"Oh?" A smile tugged at Yuan’s lips when he saw what Owen pulled out of his spatial ring.

"I thought you didn’t need to rely on that thing to deal with me," he said with a mocking smile.

"Shut the hell up, you damn monster!" Owen roared as he controlled the treasure, causing it to hover before him.

"I wouldn’t use that treasure if I were you," Yuan said while shaking his head.

"And why the hell not?! If you think you can fool me—"

"Because I will have to fight you seriously, and I don’t want to accidentally kill you."

Owen stared at him with wide eyes and in stunned silence.

"Hahaha!" He burst out laughing a moment later.

"Even if you are somehow hiding more power, you will never match—"

Owen abruptly halted his speech and even nearly choked on his own laughter when an unfathomable aura suddenly exploded from Yuan’s body.

"Y-You!"

His gaze shifted between Yuan and his treasure nonstop.

"That power! Impossible!"

While Owen was in a daze, Yuan controlled the millions of glowing swords in the sky, combining them into a single, behemoth sword.

<Divine Judgment!>

The sword descended toward Owen with immense speed, but the target himself was too shocked to even realize it.

By the time he realized, it was already too late.

The massive sword plunged into Owen from the top of his head and continued to fall until it pieced through the entire island.

However, while it appeared as if his body had been cleanly cleaved in two, the blade did not actually sever him and only left him pinned in place instead.

An immense amount of Demon Sealing Aura rushed into Owen’s body, and despite his desperate attempt to fight back, he was sealed almost instantly.

When Owen was sealed and turned into a stone statue, his control of the treasure was disrupted, and it fell to the ground with a soft thud.

Yuan picked up the treasure and muttered, "As much as I want to see the power of this thing, I have a promise to keep."

After putting away the treasure, Yuan grabbed Owen’s petrified body and jumped into the crimson sea together.

<Water Tunnel!>

Yuan used Water Tunnel for the first time, traversing through the Bloody Expanse and returning to Selena and the others in the blink of an eye.

"Here’s Owen, as promised," Yuan said as he emerged from the crimson sea, rising from its depths in a manner similar to the Primal Sovereign of the Seas.

"He’s not dead... right?" Helena looked at Owen’s petrified body with a deep frown.

"No, he’s just sealed. I can unseal him right now if you want."

"Do it." Helena said with a cold smile on her face, even cracking her knuckles in excitement.

"I’m unsealing him now."

Yuan unsealed Owen the next moment.

"You bastard! I will—"

Owen immediately began hurling curses loudly, but the moment he saw Helena and Angela hovering before him, his entire body stiffened.

"H-How? How the hell are you outside Death Paradise?!" Owen screamed in disbelief, still thinking that he was in Bone Atoll.

Although the sky was dark, a prime characteristic of Death Paradise, Owen’s mind was too occupied with Helena and Angela’s presence to notice it.

’I need to run!’ Owen subconsciously began to run, but his attempt was halted before it could even begin.

"Don’t even think about leaving, you little traitor."

Helena suddenly grabbed him by his neck before his body could even move.

"W-Wait! I can explain!" Owen hastily said.

"I’ll listen to you... once I exhaust some of this anger!"

However, before Helena could start her torture session, Yuan said to her, "Before you kill him, let me ask him some questions."

Then he said to Owen, "If you answer my questions, I will ask them to spare you."

"I-I will answer them! All of them!" Owen quickly replied.

"What was your master’s goal? Why did you want the Transcendents’ blood?"

"I don’t know! The Demon God didn’t tell me anything besides to acquire their blood!"

"What?! You are working with the Demon God?!" Selena and the others were immediately alarmed by his words.

However, Yuan quickly explained, "He just thinks that he’s working with the Demon God. I highly doubt the Demon God is really behind him. If the Demon God really needed your blood, he wouldn’t resort to such schemes."

"Where is my blood, anyway?" Helena glared at him.

"I-It’s in my spatial ring..."

"What were you going to do after acquiring it?" Yuan asked after snatching his spatial ring.

"I need to deliver it to my master in the Boundless Expanse..." he said.

