The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 445: Lifting the Land

Some others also began to follow the kowtowing man, expressing their gratitude.

"Alright, I accept your gratitude. Raise your heads—I will send you there right now," Aldrian said.

"Savior, how did you—" Before the man could finish his question, he and the others suddenly disappeared, leaving only Aldrian and the broken Karl behind. Aldrian had sent hundreds of captives just outside the town’s eastern walls.

The sudden appearance of so many people at once immediately caught the attention of the guards in the area. The captives were momentarily stunned by the abrupt change in their surroundings. But when they realized where they were, many of them erupted into cheers, overjoyed to have finally escaped that place!

Many shed tears of gratitude, offering their thanks to the heavens and to Aldrian.

Those trailing behind Aldrian were also stunned when they sensed multiple presences appearing all at once near the eastern walls. They turned toward the area, only to freeze in shock at the sight of a massive crowd of unfamiliar people who had seemingly teleported there.

The town’s guards were already making their way toward the scene. Due to the sheer number of newcomers and the movement of the guards, they quickly drew the attention of the townspeople.

The town’s guards were part of Karl’s forces stationed there. Many had already rushed to the eastern side after witnessing their leader, Karl, being taken away by a mysterious figure. With their highest-ranking leader gone, command now fell to the town guard’s chief commander—yet even he was at a loss over what had just transpired.

Moreover, after learning the identity of the mysterious person, he did not dare to pursue or confront him directly. Instead, he ordered the troops to stand by on the eastern side. The captain of the eastern wall shared the same sentiment and chose to wait and observe. For now, the most they could do was monitor Aldrian’s movements.

The chief commander had no choice but to report the situation to the main family. Even if they gathered all the troops in the town, he doubted they could stop that masked man.

How could they possibly face someone capable of defeating tens of thousands of soldiers supported by flying fortresses? That would be nothing short of suicide!

They had already sent some men to trail Aldrian and see where he had taken Karl. However, not long after Aldrian entered the underground passage, a massive group of people suddenly appeared. Could this be connected to whatever Aldrian had done underground?

-------------------------

Back in the underground research facility, Aldrian sighed after teleporting the captives away. Although what happened next in their lives was no longer his responsibility, at least they were no longer trapped in this place.

After learning about this facility, Aldrian had not only wanted to see the place where they created the Gu, but he also felt a sense of responsibility to free those imprisoned in this hellish place.

Now, he felt there was nothing more worth looking at here. He had already eliminated everyone managing the facility, and it was clear they had begun preparations for evacuation before his arrival.

Once Karl learned the true identity of the masked figure, he had not hesitated to put an evacuation plan into motion as a failsafe in case the mysterious swordsman ever discovered this place.

They would take some things and destroy everything else, including the prisoners. Then, they would create a scapegoat to take the blame, making it seem like this was nothing more than a shady underground slave storage that had caught fire.

Aldrian deep in thought. After a moment, he finally decided to destroy this place. He couldn’t trust the townspeople to handle the aftermath properly. If they saw some of the Gu here, they might hesitate, or worse, they might try to take advantage of the gu in his absence.

It was better to erase this place entirely, along with all the evidence inside, than to risk it falling into the wrong hands due to human greed.

Although he would lose a crucial piece of evidence linking the Donovan family to the devils, he had already achieved what he intended in this place. As for everything else, he didn’t care about gaining the support of other territories or anything of the sort. The moment Eleine was harmed by their machinations, this matter became personal.

He would be swift, ruthless, and direct.

Aldrian then teleported, taking Karl with him, his feet still firmly grasped by Aldrian and reappeared outside the underground facility. They floated a few hundred meters from the secret passage, causing those who had been trailing them to freeze in shock at their sudden appearance.

These people wondered what had happened underground, but since they couldn’t sense anything from the surface, they didn’t dare to pursue Aldrian any further.

The worsening condition of Karl made them shudder, as he seemed on the brink of death, which only intensified their curiosity about what had really happened.

Aldrian floated motionlessly, closing his eyes as if concentrating, an act that made the onlookers wonder what he intended to do.

Suddenly, the ground around them trembled violently, and the tremor could be felt throughout the entire town. Many wild beasts fled frantically, scrambling to escape the sudden quake. Most of the townspeople staggered, with many falling to the ground. Even cultivators below the Earl stage slipped, demonstrating the immense power of the tremor.

Those trailing Aldrian felt tense from the sudden quake, but then they witnessed something mind-blowing.

Rumble! Rumble!

The vast land in front of them suddenly began to lift into the air slowly. An area as wide as more than two square kilometers rose higher and higher. Finally, the tremor ceased when the land was fully lifted, and the people in the town could stand again. But then, they were covered by a sudden shadow, as if something large was blocking the sunlight, prompting them all to look up at the sky.

Their eyes widened as they saw a massive piece of land floating in the air. It continued to rise until it finally stopped when it reached a height of one kilometer from the ground. The enormous mass of land resembled a floating island, visible from across the town. It was the first time anyone there had seen anything like it.

There was only silence as everyone stared at the massive floating land, which remained suspended for a moment before flames suddenly ignited from it. At first, the flames were small, but then, in an instant, the entire floating land was engulfed by fire.

The heat continued to rise, and soon the flames turned a brilliant blue. The people in the town could feel the intense heat radiating from the fire, and it made most of them shudder. They could sense that these flames could even harm cultivators at the Emperor stage!

Aldrian completely burned the massive land, which was actually the secret lab for breeding the Gu, to destroy everything inside. Every room, every secret passage, and every Gu—he didn’t miss a single one.

In the Gu storage room, where many tubes containing the Gu were stored, the flames instantly destroyed all of them. The sound of "chi-chi-chi" echoed as the Gu in that room were obliterated by Aldrian’s flames.

After the land had been "cooked" for more than three minutes, the flames slowly died out, revealing the blackened remains of the floating island. A few moments later, the land suddenly began to free-fall, crumbling bit by bit as the floating island collapsed.

The ones who had been trailing Aldrian were the closest to the floating island, and when they saw it start to crumble and fall, they frantically ran to escape the impact zone.

Rumble!

The pieces of land crashing to the ground created a deafening rumble and a tremor that rivaled the earlier quake. Chunks of land of all sizes continued to strike the earth, but when the largest piece hit, it caused the most violent tremor, even making some of the town’s buildings collapse.

Luckily, no one was caught beneath the falling debris.

The air was thick with dust, and the wind from the impact slammed into the eastern wall, forcing everyone to cover their eyes and faces. The prisoners freed by Aldrian watched in shock, standing near ground zero of the impact. Despite being so close, they seemed protected by an invisible dome, as the debris and wind did not affect them.

This was Aldrian’s way of protecting them.

After a few moments of silence, Aldrian opened his eyes and gazed toward the town. He then teleported higher and closer to the town, allowing many of the townspeople to see his figure clearly.

"Attention, all people of Varuga!" Aldrian’s voice boomed across the town, and every single individual could hear it clearly.

"This man here," Aldrian said, lifting his hand that grasped Karl’s leg to make him more visible to the crowd. "This is the man who has betrayed both the orthodox and unorthodox cultivators by working with the devils. In fact, his family has been involved as well."

"He is the Grand Elder of the Donovan family, Karl Donovan. The floating land you all just witnessed is where the Donovan family developed Gu with the help of the devils."

At Aldrian’s words, the crowd was stunned. The Donovan family is connected with the devils?!