The Second Crusade was meant to take a long time. With the Church hiding away and splitting their forces, it would be rtively easy to dy for decades, if not centuries. The Old Gods would have time to arrive from wherever they were in the universe, and then protracted warfare could begin anew for a long, long time.


    As a result, Jack didn’t need to be in a mad rush to cultivate. He could take his time, meditating on the Dao while slowly increasing his cultivation base. It would be a slower, yet much safer path than the one he usually took, spanning centuries of rtive calmness. A peaceful break in his path of war.


    However.


    There were two sides to this war. And while the Church was confident they could dy for a long time, the Immortals were also smart. They’d nned for a long time. They were only now beginning to show their hand.


    ***


    Elder Tribtion of the ck Hole Churchmanded a powerful war force. His army was one of the most advanced in position, shouldering the responsibility of dying the enemy army’s initial advances. Essentially, they were in the front lines. A dangerous yet noble duty.


    The Tribtion Battalion hid in arge meteor belt simr to the one around the Death Boat. It was extremely long and daedalus, with colossal celestial bodies flying around freely, oftentimes colliding and breaking into fragments. Due to the ovepping gravitational fields and flying debris, this was a particrly difficult area to search, which was why Elder Tribtion had chosen it as their hiding spot. They could hide away here for years toe.


    One day, however, a blue screen suddenly shed before the eyes of every cultivator in the Tribtion Battalion.


    <strong>You have returned to the New World. Wee!</strong>It was sudden and unexpected. Completely out of the blue. Everyone shot to their feet, confirming with each other that they weren’t hallucinating. The perception of Elder Tribtion exploded powerfully outward.


    This was the message everyone received upon re-entering System space. But they were still in the wild gxy. Even if the Immortals were willing to spend the resources required to spread the System here, it would have taken many years to arrive, and the expansion would have been easily observable. It was impossible for this gxy to be Integrated.


    Yet, somehow, the Tribtion Battalion had entered System space.


    “What’s going on?” Elder Tribtion barked. He was not an easy-going man. Large and powerfully-built, with hard eyes and muscles cording every inch of his body. His ferocity in battle was unmatched, and his warriors were all hardened veterans.


    Despite their confusion, they did not panic. Everyone exited the starship and formed a battle array. The unknown always meant danger.


    It didn’t take long for the enemy to appear. A colossal starship emerged from the folds of space, dominating the world around it. It was perfectly white, shaped as a mountain-sized needle. Five figures rode its back. All A-Grades.


    Four were Immortals, with two-digit numbers painted on their featureless faces. The fifth was a man in swirling starry robes, d in a cloud of darkness.


    “Hahaha!” The manughed. “Did you really think you could hide, Tribtion? All your tricks are useless! Catching you in System space is so damn easy!”


    The starship’s teleportation had finished. The moment it emerged fully, shes erupted around it, revealing hundreds of B-Grade cultivators. All wore the robes of the Hand of God and were arrayed in battle formations.


    Five A-Grades, one of which was at thete A-Grade, and hundreds of B-Grades.


    Facing them were Elder Tribtion at thete A-Grade, another early A-Grade Elder of the Church, and several dozen B-Grades. This was not a battle they could win.


    Elder Tribtion gritted his teeth. They were supposed to be safe here. The meteor belt should have taken many years to search through. Yet, from one moment to the next, they had somehow entered System space, and all their hiding was for naught. Nothing could hide from the Immortals in System space.


    Elder Tribtion did not understand. He had the feeling he’d die in confusion.


    “Scatter,” hemanded. He knew his soldiers were brave, but he would not doom them to a lost battle.


    They were also well-trained. The moment he gave themand, the orderly formationpletely broke apart, every B-Grade escaping for themselves in every direction. The enemy B-Grades followed, beginning a massive chase. Some would escape, some would get caught—that was the reality of a wild retreat.


    Only two people hadn’t run. Elder Tribtion, and the other Elder present, an early A-Grade woman with white eyes and blond hair. She was Elder Tribtion’s wife, and the two held hands as they resolved to go down together.


