Urgent Audience Between Existential Sixth Step Organizations

“I think…” The woman spoke with a wide smile. She had a large mouth that only charmed the audience and distracted the other side in their debate. She faced the black-haired, middle-aged man with a calm, melodic, gentle, and low tone. “The Crimsonbreaking Faction was smart to put such a figure in this operation. The change between the border Kingdoms was unexpected, but nobody raised even an eyebrow because only the Heraxle Clan adopted it with their neighbors. Even the Bluenet Nation doesn't want to attend to the Heraxle Clan.”

“Are you saying this is the Bluenet Nation’s fault?” The man lightly smiled from ear to ear and asked while pressing on his left thigh with his legs crossed. The woman didn’t react to his bait and continued, “All I am saying is that the Bluenet Nation gave their spot to the Est Soul Empire, right? After all, they and the Heraxle Clan are allies. However, the Snow Foxes’ Dynasty isn’t an ally. But their neutrality has always been envied by the other Existential Sixth Step organizations.”

The man’s face frowned a little as he squinted his eyes, enraptured in the woman’s speech. The woman continued still, “Yet, they are also the only ones who decided to share territory in the Heraxle Clan’s territory. Hell, the Heraxle Clan is even a friend of many others. Who knows what kind of heart and spirit it is needed to accept others into one of the richest Regions in the world.”

“Yet, how many of us can speak about what has been happening there? Nothing. None at all. The only ones who can talk are the Crimsonbreaking Faction,” the woman concluded.

“Yes, but that is because that black monster has killed them all! Hell, he even ate a Godly cultivator!” The man interjected. The woman smiled lightly and gently tilted her head down before responding with smiley lips, “Shouldn’t you be concerned more about the latter fact than whether he silenced others or took back what belonged to those from his Universal Land?”

“Well, I think we’ve distanced ourselves from the real problem here. Do you, or anyone alive, really thinks this was all made possible because of 1 person? Come on, the Crimsonbreaking Faction had already shown signs of disobedience in their previous assignment. What else could we not expert from them?” The man complained, swinging his head to the left and leaning back on his chair.

The woman licked her lips and jumped her eyebrows before calmly commenting, “It’s not the fact that the Crimsonbreaking Faction is or not the mastermind behind this. Their forces in a border Kingdom had shown their utility. If they were given full-blown power, won’t they even become the Universitalities of Yore Universal Land’s guardian?”

The man’s face changed to one of realization, but before he could open his mouth, the woman made a ‘no sir’ expression with her left index finger up saying ‘nos’ to him. Her calm voice resonated again, a delight to one’s ears. “When they achieve their transition to the Fourth Step, like the Interchanging Dust Dynasty has been struggling to attain, they can take the Collariverse Star Universe and settle down in the Lsefattern Kingdom.”

“Nobody has seen punishment befall on the Crimsons from the Glorious Nexus Entente!” The man was about to interject, but the woman went on without stopping, “Since they are lacking a home, they can settle in the Collariverse Universe. Can they not? They could keep the Universal Land from any funny business, be it from within or other Universal Land.”

“Haha. And you’re taking all of this from simply an operation’s success?” The man finally had a chance to speak. He laughed somewhat furiously but maintained his calm, mostly, before commenting. The woman slowly nodded in understanding before immediately saying, “Since we are talking about that, do you really think it is just an operation? We haven’t seen a move like this in centuries, even before the Great Sage’s fall. I think it could be a covert grand operation the Crimsons…”

The debate continued, but Heian Ciemnosc didn’t pay it more attention. He nodded and returned his darkest eyes ahead. Etherea nodded slightly and kept the screens away before briefing Heian Ciemnosc on the results from the war. Her voice, as always, professional.

“We had 910 million soldier units as of before the meeting in the Mountain Pass. Despite the Dynasty’s surrender, and the Est Soul Empire’s people becoming cornered, we lost 240 million soldier units…” Etherea took a pause before continuing, “We could’ve lost 290 million, but some of chief’s Team members and subordinates, working with other Captains, saved our forces from suffering a larger number. Even then, we have more than 50 million critically wounded still under treatment.”

“We lost 170 million cultivators, but only 70 million citizens perished…” Etherea spoke, but even to her, this number was astronomical, and she showed worry. On the other hand, when the citizens’ low casualties were mentioned, Heian Ciemnosc lightly exclaimed. “Finally, good news.”

“Yes,” Etherea bowed slightly before continuing, “A Fleet lost 3 Low Battleships. The navy has lost 15% of its Frigates, although several thousand Fighters were destroyed and most became debris after crashing, the navy’s casualties are minimal.”

