Rafael felt great. No, great was an understatement. He felt better than the first time he ate a Saturn Cake at the Midnight Inn - probably because the Henali had fed him some stuff that was more potent than any drug he’d ever even heard of.

He was on cloud nine hundred, which made it difficult not to smile though through sheer force of will, he managed to keep himself from smiling like an idiot. That was important, because his image was being projected across the entire damn Origin realm!

This was such a scam. Everyone told him he needed to become the Tourney Champion, but no one ever told him that the reason he needed to win it was because Alexander absolutely refused to sign an agreement to work for the Henali for the foreseeable future.

While the work came with immense benefits the likes of which they would not get ever, it could not erase the sting of knowing he only got it because the other guy didn’t want it.

But it didn’t matter too much. After all, it wasn’t like he and Alexander were going their own separate ways for now.

There was a huge audience watching him, and some important Henali speaking about the history of the tournament, the achievement of the past champions, and so on and so forth. To add credibility to that statement, the previous tourney champion, a Djinn by the name of Zarqon, was also present on stage.

He really wanted to know why it was so important that he win this position from Vera, but he could only do that after the crowning ceremony was over and he received a bit of free time.

"Even in the many championships we’ve held, it’s rare for a human to come close to the top, let alone for a human to win with many of the runner ups being human as well," said Fahad, the Celestial Immortal Henali, as he looked at Rafael and his group of friends.

"What many of you may not know was that when they joined the tourney, they were not even Earth Immortals. They joined as Nascent Soul cultivators, and along the way became immortals. They faced countless obstacles, but their contributions in eliminating cultists is unquestionable. They have truly earned their positions," he continued, looking at the group with an unusual expression.

Although they were not quite up on the same level, Fahad could not help but compare these humans to Lex.

"It is clear for anyone with eyes to see, the destiny of humanity is undergoing a critical time. It’s not just the resurgence of so many human heroes that makes it evident, but what is happening across the entire universe!" he continued, but this time his speech became somewhat serious, and everyone paid attention because they had all heard the rumors.

Only the truly top powers of the Origin realm knew hints of what was happening outside their realm, and it made them nervous. So much uncertainty had not been seen in the universe for so long, most of them had not even been alive back then.

"For those that may not know, the war is getting more and more intense. But that is not what I am talking about. It is said that in a contested realm, under no one’s control, many legacies belonging to ancient human Dao Lords have been discovered. Now, the Tyrannis Race, Gon race, and the remnants of the human race all fight to regain those legacies, while the Humanoid Alliance prevents any Dao Lord intervention," Fahad revealed, and then his gaze shifted from the watching crowd to the few humans who had won the tourney. There was no doubt in his mind that these few carried a tremendous amount of the human race’s destiny on their shoulders. Their success or failure would affect the whole race!

"It is precisely because the fate of the human race hangs in the balance that we, the Henali, have also decided to act," said Fahad, his voice now carrying the ever present prestige of the Henali, and with it, immense power. "For a very long time, since the earliest days of humanity itself, the bond between Henali and Humans has been incredibly strong.

"When King Adamos sheltered the Henali when we were at our weakest, we swore an oath to remember that favor for as long as we exist. Now, after so long, when it is the time that humans are in need, we will return the favor.

"Children of Destiny, carriers of humanity’s last hope, you have proven yourselves worthy. But what lies before you is only harder than what you have faced before, not easier. Go, fight for the legacy of your race, and with your own hands, carve the history of the universe with your own actions."

Pillars of golden light shot down on Rafael, Alexander and the rest, imparting onto them the blessings of the Henali. They had no idea what was going on - no one had told them about this.

In truth, even Fahad himself had no idea what was going on, nor did he know who King Adamos was. This was, in fact, the first time he was wearing this story. The reason he had said all this was because he had received orders from up above about exactly what to say.

He was not to be blamed for his confusion. How could he possibly know the story of Adamos, and how he had harbored the Henali, when it had all happened back in the Primordial Age?

That history was lost to all save but a few. In that case, who was meant to hear these words and recognise them for truth or falsehood? At least Fahad did not know, nor did those in the audience that day.

Within his manor, Hiran watched the scene play out with an impassive expression, revealing neither joy nor sorrow. For so long, the Henali had kept their fangs withdrawn, so that the universe did not know the extent of their power. In fact, even Hiran himself did not know it.

All he knew now was that someone had clearly pissed off the Divine Ruler, because one after another, new orders kept coming in, revealing hints to Hiran about what the universe was about to face.

He chuckled, and then turned his attention to the news of Eden. While he did not care much about the Angels, the blatant actions of the Sage races were becoming a threat. If this situation was not handled carefully... then it was not the rest of the universe that would be at risk, but the Sages themselves!

After all, no matter how powerful they were, they could not take on the whole universe themselves - not to mention that they had no real unity among them. It was exactly because of how great a threat they were that, once upon a time, almost all races with Dao Lords joined together to take them down.

That was back in the days when the Phantasm Leviathan and Formarion races were still Sage races.

Yet such a war would have caused too much destruction, which is why alliances and treaties were formed to establish a balance. Now, for better or for worse, that balance was destroyed.

As for what was going on with the humans, and the Humanoid Alliance, even he did not know. Just as Fahad was acting according to orders from above, Hiran too was simply following orders.

The only thing that concerned him, really, was that lately the Midnight inn had become somewhat unresponsive. He’d requested an urgent meeting with the Innkeeper to discuss matters of the Dream realm, but he was informed that no one could deliver his letter to the Innkeeper. He was either busy, or unwilling to meet.

He didn’t know what kind of a sign this was - he just hoped that the Inn didn’t decide to get involved in this mess revolving around humanity. No matter how he looked at it, he only saw it as a trap.

As for who was setting the trap, and for whom, nobody could tell. The funny thing was, it was supposed to be difficult to keep secrets in the universe. Now it seemed that over the years, too many people had found too many ways of doing just that.

He was itching to go and do something himself as well. Unfortunately, his task was to remain in the Origin realm and ensure that everything stayed under control. This was not just a performative task - he had to make sure no one messed anything up now that they were so close to fulfilling their end goals.

As for the Dream realm... ever since the battle between Wu Kong and Erlang had erupted, that place had become extremely unstable. Erlang was one of the few in the universe crazy enough to provoke that monkey until there was no recourse. Now that he had acted, everyone was reminded of why he was one of the few beings that everyone actively avoided.