After a period of indulgence, Ren climbed out of bed and resumed his cultivation.
During this time, Gabriel's obsession with online gaming had reached such a point that the halo above her head seemed to be tinged with a faint, darkening hue. She barely paid any attention to the vampire living next door; if they crossed paths, she'd just offer a distracted nod.
"When we first met, she talked about locking me in the Hell Prison. Now, she won't even look at me..." K grumbled, watching a dark-circled Gabriel stagger back into her house.
"It's Gabriel; falling into decadence is practically her brand," Ren remarked, withdrawing his gaze. He turned to K. "Anyway, now that you've handed over all those artifacts and True Artifacts to me, has the Dark Covenant stopped opposing you?"
"Maybe they could have before, but not now," K said with a confident smile. "My father passed his True Progenitor blood to me. I'm a peak God-level powerhouse now. In a few centuries, I'll naturally break through to Super-God. Even now, they're no match for me. Why would they bother resisting?"
"I see. No wonder you feel a bit... different." Ren nodded, his eyes inadvertently sweeping over K's expansive figure. He thought to himself: Even more impressive than before, she's almost catching up to Gabriel.
K noticed his lingering gaze and felt a surge of secret pride. Clearly, my charm is invincible!
The two shared a smile. "In a while, we're leaving Earth to explore the universe," Ren said. "Do you want to come along?"
"Of course! Roaming the stars—who wouldn't want that?!"
"Alright then. Once the Special Forces return the ship, we set off!"
"It's a deal!"
A few months later.
"The Phoenix is returning to Earth for its nirvana in a few days. Should we team up and kill it?" The Corpse King had come to find them again, this time hunting for the legendary bird.
"Not interested," Gabriel replied, dressed in a loose, oversized coat and looking thoroughly lethargic. "The Phoenix Clan is famous for being gentle, but they aren't to be trifled with. If you actually kill one, a flock of them will descend on Earth tomorrow to avenge their kin."
Long You frowned at her warning. "I see... I suppose I was oversimplifying things. By the way, what is the strength of the strongest in the Phoenix Clan?"
"Who knows?" Gabriel shrugged. "The ones I've seen were all Great Star-Lords. Above that is the Galaxy-Lord, and above that is the Universe-Lord. Beyond that, I have no idea. Our Celestial Civilization's strongest is a Galaxy-Lord who controls the entire Andromeda Galaxy."
Ren and Mu Tiancai nodded repeatedly, finally learning the names of the realms beyond Super-God.
"Anyway, drop the Phoenix idea unless you want to bring disaster upon yourself," Gabriel added. "There are countless bizarre creatures in the universe. If you want to keep devouring and evolving, leave Earth with us and explore. You're a menace here, anyway."
Faced with her bluntness, Long You didn't get angry. He thought for a moment and said, "It is indeed time to leave. However, I won't be going with you." He planned to take his two "little wives" and depart separately; crowding in with Ren's group seemed inconvenient.
"Fine. Then we'll see you in the stars."
Long You left. The next day, news broke that the "Black Fire" organization had been raided by the Corpse King. Every top researcher was infected and forced into overtime to build a custom spaceship for him. The world rejoiced at the news of his departure; everyone wanted the humans to have the planet back.
A few days later, the Phoenix successfully completed its nirvana, soaring out of Earth's atmosphere in a blaze of rebirth. It wouldn't return for another sixty years. However, Gabriel noted that it was rarely the same bird twice; once a Phoenix reached the Galaxy-Lord level, it didn't really need nirvana anymore—it simply stopped aging.
A year later, Yanhuang finally delivered the repaired spaceship. The delivery man was Qinglong, the Yanhuang Guardian. After a year of intense training, his base strength had reached the God-level, capable of hitting Super-God (albeit the weakest tier) at full output.
"We optimized several functions and added a space-jump feature," Qinglong explained with a smile. "Earth is set as the primary coordinate. If you ever want to come home, you can return through a space-gate instantly."
It was a great feature. Over the next few days, the group moved their belongings onto the ship. The massive pile of artifacts K had sent over was casually used as interior decoration.
"Using artifacts as ornaments... you youngsters are truly wild," Senior Wuyou remarked, shaking his head.
"Are you sure you won't join us, Senior?" Ren asked.
"No. I only have a few decades of life left. I'd rather spend them peacefully on Earth," Wuyou said. "Just be careful out there. Don't provoke opponents that are too strong. If you have the chance, come back for my funeral."
The group shared a laugh.
Finally, they boarded the ship and left Earth. Gabriel, finally remembering her mission to save the Holy Lord, sat in the pilot's seat and guided the vessel out of the atmosphere. Only Ren, Gabriel, and K were on board. Mu Tiancai had recently started dating and wasn't ready to leave Earth just yet. Since the coordinates were set, they could reunite later.
With a final look at the pale blue dot, the ship transformed into a streak of light and vanished.
Once the ship was on autopilot, Gabriel waved the other two away. "Just don't do anything reckless in the cockpit."
K's face turned scarlet. "Who's going to do anything reckless?!"
"Better if you don't. I don't want to slip on any 'mysterious liquids' tomorrow," Gabriel called out as she sauntered away under K's murderous glare.
"Come on, let's explore the ship," Ren said. "Better make sure there aren't any hidden cameras."
"Wait! You're actually thinking about it?!" K crossed her arms over her chest, looking at Ren in shock.
"Heh. It's too late to run now!"
"Dame yo~!"
That day, even with her headphones on, Gabriel couldn't block out the sounds of their "activities." Sitting at her computer, Gabriel's brow twitched violently as she gritted her teeth. "Did they forget to soundproof this ship?!"
As she stared at her wide-open door, the Holy Golden Orb simply fell silent.