Sunday was steadily pressed to the ground by Derick.
Acheron looked at Derick, her eyes asking if she still needed to maintain the surrounding Nihility.
Derick nodded, wanting to exchange a few more words with Sunday.
Acheron responded with her eyes, indicating she understood. She then continued to maintain the barrier around them, preventing anyone else from seeing what was happening with Derick.
Derick walked over to the fallen Sunday and extended a hand to help him up.
As he helped him, Derick said to Sunday, "While I admit that a seven-day weekend is a fine system, it's something best achieved through one's own efforts, not as a gift from the powerful. Sunday, I hope you can let this go and see what else the universe has to offer. You might find a new perspective."
Sunday stared straight at him.
"What is it?" Feeling a little uneasy under Sunday's gaze, Derick asked.
"After defeating me, those are the words you choose to say," Sunday said to Derick.
"What else? What should I say?"
Derick still didn't understand what Sunday meant.
"You walk the Path of[Voracity], devouring other energies to replenish your own. I thought that after defeating me, you would plan to kill me completely, to cut the problem off at the root," Sunday said.
Hearing this, Derick shook his head.
"I'm one of the good guys, not some evil villain. Just because I wield the power of devouring doesn't mean I'm a follower of Oroboros, bent on harming the entire universe."
At this point, Derick's tone shifted as he continued, "Besides, from now on, your Dream of Oneness has failed. Your attempt to resurrect[Order]will surely make you a target for The Family. Everyone on Penacony, from all the different factions... your name will likely become infamous across the entire Cosmos. Even if you went out and told everyone I use the power of Voracity, not many would believe you."
Derick was feeling quite confident now.
After devouring the Dream of Oneness, Derick's power had already reached the level of a typical Emanator.
The Stellarons wouldn't act lightly, so while Derick couldn't yet do whatever he pleased in the universe, he no longer had to worry about many of the things that had concerned him before.
Calling Derick a follower of[Voracity]would, at most, make others a little more guarded around him. But until he actually did something to endanger the world, no one would move against him.
"That's true," Sunday nodded, acknowledging Derick's point.
Then, he continued to look at Derick, smiling as he said, "But I won't speak of your affairs, either. I have no interest in doing something so thankless."
"What do you plan to do next?" Derick asked Sunday again. "If you want to leave, I can send you away right now."
Derick wasn't worried about Sunday trying to create another Dream of Oneness. A place like Penacony, with the perfect convergence of timing, location, and popular support, wouldn't appear a second time. Sunday couldn't pull it off even if he wanted to.
"I want to stay in Penacony for a while longer and see what others think of my Dream of Oneness," Sunday told Derick. "But whatever I decide, I will let you know."
"How can you stay in Penacony looking like this?" Derick asked.
Sunday said, "It wouldn't be difficult for me to disguise myself in Penacony."
"Alright, I'll tell everyone you escaped after being defeated."
"Thank you."
Sunday wanted to sort through his thoughts and didn't say much more to Derick. After a word of thanks, he quietly hid himself, waiting for Derick and Acheron to disperse the power of Nihility around them.
Acheron withdrew the power of Nihility without questioning Derick's decision in the slightest.
She trusted Derick's judgment in these matters.
What interested Acheron was something else entirely.
She looked at Derick and asked, "Derick, your strength has increased, but what about your devouring ability?"
"I suppose it's gotten stronger, too."
Derick thought for a moment before replying to Acheron.
Hearing this, a happy smile appeared on Acheron's face.
Wasn't this exactly what she had been waiting for?
The power of Nihility gradually faded, and Acheron and Derick reappeared before the others. Sunday had remained hidden.
The others were also just waking up from the Dream of Oneness. Seeing Derick, they all ran over.
"Derry, how did it go? Did you defeat the enemy?" Cipher asked Derick.
"Of course." Derick nodded matter-of-factly in response to Cipher's question. At the same time, he gave her a subtle look.
