Sterl walked out of the inn, but the demigod squad suddenly spoke up.


    "Bro, be careful; right now, it''s not just the demons you need to watch out for."


    "Oh?"


    "Alright."


    Sterl nodded.


    He had already formed a suspicion in his mind.


    The Golden Kingdom and Ashen factions seemed to have significant friction with the Hall of Valor…


    However, it wasn''t necessarily these two factions that would take the first action. After all, thisyer of hell was discovered on the Hall of Valor''s territory, and the other two factions likely came to stake their im.


    The members of the Hall of Valor would definitely be displeased, so it was also possible that some "allies" from Sterl''s side would initiate trouble first.


    In any case, the atmosphere inside The Blood Red Fortress was extremely tense.


    As Sterl walked along the path, the exploration activity page prompted him to head to the temporary assembly point of the Hall of Valor.


    Meanwhile, the area around him was bustling with activity.


    The Blood Red Fortress was no longer the deste ce it had been before; it was now packed with people. Besides the demigod yers acting as pioneers, legendary yers were also sent over as the main force for the battlefield.


    Adding to this were some third-ss personnel handling logistics, resulting in a massive influx of people.


    At the same time, the noise was quite overwhelming.


    The Hall of Valor was surprisingly united under the threat of external enemies. Just like the demigod squad that had previously warned Sterl, most people gathered together in solidarity.


    yers from the other two factions were doing the same.


    However, with such arge crowd, collisions were inevitable.


    "You dare bump into me? Fine! Fine! Fine! Let''s set up a ring; do you dare to ept?"


    "Are you blind? You ran into your daddy!"


    "Coming to our Hall of Valor territory to beg for scraps and still acting so arrogant?"


    "What? You think your faction can monopolize the event released by [Tanscendence]? How presumptuous!"


    …


    yers from various factions red at each other, escting into a heated argument, and some even set up a ring right on the spot.


    Onlookers quickly began cing bets on the matches that were forming.


    "Come,e,e! ce your bets and see whether the experts from the Hall of Valor are stronger, or if our little factions can hold their ground!"


    "Of course, the Hall of Valor is stronger, but I enjoy the thrill of an upset; I''m betting on this demigod from the Golden Kingdom to win."


    "Are you looking down on the great ones from the Hall of Valor? I''m betting on the Golden Kingdom too…"


    …


    In The Blood Red Fortress, with the protection of the [Tanscendence] event, it was a safe zone where yers couldn''t directly attack each other, but the tension was palpable.


    Members of the Hall of Valor were being picked on in turns…


    Sterl couldn''t help but scoff.


    Calling themselves demigods and legends? They hardly looked the part.


    It was just like the crowded zas before taking on bosses in an online game from his past—everyone was supposed to be a world-saving hero in the story, but here they were, mingling together like it was a bustling marketce.


    He couldn''t help but think back to the description of "the upper realms." After logging into the upper realms and bing a true "yer" of the myriad worlds, perhaps things would be different?


    While Sterl was lost in his thoughts, he suddenly picked up on a conversation nearby.


    "What''s all the noise about? Even if you win the ring, there''s no real benefit."


    "Yeah, let''s see who ends up higher on the merit leaderboard after this."


    It was a group of yers who appeared to be from the Golden Kingdom, identifiable by the corresponding faction g they carried, which featured a giant pce made of gold.


    Nearby, another voice chimed in.


    "The Hall of Valor may seem loud, but it''s useless; their mid-tier strength has always been hit-or-miss."


    "This faction primarily focuses on nurturing stronger deities as warriors to deal with cmities."


    "The elimination of mid-tier members is quite brutal. Although it pales inparison to the hellish side, it''s still far bloodier than ours. This time, their demigod and legendary teams are both short on numbers."


    "They''re going to suffer a huge loss on this merit leaderboard."


    "Indeed… the Hall of Valor is quite unfortunate. They''ll lose a chunk of meat, and we''ll end up with most of it. Plus, since they''re likely to perform poorly in this activity, their score for the next hundred years will take a hit. Their chances for an upper realms spot will probably drop, too."


    "Haha, there''s nothing they can do; after all, their territory is destined to be ground zero for the cmities."


    Sterl couldn''t pinpoint which faction this group belonged to, but their discourse was quite rational.


    …


    Sterl''s expression shifted slightly.


    Now he understood why the yers from the Hall of Valor were so agitated.


    The uing activity was not particrly favorable for them.


    In terms of high-end strength, which should be above the divine level, the Hall of Valor held an advantage. However, their reserves of demigod and legendary yers were not as plentiful as those of other factions.


    In the past, thepetitions in [Tanscendence] revolved around the power of high-end strength. A single deity could suppress hundreds or even thousands of demigods.


    But this time, it seemed that [Tanscendence] did not permit yers above the Supreme level to participate, not only due to ack of interest in the rewards but also because the activity page specifically stated that participating yers should range from third ss to demigod.


