POV: Keilan
The doors to my office swung open, two Karmic Kings stepping through and bowing to me as I sat at my desk. I raised my eyebrow at the two of them, pausing in my writing.
"Can I help you?" I inquired, leaning back in my chair.
"Yes, sir," one answered calmly. "You called for a few us to discuss the Ocean of Memories?" I nodded, standing and stretching, feeling my back pop in multiple places.
"Ah, that's right. I did. As I'm sure you are aware, the Ocean of Memories cannot remain as it is. With more and more karmic beings appearing in the Karmic Realm, as well as the appearance of the Nereids, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep beings out of the ocean, especially due to its proximity to the Karmic Oceans." I explained, turning to the vast window behind me.
The Karmic Valley sprawled below me, the River of Souls flowing directly through the middle of it, filtering the souls to the Karmic Kings and Judges for their judgement. At the far end of the Valley glittered the Ocean of Memories, filled with the memories of all beings, taken after their reincarnations and given back after they reach a high enough (or low enough, for Dark Angels also regain their memories) level. It was not the most efficient system, but if it is not broken, I will not designate people nor resourses to fix it. At least, when I cannot spare the people to make the system better.
Flicking my hand, a scroll flew from one of the shelves to hover in front of the two Karmic Kings. "Those are the plans that were drafted many tens of thousands of years ago to fix this issue. I have made a few revisions since then, but it largely remains the same. Look over it, make sure there are no issues, and report to the Deity of Knowledge to begin the project. I also need one of you to find and contact Randus, the Deity of Dreams, and see if he will not help. Other than that, you will have billions of spirits under your command, along with a platoon of Karmic Judges. When necessary, I will also help." I explained calmly, turning back to face the duo and clasping my hands behind my back. "Questions?"
"This is the library project, correct?" One of the two asked, already scanning the scroll.
"Yes," I affirmed, nodding my head. It essentially was a plan that turned the Ocean of Memories from an ocean into a gigantic library, condensing the memories into books and crystals, categorized by those who lived them. It would be a massive undertaking, and pull a large number of spirits away from their duties to build and man it after it was 'finished.' There were many stages I had for this project, but the biggest one was to just get the entire thing built. Many deities would be assisting in the process, because condensing such a large quantity of memories would be taxing even for me, but the Deity of Knowledge was the official overseer. These two Kings were the right and left hands, so to speak.
Each Valley would have its own library, but the library here, in the First Valley, would contain copies of all the memories of the Four Realms. It was prudent to have back-ups.
"What is this about the ruins?" The second King asked, pausing in its reading of the scroll.
"Ah, that? That is for a later date, and can be ignored for now. It essentially stipulates that the various ruins appearing in the Karmic Ocean will function as nodes for the Library, so not all things have to come all the way to the Valley to access it. Of course, there will be limitations." I explained. "Now off with you, there is much to do and I do not want this project to take a hundred thousand years."
"Yes, sir," the Kings said, respectfully bowing and promptly leaving my office. Letting out a breath, I turned back to looking out of my window, thinking on the appearnce of the Nereid race. Having a sentient race appearing solely in the Karmic Realm was beyond my expectations for the next million or so years, having personally thought it would happen after said amount of time. The Karae were karmic beings who could technically live in the Karmic Realm, but they were not...suited to live in the oceans. As such they were better off living in the Mortal and Heaven Realms.
The Nereid, however, were perfectly adapted to being able to live in the Karmic Realms, being a race that perpetually lived underwater, not unlike the water Elementals, who could live perfectly fine both in and out of their natural element. And, as such, I had to advance a few plans to rennovate the older systems of the Karmic Realm, starting first and foremost with the Ocean of Memories.
What intrigued me the most, however, was that Karmic Strings were beginning to tie themselves to both myself, the Valley, and specifically one Nereid, who was leaps and bounds above the rest of its species. I recognized the template. This being was exactly like Sequoia Pama, the little dryad in the Mortal Realm that Tian and Kei had taken such a shining to. The most disturbing part about this was that this was not an isolated event.
Whenever I turned my gaze to the other Realms, I noticed similar patterns forming. Reika and the Tree were being tied to Sequoia via strings; Elvira, the Holy Mountain, and one of the Raijin were forming connections; and even Alexander, his Cave, the River, and a particular Djinn were being bound. My siblings and I were slightly concerned over the events, and thus all decided to have a talk about it with Mother, as none of us could truly see where these connections lead. We all had our ideas, each able to see snippets, and thus we were one hundred percent certain that it wasn't a negative event. However, neither did we feel comfortable with it.
It represented great change, after all.
This talk would not happen for a few years yet, however. With a great yawn I stretched, my tails flicking sharply to rid themselves of any lingering stiffness.
