Reputation...

Hal could see how she would want to uphold such a thing. After all, he had a reputation of his own and would never jeopardize it by NOT being a philander.

"I still wonder why you would have Myra and Tiberius tell me that you were missing." Hal said.

Nihasa shrugged,

"Curiosity. Nothing more. I was curious if the news that I was missing would cause a stir within you.

Curious if you would aim to get to the bottom of my 'disappearance'."

Hal could not stop the amused sound and also did not bother to,

"Pfft. Well, that is incredibly stupid." he said.

Nihasa smiled lightly,

"How so?"

"Well, I knew nothing about you. I grew up without any knowledge of my parents. Only after arriving in the Cosmic realm did I get some answers and you thinking that was going to be enough to spur me to your aid is quite frankly... Stupid." Hal told her.

Nihasa shrugged,

"Is it really? Is it so stupid to believe that blood is thicker than water?" She said with a slight smirk.

Hal chuckled,

"I never really got that proverb. I mean it's quite literal to me since blood IS thicker than water. Also, where does water come into this?" He asked.

"I thought it best to make use of a proverb that was familiar to you.

The point is... The fact that I am your mother who you have never known and finally have contact with should have been incentive enough." She said.

Hal shrugged,

"Well, it wasn't" he said.

Nihasa leaned back and looked into his eyes,

"You're lying. You did feel an incentive to search for me. You just don't want to admit it"

Hal said nothing and simply kept looking at her.

Nihasa sighed,

"Well, it's good you are actually still capable of some act of goodness."

Hal took a deep breath,

"So what now? You know where I am and whether you were ready or not, I am now in the Cosmic realm and making use of the Bloodline I inherited from you.

I am far from being at your level but I am growing...

What's your plan? Because it surely must have changed."

Nihasa chuckled,

"I don't see why it should. I mean, sure you arrived in the Cosmic realm earlier than I had planned and you arrived away from me where I can not actually take an active part in your life but the general plan remains the same.

You get stronger and eventually explore the connection you have to order. With my I'mprint inside your bloodline as well as my Generals, I have a front-row seat to you doing it.

If anyone should be upset with this change, it should be you."

Hal's eyes narrowed,

"How so?" He asked.

Nihasa grinned,

"Well, had things happened the way I planned, I would have granted you a body befitting of your status as the offspring of the Devil. A body similar to the one you had been born with. It would have roots that would grant you speedy advancement, such that you would be a god in a thousand years.

Then there is also the fact that comprehending an Ordinance in Paradise is already as simple as simple cultivating.

Unlike this Neglected World, it is not contradicting."

At this point, Nihasa paused and watched Hal's expression. She noted that apart from a slight change when she mentioned the ease in the comprehension of Ordinances, he remained mostly undisturbed.

"What? You're unimpressed? Of course, you are. I have been constantly impressed with the speed of your cultivation and I have to agree with the consensus that it is monstrous.

However, I am sure you have begun to face stagnation" Nihasa cocked her head as though to hear his input.

Hal nodded to show he had indeed begun to face stagnation.

Nihasa smiled at his admittance,

"Well, even after you manage to overcome this stagnation, there will be others which I can assure you will be worst. It represents the difficulty of cultivation.

It has nothing to do with talent as all geniuses face it eventually, but the mark of a true genius is how quickly they are able to overcome the setback.

That said, the thousand years I mentioned earlier is not as a result of the difficulty of cultivation since it is so much easier to become a god in paradise.

It is especially harder here since becoming a god in this world requires a pioneer god one way or the other.

However, the true test is in the comprehension of your Dao. Because Hal, no matter how talented you are or how much of a genius you are, you can not rush the comprehension of your Dao."

"My Dao?"

Nihasa nodded,

"Yes, your Dao.

Comprehension of a Dao is all about the comprehension of self. You have to be attuned with your whole being. Let it speak to you and let it drive you to how you want to be defined. How you want to be known and how you want to be perceived."

When she spoke of Dao, there was no playfulness in Nihasa's expression and for the first time since she had begun to speak to Hal, she actually seemed serious.

"What's your Dao?" Hal asked her.

Nihasa's smile was back in a flash,

"Can't you guess?"

Hal narrowed his eyes and thought back to her many monikers,

"Supreme?" He ventured his guess.

"Why was that your guess?" Nihasa asked.

Hal shrugged,

"It fits as a Dao more than your other names." He said.

Nihasa chuckled,

"I love the way your mind works. And you are right. I comprehend the supreme Dao and it was through it that I adopted the moniker of Supreme Overlord."

Hal was a bit confused,

"I've been meaning to ask that, shouldn't being a supreme overlord make you the most powerful?" He asked.

Nihasa sighed,

"Well, it is hard to be the most powerful when I have nine other Supremes at my level of strength."

Hal's eyes widened,

"What?"

"Haven't you figured it out? All Primeval gods are supreme. Against each other, supremacy means nothing.

Don't get me wrong, Supreme is the highest form of Dao. It is practically perfection itself. It is the strongest Dao and should actually be impossible to achieve. However, we Primevals were somehow destined to be supreme and I have to admit that at the time, it seemed so wonderful.

But since then, millions of years have gone by and I am still stuck in a rivalry with that prude bitch and the whole lot of them."

By Prude bitch, Hal knew she was referring to Sariel The Primeval Virtue Queen.

Then Nihasa, whose eyes had been looking up in reminiscence looked down and into Hal's eyes,

"You wish to reach my level, don't you? Well, that's okay. It's especially okay because I know it's next to impossible. Although if anyone can actually manage to achieve it, I guess it is you.

Maybe that's the use of your connection to order. I wouldn't know."

Hal chuckled,

"Actually, I feel, No, I am certain that you know a lot more than you let on and you are simply stringing me along with a bunch of half-truths.

After all, you HAVE lived for millions of years.

However, YOU are actually just an imprint of the true thing, and prodding you for complete honesty would probably not do me a lot of good."

Nihasa smiled but overall ignored his comment,

"If you wish to attain my level, you have to comprehend the Dao of supremacy. That is if your being agrees with it."

Hal shook his head,

"I'd rather not. Ten is already a large number of supremes. Eleven will just be a crowd."

"So what will you do?"

"I'll strive to discover a Dao that surpasses the Supreme Dao and I will comprehend that. I will not be just one of the bunch. I will be unique."

Hal only said this in a spur of the moment but as he studied Nihasa as he said it, he noticed... Worry?