Chapter 1241: Change of Plan
The forging competition was much noisier than the alchemy competition. The sound of hammers repeatedly striking hard materials on anvils echoed throughout the stadium. If not for the special barrier, the spectators would have felt the intense heat coming from the furnaces.
Each participant had already started shaping the materials given to them. As the hours passed, many artifacts gradually began to take form, and many people could already tell what kind of artifact the participants intended to create.
There were more than a thousand participants, and most of them were creating daggers. There were also some who were confident enough to forge swords and even spears.
When the allotted time finally came to an end, most of the participants had completed their creations, with only a small number failing to shape an artifact.
Just like in the alchemy category, the judges were prominent cultivators, but this time they were master blacksmiths. They came from various backgrounds to ensure fair judgment, and all of them were Immortal Saint cultivators.
After the assessment was completed, fewer than seven hundred participants advanced to the second round, with the best artifact of the first round falling into Riven Amberfein’s creation.
He had successfully forged a high heaven-grade sword.
After a short rest to replenish their energy, the second round began. Just like the first round, the participants were tasked with forging an artifact, but this time the materials were much more difficult to work with.
The materials prepared by the officials exuded a cold aura, and their treatment was completely different from that of ordinary materials.
The cheers from the spectators grew louder as the challenge became increasingly difficult.
Aldrian was still enjoying the tournament when he finally sensed Avergis’ followers from the higher heavens entering the city. They did not enter through the normal gate and instead flew directly through the barrier, causing them to be stopped by the city’s guardians.
However, the moment the guards learned that they were Immortal Saint cultivators and saw the symbol on their robes, they immediately gave way and quickly reported their arrival to the higher-ups.
After entering the city, the newcomers split into many groups. One of the demigods and his followers flew toward the temple, while the others headed in different directions.
The people who saw them were astonished by the sight of so many cultivators flying through the sky, and they could not sense any of their cultivation levels.
The groups spread throughout the city, dividing into much smaller teams. Meanwhile, the blond-haired man continued flying toward the stadium, where he could hear the loud commotion from afar.
Su Zhen, who had already received the report from his subordinates, left the VVIP room and quickly flew toward the blond-haired man to greet him. The moment he met the blond-haired man not far from the stadium, he cupped his hands respectfully while slightly bowing.
"Welcome to Su City, Your Excellency. I am the city lord of Su City, Su Zhen. May I know who you are and why you are here?" he asked.
The blond-haired man looked at Su Zhen with a calm expression before answering.
"You may call me Lord Breuze. I am here under the orders of the Highest Lord, the Mighty One Above the Heavens, to conduct an investigation with my team. We are searching for a dangerous individual who is suspected to have come to this region."
Su Zhen’s eyes widened in shock. The moment he heard the title Mighty One Above the Heavens, he instantly knew who Lord Breuze was referring to.
There was no one in the Second Heaven who dared claim such a title, and there was only one being whom all of Avergis’ followers addressed in such a manner.
It could be none other than the god Avergis himself.
"We want to determine whether that dangerous individual has come here. If we find no trace of that person, we will leave. I hope that City Lord Su can assist us with our investigation," Breuze continued.
"Of course, we will help Your Excellency. Please follow me, Lord Breuze. Let us talk in a more comfortable place so that I can better understand and assist with your mission. Please excuse me for receiving you like this, as we are currently in the middle of the grand event of this region," Su Zhen said as he guided Breuze and his group toward the city lord’s manor.
The people became even more curious. From the city lord’s attitude, it was clear that the newcomers possessed a status far above his own.
However, they could not observe any further as the city lord had already left with the group.
Aldrian, who sensed that they had moved away, contacted the twins once again.
"Have you already seen the group of Avergis’ followers from the higher heavens?"
"I saw two groups with four people each fly past nearby, Your Majesty. They spread their spiritual senses while one person in each group appeared to be using a type of artifact. I could sense that the artifact was exuding strong karma laws, which must be used to track something or someone. I have already hidden my presence to the fullest," Zervan replied.
