While Michael was in Kanjur, Aterna was undergoing political unrest. With time, two more God-fingers recovered enough to enter the pugilistic world. And the results of it were easy to imagine. The Ancient races had emerged with full power and suppressed the alliance of new races brutally. The power of four demi-ascendants left the new races' immortals quaking in their shoes.

The emergence of these figures also helped bring forth plans that had been stuck before. Earlier, due to Mesiran and Leila being injured, they had not taken the risk to attack the stronghold of new races. But now, they had recovered from most of their injuries and had sufficient numerical advantage. Karslon would hardly be able to change the situation by himself. Thus, the God-Fingers began executing their plan. They travelled swiftly across the plane, crossing over to the boundary of the light empire. The great arrays covering the empire were able to detect their presence but this was not a covert operation anymore!

In recent years, the ones to recover were the tiger ancestor and the roc ancestor. The roc ancestor, also known as Bavish, had a very brash personality. He was a warrior at heart and was never involved in sophistry or politics. He was the brawn of the group. Such individuals were generally only used by the higher-ups and found it hard to climb the social ladder. In the situation where the competition for resources was cut-throat, it was hard to believe that someone with his personality was able to reach his heights. This not only showed how exaggerated his talent was but also how incredible his fate was. One important fact about cultivation was that each plane limited the power that one was allowed to cultivate. After a certain level, cultivating further in the plane would become almost impossible.

In Aterna, across more than a million years, no person had reached the ascendant realm. Even demi-ascendants were few and far between. Was it because the Aternians lacked talent? No, this was because the plane-will of Aterna was quite weak. As a result, one's achievements in this plane would be limited irrespective of one's talent. As further paths required analysis of laws, one needed to rely on their surroundings to sense, master and control these laws. But in a weak secondary plane, laws were much harder to sense which limited the beings in this place. Even Michael would have been stopped by this barrier had he chosen to stay in the plane. Amidst such a scenario, reaching the demi-ascendant realm showed that each of the God-Fingers was an incredible genius.

The four demi-ascendants managed to reach the heart of human territory quite quickly. On the surface, they were here to capture people of importance to Michael Rageberg. It had already been about four years since Michael had left. This was already beyond the deadline to return. Thus it seemed likely that something had happened. Thus, capturing his family members was not as important as before. This time, their target was Karslon! As long as Karslon was forced to submit, they would resolve a major threat.

It had been almost 10 years since Michael had left the plane but he had yet to return. A lot of immortals who had left with him were already back. They did have some gains but the greatest gain would be information about Jupyter. As Michael had not returned in such a long time, it was evident that he had either died or was trapped somewhere. His chances of returning anytime soon were slim. And, even if Michael returned in future, knowing his personality, he would be suppressed as long as they had Karslon in their hands.

Before they could truly enter the territory of new races, they found Karslon waiting for them on the way. This was out of their expectations.

Bavish (roc ancestor): Karslon, how come you are here? But this is also good, you have saved us the trouble of finding you. Come, let me beat you up and make you surrender!

Karslon was dumbfounded by the attitude of this senile roc. But against the expectations of others, he simply said

Sure, I can surrender directly. You don't need to do anything.

Leila was dumbfounded on Karslon's attitude. She asked

What are you planning? Why are you surrendering without resisting? If you had fled, we would have had a problem on our hands. But you came to us and also want to surrender! There is definitely something fishy.

I am surrendering because I can't win. In the face of devils, we need to stay united. So what if I surrender to you? We all might end up dead tomorrow. I am not that petty. Also, if you guys were to wreck havoc in the light empire in my absence, it would be a big loss to the plane's power and overall political situation.