Heian Ciemnosc nodded. A 15% Frigate loss in the navy meant a much lesser number for any other warship. It was a great result, considering the enemy’s fierceness and well-prepared response to their invasion. Heian Ciemnosc nodded positively again, and Etherea continued as she felt slightly better after reporting the results.

“The esteemed time for reconstructing the north, with the navy’s aid, is of approximately 20 years…” Etherea and Heian Ciemnosc continued for a while longer, exchanging words and speaking of high, immeasurable numbers and future projects as if they weren’t Kingdom-deciding in Minor and Middle Kingdoms.

“…” At the side, Xue Yoler constantly looked at Heian Ciemnosc and Etherea, feeling at a loss of how their world worked. It was completely different from how her world looked like back in the Flora-Sweet White-Heavens Dynasty. Her feet attracted her eyes the most whenever she wasn’t staring at Heian Ciemnosc’s back.

A few minutes later, Etherea listened to Heian Ciemnosc’s words before nodding and stepping back with the other women. Xue Yoler saw Heian Ciemnosc’s left hand gesture her to come forth, and she obliged. Heian Ciemnosc turned his face to hers as soon as she stood by his side before placing his left-handed fingertips on her upper back.

“When your family’s Dynasty achieves victory, how do they celebrate? What do they do?” Heian Ciemnosc asked in a calm, soft, breathy voice. Xue Yoler’s ears felt prickled with each word. She pondered for 2 seconds before speaking with her right index finger above her upper lip, “We usually hold a ceremony. Or if it is more ‘rural’, we can hold a banquet where everyone… can dance.”

“Alright, arrange that for the next month. Remember, it has to be a month long, not less, not longer. I will gift you another opportunity to cultivate alongside me if you do well. I just happen to have something prepared before you joined me. You’ll be one of the people to come with me into the mansion.” Heian Ciemnosc ambiguously said.

On the other hand, Xue Yoler’s eyes widened. She smoothly jerked her neck away from him and looked at his body. She still couldn’t believe that Heian Ciemnosc could break into the Universal realm 2nd stage after fighting a Godly cultivator. Xue Yoler wondered if he was secretly from a legendary warrior Race.

Of course, she didn’t know Heian Ciemnosc didn’t feel it was too much to break into the Universal realm 2nd stage after merely a month from having broken into the Planet Gate realm almost-zenith stage. The Godly Energy a Godly cultivator has… is quite a lot, and tasty. Even now, he could feel at least a quarter remaining inside his body, waiting to become his to advance to the next stage.

What better than using the preserved corpses of hundreds of millions of enemy soldier units to accompany it?

Of course, that would take a lot of preparation. But it was no secret, and some forums were already commenting about it. Naturally, neither Heian Ciemnosc nor his forces cared. Heian Ciemnosc continued walking with Xue Yoler, asking her a few things here and there.

Although organizing a celebration similar to her Flora-Sweet White-Heavens Dynasty would be a tremendous humiliation to them, especially after the defeat conditions, Xue Yoler didn’t object to it. She might have felt apprehensive, but she didn’t refuse her task. She was Heian Ciemnosc’s prisoner, but she also felt like his subordinate.

Moreover, his subordinates didn’t treat her like a stranger. When she looked at the weakest of them, Molto, Xue Yoler felt she was gazing at someone looking at themselves. Besides, her superior cultivation base allowed her to feel the feelings Molto displayed of relating to her.

Xue Yoler tried ignoring it, but she felt like she shouldn’t ignore it… Before she knew it, she spent all morning, noon, afternoon, and evening walking beside Heian Ciemnosc. She heard from him and his subordinates of how they dealt with some things. Only realizing Heian Ciemnosc was guiding them through their doubts and insights when they were returning to the mansion.

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When she got into the mansion, Heian Ciemnosc stopped her as his subordinates returned to their bedrooms. She looked up at her captor and awaited his words. Heian Ciemnosc calmly said, “If you do well and accompany me to the mansion to cultivate again, we’ll spend 1 or 2 decades inside. Your people will be under the Crimsonbreaking Faction’s specific handling department to train and discipline them.”

“When… can I have them back again?” Xue Yoler hesitated to whether finish her question or not. In the end, she went for it and valiantly looked into the darkest, bottomless pools in the world. Drowning her every millisecond of it.

“Whenever you have done enough for me to think it’s time,” Heian Ciemnosc calmly answered her. He looked down at Xue Yoler, which made her feel apprehensive. She lowered her head before bowing with half a nod. She walked into the mansion, but took a bedroom that was usually reserved for guests, such as the soldier units and Officers Heian Ciemnosc allowed inside the other time.

Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes watched her go for a few more seconds before walking towards his bedroom.