    Neither specialized in speed. They could not escape. Even if they could, that would only expose their soldiers to A-Grade pursuers. All they could do was try to dy as much as possible.


    “How did you do this, Night?” Tribtion asked. “Will you tell me before my final battle?”


    The man with swirling dark robes—Elder Night of the Hand of God—smiled. “No,” he replied.


    Tribtionughed. “So be it!” His aura erupted. Space copsed everywhere around. Terrible lightning clouds emerged from the void, apanied by pale white light. He and his wife charged into battle. Darkness filled the world.


    On this day, Elders Tribtion and Blind White of the ck Hole Church fell heroically in battle.


    ***


    The destruction of the Tribtion Battalion rippled outward. News of the ambush and mysterious System message had spread before the battalion even began its retreat. The New Cathedral was immediately notified of the event, and information reached the Arch Priestess herself in moments.


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    She stood in a grand meeting room. Apanying her was Elder Soresight. She paced back and forth.


    “How could this happen?” she asked. “The System cannot reach this far. How did they do it?”


    “I have no idea,” Soresight admitted. “Should I try to glimpse into the past?”


    “Please do.”


    Elder Soresight cultivated the Dao of Time. He was not particrly powerful in battle, but his Dao allowed him to deconstruct the river of time and glimpse at past events. It was a powerful information gathering ability, which was why he was stationed on the New Cathedral.


    While Soresight had his eyes closed, the third A-Grade in the room spoke up.


    “We’re in trouble,” he said. This was a bald old man with a long beard and heavy eyes, dressed in loose monk robes. Elder Heavencrash, he was called. Save for the Archons, he was one of the strongest Elders of the Church. “We are already outnumbered. We cannot lose more Elders.”


    As he finished his words, the meeting room door was pushed open. The Arch Priestess looked over so quickly her robes fluttered. The newly-arrived messenger kept his head low, trembling.


    “I greet the—”


    “Report,” the Arch Priestess cut him off.


    The messenger gathered his words. “Yes. Two more battalions were attacked. Elder Periphery is currently in battle against overwhelming numbers. Elder Godspeed managed to escape with his battalion. All reported the same System message just before they were attacked: You have returned to the New World.”


    A fist smashed into the long meeting table, disintegrating the wood but leaving the floor below untouched. Elder Heavencrash growled, standing above the now-pointless chairs. “What is happening here?” he growled.


    “You may retreat,” the Arch Priestess instructed the messenger, who disappeared immediately. Afterward, she turned to Heavencrash. “Calm down. I need you focused.”


    He took a deep breath. “Sorry, Arch Priestess. It won’t happen again.”


    It was then that Elder Soresight awakened from his meditation. He opened his mouth to speak, then paused as he took in theck of table.


    “Speak,” the Arch Priestessmanded.


    “I’m sorry. I couldn’t see anything,” the Elder reported. “As I traveled back in space and time, I was rebounded by a powerful force. I believe it was an Archon.”


    The Arch Priestess’s eyes darkened. She’d counted on this information. Unfortunately, Soresight was not an Archon, but the Hand’s respective specialist was. “Archon Empire,” she growled. “That man must die.”


    “We’ll never get him, Arch Priestess. That coward hides deep in System space.”


    “I want all our researchers on the task,” shemanded. “And tell all other forward battalions to retreat.”


    “Are you sure, Arch Priestess?” Soresight replied. “We’ll be giving away a lot of ground.”


    “Would you rather we give away our Elders?” Heavencrash asked.


    “Stop fighting and follow my orders,” the Arch Priestess said tiredly. “Maintaining our forward positions is important, but until we know how they’re doing this, we’d just be sending our people to die. The risk is toorge. Have everyone retreat to the secondary zones.”


    The two Elders bowed. “Yes, Arch Priestess.”


    She sighed, falling back into her chair as the two Elders distributed her order. She would have leaned against the table if it still existed. Unless they realized what was happening and how to stop it, they were stuck between a rock and a hard ce. If the battalions remained at the front lines, they would be vulnerable. If they kept retreating, they’d eventually find themselves clustered around the New Cathedral, which would make them easily discoverable by the Hand of God scouts.


