***

On a mountain peak within the borders of Ephesus City, a tall woman with shoulder-length black hair gazed into the distance from the window to the endless clouds. She stood with a straight posture, her hands behind her one-piece battle robes. A saber hung at her waist belt; its length close to that of a sword. With a royal and strict voice, she asked without turning back, "What did that old man named you?"

"Rüya," the black-skinned woman who had entered the room replied. Her purple eyes gazed at the woman in black with nothing but respect.

The woman considered the name for a second and nodded. "It means dream…He gave you a good name. He could have named you something that meant nightmare, and I would have had to put some sense into him."

"Mother! He is your husband," Rüya exclaimed, her eyes widening upon hearing what Lady Roza said. Lady Roza was her favorite person in the whole Empire, second only to her husband and son, and she didn't want the situation to get worse because of her.

Lady Roza turned, revealing her clear eyes with black pools that seemed to suck one into an abyss, and smiled. A truly cruel smile that fit her frame best. She took her hand from behind and held the hilt of her saber, saying, "What? Ever since his precious wife died, he closed himself off. Is he even the man I first met and fell in love with? Were Immortals so easily weakened in mind? To the point that I had to raise their own child like one of mine?"

She shook her head. If not for loving her other family members besides Barut and hoping time would fix it, she would have slashed at the man, and if he survived, she would have divorced him.

Rüya came beside Lady Roza and held her hand. "Mother, don't be like that."

Lady Roza relaxed at that. She came from a closed-off community, thus not having a good first impression of Rowena, now Rüya, but she slowly became entangled in her life, ending her lonely days. It was still a wonder to her how this seductive vixen could change so much. She knew it must be hard to defy the characteristics of one's culture, and Rüya did it anyway. Rüya closed herself off as much as possible, both in mind and body. Even though, in marriage, Devils would do it, not to this degree. Roza knew she wouldn't change her own conservative nature to a more open one. This required a flexibility that not many beings could have.

"Mother, let's sit. There was important news while I was with Father, and your opinion was asked," Rüya said.

Lady Roza laughed and said, "Father now, heh? So be it."

Rüya went to sit at an ornate table while Lady Roza removed her battle suit and her belt that held her scabbard. She then joined her daughter. Calling someone not by blood daughter and son was a weird experience for her, but it was within the range of her flexibility, so she didn’t opposed the Empire’s culture.

With grace, she pulled a few drinks from her Seal, and asked, “What do the ancestors wants?”

Rüya, surprised, asked without finding the answer herself, “How did you know it was the ancestors, Mother?”

“Who else could contact me?” Lady Roza answered while sipping wine. This one would take the edge off after she remembered her problems with Barut.

Rüya sometimes thought she was being silly when she talked in front of her mother-in-law. She was used to speaking her mind, and it was even worse when it involved this precious woman who filled her own parent’s place.

Rüya smiled and said, “Of course, who else?” They laughed and drank for a few minutes. Rüya then cleared her throat and said, “It’s about Arslan.”

Lady Roza, with seriousness, let go of the drink and asked, “Did something happened to that child?”

“No. He just found a place,” Rüya paused and with a quiver, she spoke quietly, trying to ignore the red sunlight growing brighter, “A place full of Divines!”

Lady Roza, with furrowed brows, asked, “Child, tell me everything directly.”

“Mother, it’s like this,” she paused, gathering her thoughts. “After fighting the Wales Kingdom, Arslan went to a second place that one of his subordinates directed him to. It was the Planet Animara.”

Lady Roza nodded. She knew the place, and had even trained there a long time ago. There were creatures that had strengthened her martial arts to such a degree that none could beat her in hand-to-hand combat below Divine.

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After explaining how Eren, too, had gone with them to a dimension and its concept, Rüya finally said, “There, the First Emperor personally intervened when Arslan reported the place. Then all the ancestors decided to give a quota to the people with the highest authority and merit to choose from the list. You too were included.”

Lady Roza drank while absorbing the situation. She sighed at the thought of how much stronger the First Emperor had become after he ascended. The Luvi Empire had only that being to thank for conquering and subduing the whole galaxy and creating a dynasty that ruled for millions of years. She still heard about many empires getting crushed because they had weakened over time, but the Luvi Empire only grew stronger. All thanks to this man. She could only sigh that her husband who was very similar to this man reduced to such states.