. . .

A month and 2 weeks later, 20,000 kilometers above the Turtle Hiding Fortress.

Heian Ciemnosc sat cross-legged in midair. He would’ve performed this procedure before returning to the mansion and bang with his lovers in his cultivation bedroom. However, Xue Yoler floated beside him, watching him drive the plethora of links from various places under the Turtle Hiding Fortress towards the mansion, where his bedroom was.

Vocón Link had already come out and divided into several hundred sub-bodies. Xue Yoler still couldn’t tell what they were, but she felt they were all for the chief. After a few minutes, she figured they were meant to devour the energy remnants of the dead during the war. She didn’t know more than that and frowned, wanting to ask a million questions and speak a few words…

“Get on with it,” Heian Ciemnosc seemed to sense it, as he quietly spoke with his darkest eyes closed and hands placed together as usual. Xue Yoler was a little surprised, but she already expected it. What still bugged her was the sentiment she now had towards Heian Ciemnosc.

It was like Xue Yoler innately saw Heian Ciemnosc like she would towards a senior… or maybe even more important than a senior. Xue Yoler shook her head, and the strange thoughts off with it, and shot her first question. “Are these from people that died in the war?”

“I’ll answer your barrage of questions in one go,” Heian Ciemnosc calmly commented. Xue Yoler’s cheeks became a little rosy. Heian Ciemnosc began, “These are only enemy soldier units… and some enemy citizens who weren’t a few weeks-old with their status as a citizen granted during the war.”

“Although is the flesh and the contents of one’s body is what attracts my storage and body the most, I still favor my cultivation base the most from those cultivators who are at least in my Step. I can’t just find Godly beings and ask them to die for me, unfortunately.” Heian Ciemnosc shrugged at the end of his words, as if he was helpless.

“Hmph,” Xue Yoler narrowed her eyes and harrumphed from her nostrils. She looked towards Heian Ciemnosc and lightly commented, “That might be different if you were a leader from at least a Sixth Step organization.”

“Tsk, by then, all I would need is to conquer the world. Why would I bother devouring from others?” Heian Ciemnosc shook his head after replying. Xue Yoler became silent. Then, she looked at those black links sending countless pure energy from the dead towards the mansion.

“Is this for everyone, or just you?” Xue Yoler lightly said after pondering. Heian Ciemnosc calmly opened his darkest eyes and turned to look at her. “Just me.”

“Have you read the story of the World Tree and the Shadow?” Xue Yoler asked again. This time, something a little different. Heian Ciemnosc lightly grinned, while Sara was chuckling the hell out of her tiny, thin, smol belly in his inner universe. Heian Ciemnosc smirked from the left corner of his mouth and asked in a good mood, “Yeah? What about it?”

Xue Yoler lifted her chin a little, as if preparing her neck to give a speech. She looked really cute, making Heian Ciemnosc feel in an even better mood.

“It has a moral to teach others that consuming others and seeking quick success isn’t the way. Although many still look for shortcuts in the cultivation world, they still wish for balance after they gain their objectives’ goals. You, sir black monster, should know of this more than others. Right? So, why do you insist in devouring hundreds of millions to cultivate? I heard about your breakthrough requirements, but, is this necessary? To go to such extents?”

“Even if this is the only way to keep going with a steady pace like before, I assure you it’s not worth it to keep your image rather than your foundation,” Xue Yoler ended her speech by supporting her right elbow with her left palm and pointing at Heian Ciemnosc like he was a little child to be taught patiently.

“You’re right.” Heian Ciemnosc stared ahead and nodded to Xue Yoler’s words. She closed her eyes and knowingly nodded, pleased with herself. Heian Ciemnosc then added, “There’s nothing else I distaste than people like that. They are simply helplessly annoying and useless.”

“Then-” Xue Yoler frowned and pouted slightly, wanting to ask more, but Heian Ciemnosc won her to it. His voice was as calm as the stillness of the world’s space, “But that’s for others, not me. When it’s about me…”

Heian Ciemnosc stood up. He wore all his dark outfit, but Xue Yoler suddenly felt as if she saw through them, at his strong, dependable… muscular, and overly pale back. Heian Ciemnosc turned his head backwards, twisting his neck, and said with ultimate coldness. “I can do whatever I want.”

“…” - “…” They looked at each other for what seemed a long time before Heian Ciemnosc made the move. He lifted his left arm. His dark coat seemingly elongated, embracing Xue Yoler’s body from above. When it happened, she felt the same notion when Heian Ciemnosc revealed his dark dome, with her in the middle of it all. When the dark coat unveiled before her, she was in a cultivation bedroom with fresh, high-quality ventilation.

