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“Golden Demon Htilil has gone in?!” Chairman Durdur slapped the square table angrily. “Why didn’t you stop her then?! Are you all just going to watch that villain scavenge all the goodies in there?!”

“Everything happened so suddenly, no one could even respond in time. By the time we could, we found out that the ruins wouldn’t let any saint-level expert inside. Naturally, there’s no way we would let children lower than saint-level into unknown ruins with a villain lurking in it,” Professor Marlin answered bitterly.

“If the ruins only allow people lower than saint-level to enter, then how did Golden Demon Htilil enter?”

“Well…”

Professor Marlin looked at the vice dean, who then gave him a nod.

“At the time, the vice dean was planning to sacrifice himself to kill Golden Demon Htilil, but he didn’t succeed. I think the Golden Demon’s cultivation realm went down after sustaining serious injury, so she managed to enter the ruins.”

Sitting in the innermost position of the square table, Lord Rosdel of Caviach suddenly sneered. “That Golden Demon Htilil ran to the Dragon God Lake to transcend her tribulation out of the blue, then the Ancient Ruins suddenly popped out of nowhere after the Dragon God Lake was blown up. It just so happened that the Golden Demon was severely injured and was able to enter the ruins right after that. Don’t you think that’s too much of a coincidence?”

“Milord, you have said exactly what was on my mind. Of course, all this cannot be mere coincidence.”

“Oh, what do you mean?”

“I think the terrifying part about Golden Demon Htilil is neither her peak saint-realm cultivation nor her unbelievable luck, but…”

Professor Marlin pushed up the black-rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of his nose and finished his sentence solemnly, “Her persistent patience and shrewdness.”

“You mean…”

“Yes.”

Professor Marlin lifted a finger and pointed to Pope Delance who was in shock. “Everything that happened today is all Golden Demon Htilil’s schemes!” He exclaimed confidently.

Gasps were instantly heard in the conference room. Even Taylor, with the wisdom he possessed from living countless years, couldn’t help but slap his knee and exclaimed, “I didn’t expect her to be this terrifying!”

A contented look appeared on Professor Marlin as he continued, “To get to the core of this matter, we’ll have to start with Golden Demon Htilil’s true strength.”

“True strength? Didn’t she just transcend a tribulation and attain the peak saint realm?”

“Of course not! The Golden Demon Htilil isn’t a newly promoted peak saint, but a veteran peak saint!”

“That’s impossible! If she was a veteran peak saint, how come no one ever sensed her transcending tribulations? The Heavenly Tribulation that a peak saint faces is extremely terrifying and very easily detected. This is also why it is impossible for any peak saint to hide their identities,” Pope Novak of Shadow Theocracy rubbed his smooth chin and mused.

The others nodded in agreement. As a veteran peak saint himself, Novak’s point was extremely convincing.

“What if that Golden Demon Htilil never transcended any tribulations?”

“Impossible! Every realm above the saint realm will draw forth a tribulation! No one can escape the suppression of the Heavenly Dao!”

“Of course it’s impossible to escape the Heavenly Tribulation, but it isn’t difficult to delay one for a while.”

Marlin projected a document for everyone to see. It was a detailed record of more than ten methods to delay a Heavenly Tribulation.

“In ancient times, some elderly who reached the end of their lifespan had no choice but to break through a realm for the sake of extending their lifespan. Yet they were too powerless to deal with the terrifying consequences of a Heavenly Tribulation, so they came up with some temporary methods to ‘secretly’ prolong their lifespan. I think that Golden Demon Htilil used the same method too. She has long been a peak saint-level expert but forcefully suppressed her realm to put off facing the Heavenly Tribulation. The violent intensity and formidability of her tribulation at the Dragon God Lake serves as the evidence.”

Professor Marlin looked at Pope Delance. “As for the Golden Demon Htilil’s real strength, I think Pope Delance, who had contact with her before, should know better… Huh? Why are you eating popcorn, Your Majesty?”

“Oh… I just thought that what you’re going to say next will be very interesting, so my body involuntarily took one out. Go on, don’t mind me.”

“……”

“Ahem… I shall continue then. Back then, Golden Demon Htilil destroyed the Goddess statue and the most prosperous street in Aeria under Pope Delance’s nose. Yet she still managed to successfully escape from the pursuit of countless magical arrays and experts. This itself already isn’t normal and most importantly, did all of you notice that…”

The projection on the square table changed once again, to the crater that Lilith created when she battled against Thea.

“This was left behind by the Golden Demon. Have you all noticed that this crater is almost exactly the same as the Dragon God Lake after it was blown up? Although there is a significant difference in the sizes, this is where the Golden Demon was starting to struggle with suppressing her cultivation realm.”

Speaking up to this point, Professor Marlin sighed. “Although I don’t know how she managed to regain control, that Golden Demon Htilil has undoubtedly been a peak saint-level expert for a long time! She’s really a terrifying person to be able to keep things hidden for so long.”

“Then, what happened next? What did Golden Demon Htilil do?” Princess Lesiah asked curiously.

“Her scheme was set in motion. First of all, she must have known that the Ancient Ruin was hidden at the bottom of Dragon God Lake and that she could open it up with Heavenly Tribulation. Not only that, but she was also aware of the access restrictions. If she were to force it open, other powerful experts would definitely be drawn to the place. So since she couldn’t have the ruin all to herself, she settled for the next best thing, which is to be the first to enter it.”

“After identifying her goals, she secretly came to Dragon God Lake and took advantage of the fact that the Dragon God Lake could block out detection. She hid there, waiting for the perfect opportunity. When the academy’s attention was entirely shifted to sniffing out the spy for demons, she seized the opportunity and triggered the Heavenly Tribulation. With that said, I’m also suspecting that she might be colluding with the demons. The sudden discovery of a spy within the academy might even be part of her plans! Everything is just too much of a coincidence!”

The expression on everyone’s face gradually became serious upon hearing that. Even Taylor stopped fooling around and was listening to Professor Marlin attentively. Obviously, everyone was beginning to understand just how terrifying Golden Demon Htilil was.

But of course, Pope Delance was still leisurely munching on his popcorn.

“Then whatever happened after that, is as what everyone knows: the Dragon God Lake was destroyed and a battle ensued. But here’s the most terrifying part about Golden Demon Htilil’s entire plan: she wasn’t just predicting the development of the situation but how people would react.”

“First of all, she knew that one of the people who would be on guard duty in the academy tonight would be Elder Mord. That’s why she didn’t leave in a hurry after destroying the Dragon God Lake with the Heavenly Tribulation. Given her strength as a peak saint and the absence of the dean, she could have escaped any time she wanted to and no one would be able to stop her.

“Secondly, she offered one billion gold coins as compensation during her encounter with Elder Mord and Elder Carter, despite knowing it would provoke Elder Mord. Not only that, but she also knew very well the decision that the vice dean and others in the academy would make. Her objective was none other than provoking the academy and using us to reduce her cultivation realm.

“Lastly, she made sure to precisely calculate the timing of the ancient ruins’ opening so that she would be the first person to enter the ruin.”

Professor Marlin took a deep breath. The more he spoke, the more terrified he felt about this person.

“And this was Demon Golden Htilil’s scheme. I’m not exaggerating things. If we don’t stop her in time, she might become humanity’s most formidable enemy!”

Professor Marlin swept his gaze over the uncertain expressions on everyone’s face and continued heavily, “Without a doubt!”