1256 Provocation

“Didn’t I die? Why am I alive again? What have you people done to me!”

“Where is this? Who are you guys‽”

“What in the world is going on? Is this an enemy trap‽”

Shock and panic rapidly spread in the crowd. All kinds of yelling and roaring sounded one after another. It was chaos.

Facing the reality that they came alive after death, even though they were Beyond Grade As, their hearts were still heavily impacted.

Seeing the commotion become worse and worse, Han Xiao took a deep breath. His face tensed up, and his presence exploded!

“Silence!”

Boom!

Like a deafening thunder, the presence of Han Xiao’s Energy Rank swept across everyone, and golden lightning bolts flickered in midair.

An enormous pressure suddenly landed on every revivor. It was as if someone had pressed the stop button. All noises disappeared instantly, and everyone shut up. Looks of shock and fear focused on Han Xiao.

It felt like they were at the center of a Primordial Psionic Energy explosion. They intuitively felt an incomparable sense of danger, as if they were prey targeted by a hunter. Their bodies tensed up uncontrollably.

There were peak Beyond Grade As among these revivors who were watching the situation calmly, but even their expressions changed drastically, and they looked at Han Xiao with shock.

This overwhelming energy seemed to be stronger than anyone they had ever seen before!

This man in black in front of them was probably capable of ending their lives!

This time, before these revivors could react, the other Holy Accord members stared at them with their arms crossed and released their presence too!

Boom!

The energy presences of dozens of Beyond Grade As clashed intensely, creating one shockwave after another. The entire room started to tremble!

“These are all Beyond Grade As‽”

The expressions of the revivors changed dramatically. They were petrified.

The pressure only lasted three seconds before Han Xiao told everyone to retract it.

This intimidation act was clearly very effective. None of them dared cause a mess anymore. Seeing that everyone had finally quietened down, Han Xiao smiled and said, “Looks like everyone has calmed down. Good, now we can talk.”

Hearing this, the revivors looked around at the dozens of Holy Accord Beyond Grade As and instantly decided to follow their hearts and obediently wait for Han Xiao to continue.

Seeing this, Han Xiao cleared his throat and slowly said in as friendly a tone as possible, “I know everyone needs an explanation. It is now Galaxy Calendar Year 780. You’re all Beyond Grade As who died in different eras. The reason you guys have appeared here is that we discovered a unique way that revived you!”

Although the revivors already made some guesses, when hearing the confirmation, they still could not help but be astounded.

How is this possible? We’re really alive again‽

Their emotions were complicated and contradicted. They felt both glad and worried.

Although reviving was a surprise, most people still felt weird about it.

You didn’t ask for our permission to dig us out!

This is definitely not a free service. These people definitely have motives!

“So, this is not the world after death…” This time, that male elf with a sweet mouth seemed to have realized what was going on. He then looked at Han Xiao with a strange expression, frowned, and said, “Then, what’s with that outfit? You think you’re very stylish?”

Han Xiao’s head was filled with question marks. He could not help but look at his clothes. Sure, it is quite black, but its design is rather exquisite, isn’t it?

Is this a matter of personal aesthetic? My officers all think it looks great!

Plus, is this really a good time to look down on my outfit?

Han Xiao sized him up, searched through his mind palace, and found the information about this elf male very soon.

‘Elf King’ Dylan, a peak Beyond Grade A Mage, was active from the final stage of the exploration era to the early stage of the Galaxy Calendar. His position back then was about the same level as Dark Lord, Void Overlord, and the Mechanic Emperor now, one of the representatives of the Beyond Grade As of the generation.

The elves were a huge race in the universe with many branches like the Galaxy Human Race. Back then, using his power, Dylan united the sub races in the universe one after another, founding an enormous organization belonging to the elf race that was similar to old Milizaus’ ‘Dragonblood Nation’. It was a time of glory in the history of the elf race.

Back then, the three Universal Civilizations tried to recruit Dylan, but they were rejected. He then allied with multiple Super Star Cluster civilizations.

The reason he did this seemed to be that he felt that he could only choose one of the three Universal Civilizations while if he stood on the Super Star Cluster civilizations’ side, he could acquire resources from many of them while enjoying more freedom.

In the end, Dylan died during the Tragedy of the Pinnacles.

It’s this guy. Now it makes sense… Han Xiao understood.

According to the records, Dylan’s personality was very strange. He never cared about the timing and situation of saying things, nor did he care about others’ feelings. Because of that, he had a very bad relationship with the Beyond Grade As back then and many enemies.

In his final battle, he faced a whooping twelve Beyond Grade As who wanted him dead.

This is almost my level of treatment…

As for what this guy would decide to do, it was tough for Han Xiao to judge. After all, the era and environment had changed.

During Dylan’s era, as there were no prior examples, the Super Star Cluster civilizations were still openly competing for Beyond Grade A allies with the three Universal Civilizations and trying to attract them using better terms. At that time, joining the Super Star Cluster civilizations was the norm. No one thought the Tragedy of the Pinnacles would happen.

Han Xiao curled his lips, ignored him, looked away, and said to everyone, “I know everyone still has a lot of questions, such as who we are, how and why we revived you guys, and so on. For these questions, my friend here will answer them one by one.”

Hearing this, Oathkeeper stepped up and said with a deep voice, “Everyone, we’re a secret organization named the Holy Accord. We were founded by some of the Primordial Ones during the exploration era. Our core goal was to revive in the future. As for how we revived you guys, it’s through a phenomenon called a Sanctum…”

Oathkeeper had prepared the script long ago and explained Holy Accord’s origin and purpose in detail, answering everyone’s doubts.

