Underneath a cemetery in a remote area of the Tiandiyu continent was the headquarters of a certain clan, the Blackblood clan. They were notoriously known throughout the immortal community as a group of poison masters and users of hidden weapons, other than that, much about them were unknown.

In the headquarters, several high ranking members of the clan were currently having a meeting, discussing the recent events in the immortal continent.

“...The group that was sent after to take Aegis hasn’t returned,” one of the members, hidden in black clothing said.

“There are witnesses and survivors that say the Artifact Hunter Gyro had taken an interest in it,” another chimed in.

“Then it can only be assumed that the group we sent out have already been killed,” the one with the most oppressive aura finally spoke.

The one with the domineering aura wasn’t foolish enough to believe that a mere group of their ordinary clan members would stand a chance against Gyro, the infamous leader of the Jaeger group Sphinx.

In fact, Gyro was an absolute monster when it came to the art of battle, his sense for battle surpassing Zieg and those in the transcendent realm. It could only be said that the heavens were cruel, granting him poor aptitude and talent. Gyro was limited to the constraints of his body, destined to forever be an ordinary person that could only manage to match up with geniuses by sheer effort and experience.

What truly made Gyro terrifying was the legendary artifact Gawain, which gave him an artifact-level body, increasing his defense, and made up for his deficient strength. Sadly, Gawain did not affect his naturally slow speed, otherwise together with his mastery of the halberd, Zieg would have long been killed.

The person with the domineering aura shook their head. They could only consider it a pity, an unfortunate circumstance, that the Artifact Hunter had taken an interest in the legendary artifact Aegis, and that the group of young clan members they sent after it were practically sent straight to their deaths.

(So weak… The next generation of our clan is so weak… Compared to him...) that person thought.

They remembered a certain individual from their clan from more than a century ago. The individual they remembered from back then was still a youthful boy that was considered by all to be a true genius. Unfortunately, he was a heretic. He was so fascinated with poison that he broke clan traditions, unceasingly experimenting with them. Forbidden body modifications, injecting himself with the natural poisons of dangerous immortal beasts. Eventually, the youth renounced his clan, leaving to be never seen again.

“Sieghart…” the person whispered.

That person had heard of news known only to the strongest immortals and transcendent realm experts. It was said that the boy that left their Blackblood clan from back then, Sieghart, had founded the Jaegers, ruthless criminal groups that roamed the planet. Years later, the person had caught the traces of whispers from other experts that say Sieghart had used the original, strongest Jaeger group as living sacrifices to ambush a newly broken through transcendent realm being. What happened afterwards was a mystery to everyone, including the Blackblood clan and the person with the domineering aura.

Sieghart had actually defeated the strongest immortals, using poison to threaten and force them into doing his bidding. The acts, massacres they committed were so ruthless, they were given the label of the original and strongest Jaeger group. He had bided his time, tracking a peak-stage immortal with his Jaeger group, and ambushed the expert in the midst of their breakthrough into the transcendent realm. The result of the ambush was that all of the original Jaegers lost their lives, all but Sieghart. He approached the dying body and soul of the newly broken through transcendent realm being, and did what he always did. Experiment.

…

On a remote island, a figure in white robes was sitting peacefully with their legs crossed.

“?!” he abruptly stood up. Power coursed through his veins, and he knew that without a doubt, he was one of the strongest on the planet.

This man was the leader of Paragon, Gideon.

He had sown the seeds of discord and wrath all throughout the planet many years ago, and it seemed that one of them had finally borne fruit.

“Was it a peak-stage immortal, or someone in the transcendent realm?” Gideon mused. Whoever it was, it didn’t matter to him. All that mattered was that whoever it was, was feeling an extreme amount of wrath. Incomparable wrath, a wrath that he set into motion and caused. That feeling of wrath rejuvenated him, causing power to course through his body.

Gideon never knew that the source of this wrath was Zieg, caused by the killing of his father, Gyro. The sequence of events that led up to Gyro’s killing could all be traced back to one guild, Paragon, and the entity that was the leader of the guild, Gideon.

Gideon never knew that because of the seeds of wrath he had sown back then, not only had it given him power through the ability of his wrath’s god fragment, but it had also made him a terrifying enemy that was hellbent on his death.

That enemy was Zieg.

…

The group of four flew back to the Weiss clan mountain chain, at the gates of which stood the Weiss clan leader, Jugo. The four and Jugo stood facing each other at the entrance, when one of the four took the initiative to speak.

“I finally understand,” someone said.

Cain threw the legendary artifact shield Aegis over to his father.

“I finally understand why mother left. You, I, our clan was nothing more than a burden to her. We were holding her back, like how Aegis was holding me back. You can have it. I don’t have to prove anything to people like you. I don’t need a legendary artifact to be strong. I’ll become strong on my own,” Cain said.

The three flew up, flying back to the Grandiel continent, back to Galvane.

Jugo clicked his tongue. Those words were nothing more than the ramblings of his trashy son.

Seria approached her father, telling him of the events that transpired.

“Asher has betrayed us?!” Jugo shouted, hurrying up to gather the clan together and searching the headquarters.

No traces of Asher or his grandson could be found. They mysteriously disappeared.

Jugo contemplated on the words of the events that Seria told him, ‘He’s the strongest of the clan, but your foolish father, Jugo, is blinded by his nepotism for you.’

Confusion arose in his mind. Asher’s grandson was the strongest? As far as he remembered, Asher’s grandson was a quiet, timid boy. He had never even participated in mocking his trash of a son, Cain.

Jugo considered the impossible. If that ordinary, unseeming boy was actually the strongest of their clan… then, had he been hiding his true strength all these years?

If he had, what kind of strength, intelligence, and patience could that sort of monster possess? Worst of all was that type of monster was now an enemy of his clan.

A chill ran down Jugo’s spine. He shook his head free of the thoughts. He was overthinking this. He had to be.

“Ridiculous, ridiculous…” Jugo repeated unconvincingly to himself. Those words were echoed inside his mind like a prayer, praying that his thoughts didn’t turn out to be true.

…

After burying Gyro’s body together with the legendary artifact Gawain and his interspatial ring, Zieg kept walking directionlessly onward. The only memento Zieg kept from Gyro was his halberd. Zieg placed the halberd into his interspatial ring. It was a weapon artifact, and maybe one day he would be able to use it after mastering the halberd.

Zieg was like a living corpse, unceasingly trekking onward towards nowhere. How many days passed? He didn’t know. He just wanted to escape from reality.

Walking, walking, walking, walking, and even more walking. He kept walking until he no longer had the energy left to do so.

Finally, Zieg collapsed and fainted under fatigue.

Floating down next to his body was a small, blue-haired girl.