Now that all conditions are met, Homlan sat down and closed her eyes.

If she had attempted this process before Hao Gongming obtained her 19th step soul, it wouldn't have worked. Hao gongming’s soul would have been consumed, resulting in a blank person with no memories at all.

However, now that Hao Gongming possesses a 19th step soul, she could merge with Homlan's soul without being affected by any memories. Only the attainment levels would be gained, which might change her worldview, but that was a feature, not a bug.

After a while, Homlan's silkworm body opened her eyes with a blank look, and a bright transparent ball the size of a small pea emerged from her mouth and approached Hao Gongming.

Homlan couldn't retain a small portion of her soul to stay alive, as that would violate the rule of using the attainment level of one entity for two.

At this moment, Homlan could be considered dead; her body was alive, but her soul was gone, and eventually, her body would die.

Hao Gongming swallowed the pea-sized soul and once again felt intoxicated.

She then used nearly all of her accumulated reality points to make this piece of soul become a long-lost fragment of her own soul. It required a lot of reality points, but her wish came true.

Homlan's soul had always been a part of her, an undeniable reality.

Then she fainted.

...

1000 years later, Hao Gongming opened her eyes, surveyed her surroundings, and let out a sigh.

Supreme Grandmaster! She had finally achieved supreme grandmaster status in the three daos of soul, illusion, and earth.

Hao Gongming closed her eyes and began contemplating the spells she could create. Previously, she could utilize her reality points to create any spell, as long as she had reality points.

But all of that had a hard limit at the 12th step!

At the 12th step, her spells would have been nothing more than a joke.

That's because at the 12th step, everyone's attainment level is at least quasi-master. Quasi-master may seem weak and insignificant, but with quasi-master status, any spell not created by an attainment level of the same level would be like a bubble, dissipating with a mere touch.

The rules are clear. People have a chance to gain attainment after reaching the 10th step, and before reaching the 10th step, nobody can increase their attainment points or gain attainment.

After the 10th step, one can progress to the 11th step by choosing their main dao and transforming their body.

Then, they can progress to the 12th step by reaching the quasi master in their main dao.

Of course, the 10th step can be ignored if one already possesses supreme grandmaster status. Homlan would have bypassed the 10th to 11th step and instantly reached the 19th step, if she had survived.

Now, Hao Gongming smiled as she thought about illusion dao. She had numerous ideas about combining reality points with illusion to create marvelous powers.

This time, she had nearly bent the rules of the real world.

First, she enslaved a supreme grandmaster without having any attainment herself. One of the rules of the real world states that to enslave an entity, the enslaver's attainment must be higher than the target's.

Of course, this law only applies in the real world and not in simulations.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Second, she increased her attainment level before reaching the 10th step.

However, she didn't actually increase her own attainment level; she merged with Homlan, becoming both Homlan and Hao Gongming.

Technically, she had always possessed supreme grandmaster status since she is both Homlan and Hao Gongming. It was a close call to bending the rules of the real world, but fortunately, it didn't go that far, and everything she did still fell within the rules.

Now, she knew that there were actually three types of rules: universal rules that apply even in simulations, rules that only apply in the real world, and rules that may or may not apply in simulations.

Furthermore, these rules can vary between different simulations, adding to the complexity.

An example of a universal rule is that nothing from the real world can enter simulations once they have left, unless certain conditions set by the creator are met.

She acquired this knowledge solely through her attainment level. She could sense the extent of the rules in this simulation. "It's fortunate that Homlan had investigated which rules apply in this simulation and which ones don't. And it's my good luck that the enslavement rule doesn't apply here. It's actually a rule that may apply in certain other simulations."

"Great, now all I need to do is reach the 10th step, and then I'll immediately be promoted to the peak of the 19th step. But first, I have to go through Homlan's notebooks and learn all her research and spells to deepen my foundation. Once I leave, I'll be in for a fight with the real body."

"But first, let's take a long rest in the harem!" She chuckled at the thought of the harem. After working for so long, she now craved rest.

She took Homlan's unchanged and living body and stored it away. Then, she teleported directly to the male Hao Harem Sect!

...

The Hao Harem Sect had expanded to the point where its buildings covered every inch of the world. The population had long reached its limit, so childbirth was heavily regulated, and Hao Gongming's chief clones controlled all matters related to the birth of new members.

The chief clone was a new skill she had developed in the past few thousand years. Now, there were a total of four levels of different clones.

The lowest level was the Googol Clone skill, which was created solely for satisfying the harem members. These clones didn't possess any important memories of her, and when they died, their memory fragments were completely ignored by Hao Gongming.

The second level was the Rank and File Clone skill. There were trillions of these clones, all possessing 3rd step strength. They had taken over all the important positions in the sect and managed its affairs. They held more of her memories, and when they died, she might pay some attention to their memory fragments.

The third level was the Deputy Clone skill. There were millions of these clones, and their duty was to manage the rank and file clones and plan for the long-term development of the sect. They had a much greater share of Hao Gongming's memory, and when they died, she paid attention to their memory fragments.

The highest level was the Chief Clone. There were only 100 of these clones, all at the 6th step. They possessed all of her memories except the most secretive ones. She would review their memories from time to time to check on situation of harem.

She had recently created an Avatar skill that would contain all her memories and attainment level, but she didn't dare to activate it because of the potentially severe consequences if it were to be captured.

As for Kang and his position as Deputy Sect Master, he was essentially a puppet who had to take orders from the chief clones. His only job now was to train dancing and art teams, among other similar tasks. He didn't have many complaints, as running the sect was a stressful job he never desired.

...

Hao Gongming appeared in the master bedroom that she had been longing for.

This bedroom had been created a long time ago but had seen little use due to her busy schedule. It was where Peng slept—a legendary figure in the Hao Harem Sect.

Despite always being asleep, Peng's cultivation base was at the peak of the 2nd step.

"Now I understand, Peng. You're not human at all," Hao Gongming said.

Peng remained peacefully asleep, completely detached from the world. "You're a demon with sloth as your main sin. The longer you sleep, the stronger you become. It's quite convenient for you to have found me. I don't think you could have found a better place in the entire world, as I will protect you, allowing you to sleep with ease."

Hao Gongming chuckled. "But who cares! Let me sleep here with you for a while." She began undressing and preparing.

It should be noted that Peng was incredibly handsome and beautiful as a demon.

...

After 20 years of celebration and various forms of entertainment, Hao Gongming finally began to focus on business and started reading Homlan's memories.

She summoned numerous rank and file clones and entrusted the books to them. After a few years, she had managed to read only 1 percent of the books.

"These books are not easy reads! They contain highly complex knowledge that cannot be deciphered by rank and file clones without attainment. I have to personally handle many tasks, which significantly slows things down," she sighed. There was simply no faster way.

At that moment, a rank and file clone sent her a piece of information to decipher. She accepted the memory, and at first, she furrowed her brow, but then her smile stretched from ear to ear.

"What a wonderful spell! This is exactly what I need! With this, I can at least defend myself against the real body!"