Liam and Ilbert were facing each other as they continued their conversation.
Ruvia disappeared into her room with the royal seal for thinking about everything she had just learned, while Sylvera returned outside.
"Tell me, how could you be so badly injured? As a grand elder of the Valyrs, you should be at the absolute pinnacle of the celestial rank, don’t you? There are not a lot of people who may threaten you in this world."
The old man sighed and decided to confide in Liam. In any case, he didn't have much time left to live; he might as well reveal everything.
"Even though the other elders were providing a distraction, there were still too many enemies, and they couldn't hold everyone back. The leaders of the two clans attacked me and caught me in a pincer movement. Like me, they have reached the pinnacle of this world long ago."
He sighed and unfastened the top of his robe, revealing a huge wound that ran through his chest.
The blood was no longer flowing, but Liam could still see the old man's heart beating between his ribs.
Ilbert didn't dwell on it and quickly put his clothes back on.
"Although I am stronger than these two, the difference in power was not that huge, especially since I had to protect Ruvia during the fight. So hile the crow-man queen held me back, the preceptor Drakos took the opportunity to use his ultimate technique and manage to cause me this injury."
He clenched his fists as he recalled the battle.
"Unfortunately for them, I wasn't so easy to kill. I burned part of my soul to gain a huge surge of power and managed to kill the crow-man queen, while the other one managed to escape."
"At the same time, the Valyr capital was much better protected than they thought. Even though all the others died, they managed to eliminate many enemies thanks to the city formations. I later learned that less than thirty celestial beings returned alive."
"Even if they had survived, the balance was broken, and the beasts had the upper hand. So, they didn't have time to look for us and were busy ensuring their own safety."
Liam nodded.
It wasn't surprising that they didn't encounter many rank 4 beings. Most died during the war.
In such a racial war, it was not uncommon for the most powerful beings to fight to the death.
If only one rank 4 powerhouse managed to escape, especially with the versatility of mages, they could engage in guerrilla warfare and cause chaos within their ranks.
Even if they had to lose 8 men to kill 10, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and do everything they could if they didn't want to face a devastating backlash.
Liam sighed.
"I see. However, there is still a big question remaining: what are you going to do now? Your injuries are far from simple and continue to worsen. You probably have only a few months left!"
He was right about that.
The preceptor Drakos had left his internal energy in the wound and it continued to widen since then.
If Ilbert were at the peak of his strength, he could get rid of it after some time, but he had burned a large part of his soul.
All his focus was already full hand with preventing the wound from enlarging, but it wouldn't last much longer.
Liam didn't mention what Ruvia brought back from Vinaya City. It was far from being able to help, and they both knew it.
The old man delved into his thoughts, and the room fell into a heavy silence.
Liam didn’t say anything and simply watched the scene, waiting to see his reaction.
After more than five minutes, the old man straightened up and looked him straight in the eyes.
"You're not from this world, are you?"
Liam narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"As expected, you have a really good insight."
The old man laughed and crossed his arms.
"I may be old, but I'm not blind. I have no memory of a race like you in this world. Even your race could have emerged recently; it wouldn't have as much astral power."
(Recall of the levels in this world: transcendent (rank 1), terrestrial (rank 2), astral (rank 3), celestial (rank 4))
"Moreover, you're not the only ones. I've already come across three or four large armies passing through the area. Like you, they are quite powerful and don't seem to come from this plane."
Liam nodded.
"That's true, we're not from here. We arrived a few years ago, and we'll leave in no more than three years."
Ilbert nodded and stood up, bowing with difficulty before Liam.
"In that case, I hope you can take Ruvia with you."
Liam helped the old man to straighten up, and they sat back at the table.
"Are you sure about this? You don't even know me. Who knows, I might just pretend to take her and then kill her."
The old man showed a determined look.
"You know, I've lived for many years. As a former king, I've dealt with all kinds of people: sycophants, deceivers, manipulators... After spending so much time with them, you develop a kind of sixth sense for reading people."
"Even though it's clear that you're not a swift kaki, you don't seem to want to harm her. If even after all of this, I'm still wrong, then I can only blame myself."
"Besides, although Ruvia is not in danger right now, I won't be around much longer to watch over her. In the end, the balance between Drakos, crow-men and beats will not last long and no matter who wins, no one wants to see the resurgence of the Valyr race: she would be in danger every moment."
Liam's smile widened. Everything was going even better than he had imagined.
"Do you believe in gods?" Liam said.
"Of course not. There are no gods in this world, and I'm not about to believe in the stange beliefs of small indigenous tribes."
Liam sighed.
"You're right; there are no gods in this plane. However, there are gods in the universe, even if they don't present themselves here."
The old man did not respond and simply looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
"I assume that you have long since realize that you're not the only inhabitable world in the universe. In facts, your world is... insignificant. That's why you've never attracted the attention of the gods. They wouldn't even bother spreading their faith here because they wouldn't get much out of it."
Strangely, Ilbert did not react, as if he already knew this.
"I know this must sound strange to you, but times have changed. When the Valyrs looked into the existence of gods, their conclusion was correct; there weren't any gods on this plane."
"However, a very long time ago, many gods set their sights on your world. To them, your world is weak and can be destroyed with a simple wave of the hand, but the gods also need to train their believers."
"So, they made a deal with the will of the plane. Every 800 years, the gods would send their believers for ten years, and this would repeat 100 times. Right now, it's the 96th descend of gods’ people. In exchange, the gods would help your world progress to a higher stage."