"Let's see...next is the meeting with the angel Wang Zizai. Hmm. Isn't Sol's next reincarnation coming up soon as well? I'll want to oversee that." I muttered to myself, floating out of the office and hovering over the Valley. Currently I didn't have any truly pressing duties. It was relaxing and a welcome change. Things had finally started to settle down, and we could all relax for the moment. Well, except for the mortals. They had a war brewing.
That, however, was no one's fault but their own.
POV CHANGE: The Celestial Empress
"Congratulations," my retainers said, bowing to me as I sat upon my golden, gilded throne. "On your ascent to become a Dao Progenitor." The assembled court applauded, the sound defeaning and likewise falling upon deaf ears. I was not happy with the outcome. It simply proved to me how impossible of an existance Tian was, and how truly difficult what he did was.
Tian had single-handedly created the entire Martial Way, a Dao Path that encompasses all of the possible paths that utilize martial skills to ascend. Maybe he was not an expert in all the possible branches, as proven by others rising in the Martial Way, but his Way represented the absolute core of what such a path meant. The path of a warrior. An entire constellation had been formed in the sky due to his achievement, and every other Dao Progenitor to have ever ascend used his Martial Way as a guide. Until myself, that is. I had successfully completed my Dao of the Ruler, forming another Dao Path in the starry sky...however, I had only earned one star.
A single star that lead to the Dao of the Ruler. While it, by itself, is quite the achievement, if I am to earn my place alongside Tian in the ranks of the deities I must create a path equal in scope to his own. My path has yet to truly begin - the stronger I get, the more I realize that to be the truth. Is it the same for deities as well? I once thought of them as the end goal, but now even I am not so sure. Is the path we walk truly endless?
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"Thank you," I said politely once the applause died down. "Though there is still a long way to go, I will continue to watch over the empire we have created." More applause was the response to my statement, and I held up a hand for silence. "Now on to more important matters. I ask of each of the cabinet ministers to make their reports." I said, relaxing in my throne. These days, I wished I had made the thing more for comfort than aesthetics. Cushions could only do so much.
As I listened I nodded in approval. The R&D department was developing new and improved defenses, both of the technological and magical sort, though we were still far behind the might of the Gallos Empire in regards to the former. However, we were unparallelled in formations and cultivation magic, and always had been. New and improved cultivation techniques were appearing as well, and while they didn't increase the number of cultivator rising to become immortals, they were far stronger in comparison to their predecessors.
The most interesting piece of news, however, was that the Gallos Empire formally withdrew from the First Region, taking all of their technology and citizens and leaving for the Outer Regions, leaving my people to fully control the First Region. It was an understandable moving on the Empire's part, as they controlled two entire Regions outside of the First, and had been pressured by us since their inception all those years ago. It was a logical move, if not a smart one.
Since they left the Barrier, then they will be entirely at the mercy of those two upstart Elementals. As much as I hated to admit it, they were worrisome. Their roots were deep, and our spies told us that their people held a fanatacism towards their toxic regime like no other, leaving no room for us to intervene on a subtle level and usurp their power. And they only continued to grow. Still, if they did attack us and do something drastic, they would find themselves kicking a steel plate.
There would be no winning against us. It was not delusional egoism either, merely a statement of fact.
"And how goes the negotiations with the Empire?" I inquired calmly, the negotiations being an alliance proposal I had drafted in order to combat the rising threat. It was just another deterrant. The Elementals had better be prepared to attack the two superpowers of the Mortal Realm rather than just one. At least, that was the idea.
"They are going well, we are expecting a favorable response in the next few months." One of my ambassadors said with a bow. The meeting continued like this for hours, informing me about the status of the country itself, and how things were progressing. There were no unsurprising or unexpected developments, everything was relatively peaceful for the moment.
After the meeting was finished and all those who attended went their separate ways, I let out a sigh of relief. That was finally over with. With a slight grunt of effort I rose to my feet, maintaining my decorum as I left the throne room, my long white robes trailing behind me. Through the halls of the Celestial Palace, the maids, manservants, guards, and everyone else bowed to me as I passed, which I responded to with slight nods of my head, acknowledging them. Only when I had retreated to my bedroom did I relax, letting all tension flow out of my body and flopping onto my bed, one hand on my stomach.
A sinister chuckled drew my attention, a man slipping out of the shadows to stand above me. "Long day, Your Highness?" he asked sarcastically. I merely smiled at him and nodded.
"Indeed. Thank you for your assistance, Bob." I said simply. The shadowy man chuckled, dropping his illusions and revealing to me his true body.
He appeared to be no older than ten years old, having cultivated and reached the Immortal stage so quickly that his body could not catch up, with a mess of brown hair and the tell-tale Karae wings and tail. Among all the Paragon-level cultivators under my command, he was by far the scariest, and likewise the closest to becoming a Dao Progenitor himself. His illusions were unparalleled, which is why I had enlisted his help.