Not only that, but pure energy’s scent was everywhere, turning her a little crazy. Her thoughts quickly went to Heian Ciemnosc, who walked to a spot before a bed’s lower end and sat down cross-legged. Three Fairies sat before him in a triangular formation, with two of those three to his left and right. A space was left open in the middle.

Step, step, step, thud. Xue Yoler wasn’t told anything, and Heian Ciemnosc closed his eyes in a cross-legged position, ready to engross himself in cultivation. She walked to that spot and sat down, just 3 long steps away from Heian Ciemnosc, but at an arm’s reach still.

“!” Then, she felt it. Xue Yoler abruptly opened her eyes, staring at the empty void ahead, as the sensation she fought hard to feel again returned to her after a week and a half of hard work. Then, she maintained everything in order during a month until the festivities ended. Although it was a new concept to the Crimsonbreaking Faction, to engage in dancing and the like, they enjoyed it. Especially Anastasia, who was in her prime youth.

Xue Yoler remembered seeing the notorious figures like Grietta and Elyor dancing, and even Tania made the chief of operations step into the stage, although they moved slow and stuck to each other’s bodies. If that wasn’t success, what in the world could ever be considered such?

Thus, it wasn’t a surprise for her to hear Heian Ciemnosc’s evaluation of her hard work after everything ended. Now, she could enjoy her fruitful endeavors. Truth be told, if she couldn’t even accomplish such a thing, Heian Ciemnosc wouldn’t have bothered with her and sent her back to the Dynasty after striking a deal with them. She was an emotional asset, after all.

However, now that she worked so hard, and she even made Anastasia forget she missed her mothers and mommy. How could Heian Ciemnosc abandon her? Sigh. He’d just have to deal with her how he planned it in the best case scenario.

Xue Yoler gently closed her eyes, releasing a soft whistle through her nose as she started cultivation. Having the black monster behind her didn’t make her lose concentration. Instead, she felt so safe…

***

In an unknown border of the Heraxle Clan’s Universitalities of Yore Universal Land to the Neutral Existences.

It was a small space station that it couldn’t even be compared to the orbiting space stations around Kingdoms. 14 people were present in a meeting room. Each pair belonged to a different Universal Land, to a different Existential Sixth Step organization. From the 14 seats, 7 sides paired sat together yet distanced from the other pairs. One of them was the center of attention.

This pair was led by a young man and a man with a short but languid body build. The young man, on the other hand, was a handsome fella, who appeared neutral yet gentle. These were the people the Heraxle Clan, responsible for the ‘atrocious’ violation of their laws, have sent. Just the young man alone was enough to show the Heraxle Clan’s take in the matter. As for the short man, he was hardly noticeable after the young man entered the other’s eyes.

“Myy~, brother Pinor. The Heraxle Clan has become this stressed? What a surprise to see you out of your shell, hehe~.” A most beautiful, young, Snow Fox woman with medium silver hair and eyes with tinges of blue spoke, smiling from ear to ear. The corners of her smiling lips were breathtakingly beautiful.

The young man looked at the young woman and tapped the table with his fingertips a few times before responding in a polite tone, “Miss Feifei. Your Dynasty’s favorite little girl was captured. Do you have the time to speak to me insults when you’re here, doing nothing for your family?”

“Hmph,” Xue Feifei shrugged and crossed her dainty arms, not caring about Xue Yoler’s fate. The female beauty, older, and more experienced, sat straight and leaned forward, placing her hand on Xue Feifei’s arms to tranquilize her.

“Today’s the 93rd year, 5th month, 1st week, and 2nd day of the Change. Alright, now that is written, let this urgent audience commence,” another person spoke. A young man with a teardrop emblem with a wing on the left, a piked spearhead on the right, and a heart shaped shield in the center spoke. Xue Feifei changed her eyes to this young man and fell silent. Her eyes showed how fond she was of him.

“The Heraxle Clan, do you have anything to say? Let’s end this quickly. Everyone here promised to bring Godly envoys, but why is the next generation of rulers sitting here, looking at each other to find who was taken aback the most?” A beautiful, bald woman with tender, starry, ethereal blue skin spoke, silencing anyone else that wanted to keep bantering and further delay her return to study.

“Est Selaya, a pleasure meeting you,” a Tree Elf took this chance to greet the beautiful female Soul Race. She nodded at him and returned the greeting, “Head of National Security, it’s a rare sight to see someone like you exit the Nation. Welcome to the outer world.”

“Haha…” The Head of National Security embarrassingly returned the greeting with a smile and by scratching the back of his head. After this, everyone started greeting each other as supposed to do in the beginning, before the meeting started.

…