Chapter 1291: The Core Area

After hearing the avatar's confirmation, all the beings nearby who heard it, from Varmak and the four spirits to all those who had been following the avatar, instantly fell to their knees and kowtowed before him.

There was not the slightest hesitation among them.

"We greet the brightest and highest star that illuminates the universe, the Great Emperor of All Heavens."

Their voices were solemn and even pious. Some of them even started to cry.

They could finally see the person they had only heard about through the legends passed down by their ancestors from generation to generation. They had only heard how great that figure was. How that figure could overturn the heavens and the earth with only his will.

Those invading gods and their followers who walked across the universe arrogantly were nothing before that figure.

He was a supreme being above all, the true ruler of this universe and beyond.

"Rise," the avatar said.

All the kowtowing beings rose, and those who had been following the avatar since earlier finally revealed themselves.

There were dozens of them, a mixture of spirits and spiritual beasts, and all of them were at the Immortal Realm. They looked at him with pious expressions, gazing upon their god.

"Your Majesty, to think that it was you. I truly did not know it was you. I already heard about Your Majesty from the gathering of the higher-ups in Underground City Number 34. Even though I have never seen Your Majesty directly, I never doubted that it was Your Majesty before me. Your Majesty is truly perfect."

The avatar turned to Varmak, who at this moment had tears in his eyes. He ignored Varmak's words of flattery. Varmak's expression showed that he had been waiting for this moment his entire life, and the avatar could sense how intense Varmak's feelings were.

His feelings were as intense as those of his followers who had lived directly in his era. Those who had seen him as the Great Emperor during all of his glory.

It was truly rare for him to sense such intense feelings from someone who had never even seen him directly.

That meant Varmak could possess such feelings only by hearing the stories about him, stories that must have been passed down within Varmak's family for generations.

"Thank you for your loyalty and your dedication until this day," the avatar said to Varmak, making Varmak's expression become even more joyful. Tears of happiness flowed even more freely after receiving appreciation from his god.

"And all of you, thank you for all of your loyalty and dedication. I truly appreciate everything you have endured until this moment," the avatar said as he swept his gaze across the others.

"We are glad to be part of the plan for the day when Your Majesty finally returns. You are our god and our hope. We have always waited for Your Majesty's glorious return," the woman spirit said to the avatar.

The avatar smiled and nodded.

"Well then, could you guide me to your lord? I would like to meet him," the avatar said.

"Ah, yes. This way, Your Majesty," the woman spirit said as she turned around and flew toward the deeper part of the forest. They headed in the direction of the core area.

The woman spirit then took out a communication artifact and contacted someone through it. She informed them that the Great Emperor himself was actually the one who would be visiting before cutting off the communication.

She then slightly lowered her speed so she could fly much closer to the avatar before turning to face him.

"My apologies for not introducing myself earlier, Your Majesty. You may call me Acilis, Your Majesty. I am one of the guardians of the forest's inner area," she said.

"Then, Acilis, you are a Celestial Mountain Spirit, right? Do all members of the Celestial Mountain Spirit Tribe live within this forest?" the avatar asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I am from the Celestial Mountain Spirit Tribe. Our entire tribe lives within this forest. There is no one from our tribe in other parts of the Second Heaven or even in the higher heavens," Acilis answered.

"The hidden lord of this forest... is he someone from your tribe? Is he your tribe's lord?"

Acilis nodded.

"For the first question, yes, Your Majesty. The lord of this forest is someone from our tribe, but he is not the lord of our tribe. Instead, he is our ancestor."

The avatar raised his eyebrows.

"Your tribe's ancestor?"

Acilis nodded.

"Yes, and it is said that our ancestor has lived since the era when Your Majesty still ruled over all things. So Your Majesty must know him. Our ancestor has been waiting for the day when he could meet Your Majesty again. He said so himself in the past."

The avatar wondered whether this ancestor was the one he was thinking of. If the ancestor truly came from the Great Emperor's era, then he should have met them before. At that time, he knew all of the higher-ups of the tribe, so one of them might be the ancestor she was referring to now.

As they continued flying, they passed many beings, many of whom were Immortal Overlords and Immortal Saints. The avatar could even sense a few peak Immortal Saints here.

He also saw various kinds of land spiritual beasts, from giant snakes to giant tigers and wolves. There were also distant relatives of dragons, such as wyverns. In addition, there were various kinds of giant eagles and even Great Pengs.

All of them looked at the avatar and the group. They were also drawn to the avatar, wondering who he was since they had never experienced such a feeling before. Seeing him accompanied by Acilis and her group, they simply watched them pass.

They actually wanted to follow them to understand the strange feelings within them, but they restrained themselves from leaving their own territories.

The avatar's group flew for more than an hour until the avatar could see a mountain range in the distance. Above the mountain range was a thick white fog that covered the entire sky above the mountains.

Seeing the mountains, the avatar became confused. From his memories of the Second Heaven during his era as the Great Emperor, he was certain there had been nothing like these mountains.

In fact, even the forest had not been called the Falling Star Forest.

The moment they reached the mountains, Acilis landed on the side of one of the mountains, just before the thick fog.

"We have to pass through the fog on foot. The fog is actually a barrier formation that covers the core area," she said.

She then walked toward one of the mountain slopes and placed her hand against it. She injected her energy into it, and a second later, a hidden passage opened before them. The passage was wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

Acilis entered first, followed by the avatar and the others. The passage was illuminated by illumination crystals lining both sides, and they continued walking for more than forty-five minutes before finally reaching the other side.

The moment the avatar stepped into the light at the end of the passage, he finally saw what lay beyond the mountains.

Beyond the mountains was actually a vast grassland that stretched toward the horizon. It was as if the grassland had no end.

The sun hung high above, showering the entire land with its warm light.

The avatar could see that the mountains actually formed a giant wall surrounding the core area, stretching toward both ends of the horizon.

Seeing the terrain, the avatar realized something.

'This is not a mountain range. This is a giant crater! A giant crater formed by an impact. The mountain range is the ground that was pushed upward by the impact.'

With the scale of the crater, the impact must have been powerful enough to obliterate a territory the size of an entire domain.

"Your Majesty, this is the core area of the forest. The core area is actually a crater left behind by a falling comet in ancient times, when the war against the invaders was still raging. It is said that the battle was so great that it destroyed this domain, and half of it was obliterated by this comet," Acilis explained as they stood at the edge of the cliff overlooking the vast grassland.

The avatar could only remain silent as he admired the beauty of the endless grassland. The terrain, which had been shaped by destruction, had ultimately become this beautiful and refreshing land.

'Thriving life can rise from utter destruction, and life can also end in destruction. The Heavens balances itself through these two sides, creating a never-ending cycle that teaches the lessons of life.'

The avatar could not help but remember one of the quotes from a Buddhist scripture that he had once read.

The sight before him perfectly matched that quote. He imagined that this domain had literally become a hell during the great war when the comet fell upon this place.

Yet eons had passed, and this place, which had once been the center of destruction, had transformed into this beautiful land.

"We can continue to fly from here," Acilis said before taking flight.

The avatar followed, and they continued flying for more than fifteen minutes before he could see a settlement in the distance.

It looked like a village.

A big village.

As he drew closer, he saw many people already standing in front of the village, as though they had been waiting and were prepared to welcome their guests.

At the front of the crowd stood two male spirits.

Acilis, who saw the two men already waiting, was surprised, as she had not expected one of them to appear here.

"Ancestor?"