“Are you worried about your son?” Lady Roza asked, though she lacked the worry a grandmother should have.

“Before I came here, I was,” Rüya said, and Lady Roza nodded.

Lady Roza understood her. Arslan had changed ever since she trained him. She was there during his toughest times and his best moments, and she made sure to instill in him every experience she had on handling situations that were bigger than what he could manage. And Rüya having trust on her and her son even though he wasn’t her biological child, made her feel good.

“Give me the list,” she finally said, while inwardly thinking, I wonder if there is something that could help me make my Dao Eternal.

Rüya sent it, and the list was vastly different compared to Arslan’s version. It was written in such a way that even a Mortal could read the whole list!

The first ten items were useless to her unless she became a Divine. Due to her opening a Dao before reaching the limit of the Immortal Realm, she had to perfect it to a stage that usually experienced Divines reached. She had been stuck on perfecting her Dao for a long time. Although it gave power close to that of Divines even before reaching their realm, she was anything but a Divine. It even made her to accept that man’s request for her to marry his son, and she accepted on a whim when her mind was on reaching Divine Realm. She wanted to experience what Dao cultivators called Mortal world, and she had. She didn’t regret it. She had too many good memories here and she wouldn’t let another woman to ruin them.

She then focused on the list and decided to look from the bottom of the list, but they were Immortal items at best. They were too weak for her. She rose through the list and finally saw something that made her Dao heart shudder. The item was unassuming, but the name said it all: My Eternal Dao.

It was around the five hundredth place, ranked higher than the first books of Divinity and Path, but the meaning behind an Eternal Dao was too important for her. Her opened Dao was already at Divine levels, and an Eternal Dao was one of the requirements to become a Celestial.

The Eternal Dao was something that could tip the meaning of existence. She remembered a text she had chanced upon that said:

"Why do you follow Dao? Do you seek strength, power, acknowledgment?

Or do you find the missing things in existence, place them between the lines, and give another meaning to it?

If you achieve Eternal Dao.

You are the Dao.

You are the Eternal.

You have given a meaning to something never before."

She had treasured this text for untold years. She yearned to give meaning to existence, a meaning that would provide understanding to the things she had doubted throughout her life.

However, she also knew that it was personal, and no text could make her create an Eternal Dao. After all, she had created the Abyss, yet the Abyss wasn’t a meaning that existence lacked. She tried extracting another meaning from it and acquired great strength just by seeing the power she gained, which made her believe in her Dao and herself. She believed she was on the right path, a path that was different and unique among all known things. This text might offer a perspective on things she hadn't considered.

That’s why the Empire respected her. She was powerful, and with her strength, she helped this Empire as much as other Eternals or even some Demigod ancestors. She could acquire a few more things from this list, but she wasn’t in need of anything else. If she became a Divine, she would reach a level even she couldn’t imagine. No one could tell what she could do at that stage, because although she wasn’t cultivating Existence, her Dao power would be enough to manipulate it to create half the list’s content. She also wanted to open a few more Daos before ascending because she wasn’t in a rush as before now that this family finally had a Divine. She gazed at outside and saw Erdem waiting. It was time to stay as the founder of the Sect behind the scenes, while giving the Sect Leader position to her son. It was finally time for her to have fun.

***

“Sir,” said an emotionless voice in the Abyss, “your wife has sent a message.”

Within the same room, Barut opened his eyes to see a letter. Old-fashioned, but it was what he expected from her.

“I have made my choice,” said the letter. “After getting the item, I will leave.”

Barut’s heart clenched at the word leave. Without hesitation, he turned and made a respectful gesture, “Ancestor, I will be leaving for a while.”

From deep within the darkness that even Barut couldn’t see came a grand voice, “You may go,” just before Barut straightened his posture, the grand voice spoke without emotion. “No need for your return. My father has made the necessary arrangements to change this place. Now that he has become Divine, there is no need to continue the charade with the Dark Devils. They have lost the bet.”

Barut nodded and left without turning back. It was time for him to resurface and get back his family. Space around him seemed to repel his Existence. Within a few moments, he disappeared. Now, an Eternal was out, and every Eternal and above in the Cosmos felt it, including Lady Roza.