[Cipher, with Sunday in this state, if we don't take the Oak Family's assets, they'll just fall into someone else's hands.]
[Don't worry, Derry, I'll definitely steal it all clean.]
Taking advantage of the chaos, Cipher quietly slipped away from the crowd, ready to begin her career as a master thief.
Castorice asked Derick worriedly, "Derick, were you in any danger? And Sunday? Where is he?"
"He escaped after he was defeated."
Seeing the other people from Penacony in the crowd, Derick answered immediately.
Among the crowd, Robin keenly sensed that something was off about Derick's words. After a moment's thought, a smile couldn't help but spread across her face.
Derick had defeated her brother, but he hadn't hurt him. He had let him go.
Robin's heart was deeply stirred.
Her gaze towards Derick was now tinged with a tangible longing.
Derick briefly explained what had happened to the people around them. After he finished, he let out a sigh of relief, planning to get some rest.
Just as he was about to say so, Derick saw old General Huaiyan, his face simmering with suppressed rage.
Seeing General Huaiyan, the hairs on Derick's body instantly stood on end.
Damn it. I was so caught up in the fight that I completely forgot about General Huaiyan.
He probably wants to throw me into a forge and smelt me like an iron ingot.
"Do you need to rest? If not, come with me," Huaiyan said to Derick with a cold snort.
"Yes, I understand."
Though Derick had been majestic and imposing when facing Sunday, his bravado vanished in the face of Yunli's grandfather. He didn't dare utter the "Grandpa Huai" he had shouted during the battle.
Derick obediently followed Huaiyan.
Seeing Huaiyan's furious expression, Stelle couldn't help but complain, "What's with old General Huaiyan? Derick just saved Penacony, and he's treating him with that kind of attitude. Even if you're a Xianzhou General, that's going too far."
Hearing Stelle's complaint, Castorice and the others all wore awkward expressions.
General Huaiyan certainly wouldn't treat Derick like that, but for Yunli's grandfather to treat Derick this way… that was perfectly normal.
"Um, let's go rest first, let's rest," Castorice could only say.
Even though her heart ached for Derick, she couldn't say General Huaiyan was wrong to be angry with him in this situation. Castorice imagined herself in the General's shoes, and what she would do would probably be even more furious than what General Huaiyan was doing.
…
However, due to the influence of the Dream of Oneness, the dream world and the real world were in a chaotic state. It would take some effort for General Huaiyan to find a suitable place to rest.
Huaiyan led Derick to a deserted area outside the Penacony Grand Theater.
Huaiyan shot Derick an irritated look.
"Brat, you know why I called you here, don't you?"
"Yes, I know." Derick nodded very honestly. "Regarding my relationship with Yunli, I will find a way to resolve it. I will take responsibility for her."
Although Yunli had been the one to initiate things, Derick hadn't refused, which meant he intended to bear this responsibility.
"Take responsibility? How do you plan to take responsibility?" Huaiyan glared at Derick and said, "That girl, Yunli, she's pregnant now."
"What!?"
Hearing this, Derick's mind went blank.
"Pre-pregnant?"
Derick never would have thought that a single encounter with Yunli would result in her pregnancy. Weren't long-life species supposed to have great difficulty conceiving? How did he and Yunli have a child so easily?
This was completely outside of Derick's plans, but he quickly recovered and asked General Huaiyan, "Right, General Huaiyan, how is Yunli? Is she okay?"
Hearing Derick's first concern be for Yunli, Huaiyan's expression softened slightly.
Not bad. He knows to care about my granddaughter. At least he's not some deadbeat who shirks all responsibility.
As an old man who had lived for over seventeen hundred years, Huaiyan could naturally tell if Derick's concern was genuine or feigned.
Huaiyan said to Derick, "Don't worry, she is in good health. I've had the doctors of the Zhuming Xianzhou look after her. What we're talking about now is your side of things. Speak. How do you plan to take responsibility for that girl Yunli?"