    Thus, the Hall of Valor found itself at a considerable disadvantage.


    For those deities, other matters might not concern them, but that "upper realms" spot was likely quite important.


    However…


    The information mentioned by the yers who seemed to be from the Golden Kingdom made Sterl''s heart flutter.


    The territory of the Hall of Valor was indeed the starting point of the cmities?


    As he walked, Sterl pondered this revtion and realized that his ability to add points had cooled down.


    He immediately chose to enhance fission but was suddenly met with feedback…


    The cheat requires a second evolution to repair this ability? A third evolution to restore the enhanced fission?


    And my physical condition can''t handle this move; I need to be at least legendary to do so??


    Sterl sensed the situation and found himself not feeling too disappointed. After all, the more restrictions there were, the more powerful the fission would be once repaired and unleashed…


    Now, considering he needed to head to the battlefield, Sterl exchanged some Valor Contribution Points for a special item andpleted an enhancement.


    [Emergency Escape Device]


    [Description: Legendary top-level craftsman gnomes often had their memories coerced to create various tools and equipment for others. Thus, they invented this device. However, true to the gnome style, this device is somewhat unstable, but an unknown kind-hearted personpleted its final optimization.]


    [Effect: Sends you into spatial turbulence, entering an invincible state. You can use the mini-map indicators in the turbulence to ess several nearby worlds.]


    [Warning: The spatial turbulence you enter may have coordinates significantly different from your original world. Please remember your original world coordinates to prevent being unable to return.]


    [Warning: This item has a 0% chance of killing you instantly.]


    [Hint: The effect of sending you into spatial turbulence is considered a side effect.]


    In his hand, Sterl held a silver-white capsule. Before enhancement, this item had a 5% chance of killing him outright.


    However, the advantage of the escape device was that the effect of sending him into spatial turbulence was considered a "negative effect," meaning it couldn''t be blocked by any locking abilities and could be activated no matter what.


    The trade-off was that there was a chance the yer could die on the spot, but after enhancement, this w was wiped out.


    Sterl pocketed the capsule and soon arrived at the assembly point.


    At that moment, a look of astonishment flickered in his eyes; the scene before him was quite spectacr.


    Several Supremes stood high above, while below them, a dual formation shimmering with gathering spirit effects and enhancement buffs was in full disy.


    On top of the formation, there were over a hundred demigods and thousands of legendary yers standing tall.


    In the Assembly Hall of the Hall of Valor, although there were many strong individuals, it was impossible to have so many gathered in such a short time.


    However, thinking about the Golden Kingdom and Ashen likely having an even grander presence, Sterl''s earlier excitement quickly faded.


    Above, the Supremes began to speak.


    "Dear colleagues!"


    "This time, we from the Hall of Valor have discovered thisyer of hell."


    "All the resources here should rightfully belong to us, but [Tanscendence] has coincidentallyunched an event, drawing the attention of the other two great factions."


    "Can we allow resources that should belong to us to be taken away?"


    At this point in the Supreme''s speech, voices began to erupt from below.


    "Absolutely not!"


    Soon, a chorus of responses gathered.


    "Absolutely not!"


    "Absolutely not!"


    …


    Sterl observed the scene clearly.


    It was clear that the ones who started shouting were nted supporters; they had all reached the levels of demigods and legends, and everyone had some experience under their belts—most were steady in temperament. Of course, the subsequent followers who joined in weren''t necessarily brainwashed either; at least Sterl shouted along, just to indulge in the moment.


    The Supremes above, seeing that they could rally the crowd, offered a few brief words of encouragement.


    "Exactly! Thisyer of hell is our trophy from the Hall of Valor, and we won''t allow anyone else to take it."


    "And with [Tanscendence] turning this grand event into an activity, any participant stands to gain tremendous rewards! We must reim what rightfully belongs to us!"


    Then they got down to business.


    First, all yers would be assigned to different defense zones to battle the demons, with guaranteed merit rewards for their efforts. Sterl''s alternate identity, Leo, was included in this. These defense zones were rtively safe.


    As long as the legendary yers could hold their ground, a few demigods could step in to handle any emergencies.


    Second, they encouraged yers to head to the core battlefield area, where the demon strength was the highest. At this point, the Supremes in the air had already mapped out the entire vicinity of The Blood Red Fortress.


    Sterl could see that Leo''s stationed area was very close to the natural Blood Sacrifice Swallowing God Array, and he nodded in satisfaction.


    He had already devised a n: he would send a clone to leisurely hang out in the housing area while his main self would venture into the core area to stir things up, racking up merit and blood-colored documents.


    The reason Sterl could pull this off, while painstakingly maintaining a low-profile identity as Leo, was primarily because…


    If he logged into his Swallowing Heaven ount, it was likely that his [Tanscendence] ount would temporarily be unusable.


    After all, he couldn''t log into two ounts simultaneously…


    At that point, he might not even be able to create a clone.


    He needed to make sure that his alternate identity could go missing for a while without anyone caring.