Alex stood up from his sitting position. One year has passed in the tower. It was time him to make his move.

Alex looked down toward his eight students.

They were panting heavily, their clothes torn and their bodies bruised, but their eyes held a newfound, terrifying depth.

No longer did they carry the naive spark of eager apprentices; instead, their gazes burned with the cold fire of warriors who had stared into the abyss and found themselves staring back.

Each breath they took seemed to draw in power from the very atmosphere around them, their bodies unconsciously adjusting to the heightened state of cultivation they had achieved.

He glanced up at the glowing runes etched into the tower’s obsidian wall, their luminescent script pulsing with an ancient rhythm.

[Current Floor: 86]

A slow, genuine smile tugged at the corners of Alex’s lips.

Not bad, he thought, a deep sense of satisfaction washing over him.

"To think they could actually combine their strengths and completely obliterate my Level 85 simulation.

They have grown faster than I anticipated."

The simulation had been designed to push them beyond their limits, to force them to rely on one another in ways that transcended mere teamwork.

It required perfect synchronization of their energies, flawless communication without words, and an unshakeable trust that each would cover the other’s weaknesses.

They had not only passed the test; they had dominated it.

With a casual wave of his hand, the spatial geometry of the tower warped.

In a blink, the exhausted disciples were pulled from their isolated training zones, appearing in a neat line right before him.

The transition was seamless, a testament to Alex’s mastery over spatial manipulation.

One moment they were scattered across different training floors, each battling their own personalized nightmare, and the next they stood united before their master.

"Your training in the tower is officially over," Alex said, his voice echoing with an understated authority.

The words carried weight beyond their simple meaning, resonating with the power of a being who had long ago transcended mortal limitations.

"You are now ready for the real fight."

Before the disciples could even voice their relief, Alex flicked his wrist.

The world shattered around them.

The stone walls of the tower vanished, replaced instantly by the infinite, starlit expanse of the cosmos.

For a fraction of a second, the distant glow of their home planet filled their vision.

They could see the swirling blue and green of its surface, the delicate threads of its atmosphere, the fragile beauty of the world that had gave them power.

Then, with another nonchalant wave of Alex’s hand, that too was left millions of light-years behind.

When the spatial turbulence settled, the group found themselves standing suspended in the cold, silent void of deep space.

The transition had been so abrupt that several disciples struggled to maintain their equilibrium, their bodies still adjusting to the sudden absence of gravity and atmosphere.

But they were warriors now, and within moments, they had adapted, their cultivation providing them with the ability to survive in the harshest environments the universe could offer.

Directly ahead of them yawned a monstrous cosmic anomaly, a colossal black hole whose event horizon twisted light and reality into a violent, glowing ring of accretion.

The celestial behemoth devoured everything in its vicinity, its gravitational pull so immense that even the fabric of space-time seemed to bend and warp around it.

Streams of superheated matter spiraled into its maw, releasing torrents of radiation that painted the void in shades of crimson and gold.

It was both terrifying and beautiful, a testament to the universe’s capacity for destruction on a scale that defied human comprehension.

"Is this the place, Teacher?" Ren asked, stepping forward.

His knuckles were white, his aura humming with a restless, chaotic energy that seemed to crackle at the edges of his form.

The year of training had transformed him from a brash youth into something far more dangerous.

His eyes carried the weight of countless battles, and his stance radiated the confidence of a warrior who had faced death and emerged victorious.

Alex nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on the cosmic maw.

But just as he was about to speak, his gaze drifted slightly to the left.

His expression shifted, a flicker of amusement passing across his features like a shadow.

"Oho?" Alex murmured, a sharp, amused glint entering his eyes.

"Well, it looks like you will not have to wait to test your new boundaries. Consider this a warm-up before you challenge the Dragon Monarch."

Following their master’s gaze, the eight disciples turned.

What they saw sent a ripple of tension through their ranks.

Out of the dark folds of space, ten titanic dreadnoughts materialized.

These were not mere mechanical spaceships; they were moving fortresses forged from cosmic alloys, their hulls pulsing with reality-warping energy that distorted the space around them.

Each vessel was larger than a small city, bristling with weaponry that could annihilate entire star systems.

The sheer scale of the fleet was staggering, a display of military might that would have reduced lesser beings to quivering wrecks.

Alex’s cosmic awareness swept over the fleet instantly.

Inside those metal behemoths, he could sense a terrifying concentration of power, including at least five distinct signatures belonging to Multiversal-level entities.

These were beings who had transcended the boundaries of individual universes, who could manipulate the fundamental laws of reality with a thought.

They were not opponents to be taken lightly.

Suddenly, a voice boomed across the vacuum of space, carrying a majestic, suffocating pressure that sought to force them to their knees.

The words seemed to resonate not just through their ears but through their very souls, a psychic assault designed to break their will before combat even began.

"This is the sacred territory of the Grand Hyatt Empire. Identify yourselves. Who are you, and what business do you have in the domain of our empire?"

Ren merely smirked when he heard this.

The year of brutal training had forged his temper into something sharp and unforgiving.

He had faced the worst horrors Alex could conjure, had been broken and rebuilt countless times until only the strongest aspects of his character remained.

A mere psychic assault from a fleet of dreadnoughts was nothing compared to the trials he had endured.

"Cut the crap," Ren said, his voice carrying clearly through the void, laced with absolute disdain.

He stepped forward, positioning himself at the front of the group. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Are you just another pack of dogs serving the Dragon Monarch? If you are, step out and face us. We do not have time to waste on talking metal hulls."

A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the void.

The entity behind the voice was clearly stunned by the sheer audacity of the youth.

For a long moment, nothing happened.

The dreadnoughts hung in space like frozen leviathans, their weapon systems seemingly paralyzed by disbelief.

Then, the silence was broken.

After a tense, agonizing pause, the majestic voice returned, now dripping with freezing killing intent.

"You speak of His Majesty, yet you dare display such arrogance? It seems you have traveled all this way simply because you are tired of living."