"After things here are settled, I will go to the Zhuming Xianzhou to visit Yunli," Derick answered seriously.
"As for how to take responsibility, I think that's something Yunli and I need to discuss. But please rest assured, it's impossible for me to be irresponsible towards Yunli."
"What if that girl says she wants you to marry her and stay on the Zhuming Xianzhou together?" Huaiyan asked, looking at Derick.
"I'm sorry, General Huaiyan, I am willing to take responsibility for Yunli, but I cannot abandon everyone else," Derick said with a firm tone.
"Are you saying you plan to marry all of them?"
Huaiyan said to Derick.
"Naturally."
Derick didn't hesitate in the slightest.
Hearing Derick say this, Huaiyan clenched his fists.
"If I hadn't promised Yunli before I came, I would definitely give you a good beating," Huaiyan said through gritted teeth.
"Um, if hitting me once would let you vent your anger, you can go ahead."
Seeing Huaiyan's expression, Derick was genuinely afraid the old man might get angry enough to have a stroke.
"Do you think hitting you once would be enough for me to vent my anger?" General Huaiyan's tone did not improve.
He wasn't unaware that in the universe, polygamy and polyandry were actually quite common, especially for the powerful. They were either completely devoid of love and emotion, or they acted with reckless abandon.
Derick's situation was relatively decent.
But when it came to his own granddaughter, Huaiyan definitely couldn't get over this hurdle in his heart.
He was tempted to make Derick and Yunli never see each other again, but he figured his granddaughter would be heartbroken if he really did that.
When it came to his granddaughter Yunli, General Huaiyan was truly at a loss.
How could she be so love-struck!
After a long moment of contemplation, Huaiyan looked at Derick with murderous eyes and said:
"After the matter in Penacony is over, you brat must return with me to the Zhuming Xianzhou and clarify everything with Yunli face-to-face. Also, her greatest obsession is to hunt down the Demon Swords. You will have to contribute your strength to this matter."
"Yes, yes, I will definitely help Yunli destroy all the Demon Swords."
Although Derick knew that some of the Demon Swords were not so sinful, it was best not to say so in front of the enraged General Huaiyan.
Huaiyan's anger still hadn't faded. He added, "Also, I will discuss this matter with your teacher."
"Um... alright."
Hearing that Huaiyan was going to discuss it with Teacher Feixiao, Derick nodded with a strange expression.
Other people had normal master-student relationships, but he and Teacher Feixiao had many unusual connections.
Huaiyan looked at Derick's expression, a little confused.
What's the problem with telling Feixiao about this?
Nevertheless, he let out another cold snort and turned to leave.
"Grandpa... General Huaiyan, you fought hard today. You should get some proper rest," Derick started to say 'Grandpa Huai,' but upon seeing the General's glare, he quickly shut his mouth.
As Huaiyan walked away, his anger still hadn't subsided.
That bastard Derick, aside from being a womanizer, there was really no better candidate for a grandson-in-law.
Especially now that he had the power of an Emanator. If he could become a General of the Yaoqing Xianzhou, their combined strength might not be much less than Marshal Hua's.
"I must speak with that girl Feixiao about this. I can't let my granddaughter be unhappy, absolutely not."
Huaiyan thought to himself.
With this in mind, he planned to find a place to rest and then contact Feixiao.
Meanwhile, Derick returned to Castorice and the others.
"Derick, General Huaiyan didn't give you a hard time, did he?" Castorice asked him.
"Don't worry, General Huaiyan didn't give me a hard time."
"Did he look for you because of Yunli?"
"Not entirely. I'll explain the details to you slowly after we leave here." Derick would definitely have to be honest with Castorice about Yunli's pregnancy.
Castorice nodded.
The group prepared to leave.
But before they left, Derick and the others sensed the sound of another battle erupting in the distance.
Derick looked over and saw that the Memokeepers from the Garden of Recollection had started fighting with Black Swan and the others.
______
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