"When you called upon me for help, this was the last thing I was expecting to have to hide from the rest of the universe." Bob said, indicating my swollen stomach, clearly visible, sticking out from my robes. Who would have thought that a simple tryst with a wandering swordsman, who was far more than his title suggests, would end like this? With me pregnant? And to think, I had just gotten over the argument with some of those damned councilmen that I would, in my own time, have children, without a need for them to "prepare suitors for a proper heir." Just a way for them to try and seize power, I'm certain.
"It should only be for a year or two longer," I chided Bob. Babies of cultivators grew far slower than those of mortals, especially a cultivator of my strength. The child of a woman who was both a Paragon and now a Dao Progenitor? Such a thing was unprecidented, and would produce very...interesting outcomes. "And when they're born, you'll be off to practice your illusions once more."
"They?" Bob parroted. I nodded tiredly.
"Twins," I told him. "The doctor confirmed it." There were a grand total of five people who knew of my pregnancy, besides angels and gods. Bob was one. The only doctor I truly trusted beyond a shadow of a doubt, a girzzled old combat medic that should've passed on ages ago but still stubbornly kept clinging to life was two. Two of my personal guards were three and four. Five was my single most trusted advisor, who was already spinning up stories to explain the two new children without telling the world I was their mother.
Goodness knows that would cause a disaster. I had no intention of denying my children of the rightful love of a mother, but, to the world at large, they would not be truly mine. Perhaps orphans I took a shining to. Two children I decided to train and raise up. Both were things I had done before, Bob and the two guards who knew of my condition were proof of the matter.
"Hm, still not going to find out the genders?" Bob asked. I laughed and shook my head.
"Why spoil the surprise?" I retorted, placing both hands on my stomach. An indescribable warmth flowed through me at the thought of children. Not once had I thought of myself as a mother, until suddenly I was slated to become one. And, like at all else I set my mind to, I would excell at it. These children would be my children in heart and soul, which is far more important than flesh and blood. Passing on of the heart...that was the true goal in finding an heir. A pity that so few realized such an important fact.
POV CHANGE: Statera Luotian
I smiled as the Mad Scientist looked down at her two children with a softness I had never before seen of her. It was pleasing to see that it was not only I who felt the same of their children - regardless of how long or how many lives they lived. She had given birth to twins, a boy and a girl, but contrary to my expectations only one held the soul of the First. The boy was the First, with their female form residing within the Celestial Empress. I had expected them to stay together, but that would be contrary to the point, wouldn't it? Of living two lives. Sort of. Maybe not? Guess it depends.
"Pity you...decided to become my...child," the Mad Scientist said softly to the First, who may or may not have understood her. "I cannot give you the...life I am sure you desire." The funny thing was that The First didn't choose anything, setting their backstory as random and diving headfirst into the world. The funniest part was that being the child of the Empress and the Scientist meant nothing - they would undoubtedly experience the Four Realms at their own pace, parents and heritage be damned.
Still, it was an interesting placement. One body lay in the boundaries of the Gallos Empire, child of a reclusive genius who could advance the empire's technology and abilities immeasurably were she to take action, while the other was the child of the single ruler of the strongest and oldest nation; the Celestial Empress. Both prestigious positions in their own right. I had to give it to the Four Realms, it was a strategic placement with maximum benefits in mind. Were the First to take control fo both the Gallos Empire and the Celestial Palace, they would lead both nations into unprecidented prosperity unless I myself directly intervened.
The problem with that idea was that the Will of the Four Realms didn't understand one cruical bit of information. The First just couldn't give a damn. They would do what they wanted, when they wanted to. That was it.
Alexander, however, didn't agree with me.
"If they think they will get away with doing whatever they want, they are wrong," he huffed passionately, smoke billowing from his nostrils as he floated next to me. I raised one eyebrow, thoroughly amused. In a way, I was highly anticipating the clash between Alexander and the First, as it would inevitably come, though Tian and the First will be funnier. In my humble opinion.
"We'll see," I said, attempting, and failing, to hide the humor in my voice.
"Thanks for the faith, Father," Alexander drawled sarcastically. I laughed and rubbed his head.
"You'll be fine, Alexander," I assured. "Now come, let's leave these two to their devices." I turned away, attempting to lead the irritated dragon away from the newly born being. I had the feeling that Alexander was simply feeling territorial, what with a foreign, powerful soul suddenly entering the Four Realms, something that has only happened on one other occasion, an was a fluke at that. Thus he was upset, and not likely to leave the First alone.
Oh well. A few good, hard knocks would drive some of that arrogance out of my children. I just had to be ready to intervene, if it came to blows.