Lidaz could guess exactly what Rellia was thinking. It was no surprise why he could since he too was once in her shoes. It was even more so for him since he came upon Raizen when he only had two members in his Clan. Two boys at that.

  Things were a bit different now and Lidaz was a proud member of Raizen’s Clan and he would die before he let some belittle them. Of course Rellia had no intention of doing that and he knew she instead saw this as an opportunity.

  And while he would never allow Rellia or anyone else in all the Multiverse to belittle the Clan, he wasn’t stupid. He was there lone Immortal. There was of course the leader of the Black Dawn currently undergoing her own breakthrough to the same realm, and while that would give them significant presence here on Acuva, Lidaz knew just who his actual counterparts are.

  The hegemons that existed back on Planet Infernal.

  The Matriarch of the Gravile Clan, was the weakest of the bunch when not counting Raizen, and she was in the Dominion Realm. Someone who could dominate this entire Universe without breaking a sweat.

  She could crush every force on this planet without ever stepping a foot on it if she was wish, and that was without considering the members of her Clan. Elder Zal for example, while in the same Tier of strength as Rellia, had been wielding the Eternal Flame for hundreds of years at this point, so the two could not compare.

  Elder Zal was only one of many such Infernals in the Gravile Clan.

  And they were the ‘weakest’.

  So Rellia knew just as well as Lidaz knew just how much of an opportunity this would be for well both of them.

  Unfortunately for Rellia though, this was not a decision that Lidaz could or would make. Raizen’s word was law and anything else was only a useless thought until Raizen gave it life.

  In Lidaz’s mind, if his Patriarch welcomed Rellia into the clan, then that would be great. If he decided against it, then that would be great too. That would be that.

  Knowing that, and knowing that Raizen was cultivating at the moment, Lidaz would save Rellia the trouble from asking further.

  “The Patriarch is unavailable for the time being. You are free to stay here though, but the areas to the rear of the stronghold are strictly forbidden.”

  As much another Infernal was given a certain level of trust in Lidaz’s eyes, that trust only extended so far. Rellia was not a part of the clan and thus would not be told that the Patriarch was undergoing a breakthrough, which was very delicate time for any cultivator.

  Rellia could of course make all the guesses she want and she would likely be able to guess correctly from all of the activity she has seen around the place, and even the tenseness she could spot in their actions.

  Perhaps if she was not an Infernal and didn’t have the upmost respect for Patriarch and their like, she would’ve probed further, asked more pointed questions, suggested certain things that perhaps would’ve brought her closer to the place she wasn’t supposed to go.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  But she knew just as well as Lidaz did, that Infernals were not necessarily a patient bunch. There would not be any time for probes of any kind. One wrong move could be your last wrong move.

  Thankfully, for all parties involved that wasn’t the case with Rellia. Though she now had a decision to make. She only planned to stay here for a few minutes to perhaps an hour at most before she went back to her own cultivation, but was this a chance she could afford to pass up?

  The answer was obvious.

  “I will wait.”

  Lidaz smiled as if he knew what her answer would be before she herself came to it.

  Before long, Rellia was shown a place to stay, which they had a few such places and told where to go if she needed assistance. It was mostly just for politeness as she planned to stay there and cultivate for as long as she had to wait.

  It could be 5 months or 5 years, she had long since grown accustomed to sitting and doing nothing but cultivating or even just thinking for decades or even centuries on end. Of course, if Rellia really did need something for whatever reason, then there would be someone to support.

  That of course made Lidaz think about a similar problem they faced back on Earth. They were in dire need of low levelled cultivators. While he knew of places that practically treated even Core Formation cultivators like slaves, his Patriarch wasn’t like that, and even he agreed that it just didn’t seem right for someone like that to be a ‘servant’.

  At least not for every little thing they needed doing.

  He would bring it up to Raizen at a later date.

  Though a part of him wished that Lirian and Frian were here. Neither of which were the strongest in the clan by any means but the influence of both of them were not to be understated.

  Even if Raizen himself didn’t already name them the pillars of the clan, just the fact that there were his first two members would never be understated. They could order the whole clan around if they so wished, but neither of them did so.

  They were aware of the influence they held and over the others but they also were painfully aware of their own youth and inexperience along with the fact that they were still in the Core Formation Realm.

  Of course, they were both driven and talented as all Infernals were at least up to a certain level, but they would never compare to the speed of advancement the Patriarch could show. It was just because of resources either, because those resources could have adverse effects or lose a lot of potency if one’s body couldn’t handle it.

  Raizen’s could, and more.

  Even now as he reached the Nascent Soul Realm, Lidaz knew it wouldn’t take him centuries to reach the Immortal Realm and beyond. Perhaps only one. Lidaz wasn’t too sure, but he knew that his rise to the top was always going to be guaranteed as long as he wanted it and he was alive to reach it.

  That last line caused him to look towards the room in which Raizen was currently located and it was the most well-guarded area in the stronghold. Half of the Black Dawn was concentrated in that area at all times.

  Plus Lidaz’s sense had never once left the area around it and the stronghold as a whole. Especially since Raizen’s personal guard were being forced to cultivate at the moment much to the displeasure of Vrusha who pledged to complain to Raizen when he was through.

  Lidaz knew the man didn’t have the balls though.

  He chuckled at himself while thinking that before finally clearing his mind and focusing his efforts on Raizen.

  …

  Now while everything was calm at the stronghold, or at least as it calm as it could be, the same couldn’t be said for other forces both near and far.

  Rellia hadn’t necessarily hidden herself, and why would she? No one would touch her if they knew what was best for them.

  But they saw where she headed…took note of the fact she was welcomed and spread expeditiously the news of the fact she hadn’t left, destroyed the place, or something else entirely.

  This would cause waves across Acuva and the reactions of many were easy to guess. Who were the people that greeted her? were had they come from and what were there goals? So many questions and as the information cog began to churn in earnest, the answers that most gathered were nothing short of shocking.

  Another Infernal…thousands of them…were on planet Acuva.

  Nothing was guaranteed as of yet, but that thought wasn’t so easy to dismiss.