With the backers of the Empire now gone, the greedy eyes that had been prevented from their presence turned once more towards Raon's Empire.
Unfortunately, it was too late. Raon decided to announce himself as the true Emperor, as his facade would crumple regardless of the oncoming battles.
He announced himself, Rio Kigost von Liakroso, as the sole Emperor of the newly announced Tier-2 Liakroso Empire and Altair Kigost von Liakroso as the crown princess.
His current realm was the same as that of other Tier-2 Empire Emperors, making them unable to initiate a conquest war without a proper reason.
The other reason he announced it was that his empire was far away from the ones directly under the control of one of the seven Tier-1 empires, as he had chosen an area with a geographical advantage when he started his conquest.
The worst part for them was that there was literally no information regarding him, as Raon, Junho, and Si-Eun had died according to the Daiyu Sacred Land more than a century ago.
His masters had isolated the soul fire that was placed in Daiyu Sacred Land to make themselves appear dead and live here in isolation easily.
Soul fire was a fire that was a portion of a soul isolated from cultivators whose deaths were a considerable loss to their respective powers, as it was quite an expensive method.
It required separating a part of one's soul, which was quite risky if not for the safe method found and practiced, which was naturally quite expensive for most powers.
The soul fire formed a link with that separated piece and the cultivator's soul and would extinguish when the cultivator died, as it represented their life. It was called soul fire solely because it appeared to be burning like a fire, but it actually didn't burn at all.
They did that mainly for Raon, as their soul fire would have gone out as soon as they returned to the Upper Realm due to the realm boundary, but for Raon, that was not quite the case.
They had to use some methods that would be quite risky to perform without the prerequisite knowledge and great mastery over one's own power, as it could lead to permanent soul injury.
The soul fire may seem like an ineffective method as it could be removed, but that was only because it was primitive for Raon's masters and not others.
After its connection to the source, the cultivator is cut off, and the soul fire that appears like a blue fire inside a glass jar shatters, making a loud noise.
The loud, shattering noise would indicate that the cultivator to whom the soul fire belonged has finally died due to any reason.
It might seem too expensive for others, but for Daiyu Sacred Land, it was present for all the Elders, their legacy disciples, and the most talented disciples from the core sect.
Similar to them, Raon had also invested as he created soulfires to stay informed about the ones that he taught advanced techniques and the shadows that worked directly under him.
In the past centuries, a lot of them had died off and changed, so he had to be aware of everything, even though the reports from his shadows were much more detailed for such work.
Even his facade of dual empresses had changed to sole empresses long ago because Mia had reached the limit of her potential and died off more than a century ago.
The same went for her sister, leaving her niece, or the previous queen of the Queendom, as the current Empress before Raon came out as the Grand Emperor, Rio Kigost von Liakroso.
Due to his current strength, no nearby Tier-2 Empire could take over his territory without waging a proper war that needed to be justified lest they gain the ire of some Tier-1 Empire.
Raon's strategic choice of the land that he would rule played a big role in saving him from meaningless battles, as no empire could go to war without a justified cause.
Another reason was the high tension already existing between the 7 Tier-1 Empires due to the Tesra Empire allying with another one in the past to become a Tier-1 Empire.
The only reason tensions were rising without any wars being waged or all-out conflicts occurring was because of the inter-world portals that would become functional soon.
But for Raon, this time was enough for his entire empire's strength to skyrocket, as they would be able to consume all the gains they had accumulated.
The new territory that he amassed would also be joined and become one with his previous one, merging to form a proper empire.
The only issue that he held was the demon beasts, as they were waiting to attack somewhere to gain experience and cultivate.
Yet his empire has expanded too much to the point that the boundaries span the entire Demon Beast region, making it unable to attack.
Of course, he was worried about the all-out wages for conquering the land, as small-scale skirmishes were still happening throughout his empire.
No empire existed without demon beasts or territorial conflicts amongst humans, as it would make the cultivators regress in a peaceful environment.
In the end, Raon decided to alter his plans, as he gave rank-4 stones to the demon beasts and asked them to attack the Cloud Sea Empire.
It would be quite bothersome for them to make the mindless younglings change directions completely opposite to the previous one, but he was paying enough compensation for that.
It was still a secret how he made a deal with violent demon beasts that he spoke to no one about, as it would most likely result in his demise.
The Liakroso Empire grew at an exponential rate as the number of demon beasts decreased on one of its borders, while the other borders were constantly at war.
The entire empire was in an active state for the next century as finally the inter-world portals were going to open and all the powers were enthusiastic about the opening.
The only one who wasn't bothered was Raon, as he decided to spar with Altair over caring about an opportunity he had already given up on in the past.
He was well aware that it wouldn't be of much use for someone like him who had a unique cultivation path that must be paved by himself.
As the two were sparring after a long time, Raon asked Altair to give her best as the two appeared on the opposite side of an arena.
The arena was huge, with a diameter of 500 meters in radius, and protected by formations to keep the damage inside the dome, which had a height of 100 meters.
The two were aware of each other's fighting style, as it wouldn't be the first time they sparred against each other, but it would surely be the first time they used their real weapons.
Both the weapons were built by Raon and Altair themselves for their own use with the resources gathered throughout the Empire as well as themselves on their journeys.
Raon had unsheathed his sword, which was blackish in color but had a line of silverish-blue in the center, surrounded by a looping red arc as the black color of the sword darkened towards its edges.
The longsword's blade was 1.3 meters in length, with its hilt and pommel together being around 20 centimeters and measuring approximately 1.5 meters in its sheathed state.
Raon's sword was long, heavy, and very sharp, built from the rare, unknown materials he took from the ruins as well as the different places that he explored.
On the other side, Altair stood holding a slightly curved sword that was only 85 centimeters in length and had silver-metallic and jade-green colors that were separated by a purple line.
Her entire sword was only a little over a meter in length, as her left hand was free to use the dagger on her waist, the chakram on her wrist, the short lance, the short spear, or...
This was the main difference between the two: Altair used a sword with her right hand and different weapons with her left, but Raon used his longsword with his right hand or both his hands, hence its bigger design.
"Beware. It's the first time we are using a real weapon, and it'll surely hurt" said Rona, still feeling conflicted about this spar.
"Father, I am not a little girl that needs protection, and I have already proved that to you" answered Altair confidently as she took a stance to attack.
In response, Raon smiled wryly as he sealed his cultivation to match Altair's cultivation like always, but this time, her battle intent soared to the extreme.
Raon settled down into a casual fighting stance, but his mind wasn't entirely focused on defending but rather on how not to hurt Altair.
Raon was one of the cruelest sparring partners for anyone other than Altair; even his masters had to tread carefully when they used to spar with him.
Suddenly, a metallic vibration rang throughout the arena as Roan blocked Altair's attack, but he had been pushed back by three steps due to the force that he failed to neutralize.
"I see..." said Raon as he smiled, genuinely happy at his daughter's achievement.
"It makes sense you challenged me, but you should have consolidated first" said Raon as he used his strength to push her back eight steps without moving from his position.
The two were at a standstill in the empty grounds before Altair moved forward, attacking with her sword once again as her heart beat wildly from the excitement.