Lizzy nodded, she knew that what Zhao Hai said was true. From the ancient times to the present days, there werent any secrets that an Emperor can keep for themselves. Therefore, talking to the Emperor right now wouldnt be a very good idea.

Zhao Hai sighed and said, It seems like we dont have anything else to do right now. In the meantime, lets head back to Iron Mountain Fort and let Grandpa Green and Grandma Merine be 9th ranks first. After that we can let Grandpa Kun, Rockhead, Blockhead, Shun, and Shue take turns.

Laura nodded but said, No need to be anxious. After all, we still have a large number of 9th ranks in the Space. Right, Brother Hai, I think we should check up on the Processing Machine and see if it can make potions that can make 9th ranks into God-ranked experts. Wouldnt it be great for us if that is possible?

Zhao Hai stared, he had forgotten about this point. He immediately said, I had Caier look over it yesterday. Caier, how was it?

Just after Zhao Hais voice fell, Caier immediately appeared in front of Zhai Hai. She faintly smiled and said, Young Master, rest assured, I already planted some plants that can make God-ranked experts in the Farming Ground. However, there are still some other plants that cannot be grown. But when the Space reaches level 55, all of those can be cultivated. Since the Space is still level 52, I can only put aside the seeds of those plants. When time comes, I shall immediately cultivate them. The Young Master doesnt need to worry too much about it.

Upon hearing Caier, Zhao Hai laughed and nodded, Good, Caier. Having you really relieves me of some worries

Caier smiled and said, Thank you, Young Master. Also, Young Master, I can now eat. Please bring me some good food next time.

Zhao Hai laughed and replied, Thats not a problem. Just tell me what youd like to eat, your Young Master wouldnt treat you unjustly. But isnt your main body a plant? Isnt it just fine if you dont eat?

Caier smiled and said, I get envious of people sometimes. Even if I dont need to eat, it doesnt mean that I cant.

Zhao Hai smiled and said, Alright. Rest assured, Ill certainly bring you some food next time. Right, I think there are still a lot of delicious food in the warehouse. You can eat some snacks from there in the meantime Then Zhao Hai waved his hand as he withdrew some snacks from the warehouse and gave them to Caier.

Although Caier was the Spaces manager, she wasnt able to touch the Warehouse, that place was under the sole control of Zhao Hai. She doesnt have the authority to access it.

Seeing these things that she hadnt ate before, Caier began to munch on the snacks like a happy little child. Laura and the others smiled, they seem to see Caiers actions quite cute.

Seeing Caier happily eating, Zhao Hai became happy as well. He turned his attention away from Caier as he faced Laura and said, It seems like the Space needs to reach level 55 as soon as possible. Otherwise, we would be on a disadvantage in the war against the Gods.

Laura gave a sigh and said, Were already at quite a great position. If we go to the Elven Forest as well as the other Forbidden Areas, then wouldnt we be able to reach that level by then?

Zhao Hai bitterly smiled, he didnt think that it would be that smooth. One must know that the higher the Spaces level was, the harder the next step would be. Now that the Space had reached level 52, levelling up to 55 would be very difficult.

This time, he used Gods Blood, but it only upgraded the Space by three levels. Where could be find something much stronger than Gods Blood in the future?

But at the very least, they now have a target, which was good. Zhao Hai smiled bitterly as he turned to Laura and said, Lets go to the backgrounds and explore them. After all, we still havent seen them yet.

Laura and the others nodded. They also wanted to see the contents of those backgrounds. The pressure has been great to them recently, they needed a short time to relax themselves in some new scenery.

Especially now, after knowing about the matters with the Divine Realm. They felt that their nerves were already quite stretched out to the point of collapse.

The group played around inside the backgrounds for quite some time. They also found the houses inside those backgrounds and rested inside. The rooms were very good, it had quite the modern touch to it, which made Zhao Hai and the others enjoy their stay.

