82: The King Returns in a Besieged City

Deep within an ancient castle in the Alps, the Duke observed the escalating chaos of the world with the detached composure of a chess player overlooking a board.

“Four Keys of Authority,” he murmured to the empty room, his soft voice a strange counterpoint to the silent, balletic rotation of a galaxy projected on the wall, “They are the keys to unlock the bronze gate. A door that leads not only to other worlds, but to other dimensions…”

His ambition had long transcended this world. The petty squabbles over territory and resources were beneath his notice. What he sought was transcendence, a path to higher planes of existence, and the prehistoric superweapon slumbering on the far side of the moon was merely a convenient tool to pry open that door.

“The Long Family’s key is the third piece of the puzzle,” he continued, his gaze shifting to a real-time satellite feed. The image showed a vast, futuristic super-city—the headquarters of the newly established Pangu Biotech, a commercial Empire built upon the ruins of the Su Family, now firmly in Lin Tian’s hands.

“A direct confrontation with the Long Family… would be rather inelegant. But a proxy war on the economic front, targeting their most vital nascent asset? Now, that is art.”

He made an almost imperceptible gesture. On the screen, three icons representing the world’s three most powerful commercial conglomerates began to move. Their paths ultimately converged on a single target: Pangu Biotech.

The attack was sudden, brutal, and unstoppable.

Under the Duke’s unseen hand, an Alliance of the three corporate giants, supported by their formidable private armies and countless mercenary legions, launched a coordinated assault on Pangu Biotech’s global assets. It was a blitzkrieg of stock market manipulation, cyber warfare, and real-world armed force.

Within mere hours, the company’s outer defenses crumbled. Satellite cities, research outposts, and resource depots fell one after another. The enemy, an overwhelmingly superior force in both technology and numbers, advanced relentlessly.

Soon, the flames of war reached the gates of the headquarters. This city, a marvel of modern engineering, now stood as a besieged island, surrounded by a surging sea of enemy armor and aircraft.

Inside the central command tower, the air of despair was thick enough to be suffocating.

Su Mucheng stood before the tactical map, her face pale, but her eyes still resolute. Beside her, Long Ao, assigned by the Family to assist her, clenched his fists, his knuckles white from the strain.

“The enemy numbers are three times ours,” a general reported, his voice heavy, “And they have at least three S-Class Experts leading the charge. Under their combined assault, our defensive shields can hold for an hour at most.”

“Where are the main Family’s reinforcements?” Long Ao demanded sharply.

The communications officer shook his head: “None. The Holy Mountain Organization and War God Academy simultaneously initiated ‘joint military exercises’ on our borders. It’s a blatant containment strategy. The Elders are all tied up; no one can be spared.”

A heavy silence descended upon the room. They were isolated, abandoned.

“Contact number zero heir,” Su Mucheng said, her voice steady despite her trembling heart, “He is our only hope.”

The communications officer’s face grew even grimmer: “We’ve been trying, CEO Su. For the past twelve hours. All communication requests to the Forbidden Ground have been blocked by a Level 5 lockdown protocol. He is in deep seclusion… completely unreachable.”

The last flicker of hope was extinguished.

They were in dire straits. A powerful enemy was at their gates, the world had forsaken them, and their king had locked himself away in his tower, deaf to their pleas.

A cold, absolute despair began to creep like poison ivy into the hearts of everyone in the command center.

On the battlefield, the general assault began.

Three figures, each exuding the terrifying pressure of an S-Class Expert, rose into the sky. They were the commanders of the allied forces, legendary mercenaries whose hands were stained with the blood of countless wars.

“For the Duke!” one of them roared, unleashing a torrent of plasma that slammed into the city’s energy shield.

The other two followed suit, their attacks—a storm of kinetic projectiles and a blade composed purely of Mental Energy—descending like a symphony of destruction.

Boom! Crack!

The colossal energy shield covering the entire city flickered violently. Spiderweb-like golden cracks spread across its surface, a sign of imminent collapse.

On the city walls, Su Mucheng, Long Ao, and every defending soldier looked up, their faces etched with tragic resolve. They drew their weapons, preparing for their final stand. This was the end. They would fight to the death for the Empire their king had built.

However, just as the shield was about to shatter, just as despair reached its absolute zenith… something changed.

A deep and immense tremor ran through the earth. It did not come from the battlefield, but from the distant heart of the Asian continent, from the deepest, most sacred Forbidden Ground of the Long Family.

Then, they saw it.

A pillar of light.

It was a column of energy, so vast, so pure, so terrifying, that the S-Class attacks currently hammering their city seemed like children’s fireworks in comparison. It erupted from beneath the earth, punching a hole through the stratosphere, tearing through the sea of clouds, its apex even touching the edge of space.

This pillar of light fused two distinct yet perfectly harmonious auras. One was an earthy gold, primordial, profound, filled with the endless vitality of creation—that was the aura of mythical creator figure. The other was a pure white, sacred, solemn, emanating a holy radiance that seemed to purify all things—that was the aura of a deity.

Within the pillar of light, a colossal, ethereal image began to form—the silhouette of an ancient giant who split heaven and earth, his body the mountains, his breath the winds and clouds, his palm cradling a star.

Across the entire Eurasian continent, every Martial Artist, every Mental Energy user, every being sensitive to energy flows, paused everything they were doing at this moment. They looked to the east, their Souls trembling with an instinctive reverence from the deepest part of their Bloodline.

A king was returning to his throne.

Back in the command tower of the besieged city, the communications officer, who had been staring blankly at the control panel, suddenly let out a shriek, his voice cracking with disbelief and ecstasy:

“Signal! I’m receiving a signal from the Forbidden Ground!”

On the main screen, a line of incredibly simple text appeared, overlaying all other data.

【Seclusion ended.】

Immediately, the immensely heavy Forbidden Ground Gate, which had been closed for six whole months, began to slowly open, accompanied by an echo that seemed to reverberate throughout the world, like a promise of salvation.