Starting as a Grandmaster, all of my cultivation techniques are at max level.

Within the Mirage Realm, several days have passed since the alien race withdrew.

The remaining human cultivators within the Mirage Cloud Realm finally had a chance to catch their breath.

Almost everyone's face was filled with the joy of surviving a disaster.

However, this moment of peace in the Mirage Realm was like a thorn stuck in the flesh for the alien races who had just been defeated by the Mirage Realm.

The most famous and largest city in the alien territory, Tianyou City.

A thin layer of black mist shrouded the entire city, never dissipating, as if even the sunlight was blocked out.

At this moment, within the tallest palace in the city, the Hall of the Eight Kings, one could feel several powerful pressures constantly emanating from it.

Inside the Hall of Eight Kings, there was nothing but eight thrones.

Today, apart from one empty throne, a figure sits on each of the other seven.

The empty throne was carved with a golden-winged roc about to take flight, which was originally the position of the Supreme Saint Chiji, one of the eight kings of the alien race.

Just a few months ago, he was severely injured by Xia Jin in the Mirage Realm, which directly damaged his essence. He is still in seclusion in the Golden Wing Clan to heal his wounds.

He was therefore absent from this meeting of the Eight Kings.

"Alright! Now that everyone except Chiji is here, let's begin this meeting!" King Aurora, sitting on the throne in the very center, glanced at the other figures and spoke calmly.

On the far left throne, a figure completely wrapped in black cloth glanced at King Aurora.

"This time, the Corpse Clan and the Stone Clan joined forces to attack the Human Race's Mirage Realm, but ultimately returned empty-handed. And their most important target—the three Human Race Saint Realm experts, including the Venerable Xuanwei—was also not successfully defeated!"

"Everyone, our first step in annexing the territories of the human and demon races has already suffered such a devastating blow! How can we possibly continue to the next step?"

His eyes gleamed with a faint green light through the gaps in the black cloth, sweeping over the Corpse King and the Stone King sitting on the throne opposite him. His dissatisfaction was almost undisguised.

As the only one among the eight alien kings to have mastered the art of assassination to a saintly level, Black King Jiekui was not afraid of offending the other eight kings.

Even Aurora King, who is recognized as the strongest among them, would not easily clash with him!

After all, nobody wants to live in constant fear.

The moment the Black King Jiekui spoke, both the Corpse King and the Stone King frowned.

The Corpse King's eyes were covered by a black animal hide, but one could vaguely see his gaze shattering the void in front of him.

He was clearly very unhappy about being questioned.

The Corpse King snorted coldly, but before he could speak, someone else defended him.

"Black King, this matter is not as simple as you think."

The one who spoke was Aurora King, who was sitting in the very center.

His simple words made Black King frown.

"You few are busy restraining the demon race and don't know what exactly happened in the Mirage Realm. Although the three old Daoists, Xuanwei and his companions, are only at the mid-stage of the Saint Realm, their secret techniques are enough to rival those at the high-stage of the Saint Realm!"

"Moreover, the three of them working together are a perfect combination of offense and defense, without any weaknesses. Even if I were to personally take action, I would not be able to defeat them easily."

"Although we returned empty-handed this time, it's not a big problem!"

Aurora King remained expressionless, but a glint of light flashed in his eyes.

"These are all temporary. Once I break through to the Great Perfection of the Saint Realm, no matter how many tricks they use, they won't be able to escape my grasp. Five years!! At most five years, I'm confident I'll completely reach the Great Perfection of the Saint Realm. If everything goes smoothly, it might even take three years."

Aurora King's confident words seemed to silence any further questions Black King Jiekui might have asked.

A brief silence fell over the main hall.

But a few breaths later, on another throne, a figure with cinnabar-colored hair and huge fangs let out a low laugh.

"King Aurora, I hope things go as smoothly as you say."

"You should know this too!! We don't have much time left."

"Within a hundred years at most, we must completely conquer the entire territories of the human and demon races. Only by sacrificing their entire territories can we fully welcome back the Emperor's true form."

He rose from his throne, the crimson mist swirling around him as he rose, but his face darkened.

"Otherwise, a hundred years from now, if the Dark Origin Land on the other side of the Boundless Sea were to erupt in chaos, there would be no Emperor to oversee it..."

"We're all going to die. Not one of us will survive!"

After speaking, his crimson vertical pupils swept over the other eight alien kings present like sharp blades.

It may be harsh, but it's the truth.

The hall fell into a deathly silence once again.

Even the Aurora King narrowed his eyes slightly, and a serious expression finally appeared on his previously expressionless face.

"Yaksha!! Don't worry!! A hundred years is enough. I will not let this lead to a dead end."

"I hope so! I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now!!"

Yaksha nodded to the crowd, then transformed into a cloud of blood mist and flew out of the Eight Kings Palace.

As the Yaksha King departed, the Black King Jiekui, who was standing nearby, also slowly rose to his feet.

"Farewell, everyone!!" He nodded to the Aurora King, then silently disappeared into the shadows of the hall and left.

Meanwhile, one of the other two alien kings also got up and left the place.

In an instant, only three figures remained seated on the throne in the vast Hall of Eight Kings.

Aurora King glanced at the remaining Corpse King and Stone King before slowly speaking.

"I heard that besides those three old ghosts, including the Venerable Xuanwei, another Saint Realm being has appeared in the Mirage Cloud Realm?"

Upon hearing this, the Corpse King Qinghun's eyes, which were covered by black animal hide, twitched slightly.

He remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

"That's right. The reason why this invasion of the Mirage Cloud Realm failed, besides the fact that those three old ghosts managed to escape by chance, is that an unfamiliar human Saint Realm expert has appeared in the Mirage Cloud Realm at some unknown time."

"This person slaughtered nearly half of my Corpse Clan and Stone Clan army!"

"Moreover, it was this very person who defeated the Supreme Crimson Halberd."

Shi Wang Nanming, who had been silent with his eyes closed the whole time, slowly opened his eyes at this moment.

He glanced at the Corpse King, then turned to look at the Aurora King.

"The Corpse King's words are true."

"As you all know, I have always been on good terms with Chiji. Therefore, I know more about the inside story than you do."

"This unfamiliar human Saint Realm expert's strength is definitely not to be underestimated!!"

"Because Chi Ji's defeat wasn't simply a matter of being defeated by this person. Moreover, if he hadn't acted decisively and risked sacrificing his own life force to escape, he probably would have perished at the hands of that human Saint Realm expert!"

At this point, the Stone King's expression also became somewhat solemn.

The Corpse King and the Aurora King narrowed their eyes slightly, as if they had heard some extraordinary news.

"It seems the human race is quite adept at hiding things!" King Aurora sneered. "If it weren't for this attack on the Mirage Realm, we probably wouldn't have known that they actually had a Saint Realm expert hidden in secret. We underestimated them before."

"As one of the eight kings of the alien race, Chi Ji also possesses the cultivation level of the mid-stage Saint Realm."

"In terms of direct combat, he might only be considered average among the eight kings, but in terms of speed, the Golden Wing Clan's agility is the fastest among the eight clans, a fact that even I cannot deny. Even he had to burn his own life force to survive, and almost lost his life in the process..."

"That human Saint Realm expert is probably at least at the high-level Saint Realm!!"

"It seems that I cannot easily attack the human race before I fully reach the Great Perfection of the Saint Realm!!"