"And how are you going to do that?" Angela asked.

"I was going to contact my master to update him, but before I could do that, he appeared before me." Owen said, pointing at Yuan with his eyes.

"How do you contact him? Through this?" Yuan showed Owen his own treasure.

He silently nodded.

"Is that so? Well, that’s all I need to know."

Yuan turned around, as if ready to leave.

"Wait! What about your promise?!"

"Oh, right. I almost forgot." Yuan turned to face Helena and asked, "Can you spare him?"

"No." Helena instantly refused.

Yuan looked at Owen and shrugged in a nonchalant manner, "I tried."

"B-Bullshit! You didn’t even put in the slightest effort!" Owen roared loudly.

"Why should I? I only said I’d ask them, and that’s exactly what I did. Whether they are willing to spare you or not is not up to me."

"I’ll excuse myself now. If you need anything from me, you can let Selena or Angela know. As for the blood I gave him... you can keep it," Helena said to Yuan, preparing to drag Owen away.

"N-No! Spare me!! Please!!!" Owen started begging for mercy.

"You can ask Selena because I will also join Helena," Angela then said.

Without another word, the two of them vanished into the void, dragging Owen away with them.

"What are you going to do now?" Selena suddenly appeared beside Yuan and asked him.

Yuan looked at Supreme Ruler Dena, who was still in her cocoon, and then looked at Owen’s treasure in his grasp.

"I am going to see who’s behind this whole thing," he said.

"You’re going to contact the one supporting Owen?" Selena’s eyes widened at his words, even swallowing nervously.

After all, he was going to contact someone who might be on equal terms with the Demon God.

Some time later, Yuan began examining the treasure in detail.

[???]

[?????]

[??????????]

Unsurprisingly, the system had no information on the treasure.

However, just from his own examination, Yuan could tell that it was mostly a communication treasure with some offensive function.

Eventually, Yuan activated the treasure and tried to contact the Eternal behind everything.

Soon, a voice entered Yuan’s head.

"What do you want?"

"?!?!"

Yuan’s eyes widened with shock and disbelief after hearing this voice because he actually recognized it.

"Why are you staying silent?" The voice returned moments later when Yuan didn’t respond, sounding annoyed.

"Hahaha!" Yuan suddenly burst out laughing.

"Have you gone insane?"

"I knew we’d meet again one day, but I never expected it would be in this manner, Zaaran!" Yuan said.

The Eternal behind Owen was none other than Zaaran, who had turned Kulas into a giant and started the first major war in the Nine Heavens.

"How the hell do you know my name?!" Zaaran exclaimed in shock.

"Wait! You are not Owen! Who the hell are you?!"

"I know it’s been a while since we last spoke, but have you really forgotten my voice already?" Yuan said.

"We’ve met before...?" Zaaran muttered before falling into a pondering silence.

Eventually, he spoke again, "You! I remember! You are the bastard who killed Kulas! Tian Yang!"

"Took you long enough, you son of a bitch!" Yuan laughed out loud.

"I should be the one laughing! I thought you had perished long ago, but it seems like I am fated to end you with my own hands!" Zaaran also burst out laughing.

"What happened to Owen, you little bastard?" Zaaran asked a moment later.

"I will tell you, but under one condition," Yuan said.

"You are in no position to make any demands!" Zaaran roared.

"Even though I have what you want? The blood of a Transcendent?"

"How the hell do you know that?"

"What do you think?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Zaaran asked, "What do you want?"

"I want to fight you!" Yuan passionately announced. "Come meet me at the Demonic Realm and fight me!"

"..."

Zaaran fell silent again, seemingly stunned speechless by Yuan’s request.

But before Zaaran could respond, Yuan continued, "Why are you so quiet? Don’t tell me you’re afraid of me, an insignificant human? Worried that I might defeat you again, you pathetic little worm?"

"I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE, YOU ARROGANT LITTLE BASTARD! SEVEN DAYS! I WILL BE THERE TO END YOUR INSIGNIFICANT LIFE IN SEVEN DAYS!"