"Hades! The star map of this world cluster has been completed. Point out the part you want!" The Lord of the Ten Guardians approached the Lord of the Dead and revealed a vast star map in the palm of his hand.
This map was created by a team of Titans, charting the world cluster abandoned by the evil gods. It detailed every life-bearing world, including its resources and the level of civilization. The accuracy was extremely high.
"You know I don't need anything," Hades replied, looking back at the other epic Titans before shaking his head. His tone was respectful, as he regarded the Lord of the Ten Guardians as an elder.
He respected this Titan greatly. When Hades had first returned to the world of Erathia and arrived at the Titan territory, it was this Lord who had welcomed him. At that time, the Lord wasn't as powerful as he is now, but both of them had grown stronger since then.
"This is your reward," the Lord of the Ten Guardians said with a smile, though his tone left no room for refusal as he pushed the star map closer to Hades. "In this world cluster, there are three major worlds, though they've nearly been ruined by the evil gods and are on the verge of being downgraded. There are also 7,863 medium worlds, though the number of small worlds has yet to be calculated."
"You won't be able to claim a major world, but you can choose 200 medium worlds. Don't expect much from them, though. The civilizations have been toyed with by the evil gods and are on the brink of collapse. Some have already fallen apart, so you'll only be able to extract resources."
"I don't need these. Even if you give them to me, I wouldn't have the time to manage them, and they'd only end up benefiting certain members of my council."
"But if you take nothing, it will benefit others, which would be unfair to you."
"In that case, I'll give my reward to my father. Even though he refuses to acknowledge me, I still recognize him."
"You…" The Lord of the Ten Guardians sighed and rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache. The relationship between this undead Titan, Hades, and the Titan Lord Zuxili was complicated.
Strictly speaking, Hades, though possessing Titan blood and some heritage, could not be considered a true Titan since his soul was no longer the original one. But in terms of self-identity, Hades completely regarded himself as a Titan. If the standards were relaxed a bit, he could indeed be seen as an epic Titan, especially since he had reshaped his skeletal body into a true Titan form using primal power. Hades had recently displayed this form.
"Zuxili won't accept it," the Lord of the Ten Guardians shook his head. Hades was a powerful undead being with Titan blood. A Titan of such strength couldn't be shut out, and it was important to maintain a friendly attitude. Alienating him would be foolish. Even though Hades wasn't a significant threat to the Titan race, making him an enemy would be unwise.
"That's why I'd rather give my share to you, Lord," Hades said.
"Haha, I don't need those resources. But since you're not managing them, I'll hold onto them for you," the Lord of the Ten Guardians responded, not refusing. From any perspective, Hades was a junior to him, and safeguarding the reward on his behalf was no issue.
At their level, their reliance on external resources had diminished greatly. The Lord of the Ten Guardians depended more on the ten epic creatures he had tamed than on the army of followers other Titans maintained.
...
"Hades, Lord of the Dead…" Muria looked at him with a complicated expression. He couldn't forget the events that occurred when he first left the Titan Isles.
The Undead Council had launched a necromantic plague to replenish their ranks of low-level undead cannon fodder. Billions of people lost their lives in the disaster, and this disregard for life disgusted Muria.
"Was it Hades who established the tradition of the Undead Council wiping out a nation every hundred years?" Muria wondered, tempted to ask him directly. However, he wasn't even qualified to stand before Hades yet and could only observe from afar.
"What are you thinking about, little Muria?"
"Mother…" Muria turned to his golden dragon mother and shared his doubts.
"You're overthinking it, little Muria. If Hades truly disregarded life in such a way, do you think he'd be standing before the Lord of the Ten Guardians, chatting so casually? Titans may not care much about humans, but they still respect all natural creatures."
"So, this policy of destroying nations every century was made by others in the Undead Council?"
"That's probably the case. While Hades founded the council, I've heard that he's quite low-key, spending most of his time in slumber. The council's operations and policies were likely established by later undead epics, not by him."
"If that's true, then this issue should be brought to his attention. This blatant disregard for life must stop."
...
"Ah, it's you again, little one! I can't believe I'm seeing you here." After a long wait, Muria finally saw the epic Titans finish dividing the spoils. As the Lord of the Ten Guardians prepared to leave, he noticed Muria. "Would you like to return to Erathia with me?"
"Lord of the Ten Guardians, I've already reached Legendary Tier 4," Muria replied with a shy smile.
"Oh, I see. So, were you the one who discovered the evil god's followers?"
"No, it was my parents."
"Not bad." The Lord glanced at Muria's golden dragon mother without any change in his expression. At his level, nothing could surprise him—certainly not a golden dragon falling in love with one of his kin.
The only mildly interesting thing was that this dragon had borne a child with one of his people, something he'd never seen before. It was a rare occurrence.
"Where do you want to go? I can give you a lift."
...
"Yinhuang World, I've returned." Standing on the barrier of a medium world, Muria muttered as he stepped through a small void gate, followed by his parents, Ansol and his golden dragon mother. They had been transported back together.
Muria hadn't felt comfortable asking the Lord of the Ten Guardians to drop him off at the small worlds he planned to conquer.
"So, we're back to square one, and we've only conquered a single small world," his golden dragon mother remarked, looking down at the world below.
"Is this the medium world you gained?" Ansol asked, gazing at the world beneath them. He could see a clear line dividing it in two.
"Let's take a closer look."
...
Muria brought his parents to the city he had established in Yinhuang World. The city had undergone drastic changes since his departure.
Its size had grown tenfold, with skyscrapers hundreds of meters high, magical buildings emitting brilliant elemental light, making it feel like a dreamlike paradise.
Giants patrolled the skies on massive eagles, and dragons soared between the buildings. Strong Yinhuang giants roamed the streets, now the most populous race in the city, though the core buildings were still controlled by the void army. Any trouble from the giants could be suppressed quickly.
The most striking features of the city were a 3,000-meter-tall stargate swirling with elemental energy and a small floating city hovering above the void city.
Muria stared at the floating city in silence, feeling a sense of foreboding. At that moment, Serfilia, the Dragon Princess of Fire, noticed his return and flew over to greet Muria, Ansol, and his mother.
"What's going on?" Muria asked, pointing to the floating city, his face expressionless. He had already seen winged humanoids moving in and out of the city, with many entering the void city below.
"As you can see, Your Highness, your fiancée has brought a floating city through the stargate into this world," Serfilia answered respectfully.
"Is she still here? In the city?" Muria asked, holding onto a sliver of hope, though he already knew the answer.
"Yes, Your Highness. She's waiting for you in the floating city. She mentioned it when she arrived."
"Tsk, little Muria, don't keep the young lady waiting any longer. She's been waiting for you for so long," his golden dragon mother teased as a surge of force propelled him toward the floating city.
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