Leila felt that there was something off but she could not pinpoint the cause of her feeling. Karslon was well known to handle matters rationally and his perspective was also reasonable. Before she had enough time to understand what was wrong, Rolo, the tiger ancestor said:

Karslon, you are just like I have heard, thinking rationally at all times and considering the big picture. I did not think that the first demi-ascendant of the neo-races will be someone so humble. Don't worry, we won't mistreat you in any way. As long as you truly surrender, we will even grant the light empire a certain degree of autonomy. The devils will definitely counter-attack and we need to gather all races under a single leader. The god-beast emperor is the only one worthy to lead the plane. He is an ascendant realm expert, and his power is beyond your imagination. Over the past decade, he has recovered from his injuries mostly. You are making the right choice for yourself and the entire plane. Come with us to meet the emperor.

Sure, lead the way. This old man has indeed hoped to take a look at the legendary god-beast emperor, the strongest warrior of Aterna.

On the same day, Karslon entered the god-beast territory with the four demi-ascendants. As demi-ascendants, their speed was very fast and they covered the distance in just a single day. The god-fingers led Karslon to the ancient capital city. As they approached the ancient city, more and more layers of the formation surrounding the ancient city were activated. These formations were suppressing Karslon making his combat power fall to the level of an average immortal slayer. After crossing these formations, they arrived at the edge of the ancient city. But as Karslon tried to move toward the city, he found that he was not able to enter the city at all. What was incredible was that he was not being blocked at all. He could easily move toward the city but to him, it seemed like the city was moving away from him!

Karslon's eyes shone as he marvelled:

To think that the capital city would be guarded by the power of space! This is the most incredible thing this old man has seen in my life!

Mesiran smiled at him and replied

The ancient city has the legacy from ancient times. Due to cultivation tribulation, the heritage of ancient times was almost destroyed and our civilization and race regressed. But at its peak, this city was the capital of of first generation emperor of god-beasts, someone who had undergone three ascendant transformations! Also, the emperor and experts around him had conquered many nearby planes forming a multi-planar empire.

So do you mean to say that someone who has undergon three ascendant transformations can even control the power of space?!

No, you are overestimating the power of ascendants. Before reaching rank-4, the power level of ascendants is not enough to influence space. But the first generation emperor had used a lot of resources to invite an otherworldly upper ascendant powerhouse who had arranged this formation around the city by bending space. This is the trump card of ancient city. Even if the devils come over, with the concealment abilities and defence of these formations, we can still put enough resistance.

Karslon looked at the formation as if reminiscing something. Leila moved forward and activated the seal opening a door in the formation that allowed them to enter. Followed by that, Karslon followed these demi-ascendants to the palace at the centre of the city. As he stepped in the imperial hall, he could see lots of people of ancient races sitting in the hall on both sides. There were many immortals among them and almost everyone was in the perfect realm. This place had the main force of the god-beasts!

At the end of the hall, steps led up to a stage where six thrones could be seen - five small and one big throne. On one of the small thrones, a qilin demi-ascendant was sitting. Clearly, the other thrones were for the other four god-fingers. At the centre was the biggest throne on which the ancient emperor was seated. His aura was completely unleashed drowning the entire hall. Just by sitting on his throne, he could suppress all the experts seated in the hall including demi-ascendants.

It seems that the ancient emperor has almost completely recovered from his injuries.

Karslon walked up to the stage and saluted the emperor. On the way, he saw a familiar figure of Astang and his wife where he gave them a nod. The other god-fingers sat down on their respective thrones. The ancient emperor was of the dragon race - clearly cementing the status of dragons as the leader of god-beasts. Karslon took the correct posture and said

I hereby surrender to your majesty!

Good! You have pleased me with your attitude and sensibility. You will be one of my vassals and lead the neo-races under my reign!

The ancient emperor's voice carried his dignity as the emperor. His voice reverberated through the entire city at constant loudness. He had infused laws in his voice! What a powerful realm!

Karslon eased his posture. Then, he waited for the ceremony to proceed.

The ceremony was basically the process of sealing his soul with the emperor's seal. As long as the emperor willed it, Karslon would suffer a fatal injury! This was the cruel reality of Aterna. While the god-fingers and ancient emperor had said that they would treat Karslon well, both of them knew that this was just hypocritical pleasantries. Karslon did not resist and accepted the emperor's seal. Once the process was over, the expressions of all the experts eased. Had Karslon resisted, he could still kill a lot of the nobles present here before he could be put down.

