Ariel clutched the recording in her palm and lay down on her bed. She had missed the comfort of her bed over the years and yet, when she finally got what she wanted, something was missing. Ariel gradually fell asleep while holding tight to the recording.
"Achoo" Bruce Sneezed.
"Some beauty must be thinking of me" Bruce shamelessly smiled as he just arrived back on his continent.
Bruce wanted to find his family right away, but he heard something interesting when people were talking about an event in a town he was touring.
"Did you hear that the Church of Light is finally opening its door to the public to celebrate the goddess's 20th birthday?"
"Yeah, I've heard about that"
"Apparently most major influences on the continent are attending the party"
"I mean who wouldn't? When the Goddess Sophia showed her face to the public, every man became infatuated with her"
"The Church of Light received countless proposals for her hand in marriage every day"
"I wonder who is the lucky bastard that gets to marry her?"
"She's too good for anyone. I bet that she'll be a maiden for life"
"That's true…"
Bruce touched his chin upon hearing the news and smiled. He disappeared from the town and headed toward the Church of Light.
Meanwhile, at the Church of Light, various guests have arrived at the palace. Powerful influences brought their heirs to propose to Sophia.
Even the Dark Forces was not an exception. The Church of Light had forbidden conflicts in the party as their stance was still neutral. As such, ancient families, The Alliance of Kingdoms, and The Dark Forces all sent representatives to the party.
Every prodigy's hope was to gain The Church of Light as an ally and marry the most beautiful goddess on the continent.
Within the palace, the party had already started with Sophia missing from view. In the corner, two men were arguing with one another.
"Deion, why haven't you accepted my dual request? Edward looked at Deion angrily.
After Bruce disappeared, Edward had no one to motivate him besides Deion. Deion on the other hand did not want to train with the battle-maniac prince. Hence, he tried his best to hide from Edward in the Imperial Academy.
As luck would have it, his father dragged him back home and made him the family successor after finding out that Deion awakened the ancient bloodline of their family.
Deion flat-out refused his father because he didn't want to break his promise to Bruce and leave his parents alone in the Imperial Academy. Deion turned into a panda right after because his father beat him up for 7 days straight.
After getting convinced by his teacher that Bruce's family would be safe within the Imperial Academy, Deion reluctantly left. Meredith, Sophia, Chelsey, and Edward also left the academy as well to train themselves.
Unlike Bruce, which had the support from the Alliance of Kingdoms, they had to rely on their own backgrounds for resources as the Imperial Academy no longer could nurture them at the speed that they needed.
Two years later, Sophia invited everyone to her birthday party so that the group could catch up.
While Deion and Edward were arguing, two beautiful girls in blue and pink dresses respectively walked toward them.
"What are you guys arguing about?" Chelsey asked.
Deion saw his beautiful girlfriend and immediately stopped talking to Edward.
"Don't worry about it" Deion said with a mischievous tone.
"I have to say, Chelsey, you look absolutely stunning in that dress"
"Thanks" Chelsey was happy to hear Deion's compliment.
"Chelsey, tell your boyfriend to accept my dual requests!" Edward thought that Chelsey could convince the lazy bastard.
"Deion, you should really train with Edward. Aren't you guys evenly matched?" Chelsey frowned upon hearing about Deion's laziness. Their two families have already verbally agreed to an engagement between two. It wasn't a good look for her family if her future fiancée kept being lazy.
"Fine, I'll fight you after the party" Deion begrudgingly agreed. He didn't want Chelsey to nag him about it throughout the party. He had been training hard over the past two years. He just wanted a night off with his friends.
"Meredith, why are you so quiet?" Chelsey turned around and looked at her best friend who barely smiled.
"Oh, it's nothing" Meredith replied with little emotion in her voice.
"Meredith, you have to stop worrying about Bruce"
"That guy is a freak of nature. There's nothing in this world that could harm him" Deion felt terrible seeing Meredith in this state. She had become much thinner after only focusing on nothing but cultivation.
"I know. Thanks, Deion" Meredith lightly smiled.
Even though she broke through to the Divine King realm, she was still too weak. Bruce's enemies were at the Great Emperor stage while she barely made any progress to bridge the gap between them.
"The Albero Family has arrived!" An announcement was made which got the attention of Deion's group. All of them knew about Bruce's background.
A beautiful woman with short black hair and long legs was escorted by several Divine Emperors and one Great Emperor expert.
"That's Rebecca Albero, the prodigy of the Albero family"
"She reached the Divine Emperor stage at the age of 60" Chelsey informed everyone.
"Hmph, nothing special. I could probably reach it before that age" Deion shrugged.
"Shh, don't let them hear you!" Chelsey pinched Deion's waist.
"Chelsey, we're also from ancient family backgrounds. Why are we even afraid of them" Deion huffed because he didn't like the Albero family one bit.
Both Deion and Chelsey were escorted by a Great Emperor expert from their families as well. The Albero family could only back down if The Wakeford and the Carter families joined hands.
"You still shouldn't cause unnecessary conflict!"
"I know but looking at them ticked me off" Deion went to the table and drowned himself in shrimp.
More and more powerful influences showed up including representatives from ancient families. In the Valrok continent, there are 12 ancient families with Great Emperor backgrounds. Every single one of those families showed up to see Sophia that night.
The party started to heat up as more guests arrived. However, it turned deadly quiet when the final ancient family showed up.
"The Kingston Family has arrived"
Leading the Kingston Family was a handsome man with two Great Emperors by his side and many Divine Emperors behind him.
Out of the 12 ancient families, The Kingston Family was the strongest. Their background was comparable to the Church of Light.
The handsome young man's name is Vincent Kingston, the next leader of the Kingston family. He reached Divine Emperor at the age of 50. Currently, his cultivation is at Mid Stage Divine Emperor at the age of 70. The strongest talent on the continent thus far.
Vincent looked around to find Sophia but to his disappointment, he didn't see her presence anywhere.
"Hello Mr. Bennet, when will I get to see your daughter?" Vincent haughtily walked up to James Bennet, Sophia's father.
"She will be out shortly" James lightly smiled.
The party went on for one hour until the music stopped. Everywhere turned dark except for the light in the center.
A few moments later, Sophia walked out to greet everyone. She let her beautiful golden hair fall down to her waist while wearing a golden dress. Her flawless face was no longer hidden behind a veil. Everyone gasped when they saw her for the first time.
"Hello everyone, I hope you will enjoy tonight's party" Sophia smiled.
Immediately, all the men were infatuated with her once again. Vincent's eyes shined the moment he laid his eyes on her. Unfortunately for him, his lecherous gaze was noticed by a certain someone.