single immortal experts. Thus, three powerful races had been brought down as a result of a single battle.

This had created a power vacuum. After all, the empire needed the power of all its races. For it to lose 3 immortals was a heavy blow. The different leaders - primarily the elves and werebeasts were thinking of different races that the next immortal might rise from. Both groups naturally considered humans as a potential choice. As humans were very populous, they had a very loose organization. While the power of the emperor and other experts was considerable, the empire felt that they had not mined their true potential.

If an immortal was to arise from among the humans, it would bring the humans closer together and they would be easier to control. As long as they could control that immortal, it would be all right. Neither of them was worried that the humans would seize control. Even if a Karslon Dumbledore himself were to become the ancestor of humanity, he would be unable to do much. There were thirty-something immortal experts in the empire with 32 known ones. This number did not include the immortals secluded in the tower. With the recent demise of one, there were still 31. How could a single expert control 31 others? Therefore, no one considered something as absurd.

When the discussions were happening, they naturally considered Michael's name as well. As humanity's crown prince, he was the most suitable choice for grooming. The empire war would happen in the next four years. At that time, the decision on the matter would be made through discussion. They were also waiting to see Michael's score in the upcoming final test of the tower before deciding.

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In total, 33 life essence crystals had been found in the ruins. There were a few treasures as well but none were particularly valuable. God's Hand kept its promise and delivered three essence crystals to the Rageberg family. The Duke knew that to get these crystals in hand, an immortal existence had to die! While he found it extremely awe-inspiring, he could not fathom the entire issue.

Jerome and Reez had arrived after hearing the news of the expedition. They immediately snatched a crystal each and began refining them. The third crystal was given to Tresline according to Michael's will. She too underwent secluded cultivation to absorb the life essence.

The life essence was as miraculous as in the legends. In just a day, both Jerome and Reez refined their crystals. Their blood vitality that had been declining for the past thousand years was brimming with energy. They felt as energetic as when they had first made the breakthrough.

They left for their territories the next day. And the day after that, both families revealed the ancestor blood pact to the Atrexia court. This caused massive political waves to rise in the kingdom. They did not show the part about life essence crystals and just claimed that the Ragebergs had found a heavenly medicine which they gave to these two families for protection. In essence, now the Ragebergs were almost untouchable in the kingdom.

It would naturally not be that these two ancestors would always be going around the members of Rageberg family to protect them. But that, if a member was maimed or killed, both these families would retaliate as if it was one of their own. This caused the Rageberg's influence to increase sharply in a short amount of time.

On the same day, Tresline too emerged from her seclusion. All signs of age on her face had vanished and she looked to be around 20. Her blood vitality was extremely vigorous. Also, the essence had pushed her all the way to mid emperor realm. Such effects only manifested because there was more energy in the crystal than what her body could absorb. Thus, it all went to improve her cultivation. This was prodigal to the extreme. If the joss ancestor lying in his coffin were to know what had happened, he would probably cough up blood in anger!

Cultivation resources were found plenty in the world. But things that could restore vitality were more precious than anything else. To use such material for cultivation was a stroke of luck that only Tresline could enjoy. Now, she just had to reach the saint realm in the next 60 to 70 years. Not difficult at all. The Rageberg family was truly on their way to rise.

As all this happened, a week of turmoil passed and Michael prepared to take the inheritance!