Aldrian was in his throne hall with several leaders from other stars who had come to visit him when he received an incoming communication from the elder guarding the teleportation portal to the central region.

"Your Majesty, there is a group from the Valroy family of Akares star, led by their young master, requesting an audience."

Hearing the group's origin, he was surprised. He would finally meet face to face with members of the Valroy family. Until now, he believed they had not dared to send anyone to meet him because they were being cautious. They, who were most likely the masterminds behind the scenes of some problems his empire was experiencing, had chosen not to approach him, and that was expected.

But now, what was their motive for finally daring to come before him?

However, after thinking, he realized that they must not yet know he had already marked them as one of the hostile families. They must have come without knowing that he already had his own opinion regarding them, and they thought that because they had never met him before, they could act normally in front of him.

He smirked at how confident they were and how wrong they were for delivering themselves to him like this.

The other guests, who saw Aldrian fall silent after receiving the incoming communication through an artifact, also waited. They did not disturb him, as he seemed to be deep in thought, until Aldrian finally looked at them.

"My apologies, but I must end our conversation here. There is another matter I need to attend to," he said.

"Ah, yes, of course, Your Majesty. Instead, we must apologize for taking too much of Your Majesty's time, and we would like to excuse ourselves. I hope that we can build a good relationship with the Aster Empire," one of the men said. The others also offered their farewells before leaving the palace.

After Aldrian was left alone in the throne hall, he thought to himself,

'Now, let's see our special guests.'

He spread his domain sense toward the teleportation station near the Xin family secret realm.

---------------------------------

At the teleportation station near the Xin family secret realm, a group of six men had gathered. The group was led by a handsome, black-haired young man in noble attire. If other characters from different stars were to see them, they would immediately recognize who they were because of the young man's fame and his family's reputation.

Who else could they be, if not the famous Valroy family from the Akares star?

They had arrived on the continent last night and finally came to the palace today. Randolf, who had already learned everything he needed to know about his visit, did not take long to decide to meet the emperor.

Thanks to the many visitors to this empire, information about it was no longer so rare.

Just as with those who had first set foot on the continent, they were truly surprised by the sights they saw here. Although they knew the reason behind the weakness of the average cultivators of the continent, they were still surprised. That was because what they sensed from the land was a quite rich energy, just like in some places outside, enough to propel many people to the Immortal Transition Realm.

What kind of large formation could prevent the entire populace of the continent from breaking through to the Immortal Transition Realm? This same formation also sealed the continent, making it a mysterious place since ancient times, which was truly baffling for them.

However, Randolf knew that this kind of formation could only be created by beings from higher heavens. And he knew who stayed on this Barisan continent—the two god-rebels, the ones his god and their alliance were still hunting to this very day. Personally, he truly wondered where their existence lay.

He could sense many traces of divine existence on this continent, yet he could not sense their presence directly.

"To think we have to wait just to visit someone. I never imagined there would come a time like this," one of the men beside Randolf, an elder of the family, whispered. With their reputation, they had never once waited in line to meet even an emperor anywhere. Because of that reputation, any power would at least show a measure of respect and not dare to underestimate their visit.

"Although he is strong and might have his own business, isn't this too much? We already came, yet we still have to wait for whatever reason," that person added.

"Shh, be careful with your words. We must be cautious, especially with those rumors saying Emperor Aldrian could know everything happening inside this continent. Although it sounds ridiculous, it is far better for us to behave, even if we are not standing before him," the other elder replied.

The first elder sighed. "I know, I was only saying what's on my mind and nothing more."

Randolf did not say anything. Instead, he thought about the moment he would finally meet the person who had become the hindrance to his path. His gaze lingered on the floating land in the distance, and he instantly knew that place must have been built by those god-rebels. To make such a vast land float so high could only be the doing of gods.

But though he was now in potential hostile territory, he was not overly worried. Those gods were indeed powerful beings, and even weakened by the laws of causality they could still kill him easily if they discovered his true identity. Still, he had many tricks that made him confident he could escape this place.

However, if he were exposed, Emperor Aldrian, whom he suspected of being an apostle of a god, would surely regard him as an enemy. That was something he wanted to avoid for now, because his true intent here was to build a relationship with Aldrian and learn his secrets.

He wanted to find any of Aldrian's weaknesses and exploit them later. The best outcome, of course, would be to use Aldrian to fight the devils so he would not have to do the hard work himself.

After thinking it through, he also considered the possibility that one of those rebel gods might be Aldrian's god. If so, he could use that to his advantage.

He could sit back and watch Aldrian cleanse the devils from the First Heaven while he quietly spread his god's influence.

After waiting for a few moments, the Xin family's elder finally spoke to their group."Esteemed guests, allow me to bring you to His Majesty."

They stepped onto the teleportation formation, and in the next instant they appeared within the palace complex beneath the floating land. They were amazed by the grandeur of the palace, and even Randolf, upon finally entering the central region, could not help but feel a surge of surprise.

'This place is truly like the higher heavens—the rich heaven and earth energy, and even the dense divine energy.'

It was the first time he had found a place in the lower heavens that contained such abundant divine energy. It was no different from when his past life had visited the higher heavens.

This made him wonder, had those rebels created this place simply to sustain their lives, or was there another purpose behind it? From what he could see, the way this place was built did not seem intended for themselves, but rather for someone else.

This palace was far too grand and excessive to exist solely as their dwelling or as the base of the rebels.

Randolf put those thoughts aside as the group was led to another teleportation formation inside the main palace. A moment later, they were already standing on the grounds of Aldrian's Palace.

They had seen the palace from afar and already knew how vast and grand it was. Yet, standing before it now, they could not help but once again feel admiration.

They had seen many palaces across many stars, but the one before them was truly on another level. Its grandeur, its immense size, and the richness of the energy—the densest they had ever felt in their lives—made this place seem more like a true heaven.

"This way, esteemed guests," the Xin family elder said as he guided them into the palace. Along the way, they looked around, unable to hide their awe. Even Randolf himself was surprised, for he had never seen a palace like this. Compared even to those in the higher heavens, this one was still far too excessive.

This only strengthened his belief that this place had indeed been built by the god rebels for someone else, and not for themselves.

'Is it for Emperor Aldrian himself?' There were still many things he did not understand regarding Aldrian. If those gods had truly built this place for him, then some questions arose.

Why would they do that?

Why would they need to do that?

Was it necessary to grant all of this to a mortal?

Even if Aldrian was an apostle of one of them, was it truly necessary for them to build all of this for him?

Why?

After passing through many places and long hallways, they finally arrived at the throne hall, where they saw Aldrian seated upon his throne.