Habnor replied, "In the Shaft, simply gaining knowledge increases your willpower. Bountifully. We have countless organizations and groups centered on information gathering. That's not to say you can't grow your willpower by struggling to find guarded knowledge. It still works, like any struggle, but it's not cumulative with the willpower gained from obtaining the knowledge itself. The higher gain replaces the lower one if you get both. The willpower gained from acquiring the knowledge itself is always superior to what you gain from struggling to get that knowledge."

Shen nodded. "So, assuming we could quantify willpower, let's say struggling in fights while searching for a specific piece of knowledge could give me ten points of willpower. The knowledge itself could give me twenty points. I wouldn't gain thirty points, but twenty instead. Is that it?"

"Correct."

"That makes no sense. What if I almost died thousands of times and struggled millions of times over the ages while seeking that knowledge? What if the struggle could've gained me fifty points instead?"

Habnor smiled. "Then the knowledge would certainly be worth more than fifty points. That's how this place works, a rule woven in its very fabric."

"What do you mean by 'this place'?" E'livia interjected. "The Shaft you mentioned? This Overlord Realm, whatever it is?"

Habnor shook his head. "I meant the whole Shaft, composed of multiple Realms, each made of multiple universes. The Shaft Universe has a Mandatary who shaped everything and decided on some rules."

"A Mandatary? What is that?" Shen asked.

"We're getting out of track," the high elf replied. "Back to knowledge and willpower. You might have guessed already that anyone here will do what they can to guard knowledge, but any organization must share enough knowledge to hone their people's skills and willpower to a point. As such, a lot of information was spread over the ages. Things that might've been hidden from you in the Alliance until you reached A or even S-rank might be common knowledge here. Then again, common knowledge for you might not be widespread here. I wouldn't know without talking to you, and I don't want to share my house with two strangers. You'll leave after I'm done."

That was a bit rude, but Shen nodded.

Habnor continued, "As for your question about a Mandatary, it's linked to how an Ascender pushes their Realization into the Low Heavens. They become very powerful in said Low Heavens' universe. Existentially speaking, they become Pillars, linked to the Heavens themselves; they can't be killed without a Realization."

Shen nodded again—he was doing that a lot. That explained why the Gardener had been killed by the Void but survived. It felt a bit like a cheat.

"Said Ascenders are rewarded with Authority. They are more or less in cohorts with the Low Heavens to keep order in their universe. Thus, we call them Wardens instead of Pillars."

"What do you mean by Authority?" Shen asked.

"The Authority given by Reality itself to impose their Will upon Creation without any cost. Think of it as coins or points. Wardens gain Authority over time as long as they remain in their universe. Leaving it for a single moment resets however much Authority they had. The more living beings in the universe and the stronger they are, the more Authority the Warden gains on each 'wave' of 'points.' As you can see, there's an incentive for people not to use their Authority to make the universe's people's lives too hard. Reality doesn't like that. Usually, even dirtbags learn to control their impulses if they want to gather Authority quickly. Then again, there are so many living beings in any universe that a Warden can make many suffer with no consequence but the Warden having to wait longer to accumulate 'points.'"

So, the Gardener wasn't exactly altruist in creating an orderly society. That said, he hadn't needed to send Shen away to safety. He did look like a good guy overall.

Shen pointed out, "You mentioned a Warden can use their Authority to make people's lives hard. How so? What can you do with Authority?"

"A Warden can use it to change fundamental rules of Reality in their universe. I don't know any upper limits; you only need enough Authority. There are only two limitations: first, no harming anyone, directly or indirectly; second, no preventing anyone from entering or leaving your universe. Or rather, you could harm them very indirectly, but I'm not privy to the details. Of course, those limitations are only related to Authority usage; Ascenders are still powerful enough to protect their universes and can act however they please with their own power. Still, that's why Wardens are taken in high regard, respected, and feared, but Realizators and Ascenders don't submit to any random Warden. Wardens must still use their power to fight if someone comes for them and can die."

Authority felt like something pretty handy. Overpowered, but not absolute. Shen could see how the Heavens wouldn't want someone to become omnipotent in a universe.

"So Authority is useless against one's enemies?"

"Not quite. Wardens can exile anyone they want to places beyond the reach of their individual power. It's considered to be a waste, though. Only B-ranks and lower would take long enough to return to allow the Warden to regain the Authority they expended to exile them. Any A-rank would be back in a few years. S-ranks would return in a few weeks. But if a Warden is losing a fight, they can do that to gain some time to heal and prepare. Repeatedly. Until they run out of Authority."

Shen raised an eyebrow. "You called us exiles before."

Habnor sipped his tea. "I did. That's how you guys got here. The Shaft is very, very far away from the Myriad Worlds. The Gardener used his Authority to send you here."

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"But I was told the Gardener used his Realization."

The high elf smiled. "I felt the Realization around you when you arrived, but it was used to protect you, not send you away. Speaking of the Myriad Worlds, they are a great example of using Authority to change a piece of Reality, just like the Shaft. The Gardener merged his universe with the S-rank World Tree. That's how the Myriad Worlds came to be."

"I see," Shen said. "How does that relate to Mandataries?"

"After an Ascender becomes a Warden, they can accumulate enough Authority over time to push their Realization from a single universe to the entire multiverse it's a part of. It also requires power, as they undergo a harsher tribulation than the one to become Wardens. If they succeed, they gain a similar status with the High Heavens as they had with the Low Heavens, capable of using their Authority to change things. We call them Co-Rulers. They gain the ability to use their Authority to block people from leaving the multiverse, if they want."

Shen frowned. "Warden to Co-Ruler? That's a big break in the naming, considering they are only ruling over a larger area."