    Soresight was right. They couldn’t surrender too much ground. But they couldn’t afford to lose more Elders, either.


    <em>What do I do… </em>the Arch Priestess wondered.


    A hesitant knock came on the door. “Enter,” she said. A new messenger appeared, this one seeming more confused and less flustered than the previous one. He had her attention immediately.


    “I greet the—”


    “Report.”


    “Yes. We have received a message for the Arch Priestess.”


    “A message?” she asked curiously. “By whom?”


    The messenger gulped. “The Immortals. They… They wish to invite you to something called the Immortal Summit of Spiral Stair.”


    She raised a brow. The assault and invitationnding at the same time… This was certainly not a coincidence. “What is that summit? And with whom?” she asked.


    “They didn’t say. They only said it will be held in one week, on the brightest blue star of the area closest to System space. They said that, if you agree and swear on your Dao to participate, they will cease attacks until then. If not, they will press their assault relentlessly.”


    The Arch Priestess frowned. That was almost too good to be true. The Hand had them cornered right now; if they stopped for a week, that would give the Church enough time to figure out what was going on and regroup.


    She didn’t like this. At all. The Immortals had just gotten in a massive surprise attack, and they were going to sacrifice that just to have her participate in some discussions? She didn’t understand anything. She waspletely on the back foot, dancing in the palm of their hands. It was like they were ying apletely different game, one where she didn’t even understand the rules. She was at least two steps behind.


    She could guess who else was invited to that summit, but it didn’t exin anything.


    “What’s the catch?” she asked.


    The messenger gulped. “Respectfully, Arch Priestess. The Immortals didn’t mention this outright in their message, but they gave no method to attend the summit telepathically. They also dered that anyone who approaches, besides you, will be eliminated on sight no matter what. If you desire to participate, you can only do so physically. In an area which, ording to recent events, will be System space.”


    The implications dawned on everyone at the same time.


    “Impossible,” Heavencrash shouted. “You must not go, Arch Priestess.”


    “I agree,” Soresight said. “It is certainly a trap. The Immortals have no sense of honor. If you go, they will ambush and kill you, and our army will be left headless. We will lose half the war.”


    The Arch Priestess considered their words. These two were her advisors, and she trusted them. She also agreed that this was a ridiculous proposal. The summit was just an excuse. It was extremely clear that, if she went there, she would die. That would be a much heavier loss than just a few Elders. The Immortals only proposed this to shake her—they knew she would never agree.


    They also knew that she couldn’t lie. Her Dao wouldn’t allow it. As much as she would have liked to, agreeing to their one week of peace and then just not showing up would ruin her cultivation. It would be the same as dying.


    As for working out ways to not attend physically…that was a gamble. There was no time to make a clone. She couldn’t send anyone else carrying a projection stone, since the Immortals had already dered they’d destroy anyone who wasn’t her on sight.


    If she promised to attend and found a way to do it from a distance, that would be fine. But she wouldn’t find a way. The Immortals, in System space, would absolutely shut off all avenues. Then, if she promised to attend, she would have no choice but to do it physically. And that was a death sentence.


    It was a three-way conundrum. If she refused, they would press their assault with whatever new way they’d found to utilize the System. If she epted, then she would be taking a huge risk. Either she’d find a way to attend telepathically against their wishes—a highly unlikely scenario—or she’d fail and most probably perish.


    <em>They could have specified that I have to attend physically, </em>she realized. <em>They didn’t, to give me a sliver of hope. To make me doubt myself. To even out my options. All of them are equally terrible, and whatever I choose, they win. This is psychological warfare.</em>


    All those were clear in the Arch Priestess’s mind. Yet, she smiled.


    “Arch Priestess!” Soresight and Heavencrash eximed in unison, for once putting away their mutual dislike. She ignored them.


    “Tell the Immortals I agree,” she said. “As long as they hold their forces, then one week from now, I will attend their Immortal Summit of Spiral Stair. I swear it on my Dao.”