Arslan gazed at the King, Tudor. He knew about him just like he knew about every other rulers and powerful beings in the galaxy. He looked him up and down, unable to understand why Tudor wasn’t sad. "Why are you not sad that your man died because of your ambitions?" Arslan questioned, not wanting to waste time. He still had two more places to visit, and reviving them would already take a lot out of him. He wouldn’t leave a King under him to run around without subjects.
"They were recruits for situations like these," Tudor replied.
"Oh," Arslan said, relieved he didn’t need to bother with reviving them. He remembered the cultivation Path that the royalty of the Wales Kingdom followed. Each King would rule their lands, as they were supposed to, but cultivate their existence through royal life and influence. That was one of the reasons the Empire hadn’t conquered them. Why would they let them have a great Kingdom by giving, while not benefiting the Empire in any way? If they were allies and gave lands to improve their Paths, they would become powerful. But it’s still useless in the grand scheme of things. They didn’t need Mortals or Immortals, especially if they came at the cost of influence. After all, they weren’t Luvis, unlike the Kings and Queens of the Luvi worlds. They also lacked the necessary value to be married into the Empire.
Arslan also considered his son’s Path that was similar to theirs, yet more broad. Now that he thought about it, if he integrate the Wales to their Empire, his son could acquire something potentially valuable. He didn’t know, as he wasn’t the expert on this Path, but if Kaplan could rule the rulers by modifying their Paths a little, Arslan was sure it would have unexpected results.
Just when Tudor was going to ask something, Arslan’s eyes diluted, so he shut up.
Meanwhile, Arslan focused on the new article that Teacher Alex had sent. "That was fast," he thought. Now that he could create a domain that could create momentum, it meant it reached its limit in the Mortal Realm. He could either develop it to the Immortal Realm after a breakthrough or change his Path so that it encompasses other physical forces if he doesn’t want to change his Path altogether. However, there was another method that he could try. That was using his Innate Talent, World of Red, to bring everything together.
He calculated the possibilities for minutes, and Tudor didn’t interrupt. After the ten-minute mark, he came up with the Path that he wanted to tread upon. However, this calculation wasted too much of his energy. He reached for his seal, receiving a high-nutrition bar that could fuel a Mortal being to fight for months non-stop. It was gone in a few bites. Feeling rejuvenated, he opened his eyes.
He focused on the spaceship that appeared silently toward their left. In a moment, Eternal Selena and Eren appeared by his side. Eren saw everything that transpired with Eternal Selena’s powers. She was getting better at manipulating space and time each day, and as far as he knew from what his father told him, she wasn’t that strong when she first arrived.
“You should go and make preparations. Open direct access to your networks to the Empire. Further deals would be handled by the Immortals. We have competition to attend to.”
With that, Arslan nodded at Eternal Selena, whose mind were on how he fought, and when she sensed Arslan’s nod, she directly teleported the three of them back to their own spaceship. Arslan checked on the second location that Angel had sent. His new target, although protected themselves with metaphysical concepts in their area of influence, Angel bypassed them by not relying solely on these concepts.
It was the Stellar Beast Kingdom. Their Paths relied on cultivating Beasts from the first stage of Mortal Realm to the pinnacle with them. This resulted in them having a different method of acquiring Divinity. As the beasts and similar races didn’t research the way they do, it was unique. When beasts without sentience gained their sentience at the peak of Mortal Realm, they would have access to special forces that would grant them symbols, runes, or the like that interpreted the Existence in the same way formulas do. Yet, so far they didn’t have any Divines, thus wasting resources on research on their Paths was never the intention of the Luvi Empire, thus leaving them be.
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Yet, the moment they had heard the Luvi Empire joined the competition, they also joined, just to acquire a planet run by beasts that was under the protection of the Empire. He didn’t understand what makes them have the confidence or the reasons to go against the Luvi Empire, but he wouldn’t let the Planet Animara get attacked and make their promise of protection worthless. Luvi Empire cared for their reputation. There were moments in history some Emperors did questionable things. Massacres, slavery, to giving a branch of their army privileges to pillage and rape. They were the barbaric times of the cosmos. The times had changed, as did their view. Many things have been abolished, yet dishonesty was never a thing in their Empire. And it will continue to be so. He will make sure of that.
Arslan resolutely came upon the deck and said, “Set the course for Planet Animara, while staying out of the senses of their protector.”
“It shall be done, Your Majesty!” A cold voice echoed, like a commander accepting an order from a superior. The Empire seemed to update the AIs based on the cold attitude and the tone made for war. He liked it, and his heartbeat that showed his physical power indicated as such. Maybe he should do things more bloody, like it was supposed to. His goals were Domination make them understand the situation they are in after all. To him, there wasn’t a better way to show it. He could only hope there wouldn’t be surprises like the one he received with the shameless Eternal.
***
In the world known as Luvi One, a chain of mountains ran through half of the world. Day and night, whether the red sunlight shone or not, cultivators, or those who sought to see, would always come and travel. Unlike Luvi Empire’s main world, Luvi One was in the Middle Ring, thus not exposed to the cruel sun. Many species traveled up and down, and some strong cultivators, at least peak Mortals, would go along and travel from one mountain peak to another. With the longest peaks nearly breaking into space, wanting to travel everywhere would not be something every cultivator could bear.
There were also many sects, cultivation groups, or single individuals that stayed on these mountains. One such being was Guanyin. Everyone who passed by Guanyin Peak would know of her. For generations, this being lived there, never aging. Some thought she was an Immortal who achieved eternity, but no one was sure. Even a mortal could live for a long time with the right resources. But what made others believe she wasn’t a mortal was that whenever they imagined her in their minds, peace would encompass them. Some ancients would carve her in woods, pass it along as their treasure to their younger generations, and some would leave her image blank and make those who pray have a pure mind. Those who had heartbreak due to love, lost someone they loved, and found cultivation hard and lonely, would be relieved of their burdens just enough to make progress and find their meanings.
Guanyin Peak now had the usual blood-red sunlight cascading over it, with green hills creating a contrasting image. The weather was serene, with people praying down a few hills back from the monastery Guanyin lived at, imagining her and praying. She was long carved into their hearts.
The monastery, made out of red and yellow, with dark plum-colored bricks creating a simple yet noble place. The monastery had several layers, and within the outer quarters of the monastery, there were several children training, going in and out of training areas. Some would sit and read the mantras that Guanyin had left, and some would practice the powers they gained through enlightenment.
In the upper region, there lay several beings of immense power that could unravel several hills. They were still and dull, not releasing any soul activity. The next two layers didn’t have any beings, only having paths that she released to those who could. Till now, no one had seen them. In the last layer, it was the personal quarters of Guanyin. With the same design as the rest of the monastery, but more desolate.
Although the quarters lacked the space, there was a lake inside with a person clad in loose white robes that would have left her chest exposed if not covered by a necklace, sitting on a lotus bloom. She had a vase in her left hand, a willow branch in her right. Just like those below, she was still like a statue yet believing she was not here, body and soul, would have been the most foolish. She breathed out, and her breath spread across the world and beyond. Then breathed in, retracting all of it, and sensed, heard, and saw. “A new story had begun.” She opened her mouth and spoke to no one but those who could. She waited. Waited for those who will come.