"Apparently, I wrote some chapters and have torn them apart," Michael joked.

"True, but you got new pages to write something different this time," said the woman.

"You didn't tell me who you are. At least tell me why you are here,"

The woman stopped floating toward the realm tear. Instead, she turned her calm gaze at Michael. Her gaze swept across the ocean around them. Michael felt a strange energy pulse followed by a ripple in the ocean.

"You won't be bothered by the creatures anymore,"

The woman's words surprised Michael. Although he still had to test her words, he didn't think she was lying. After all, she did not need to lie to him about anything.

"Also, Michael," Her gaze fell on Michael once again. Michael felt like her gaze was piercing his soul itself.

"Every family will have its share of flaws, but just one family is what we have," said the woman. Her gentle words echoed through the sky. Before Michael could ask her anything else, she vanished into thin air.

"System, what do you think about her? Any idea about her origins?" asked Michael.

To Michael's surprise, the system went into complete silence. No matter how many times he asked, the system did not utter a word about the mysterious woman. After a while, Michael could only sigh and continue to fly toward the realm tear. On his way, he recalled her words. He still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact his past self actually lived five thousand years ago.

"I must have been freakishly powerful," Michael mumbled under his breath. He saw no point in dwelling on the past. His past self made some mistakes, big ones it seemed, but it didn't mean he would make the same ones once again. In this life, he would go to any length to protect his loved ones. For instance, he promised himself to look after Vedora. If the demons grave was one of his mistakes, he would fix it.

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"You reset the entire universe for love, but there are many kinds of love, Michael," Michael recalled the woman's words. He felt there might be another reason other than Gaya for him to reset the universe. He wondered what the hell happened five thousand years ago. As he was flying toward the realm tear, he noticed the monsters moving away from him. Not a single monster dared to attack Michael. He even sensed some Immortals monsters almost as strong as him. They all avoided Michael. Now he realized why even the Immortals dared not to visit the demons grave. If it wasn't for the woman, he would have had to fight all these monsters.

With his speed, the realm tear got closer and closer to him. When he eventually reached the realm tear, he was stunned. He expected a tear in the space for six feet or something. But to his shock, the realm tear seemed at least seventy feet from top to bottom. He looked small in front of it. Moreover, it radiated overwhelming energy.

"What the hell?" Ayag finally woke up from her slumber. Her eyes went wide when she saw the realm tear. Michael felt a strange force pulling him into the tear.

"Are you guys ready?" Michael asked Vedora.

"We were born ready," Agay said with excitement tingling in his spine.

Finally, Michael stopped resisting the pull and let loose of his body. The realm tear pulled Michael inside as he disappeared into the tear in a blink of an eye. Everything became blank to Michael. He closed his eyes because of the glow. Feeling the pull, Michael remained with his eyes closed. Vedora snuck back into Michael's armor and clenched the robes tightly. They traveled within the tear for an unknown amount of time. Eventually, Michael sensed the brightness dimming down. Suddenly, he felt a powerful pull. Before he could open his eyes and react in time, he fell into a soft grass field with a thud. Michael slowly opened his eyes to see a murky swamp before him.

Everywhere he turned, he saw nothing but ancient Cypress trees looming out of the murky water. Their brittle bark was weathered and pitted, scored by the marks of nature and man alike. They seemed to have stood the test of time and won. Any oblivious man wouldn't dare venture this deep into the demon's grave anymore. Only the very foolish or the very brave. Or someone with godly powers. Here and their clumps of moss clung desperately, filling the moist air with the scent of decay. The grayish mist covering the swamp added an extra creepiness to the place.

Michael picked himself up. His black armor turned brown by the mud. He ascended to the air, but gravity pulled him down back to the swamp. The ground felt semi-solid and gooey. He moved one inch, and his feet went two inches deeper into the mud. Flying was the quickest route out of the swamp. However, when he tried to ascend toward the sky, a powerful force pulled him down.

"System, can you do something about gravity?" Michael turned to the system for its help.

[No can do. The system level is too low to change the rules of the demons grave] said the system, making Michael roll his eyes.

"So you are useless?" Michael sighed.

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The system did not give Michael an answer as he slowly tried to move forward through the swamp. The smelly water was up to his waist. He couldn't help feeling some weird things brushing past his legs underwater.