The Primordial Ones were famous. The revivors sized up the Holy Accord members present and realized that they were indeed the Primordial Ones recorded in history. They started to gradually believe what Oathkeeper was saying.

This time, someone looked at Han Xiao and said, “Who is he then? He’s not one of the Primordial Ones,”

The rest looked over too.

Hearing this, Han Xiao straightened his shirt.

“You guys can call me Black Star. I’m the leader of the Beyond Grade As of this era.”

As soon as he said that, everyone’s expression changed.

Leader of Beyond Grade As?

How arrogant!

In our eras, even the strongest Beyond Grade As did not dare to call themselves the leaders of the Beyond Grade As. Who are you again? How dare you give yourself such a title!

Oathkeeper coughed and said, “Let me introduce you. His Excellency Black Star isn’t a member of the Holy Accord but our crucial partner in this era. We have the same goals. In this era, the Beyond Grade As have already founded an association and united, and Black Star is the president of that Beyond Grade A Association. Plus, his strength is also at the top tier in the universe. At the same time, he’s also the only shared consultant of the three Universal Civilizations. He has an extraordinary position…”

After hearing the explanation, everyone looked shocked and could not help but keep sizing Han Xiao up.

Beyond Grade A Association president, consultant of the three Universal Civilizations… Those titles had never existed before. Although they did not know the details yet, just from these titles, they could feel Han Xiao’s influence.

Thinking back of the Energy Rank Han Xiao had just displayed earlier, the majority of people started to take him seriously and remembered the name Black Star.

To think that such an incredible youngster appeared in the ‘future’, this Black Star guy might have had the best time out of all the Beyond Grade As in history…

This time, a revived peak Beyond Grade A coldly said, “How strong you are is your business. All I want to know is, you didn’t revive us to accompany you to play Wayne Card, did you? Or are you planning to use us to help you achieve some kind of ambitious goal, like the classic ‘rule the universe’?”

Han Xiao shook his head and chuckled. “That’s funny. The Holy Accord organization and I disturbed all of your rest not out of personal ambition. The entire Beyond Grade A class is in urgent danger, and we need our seniors, your strength!”

As soon as this was said, many people felt honored and interested right away.

“Tell us more. What danger are the Beyond Grade As in?” someone else asked curiously.

“It’s still related to the three Universal Civilizations…”

Han Xiao spoke fluently and explained the crucial problems such as the unity of the Beyond Grade A Association, the stand of the three Universal Civilizations, what the Sanctum Revival meant for both sides, and so on. He did his best to explain the intense situation the Beyond Grade As were in now as simply as possible.

Seeing that they were thinking about his words, Han Xiao added, “If this problem isn’t dealt with properly, a second Tragedy of the Pinnacles will certainly happen to the Beyond Grade As!”

As soon as he said that, many people shook.

A lot of them were victims of the Tragedy of the Pinnacles. This term touched their soft spot.

Seeing this, Han Xiao quickly made use of the opportunity and said with a meaningful tone, “This is closely related to every one of you, not just a matter of this era. Even if you guys aren’t willing to join us, you have to think about your own interests.

“You guys have already died once and been revived. You definitely want to continue enjoying your lives. However, if this problem isn’t dealt with, you won’t be able to ensure your own safety. There’s only one chance for Sanctum Revival, so if we don’t unite and the second Tragedy of the Pinnacles breaks out, you guys will be in danger too. If killed again, your lives will really end this time.”

Han Xiao deliberately hid the secret that the Sanctums could revive them an unlimited number of times and claimed that they only had one chance. By doing that, he became tremendously more convincing.

Hearing this, everyone understood the situation and looked serious.

Dylan rubbed his chin and said, “If that’s the case, there are only two paths in front of us. Join the Beyond Grade A Association or stay in the Holy Accord, one or the other. There’s no other choice.”

Someone on the side frowned and asked, “Can’t we leave on our own?”

Dylan glanced at him with disdain and said, “Use the few brain cells you have and think about it. Given how important the information about the Sanctum Revival is, do you think they’d let someone who knows about it move around freely? Idiot, no wonder you got killed.”

This person’s expression froze, and he angrily said, “Didn’t you die too?”

“You don’t understand. I died strategically!” Dylan snorted.

The others were bewildered.

What a f*cking creative way to describe it.

However, being weird was one thing, but they had to admit what Dylan said made sense.

There were only two choices. If they wanted freedom as soon as possible, they had to join the Beyond Grade A Association and let the galactic society, especially the three Universal Civilizations, know about their existence. This way, they would be tied with the Beyond Grade A Association.

If they chose to stay in the Holy Accord, no one would know about their existence. Even if the ‘cleansing’ happened, they would not be at risk.

Safety or freedom, there was no third choice… If they thought about secretly sneaking away, they would most likely end up back in their coffins.

They were in a dilemma.

Most people preferred to hide in the Holy Accord; they would lose freedom for some time, but it was better than losing their only second life. If the Beyond Grade A Association’s hard work paid off, they could enjoy the fruits of victory. If the association failed, they would still be safe.

Han Xiao saw their hesitation. Knowing that what he said was effective, he was secretly glad.

However, this time, an untimely voice suddenly sounded in the crowd.

“Why do we have to accept such restrictive terms? Everyone, there are many of them, but we aren’t few in number either. Why don’t we work together for the time being, get out of this place? They can’t stop all of us. Everyone will be free that way!”

As soon as this provocative idea was brought up, the expressions of many revivors changed.

Han Xiao’s expression sank. He looked toward the source of the voice.

“Well, I really thought the problem would be solved smoothly, but it seems some people’s mindsets need to be adjusted physically.”