The next morning, Zhao Hai and the others appeared inside the room in the mountain that Billy had prepared for them. Just as they came out, a Dwarf arrived and immediately bowed to Zhao Hais door and said, Elder, the Patriarch is inviting you over to the Dining Hall for a meal.

Zhao Hai nodded and said, Thanks Then the Dwarf smiled before he turned around to leave, looking somewhat shy. Zhao Hai smiled faintly before leading Laura and the others towards the Dining Hall.

Besides Billy and Juno, there were no other people present in hall.

Zhao Hai didnt care about this and just sat with Billy and Juno. Laura and the others sat on another table as Dwarf women served them their meals before leaving.

After Zhao Hai had sat down, Juno gave a smile and said, How are you feeling? Youve drank the same amount of liquor as the Dwarves yesterday.

Zhao Hai smiled bitterly and replied, Fortunately, we managed to recover after taking a good nights sleep. But I dont think I can drink that much anymore.

Juno and Billy chuckled, Billy looked at Zhao Hai and said, Yesterday, Ive sent some Dwarves to get plants and Magic Beasts for you. Weve also included some special ores in the lot. I hope that those things would be useful to you. Weve made a pile of those things outside. You can take them away later. Will you be leaving after that?

Zhao Hai nodded and said, After getting those things, Im planning to leave and head to the Prairie hoping to see the Beast Gods Spear. Right, Patriarch, you should keep a warehouse open for me. Ill be supplying you milk wine every month, its total quantity wouldnt be less than 1 million jin. When that time comes, Ill be trading them for some ironwares that I would list on a letter along with the milk wine delivery. You can put those things in the warehouse. Itll make it possible for me to come here and fetch them regularly.

Billy nodded and said, Alright, this is not a problem. Ill keep a warehouse free just for you. At the same time, I wont be telling your secrets to anyone, you can rest assured.

Zhao Hai nodded and said, Alright. I also still need a period of time to research that Gods Blood. If we succeed, we would be able to gain a method to make 9th ranks into God-ranked experts. So when the Gods come, we wont be in a huge disadvantage.

Billy knit his brows as he replied, Im afraid that this wouldnt be easy. Moreover, after people in the continent reaches 9th rank, they would immediately need to ascend to the Divine Realm, otherwise they would receive Divine Punishment. If we make God-ranked experts, then Im afraid we wont get much use of them.

Zhao Hai nodded and said, I also know about this. But even if we dont have God-ranked experts, at the very least, we can still have a lot of 9th ranks. We shouldnt forget that its already been tens of thousands of years before the war with the Gods. But in these tens of thousands of years, the technology in the continent havent progressed by a lot. However, I think that it would be impossible for the Divine Realm to be unable to come up with new things. It might be possible for them to create a process to weaken the barrier to the Ark Continent. If they send an army to attack, our own forces wouldnt be able to resist.

Billy sighed and said, Not only the Gods, Im also quite worried about the Demons. The Gods might take a long time before coming. However, the Demons have also been taking their time. I heard that the Five Forbidden Areas were somewhat related to the Demon Realm. If you head to the Five Forbidden Areas, make sure to check for signs of the Demons. Right, since you have explored the Carrion Swamp, is the situation under control over there?

Zhao Hai smiled and said, Rest assured, that place is already under control. From what I had heard for Sir Artifact Spirit, the war with the Divine Realm had caused the barrier to weaken, allowing the Demons entry to the Ark Continent. However, I cannot see any connection to the Demon Realm at this time. So you dont need to worry about it.

Juno then felt a connection as he said, Right, why do I think that the Engraved Ark is connected to the Demon Realm? They dont seem to act like the Radiant Church who wants to control the continent. On the other hand, it seems like they are hell bent on destroying it. Isnt this the main goal of the Demons?

Zhao Hai stared, he hadnt thought about this possibility. But now that Juno had said it, the Engraved Arks purpose of destroying the continents races really did seems like it connects to the goals of the Demons.