"Hope they are fish," Michale mumbled. His environmental scanning map went haywire for some reason. As a result, he was unable to sense the creatures around him. Just a few minutes into the demons grave, he was already in a bind. But the swamp was far from something that could stop Michael. He looked at Vedora, who sat atop his shoulder.

"Try to fly ahead," said Michael.

He wanted to know whether gravity affected only him or also Vedora.

"Hmm," Vedora murmured before flapping their tiny wings. They hovered in the air and remained in the air without being pulled by gravity.

"So it only affects me," Michael mumbled.

"Fly ahead and keep me posted," said Michael.

"But don't fly too far from me," Vodra nodded and flew away. In Michael's head, keeping Vedora close to him would only prevent them from growing up. They needed to face some challenges and life-or-death situations. After all, Michael and Gaya wouldn't be with them all the time. Only by facing dire situations could they really unlock their potential. Simply put, Michael decided to force them to find their powers.

Vedora nodded as they flew ahead to scout the area. Even Michael's X-ray vision seemed blurry because of the strange mist around the swamp. Slowly, he dragged himself through the mud. The swamp water smelled like rotten eggs and spoiled meat. Any other man would have thrown up. But thanks to Michael's tolerance for stink, he controlled himself. Fortunately, Michael faced no monsters or creatures while he was in the swamp. Vedora flew back and forth to keep Michael updated about the swamp.

As Michael was moving through the swamp, he finally noticed what seemed to be the shore. He smiled.

"Finally,"

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But his moment of joy was short-lived as he felt something grabbing his legs. Vedora returned to inform Michael about the land. To their shock, Michael disappeared into the swamp water in a blink of an eye. It happened so fast.

"Holy shit,"

"Ghost,"

"Something pulled him inside,"

The three heads looked shocked and worried at the same time. They shouted for Michael, yet they only saw bubbles and ripples on the swamp water's surface. Inside the swamp, Michael struggled to free himself from the strange thing's grab. He couldn't see what was before him with his naked eyes. So Michael immediately activated his X-ray eyes. As soon as everything turned blue, he saw a dark figure holding his legs. When he turned his vision to normal, he vaguely saw a brownish skeleton. However, it wasn't a human skeleton. On the contrary, it looked humanoid creature with two horns protruding from its skull. He also noticed a few bones that formed a vague shape of wings. The skeleton reminded Michael of Azazel. Wings, horns, and a bulky structure resembled Azazel's physical body.

One of the skeletons grabbed Michael's legs, and the other grabbed his shoulder. They tried to drown him. Although drowning wouldn't kill him, Michael wasn't prepared to test his immortality underwater. According to the system, getting killed by other means wouldn't end his life but reset his cultivation. Beheading, on the other hand, would reset his cultivation and make his soul wander until he finds a suitable vessel for the soul. Finding a vessel might take days, months, years, or even decades.

Under the water, Michael did not panic. He quickly formed a wind bubble around his head to breathe. The very next moment, the water began to boil because of the dark flames dancing on his hand. The cold water became hot in a few seconds. Michael clenched the skeleton's head with his hand as several cracks formed in the skeleton. In a blink of an eye, the skeleton's head turned into a white powder that dissolved in the water. After taking down the skeleton that was holding his shoulder, Michael turned his focus onto the one grabbing his leg.

The dark beams shot out of his hands, creating a sizzling sound. They penetrated the skeleton as it exploded into bits and pieces. Surprisingly, Michael didn't receive any badass points or experience points for taking down the skeletons.

"System, did you forget something?" Michael talked to the system in mind.

[They are already dead and weak as hell. Why do you expect experience points and badass points for killing such pathetic monsters?] The system growled.

"They didn't feel weak," Michael replied. Mere weak monsters couldn't have pulled him down and held him underwater for a minute. Unlike the system said, they were the farthest thing from being weak.

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[That's because of their innate strength. What did you expect from the monsters in the demons grave?] the system questioned him. Instead of arguing with the system, Michael wanted to escape the swamp water. He hated being watery and stinky. Two streams of dark fire shot out of Michael's hands and propelled him out of the water like a rocket.

From outside, Vedora noticed the water being vaporized by something hot. The temperature in the air had risen significantly. It was enough for them to know what was about to happen. As they expected, Michael shot out of the water and dashed toward the shore before the gravity could pull him down.