In the Oceanic’s Palace, the King and his trusted aide, the Elder, were discussing in front of a scepter.

The scepter had a blue gem within it.

The King asked: “Are you sure that the scepter reacted?”

The Elder nodded: “My King, I would not dare lie on such a subject”

The King had a heavy look on his face: “The Crown reappeared”

The Elder acquiesced.

The King turned to him: “Who knows?”

The Elder pondered for a moment before he speculated: “All those who have reached a certain realm should be aware of it and whoever has a treasure linked to the Ocean should too”

The King sighed: “Too many people it seems”

The Elder added while cold sweat dripped down his back: “Silencing the people would indeed not be possible and unwise, my King”

The King agreed and asked instead: “Where is it?”

The Elder stated: “I do not know, my King. And I do not think anyone does, aside from its new owner”

The King gazed deeply into the Elder’s eyes before he stated firmly: “We need to find it first; the crown belongs to me. I am the rightful owner of the Oceans!”

The Elder nodded and praised the King while snickering in his heart.

“Rightful owner my ass, if you did not plot with the humans to dethrone the true Empress, you would have never been here”

Then again, the King was the strongest of the Oceanics now. A final Saint who refused to advance and ascend. No one could go against his words.

The King moved back to the grand hall where his generals were waiting. The King looked at them and stated coldly: “The Crown of the Oceans has finally reappeared. Bring it back to me!”

“YES, MY KING!” they echoed.

However, none of them planned to ever bringing it back to him. If they luckily found it, they would take it for themselves.

Then, they would become the next Emperor themselves.

…

The gentle ocean breeze caressed Sarina’s face.

She looked gloomy however as she stood next to Cheng at the bow of the ship. It had been a week since they started sailing away from Vrislorin.

They were now quite close to their destination.

Sarina asked him: “You will have to give me answers now”

Cheng turned to her: “Asked away?”

Sarina: “Why sacrifice so many people?”

Cheng looked deep into her eyes before he stated: “For us”

Sarina shook her head: “It is wrong. It is not just”

Cheng stated: “Not according to your belief of what justice is. It is to mine”

Sarina’s fists clenched: “I thought we agreed back then”

Cheng nodded: “We did. And I have yet to break my word”

Sarina reminded him: “You swore to abide by the justice”

Cheng reminded her: “Not yours though”

She glared at him and he sighed: “Fine. I took additional risks and people died from it. But we earned a lot from it as well, think about that”

Sarina coldly stated: “The end does not justify the means, Cheng”

Cheng replied: “I believe that it sometimes does. Don’t forget our own sins brought us this far. It is not through good deeds that we reached here”

Sarina looked away.

He was right on that one even though it pained her. She killed many throughout her many years of existence. Nothing would ever change that fact.

She gazed deeply into his eyes and asked: “Don’t you think coexistence is possible?”

He stated: “As long as there will be emotions then I don’t”

They both sighed.

Then, they changed topics. Sarina asked: “Do you think they will link this to us?”

Cheng nodded: “The Saints must have. They won’t take action though. Next time we’re dead though”

Sarina nodded. It seemed like the man on the inside they had at the Celestials helped once more but no longer would.

This was fine, he did more than enough already.

She was not just worried about the Celestials though. The appearance of two other Saints from the other factions made her itchy.

She asked: “And the other factions?”

Cheng thought about how to word it properly before he stated: “Alexander will not make another move again. Once bitten, twice shy. That man has always been a coward. As for the Nightmare…He should be on our side as long as we keep Jin with us”

Sarina nodded. It made sense. However, keeping Jin with them was dangerous. If they simply left their own ways, they would have an easier time mixing with the current world and they should be able to grow safely up to a certain point.

However, once they reached a certain realm, they would be alone and with no factions backing them up. It would become close to impossible to go further. The resources were always held by the strong after all and the ecosystem had been in place for eons.

Top powers did not crumble anymore.

The reality was that the Celestials would not be on their side ever. After all, they were supposedly ‘properties’ of the Celestials. Their entire existence was akin to a book filled with knowledge. And that knowledge belonged to the Celestials for they had been a part of them.

After all, they were not ‘true beings’

As for Neutrals, they did not care about politics but about benefits. Some would probably not care but some would certainly try to hunt them for their knowledge.

The Evil Faction, on the other hand, for what it’s worth, actually treated its members better which was quite the irony. They did not covet what belonged to their comrades. They did covet everything else though and acted accordingly.

Then again, in the end, when it came to cultivation, one could only count on oneself.