Chapter 412: The Sacred Assembly
Meeting Julian again after three years, the subtle resentment that once simmered between them had cooled into something calmer, more grounded. Julian carried himself with a newfound steadiness. Ethan, picking up on the change, decided not to prod or tease like he used to.
"So, the old City Lord finally left Beastfall City, huh?" Ethan asked, cutting to the point.
Julian gave a quiet nod. "You remember the Beastfall Festival from three years ago?"
"Yeah." Ethan’s expression shifted slightly, a flicker of memory surfacing. He even had a side quest still sitting in his system log from back then—something about scoring +2000 Human Reputation Points. The details had always been fuzzy. Back then, his plan had been simple: suppress the beast-folk. If things went sideways, well... full extermination was always on the table.
But that was three years ago. Since then, he’d learned to see the nuance. Not all beast-folk were cut from the same savage cloth. The Underworld Hound Tribe and the Greatfang Tiger Tribe, for instance, held tightly to their old ways. The real troublemakers were the opportunistic fringe clans—the ones who allied with humans when it suited them, interbred, and spawned hybrids that now considered themselves superior to ordinary humans.
The irony still made him shake his head.
And then there was the Beastfall Festival itself. He’d missed it entirely, knocked unconscious before he could even step into the arena. By the time he woke up—three years later—the once-in-a-century event had already passed. Rumors said the top prize was a chance to gain access to the legendary Beastfall Pool. For humans, it could break their strength barriers, pushing them to the next Energy mastery rank and strengthening their very bones. For beast-folk, it promised bloodline purification and evolutionary leaps.
Julian, noticing Ethan’s thoughtful silence, continued, "Beastfall Festival isn’t just ours. Cities like Forgotten City, Clearspring City, and Hurricane City hold similar events at the same time."
"So the old man skipped the festival and went chasing bigger rewards elsewhere?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued.
Julian let out a soft laugh. "You could say that. He left to attend the millennial gathering—the Four Domains Sacred Assembly held in the Sea of Death."
That made Ethan pause. "Four Domains Sacred Assembly? Wait, isn’t that... one of those once-in-a-thousand-years things? What’s in it for us?"
His heart was already racing. From those Eastern novels he read back on Earth, anything that happened once every thousand years had to come with legendary-tier loot or opportunities. Julian could already see the wheels turning in Ethan’s head.