After accepting the seal, Karslon asked

Your majesty already knows about the invasion of devils. While we managed to win once, we all know that it was only a scouting party. In the coming battle, our chances will be much lower. Given that Michael has yet to return, the entire situation is tense. Please tell me how you are planning to confront the devils and how you would be giving us new races the path to survival.

You ask the right questions boy. I can see why the new races have chosen you as their de-facto leader. Since you are now one of us, I can tell you some things. While the devils are truly powerful, we are not without options. I have already contacted the first generation emperor. He is the strongest native warrior Aterna has ever produced. Many eras ago, he was a rank-3 ascendant. After roaming the law ocean, he is already a rank-4 ascendant. Not only him, there are few other experts under him that have reached this realm. They have already set their way back and will give us a helping hand. Don't worry, Aterna will not fall so easily!

Hearing this, Karslon's face showed some relief. But the emperor at this moment was having malicious thoughts:

The devils are the scrouge of law ocean. If we keep fighting them, there will be no end even if the founding emperor returns. What the devils are interested in are slaves for their use. Devil techniques are known to require females as cultivation furnaces. Anyway, what they are interested in is the populous new-races. The ancient races already have very few members. As long as the founding emperor returns, we will have the power to compromise with the devils. We can send off the new races to be a sacrifice, and once the devils leave, we will become the masters of the plane. Now, there is only that Michael Rageberg that has been missing for a decade who can give me some trouble. Given that he is the child of destiny of the plane, there may be unexpected situations once he returns. But the path is already set and even Michael won't be able to change things.

Followed by that, Karslon kept asking many more questions. This concerned the trump cards of the ancient races but the emperor graciously told Karslon about them. After all, they will not be using these trump cards at all.

Soon, the ceremony was about to end. The new races were going to come under the banner of god-beasts quite easily as they would be pressured by the emperor from outside and Karslon from inside. Just as everyone thought that things had been settled, Karslon suddenly spoke:

Thank you, your majesty for giving me all this information. Given this, I will leave you alive!

Before the entire hall could be stunned, a bang resounded. Karslon had imploded his soul along with the seal! The god-fingers and the emperor were left with open mouths and wide eyes. But the next moment, a green glow emerged out of thin air and Karslon's soul regenerated instantly. Also, Karslon's aura rose sharply, turning into a shockwave that flooded through the entire city! The formations active in the city collapsed with a bang, shattering into bright lights. All the experts in the hall coughed out blood with many non-immortals dying on the spot! The ground cracked under him followed by the air surrounding him. The stage splintered collapsing the thrones of all god-fingers. The god-fingers coughed out blood and their complexion paled. Even the emperor's injuries opened and he started bleeding from his nose and eyes. The horrifying aura was so stifling that the entire capital city creaked under its might. And this was just the aura, not even an attack!

Leila, looking extremely horrified screamed:

You are not Karslon, you are Michael Rageberg!!

Her scream allowed everyone to see the light. Yes, it was only Michael who cultivated life laws and could regenerate even his soul. Soon, Karslon's appearance changed revealing a handsome face with iconic green eyes. Michael stood with a smile on his face and said:

Correctly guessed. But knowing doesn't make much difference to the situation.

After saying so, Michael made his move. Psychic energy directly bombarded all the experts in the hall knocking them out leaving the ones on the stage and Astang and his wife. Then, he snapped his fingers. Followed by that, his indomitable dao intent, volcanic might and sword intent and psychic will surged into his celestial energy and impacted the peak experts of the god-beasts in front of him. The demi-ascendants were heavily injured and fell down with a plop. The emperor who was the main recipient of the snap felt despair at the horrifying power that came rushing at him. To live, he decisively destroyed a law mark and forcefully resisted. After that, there was only endless fear in his eyes. He could feel that Michael was also only an ascendant with one transformation. But his power eclipsed the founding emperor all those years ago. Even the current founding emperor might not be his match! The emperor screamed:

Don't go overboard Michael Rageberg! If you kill me, you will be completely burning the bridges with god-beasts. You may be powerful but the founding emperor is also very powerful. If you go against us, the one to benefit will be the devils!

