Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100 Chapter 1472 Elder Joe of Violet Star Palace!
Previously on Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100...
With a sleek mechanical whisper, the entrance to the star shuttle glided apart, revealing three silhouettes who stepped down onto Cyrus's terrain, positioned only a brief way from the testing grounds.
A youthful figure led the way, his countenance marked by blatant superiority, as if merely touching down on this world demeaned his stature.
Following him was a man in his middle years, exuding a stately and serene presence that draped the area like tangible command.
Trailing behind appeared an elderly gentleman with flowing silver locks, his weathered visage holding the profound wisdom of one who had endured experiences beyond ordinary ken.
The seven clan leaders had scarcely begun to absorb the newcomers' arrival when realization dawned in their eyes, their stares fastening on the middle-aged individual with a blend of astonishment and caution they couldn't quite mask.
"It's you, Elder Joe from the Violet Star Palace." Mathew Grimes voiced it first, his tone even yet laced with a sharp undercurrent despite the outward poise. "What brings you to our holy world of Cyrus?"
The remaining clan leaders nodded in quiet support of the inquiry, their looks intent and anticipatory, eager for a rationale that could explain such an abrupt intrusion into a realm they revered deeply.
Instead of replying directly, Joe offered a wide, relaxed grin, his eyes wandering leisurely across the group of leaders with the casual assurance of someone utterly at ease. "I can see you're all faring nicely," he remarked, his voice infused with a friendliness that felt more like an act than true feeling, the sort of courtesy from a person confident in their dominance wherever they appeared.
Such self-assurance had solid roots. In the Violet Star Palace's framework, Joe held the status of a standard elder, a role that didn't shine exceptionally amid the multitude of formidable members in that mighty entity.
Yet, the instant he ventured outside the Violet Star Palace's territories and faced groups like the Black Dragon Clan, that routine position elevated into something considerably more formidable.
The Black Dragon Clan was deemed across the Divine Realm as one of the feeblest third-rate powers, a label that situated it in a wholly separate league from Joe's affiliated powerhouse.
In the Divine Realm's power ladder, the divide between them yawned vast, rendering an average elder from the Violet Star Palace akin in stature to the top figures of organizations at the Black Dragon Clan's tier.
This truth infused Joe's demeanor, molding the subtle arrogance he displayed while facing the seven clan leaders with his nonchalant, unperturbed smile.
The disparity between the entities wasn't subjective but a clear, irrefutable truth. The Violet Star Palace ranked among the mightiest third-rate powers in the whole Divine Realm, a rank secured by their absolute rule over a full star system, undivided and unyielding, owing allegiance to no adjacent powers and dividing rule with none.
In stark opposition, the Black Dragon Clan lacked such autonomy. They shared the Verdant Sky Star Realm with the Dark Phoenix Clan and the Heavenly Kirin Clan, three entities crammed into one cosmic domain, each too weak to claim it solely.
Besides those three, the four divine clans also held sway in the Verdant Sky Star Realm, further eroding the Black Dragon Clan's position in their own domain.
The Divine Realm's yardstick for evaluating third-rate powers allowed no vagueness or debate. To qualify as top-tier in that class, a group needed to wield total, unrivaled authority over a complete star realm independently, free from rivals or partners in governance.
This marked the bare minimum the mighty deemed fit for such acclaim, a bar the Black Dragon Clan had never cleared, while the Violet Star Palace had exceeded it ages ago.
Exactly this chasm in prestige rendered the scene baffling for the seven clan leaders. An everyday elder from the Violet Star Palace already surpassed them due to his affiliation, and now he stood on Cyrus unheralded and without announcement, showing up at their trial location accompanied by a youth and a senior.
Not one could devise a compelling motive for why someone from one of the Divine Realm's premier third-rate powers would bother journeying to their assessment world, and that missing explanation thickened the tension in the space between the groups with each ticking second.
Mathew Grimes kept his poise as he replied, "Your presence here catches us off guard, Elder Joe. The major trial is in progress right now. There must be some purpose to your coming."
Joe's eyes skimmed beyond the gathered clan leaders to fix on the Combat Legion Tower, his brows furrowing slightly as he examined it with the focused interest of one spotting a known object in strange surroundings.
He lingered there briefly in thoughtful silence, absorbing the edifice with a look blending familiarity and an elusive deeper sentiment, before finally uttering words.
"So, this is the Combat Legion Tower your forebear claimed from our Violet Star Palace."
The weathered rock, the subtle thrum of ordered energy, the mute dominance it emitted—all evoked the tower nestled in the heart of the Violet Star Palace. Despite distances in realms and eras, the link among the three towers remained indisputable.
From his early days, he had beheld such a one, mentored pupils inside it, and observed myriad prodigies ascend and tumble through its ordeals.
For an instant, his face showed a hint of reflection.
Then, it changed.