(800 years in a low-tier plane are 1000 years of the void, so 1 year on earth is equivalent to 800 years in a low-tier plane)
Despite all this, the old Valyr king didn’t moved and kept an impassive face.
"You don't seem surprised at all." Liam said.
The old man nodded.
"Actually, I already knew. About 7,000 years ago, when the Valyr race just began to rise, our ancestor encountered one of these divine armies. Because he helped them when they needed, the leader of the army revealed the truth to him and invited him to join them."
"Although he refused the offer, it became a well-kept secret of the royal family. In fact, every king is aware of gods’ existence and must be prepared to face them one day."
Liam nodded thoughtfully.
Even though he was a bit surprised, every student knew that some natives may know about the exam.
Of course, it would remain a well-kept secret from the masses.
Although it was strange for the Valyr ancestor to refuse, he understood why his senior didn't force him. After all, beliefs couldn't be forced; it always ended up backfiring on the gods.
"So even knowing that Ruvia will have to believe in a god you don't know, you're still going to entrust her to us?"
The old man nodded.
"Yeah. It may seem like a spur-of-the-moment decision, but I've actually been thinking about it for a long time. Ruvia's future on this plane is more than bleak. It's only by leaving it that she may have a chance to flourish."
Liam nodded and smiled.
"In that case, I have a better offer to make to you!"
...
In the void, the teachers were calmly discussing when their watches suddenly beeped loudly.
"WHAT?!"
They all exclaimed upon reading the notification.
Mr. Idder immediately opened a spatial fissure and disappeared.
A few moments later, a fissure opened above Liam's divine realm, and the teacher emerged from it.
"Mr. Adler, what on earth did you smoke? Do you sincerely believe you're able to face a pinnacle rank 4 being?"
He didn't wait and roared into the void.
Even though there was no matter in the void, they could still convey their voices through spiritual energy.
Liam didn't wait long and arrived in front of his teacher.
"It's alright, sir, I am fully confident in handling this."
Mr. Idder narrowed his eyes and looked at his student. From what he knew, Liam wasn't someone who liked to make empty promises.
He sighed, and his fierce gaze softened.
"Very well, judging by your expression, you won't change your mind, but let me still warn you. We won't intervene even if you lose all your believers."
Liam nodded.
"Don't worry, sir, that won't happen."
...
In his demi-plane, Liam's incarnation stood behind Ilbert. The old man was sitting, while Liam had both hands placed on his back.
He emitted a gentle golden light that covered the old man's body. His wound closed at a eye-visible speed and the complexion of the old Valyr king improved.
When Liam had spent nearly 500 000 faith points, he removed his hands and straightened up.
The old man's injuries were really serious, but they were still physical wounds; they didn't take much to heal.
The wound to his soul, however, was a big deal, and nearly two-thirds of his soul disappeared while the spiritual sea was filled with cracks.
That alone accounted for most of the points he had spent.
The amount he just spent was huge and represented nearly 10% of all his faith energy; it was enough to help one of his believers break through to the sixth rank!
However, Liam had no regrets.
Ilbert became a fervent believer thanks to his rescue. Even more important: he was very powerful and had great wisdom and deep knowledge.
His role in the growth of the divine realm would be enormous.
After a few moments, the old man opened his eyes and stood up. His hunched back had completely straightened, and the wrinkles had smoothed out. He seemed rejuvenated and full of vigor.
He turned around and bowed before Liam.
"For saving my life and providing a new home for my granddaughter, I, Magus Ilbert Luminara, pledge my eternal loyalty to the Lord of the Azure Abyss, Ahsoka Rivalek."
Liam smiled and extended his hand, using his mental energy to help him to stand up.
Beside them, Ruvia rushed over and threw herself into his arms.
It was the agreement made with Ilbert and the Luminara family. He would heal him and provide shelter and in return, they would become his believers.
Fortunately, his divine realm had not yet developed consciousness; otherwise, he would have had trouble bringing Ilbert, who was at the absolute pinnacle of rank 4.
In the meantime, Liam taught them a lot about powers above rank 4 and the levels of worlds.
At the same time, he spent a lot of faith energy and extended their lifespans to several thousand years.
He then thought of something, and his main body rushed to the divine realm of one of his classmates: Lena Williams.
He returned a few minutes later, while his incarnation found some ink and a blank book they plundered from a certain city and began writing.
It was a meditation technique for mages. As for Valyr meditation techniques, they were really inferior compared to those of Earth.
In fact, the meditation techniques of mages, cultivation techniques of cultivators, or mind techniques of experts were only useful up to rank 6.
After that, everyone had to rely on their own understanding of laws and follow in the footsteps of their predecessors.
Humanity had long since perfected the practice techniques of the most important power systems. They allowed everyone to build an extremely solid foundation that would pave the way for further breakthroughs later on.
They were simply very cheap, and Lena only did him a small favor by giving him a copy.
When he finished, he reinforced the book with faith energy and handed it to Ilbert.
With a glance, the old man understood the importance of the book and wanted to return it to Liam, claiming that he couldn't accept such a valuable gift.
"Keep it. Your current technique sucks, and you will already have huge difficulties becoming a high mage if you don't change it!" Liam retorted.
(Recall for mages: mortal (0), apprentice mage (1), acolyte (2), mage (3), magus (4), great mage (5), high mage (6),...)
Under his persuasion, he eventually accepted and immersed himself in the book alongside his granddaughter.