Michael stepped forward and appeared in front of the emperor. Smiling, he said:

Don't worry, I have a better method than killing you.

Then, he grasped the emperor's skull, sending psychic energy into his conscient. After ingesting Rizlant's memories, Michael was on the cusp of becoming a grand-master of psychic path. He also had many memory searching methods as this was Rizlant's core power. Thus, he learned of the sinister plan of the emperor. The memory search injured the conscient of the emperor which allowed Michael to plant a conscient seed easily. This seed was Rizlant's powerful creation after he had reached world master attainment. Following this, he read the memories of other demi-ascendants and similarly planted the psychic seed in their conscient. They were going to be his lifelong servants.

Astang and his wife were the only ones standing in the end. Astang was overwhelmed. The kid from all those years ago had become a peerless expert now. He suddenly felt like he had aged a lot and it was time for him to retire.

Michael walked over to him and said:

Father in law and Mother in law, sorry for being heavy-handed but some things need to be done. I have enslaved them, and from now on you are the king and queen of god-beasts. Yes, please take these gifts. These are some souvinirs from Jupyter. This is a soul condensing pill, it can directly help your breakthrough to saint realm. This is a soul purification pill, it can purify your soul and bring your soul to the perfect realm. Given your grasp over laws, you will be able to become demi-ascendants quickly. The amount of pills here is enough for 5 people. I will take Maria out on my way. I will make arrangements to handle the politics. The god-beast emperor is right in that we need to be under a single banner but it can only be my banner.

Michael, I can't even fathom your strength now but the founding emperor is also extremely powerful. You should be careful.

Don't worry father in law, I have my own arrangements. The founding emperor also can only follow my arrangements.

After that, Michael left the city. He had many gains on this trip. One was enslaving five demi-ascendants and an ascendant. He also got a powerful base and formations. He planned to get the spatial formation transferred to Rageberg city and forbidden forest. Also, the many artefacts collected by god-beasts.

Michael had returned five years ago silently. Apart from his immediate family, no one else knew of his return. The reason was simple, he was baiting the god-beasts.

After returning, Michael was already unrivalled in strength but he had only started cultivating a few years ago. He did not know what arrangements the ancients had left. Also, Maria was trapped in the land of god-beasts. Thus, he did not recklessly wage a war and hid. During these five years, he helped his mother, father and Ashley become demi-ascendants. He also helped his brother and sister increase their soul cultivation and now, they were both in perfect body and soul realm. The next step was condensation of laws, and he did not want to interfere in the process or else their foundation would become weak just like Michael's own. In fact, he had brought many resources but he had yet to distribute them. He digested his gains over these years while preparing to strike thunderously.

Two years ago, Ramsus and Remeus sent a message via mystical means that they were going over to the Blood-Fiend sect to become disciples there. It seemed that Omar had cultivated a remnant legacy from the Blood Fiend sect. They seemed to know about Michael's success at Divine Sea sect and the reinforcements and hence decided to go the Blood Fiend sect to become stronger.

The next day, the entire plane was shocked by the stream of breathtaking news circulated.

The god-beasts were defeated and surrendered to Michael Rageberg!

Michael Rageberg was successful in finding powerful allies and they will soon reach the plane!

Michael Rageberg had reached ascendant realm and become higher than mortal!

Michael Rageberg has announced the establishment of Aterna empire. Michael Rageberg is the founding emperor of Aterna. All races in the plane have been unified and soon, the ceremony for the establishment of Aterna empire would be held!

These news pieces completely overwhelmed the different races.

After a month, the Aterna Empire was established with Michael Rageberg as the emperor. This day marked the beginning of Rageberg calendar.