"It is the same here, Your Majesty. I found three groups that have already flown past above me. Each group seemed to be carrying the same artifact. They appear to be searching for something," Zarven said.
"They are looking for us. It seems Avergis has already become suspicious of my arrival in the Second Heaven," Aldrian said, stunning the twins.
"Return to the inn. We will discuss this there," Aldrian ordered.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The twins answered. Without waiting any longer, they quickly moved to return to the inn undetected, while Aldrian directly teleported to his room.
The people near him were stunned when he suddenly disappeared, but their attention quickly returned to the competition.
They simply could not be bothered with someone they did not know.
Inside his room, Aldrian stood alone. Less than half a minute later, the twins suddenly appeared behind him and immediately dropped to their knees.
"Your Majesty," they greeted.
Aldrian nodded.
"We will change the plan. Just as I said earlier, Avergis is already suspicious that I am in the Second Heaven, and these people are the team he sent to confirm my presence here. I have decided that we also need to kill some of those newcomers to confuse both them and Avergis. We need to do that before they leave the city," Aldrian said as he turned to look at the twins.
"Your Majesty, would it not be better if we only kill our original targets? I think the effect would be the same. Moreover, if we kill some of those newcomers, it will draw even more of Avergis’ attention to us because he will become more suspicious of a powerful existence capable of killing so many strong cultivators from the higher heavens. It will undoubtedly strengthen Avergis’ suspicion that Your Majesty is in the Second Heaven," Zervan said.
"What you said is correct. It will make Avergis pay more attention to us. However, even if he becomes suspicious, he will still have doubts regarding the truth of what happened here. We need to make sure that his followers believe this is the work of Tarius’ followers," Aldrian replied.
Aldrian then stretched out his hand, and a moment later, a powerful devil energy appeared in his palm.
The sudden appearance of the devil energy astonished the twins.
They already knew that Aldrian possessed the ability to duplicate another person’s energy because he had already told them about it. That was also why he had been able to make Tarius and Avergis turn against each other.
However, this was the first time they had witnessed Aldrian displaying this ability before them.
He made it look effortless and natural, as though he had been one of Tarius’ followers from the very beginning. Even they could not sense anything wrong with the damned energy.
It was a perfect imitation of the energy possessed by Tarius’ followers.
What amazed them even more was the power contained within the energy resting in Aldrian’s palm. It was a level of power they believed could only exist within someone far beyond the Immortal Realm.
They already had countless experiences dealing with this kind of energy, and they believed that such energy could only be possessed by followers far stronger than those in the Immortal Realm.
Then Zervan and Zarven saw something materialize in Aldrian’s palm right in the middle of the devil energy. What materialized were two transparent crystals, and the devil energy quickly flowed into them.
The clear crystals rapidly turned red, resembling devil stones, special crystals that stored abundant negative energy or devil energy.
After a few moments, the devil energy disappeared, leaving only the two red crystals resting in Aldrian’s palm.
"Just as we planned, we will make sure that the chaos we are about to create appears to be the work of Tarius’ followers. Take these two crystals, and when you kill your targets, make sure to leave behind traces of Tarius’ followers’ energy at the scene," Aldrian said.
"Do not make the traces too obvious, but do not make them too faint either. We need them to think that the traces were left behind naturally rather than deliberately. At the same time, we need them to believe that the killer was someone far from weak."
The twins nodded as they took the crystals.
"Each of you will kill twenty of those newcomers. Your targets will be the newcomers who have not yet reached the Demigod Realm. I will guide both of you to your targets, and you must kill only the targets that I have selected," Aldrian continued.
"Once you are done with the assassinations, retreat to the inn and wait for a while before we continue with the other assassinations we have already planned."
Aldrian paused briefly before asking,
"Do you understand?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," the twins answered in unison.
"Good. Then let’s go hunting," Aldrian said with a smile.