Habnor chuckled. "There's good reason for that. The Low Heavens don't get in the way of any Warden. The High Heavens, however, keep trying to force Co-Rulers to spend their Authority. It's like a country with two rulers who want opposite things."

"Why would the High Heavens behave like that?"

"Investiture. As I briefly mentioned, a Warden can accumulate enough Authority to gain the right to attempt the High Ascension Tribulation. If they succeed, they become Co-Rulers. Similarly, Co-Rulers can accumulate enough Authority to gain the right to attempt the Ultimate Tribulation, also called the Investiture Ceremony."

"Ultimate Tribulation? As in the last tribulation of all?"

Habnor nodded. "If they succeed, they won't need to accumulate Authority anymore; they'll have all authority over that multiverse. The High Heavens will bow to their every whim. They'll also be allowed to block people from entering the universe. Only harming someone will still be barred from them—using their Authority, that is. But an Ascender who can overcome the Ultimate Tribulation can deal with anything that comes their way, believe me."

Upsetting such a being sounded like a terrible idea. Shen would make sure not to do it.

He asked, "You speak as if Ascenders can keep growing powerful. Is there anything beyond S-rank?"

Habnor shook his head. "No. They can only grow stronger at the Ascender tier like any cultivator in any other tier can do."

Shen opened his mouth to say something, but Habnor raised his hand.

"Some people with too much free time will use the fact that Reality prevents Mandataries from harming people as the basis to suggest there's a higher tier of power. After all, each step of the way decreases their limitations, but one still remains. We call such mythical existences Unifiers."

"Unifiers," Shen tasted the word. "Because they can unify all of Reality under their will?"

"Something like that. Supposedly, they could become one with the True Heavens and take control of all Reality."

Shen smiled weakly. "Is the Shaft's Mandatary close to reaching such power?" He didn't think he could reach Absolute Power if someone took control of everything before him and stopped him.

Habnor snickered. "The same people who invent such fables also insist that the True Heavens don't fear the Mandataries because their Path reached a dead end. Their evidence? Mandataries can do whatever they want, except one thing. Supposedly, such freedom proves the True Heavens don't fear them. That's the end of the Grand Path of Heavens. Instead, you must walk the Grand Path of Ideals to have a chance." He paused, then added, "The Grand Path of Ideals used to have a considerably less flattering name until an Idealist, as we call those who walk it, got upset and erased a few universes from existence because of it. Also, the True Heavens hunt Idealists down if they take the second step, Reversal; people insist that's fear, which supposedly validates their claims of that being the Grand Path to take control over everything."

Shen didn't know about the others who believed such a Grand Path could exist, but it did make sense to him. Why would the High Heavens fight so fiercely against being subjugated by a Co-Ruler, but then the True Heavens would just let the Mandatary do whatever they wanted? The obvious answer was that the True Heavens didn't fear Mandataries. But they did fear something an Idealist might accomplish one day.

Habnor wasn't done. "My opinion? Going against the True Heavens only means Idealists have a death wish. And that they might pose a danger to Reality. They are a cancer. I suggest you don't associate yourself with them."

Shen smiled warily. That warning came a little late. Not that he had had any choice in the matter. Maybe that's why the True Heavens only hunted down those who took the second step: so they didn't have to kill innocents like him who had been forced to take the first step.

In fact, he could guess why anyone would learn how to Sever another person. "I suppose you can Sever someone else to permanently block them from ever walking the Grand Path of Heavens?"

The high elf nodded. "It's usually done to Realizators to ensure they won't fight for your Warden position if they Ascend. Of course, Realizators must allow that to happen to them, but no weaker cultivator would survive; a Warden would just straight up kill Dominators and other pests instead of Severing them. Not that that makes any sense; few Dominators ever Realize their Path, so doing nothing until they become Realizators is more cost-effective."

That explained much of what Shen recalled having ever seen, but a few gaps remained. He asked, "What about controlling the universe through Universal Nodes?"

"That's how the Idealist destroyed the universes. Usually, you would just try to control Nodes. If you control a Node, you gain a measure of control over the Laws in the Node's region. If you control most of a universe's Nodes, you gain more control over the universe's Laws. It's like applying a domain to the entire universe, changing which Laws are stronger or weaker. It can give you and your faction substantial advantages if used well. More importantly, you can also expel any invading Low Heavens, including the Alliance's, which they bring with them when they invade a universe. Oh, and the Void can destroy Nodes to unmake the universe. Thus, the Alliance must fight over Nodes to some extent. At least, to prevent others from taking control over the universe or destroying it."

"To some extent? Wouldn't gaining control over the universe give the Alliance any advantages?" He knew for a fact the Alliance tried to take control of as many Nodes as possible.

"Your home multiverse is called Agalath. You have a Co-Ruler, Dhar, of the Primordial race. He used a considerable amount of his Authority to give the Alliance something called Dynamically Linked Low Heavens. I'm not paid to share the details with you, but the gist is that the Alliance can invade and modify parts of universes to fit their Heavens' Axioms. They don't need to control the majority of the Nodes. They might control them anyway to better protect them against others or the Void, though. I do suppose it would be easier to stop others from taking the Nodes."

Shen nodded. That made sense. And the bit about the Primordials was only half-unexpected. So, the Primordials were that close to controlling the multiverse? Why were they called Usurpers? He also wanted to know why the Shaft was different.

But first, he had something much more important to ask about. "How about Paths?"

Habnor raised his eyebrows. "What about them?"

"What can you tell me about the types of Paths people can take in both the Grand Path of Heavens and the Grand Path of Ideals?"