Gods are different to Demons. Although the Gods were at war with the other races, they still select which of them to deal with while they sided with the Humans. If Humans become Gods, then it would give them much more fighting prowess. The Gods might even make the Ark Continent a place where they can produce a lot of God-ranked experts.[1]

But Demons were different, what they want was the Ark Continent. From what was heard from Caier, the environment in the Demon Realm was very bad, so they had been drooling at the sight of the Ark Continent. They held zero regard towards the people living in it, so it wouldnt be an issue for them to eradicate the entire population. Unlike the Gods, where they want to hold monopoly over the population, the Demons wanted to completely erase it.

Seeing Zhao Hai staying quiet, Juno knew that there might still be some things that Zhao Hai had kept secret from them. Juno and Billy didnt disturb Zhao Hais thoughts, they stayed quiet and let Zhao Hai ruminate over his ideas.

After thinking about this point for some time, Zhao Hai was convinced that the Engraved Ark had something to do with the Demon Race. But if it this was really the case, then the troubles for the Ark Continent had now been increased.

Seeing that Zhao Hai had recovered, Billy immediately said, What happened? Did you think of something?

Zhao Hai forced a smile and said, I did just think of something, Im afraid that the Engraved Ark might have a relationship with the Demons. When I investigated the Carrion Swamp in the past, I had discovered some ancient records detailing the matters of the Demon Race. When the barrier was damaged, people of the Ark Continent came to know of the existence of the Demon Realm while at the same time, the Demons were also made aware of the Ark Continent. It has been known that the Demon Realm is a very hard place to live in. For the Demons, the Ark Continent would seem like Heaven. It had become their goal to live in here, it become a must for them to occupy the continent. Because of that, the Demons held no interest in the beings that are currently living here. It wouldnt be a problem for them if everyone here were to be eliminated. This is very much like the motives of the Engraved Ark. Therefore, Ive felt a very high probability of the Engraved Ark having contact with the Demon Race.

When Juno and Billy heard Zhao Hais speculations, their faces couldnt help but turn ugly. Junos earlier inquiry was only a shallow prediction, he wasnt confident in it being true. However, after hearing Zhao Hai, he came to know that this matter was highly possible.

Billy knit his brows and said, That cant be right. Why would the Engraved Ark help the Demons? All of the people in the continent hated the Demons.

Zhao Hai smiled bitterly and answered, Dont forget how greedy people can get. They would do anything in order to fulfill their ambitions. If the Radiant Church can brainwash people using religion. Then who can say that the Demons cant do the same? There is nothing strange about the existence of Engraved Ark.

Junos face became uglier. Others might not know, but he was very clear about how good the Radiant Church was in brainwashing people. His family had suffered because of this aspect. If the Radiant Church didnt have effective methods of brainwashing, then they wouldnt have grown this fast. If the Engraved Ark was really a religion set up by the Demons, then Zhao Hais speculation might as well be true.

Billy nodded and said, This Demon Races secrecy is much deeper than the Radiant Church. It seems like we need to me more cautious of them.

Zhao Hai actually shook his head, Not necessarily. The reason why the Radiant Church had resorted to their present actions was because of me continually interfering with their plans. Because of them being in the light, they had more room for development. On the other hand, the Engraved Ark being very secretive only meant that they have a lack of members. If this is the case, then the threat of the Radiant Church should be bigger.

Juno coldly snorted as he said, No matter which one, both of them are very difficult to deal with. Because of Little Hais actions, the Radiant Church has been pushed back while the Engraved Ark has always been living in the shadows. This is a very bad situation. It may be possible for them to collaborate in dealing with Little Hai, so you need to be careful.

Zhao Hai couldnt help but force a smile as he said, This is really ironic. On one side are Gods, and on the other are Demons. If they join forces to deal with us, then were done for.

1. From what I can understand, it seems like the natives of the Divine Realm were also Humans. Need to read far ahead to make sure, Ill update it when I get there.