Chapter 1712: Part 1: A Change in Plans

Main Post (United City)

The following day,

I woke up early. I started my morning routine, spending an hour on it. After finishing the morning routine, I entered the essence chamber.

Creak!

The door behind me shut automatically. Next, I turned on the console. A high concentration of world energy entered the room.

It began to spread, filling the entire space.

I walked to the middle of the room and sat cross-legged on the ground. Then, I took out the lightning affinity stones and held them in my hand.

Next, I closed my eyes and began to circulate the lightning method.

As time went by, the lightning bolt rune in my mind began to flicker. As the throbbing intensified, energy from the surroundings entered my body.

I guided the energy flow along the pathways. As the lightning power moved through the routes, the pathways were tempered.

After completing a circulation, the lightning force entered my dantian. The circulated force settled into its space.

At the same time, a small amount of the lightning force was absorbed by the purple lightning sprout.

Seeing that the sprout was absorbing the energy, I continued the process.

If the lightning sprout advanced to the next stage, the power of the dark purple lightning would become formidable.

However, I did not think there was enough accumulation yet. If I could obtain a lightning-related treasure, I could make the sprout advance.

I shook my head and decided to refocus on my cultivation.

Time went by.

United City returned to normal, though the aftermath of the main battlefield still weighed heavily on the minds of the people.

They did not know what would happen next. If top-ranked elite creatures continued to flood the main battlefield, the remaining Red Mark Warriors could be wiped out entirely.

Only a few Red Mark Warriors had survived the previous battle.

Most had died, and a large number were injured and admitted to the hospital.

The surviving Red Mark Warriors were demoralized and frightened.

Among them, only a handful managed to gather their courage, head to the training grounds, and stick to their schedules.

Meanwhile,

The council elders watched these developments unfold. They were waiting for orders from the Quasi-Gods.

They were worried as well. The arrival of the top-ranked elite creatures last time seemed connected to Zack Lockwood.

If Zack Lockwood left their base, there was a chance the elite creatures would stop their assault.

However, they could not make decisions regarding him. The young man had reached a stage where he could easily overpower the council elders.

Only the Quasi-Gods could command him.

...

Quasi-God Domain

The Star God Faction in the Quasi-God Domain was contacted by various large, medium, and small factions.

They were all aware of the situation in the Tier-3 region. Action had to be taken; otherwise, the elite creatures would overrun the main battlefield once more.

While they could issue orders to the Tier-3 region, Zack Lockwood had already become a member of the Star God Faction.

Therefore, they had no authority over him. Only the Star God Faction could make that call.

In the Quasi-God Domain, the head of the Star God Faction was Quasi-God Jane. The final decision rested in her hands.

Inside her residence, her assistant delivered the report. Quasi-God Jane took the matter seriously.

She had managed to protect Zack Lockwood in the initial phase, shielding him from rival Quasi-Gods and their factions.

Next, she had to protect him from the elite foreign creatures, who had likely discovered the truth by now.

They had set up a special battlefield to lure in more elite creatures so Zack Lockwood could use his strength to eliminate them entirely.

Zack Lockwood had executed the plan flawlessly, performing beyond expectations and slaying both the second- and third-ranked elite creatures.

Quasi-God Jane fell into deep thought as she considered a plan. She reviewed the reports from the main battlefield.

The Tier-3 post had few remaining Red Mark Warriors; the recent conflict had exacted a heavy toll.

If the main battlefield became active again, elite creatures could arrive in large numbers and eradicate the surviving warriors.

She had to protect them. Ultimately, she decided to rely on Zack Lockwood’s strength once more.

Instead of maintaining both the special battlefield and the main battlefield, she considered closing the special one and having Zack Lockwood enter the main battlefield alone.

She believed that even if the foreign creatures deployed more elites, Zack Lockwood could still defeat them.

However, as an added precaution, she considered granting him powerful Quasi-God-grade treasures—a move strictly against the rules.

Quasi-Gods were forbidden from intervening directly. Red Mark Warriors were meant to break their limits through their own efforts; only then could their true potential be assessed.

Yet here, she was planning to send Zack Lockwood to face the entire front of foreign creatures alone, which drove her to contemplate breaking the rules.

If Demigod Stefan found out, she would face severe backlash. Having no clear alternative, she decided to consult her allies.

Perhaps they could offer a better solution. She contacted her trusted peers, who were already aware of the situation.

When she shared her plan, they strongly cautioned her against violating the rules. Such an act would not only anger other Quasi-Gods, but also provoke the Demigods and the powerhouses above them.

It was precisely because of these regulations that Quasi-Gods did not distribute Quasi-God-level resources even to their own kin.

If Jane broke the rules, the consequences would reverberate across the entire Star God Faction.

Instead, her allies advised her to provide Zack Lockwood with high-grade Red Mark-level resources. That way, she would remain within the rules.

Red Mark-level resources were fully permissible for Red Mark Warriors. They also supported the idea of deploying Zack Lockwood to the main battlefield, as this would shield the other warriors from destruction.

Quasi-God Jane took their advice and recognized her misjudgment. She knew how vital the Star God Faction was-they served as the pillar keeping factional infighting in check.

If they were weakened, the human alliance as a whole would suffer.