Chapter 169 - 4,000x Return Multiplier

Theo struck. The frail leaf in his hand crumbled into dust. Where his blade-intent swept, only an empty void remained in its wake.

Corvinus’s pupils dilated with terror. He felt certain death in Theo’s descending strike. But as a renowned Blade-Master with an invincible heart, he did not cower. He raised his Viridian Aether-Blade high.

Decades of insight from the Corvinus Nine-Fold Matrix and his studies of the ancient Sword Grass relics fused into a blood-red blade-intent, crashing upward against the descending wave...

The resulting clash stunned everyone.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

A world-ending shockwave roared outward, cracking the Academy’s grand warding array. Junior operatives bled from their orifices. Without the Grand-Patriarch’s immediate intervention to suppress the spatial aftermath, the array might have collapsed entirely, killing countless disciples. The sheer magnitude of their attacks was horrifying.

But then, sharp gasps erupted across the courtyard.

Corvinus’s blood-red intent exploded on contact. Theo’s oceanic blade-intent slammed directly into the Viridian Aether-Blade.

*Crack.*

Fractures spread instantly across the Provincial-grade Extreme-Dao Weapon.

In the blink of an eye, the sword—forged with a century of Corvinus’s effort and the sect’s vast treasury—fragmented into a thousand useless pieces of jade.

The Abyssal Sovereign’s offhand strike had destroyed an Extreme-Dao Weapon?

Dead silence fell.

Everyone’s eyes brimmed with disbelief. Facing the unrelenting blade-intent continuing to descend upon him, Corvinus stood frozen. He had mentally prepared himself to perhaps lose to Theo. But to be so entirely crushed in his proudest specialty? His pride crumbled, leaving him staring lifelessly at the sky.

***

As the lethal intent neared, the Grand-Patriarch sighed. The horror of this strike would kill even a peak Supreme-tier Holy Master. Firm in his familial duty, he couldn’t just watch his descendant die. The ancient man flicked a subtle Aetheric pulse, dissolving the remainder of Theo’s attack, calming the spatial chaos, and restoring peace to the courtyard.

He glanced down at Corvinus. "After today, know your place. This era has countless true prodigies. You are decent, but you are nothing special. You may not reach true immortality, but with the Primeval Frontier opening, you could still touch the higher realms. Leave for the Frontier to hone yourself. Do not return until you break through to the Divinity Separation tier!"

Fearing Theo’s discontent, the Ancestor swiftly sent Corvinus away. It was a blatant move of protection.

Corvinus, surviving by a hair’s breadth, realized he couldn’t block even a single leaf-strike from the Sovereign. He doubted his entire foundation in Blade Arts. His eyes were dazed, full of confusion.

The Grand-Patriarch sighed heavily—Corvinus’s sword-heart was likely broken. Without a miraculous recovery, he would stall at the Supreme tier forever.

Amid countless gazes, Corvinus looked at Theo with a bitter smile, trying to console himself. Losing to the Abyssal Sovereign wasn’t shameful. The man had executed Grandmasters in the capital, after all.

Rumors in the Senate said Theo used underhanded Syndicate tricks, but feeling the sheer terror of Theo’s Blade Arts firsthand, Corvinus suspected he had simply crushed them head-on. This realization steadied his crumbling sword-heart. If he couldn’t win, he would just keep improving.

He descended, landing beside Lady Livia.

Facing her striking, valiant beauty, he composed himself. "Lady Livia, I am sorry to disappoint you. I could not secure the Primeval Obsidian Sword to open your secret realm. But watching the Sovereign’s blade-intent gave me new insight. A few months in seclusion, and my Blade Arts could advance enough to help you open the realm myself!"

He planned to take her back to the Primeval Frontier. But Livia frowned in deep irritation. "Who knows when the secret realm will shift its coordinates? I cannot wait months. Corvinus, go find a cave and seclude yourself. The Sovereign’s intent is so strong—a mere leaf nearly split you in half. With the Empyrean Edge, he can easily slice open the secret realm’s barrier. I will just ask him to join me!"

Corvinus, already battered and humiliated, gaped at her.

This...

He wanted to argue, to fight for her favor, but the words died in his throat.

Lady Livia ignored him entirely. She strode confidently toward Theo. Her purple hair flowed in the wind, the perfect lines of her waist flashing with each step—she was vibrant, striking, and fully aware of it.

"Sovereign Theo, I am Lady Livia, Princess of the Ares Vanguard!" she declared, her voice carrying across the courtyard. "Your Blade Arts are unparalleled. In the second sector of the Primeval Frontier, I discovered a blade-master’s secret realm, requiring top-tier Blade Arts to break the seal. It likely holds a Void Aether-Core. Refining such a core into your domain can elevate it into a true pocket-dimension, achieving the second realm of Divinity Separation. Help me open it, and we will split the gains equally!"

She spoke smoothly, suppressing her deep-seated disdain. Theo’s strength was genuinely shocking. But his reputation as a Syndicate womanizer, his flashy arrogance, and his lowly mortal origins repulsed her Demi-God sensibilities. If not for the rumored Primeval Aether-Forge, she wouldn’t even glance at a mortal.

The air, thick with mortal operatives, felt entirely stifling to her. She invited him, hoping some alone time would reveal if he truly possessed the Aether-Forge. If so, a little charm should secure it. If not, letting him touch her wasn’t entirely out of the question if it served her goals. But the thought of a mortal like Theo seeing or touching her made her skin crawl.

***

Corvinus watched in despair.

Theo, meanwhile, glanced at the glowing system prompt hovering over Livia’s head:

[4,000x Return Multiplier]

He knew advancing from the first to the second realm of Divinity Separation required elevating one’s domain into a pocket-dimension. A Void Aether-Core, rich in spatial laws, would vastly ease and enhance that grueling process.

A trip to the Primeval Frontier wasn’t a bad idea. But his Professor’s matters, long delayed, were finally at hand. Even a Void Aether-Core could wait. At the first realm of Divinity Separation, he wasn’t rushed. He would seek spatial artifacts when he reached the peak of his current tier.

Theo landed calmly, asking politely, "Is the secret realm opening soon?"

Livia, eager to leave the mortal Academy, nodded enthusiastically. "Very soon. We must leave now, or others will claim it!"

She thought her invitation, offering her closeness and a priceless artifact, would make the Syndicate Lord jump at the chance like a starving dog.

But, to her profound shock, Theo nodded impassively. "Then forget it. I am busy. Take care, Princess."

Leaving her stunned, Theo turned his back on the Ares Vanguard Princess and walked back to Sylvia...