“So I see you broke through into the void realm again, congrats.” Emperor Long's voice brought me out of my meditative state.

I glanced up at him and he dropped down beside me. Staring out at the land that swoops and curves like a hilly valley. You could almost see a woman resting on her side if your imagination ran wild enough.

Mm, beautiful sight.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush. Your disciples are quite amazing. They took part in the Golden Core forum and snagged the top five positions. This is a bit oppressive and if you weren’t my son-in-law, I would have to pressure you. I need you to reign in your holy land a little. Sects are pestering me about the resources disturbance. It’s annoying.”

I shrugged and glanced at a maid, one who crouched down and began making tea.

“I can tell them to take three spots from now on. That should be giving these sects some face besides, I don’t have anybody in Martial Realm yet. They should take it as a blessing. My sect is only limited to forty members, fourteen of the weakest are in golden core. These are the ones with the lowest skills since two months ago.”

Emperor Long took the cup and took a sip before nodding his head as if this met his satisfaction.

“Is this a modified version of that True Qi formation on the island where I picked you up from?”

I nodded, “instead of transforming the heavenly essences into True Qi which is usable by everyone. Well, those in the Great Realms and above. This is acquiring the essence from the void, diluting it enough for us to be able to digest it without bloating. You can say this is the primary reason why they are growing so fast. Though, there are other things which add to this, it's not as important.”

Emperor Long nodded and stood up.

“Show me around.”

We vanished and appeared in a great hall, which had branching corridors which led to different training halls. Some still have yet to be completed. But things like concept rooms for the branching fields of the Stellar. Simple.

Of course, I came from the twenty-third century of earth. Entertainment is important as having a beautiful wife, lots of money, and car that said, my bish badder than yours.

So there were little intricate formations here than there which raised the position of said entertainment value from zero to forty percent.

“This is the great hall where a lot of people come together to mostly relax. As you can see on the walls in the west district, you can watch old or present fights. This allows them to have something to talk about but also the ones who have need to brag will be able to do so while breaking down a fight. Different views will enlighten the mind of others.”

I guestered to the east end.

“Miniature casino. All those games help one's increase or strengthen their perceptions. Of course, there are those who delve into astrology and can divine the future. We have measures to block such things which makes cheating hard and next to impossible.”

I gestured to the south where arenas were set up. That didn’t need an explanation. I point to the north.

“You can see a lot of corridors branching off, each corridor has a specific branch and they encompass that field. For example, the sword division has many sword techniques already created but some of them are constantly looking to create new and more elegant or powerful techniques. Little genius in the making. Your daughter is also practicing a sword technique and has mastered it. You can get her to show you.”

Emperor Long stroked his goatee and walked forward.

“This is very nice and you move quickly. It is almost at the level of a holy land. I guess in another three years, your star palace will be another legendary holy land. But how are you going to solve the resources deficiency?”

I shrugged, it really wasn’t a problem as he stated. People fought and died over resources all the time. I’ll just do like the pioneers did and kill those with what I needed.

Emperor Long didn’t wait for me to answer him though.

“Okay, so you have one month left before the Ancient world is open. I assume you are going to use your Star Palace’s disciples to go in. Then what will I do with those I picked out? This is already the second time I picked out a team.”

I raised my eyebrow and shrugged.

“What does that have to do with me? I already ask for land to make my own force. You gave it to me and I achieved that. I have no idea why you picked out such a clusterfuck of a group. Just have sects lead them. At worst, they will be bullied, right?”

Emperor Long glared at me but shrugged as well.

“I’ll be sending my other son in. He has been showing outstanding achievements lately. It would be good for him to grow in such a chaotic situation. Anyway, let’s talk about the Ancient world.”

We vanished and appeared in an area I label as my guest receiving room. Emperor Long glanced around at the subtle influence of wealth and grunted.

“The Ancient world used to be a training ground by a group from the Higher Realms. Gods and such but due to a conflict the group fell out of power and some of their things came down to our realm, Middle Realm. The inside has its own myriad of laws that make it easier to comprehend the natural laws both obtuse and plain.”

Emperor Long pulled out a mapt and tossed it down, it spread out over the table in front of us.

“It has three continents and each continent has its own cities that were built but left empty. The most spectacular youths will fight to become City Lord as this has implications on what zones you are allowed to enter or resources you are allowed to take. The two cities in the middle continents are the best ones to take. They also have the most resources around them and most sites to study and comprehend. However, the bad side is, you have to accept every challenge to your position as City Lord. The good news is those residing in your city have to pay ten percent of resources to you.”

I nodded, this makes sense. Like a city building game, almost.

“With your power, you should be able to hold a city lord position easily. So all you need to worry about is rising in power and relaxing for ten years.”

I raised my eyebrow.

“It will be open for ten years? What is at the end of that ten years?”

Emperor Long let out a slow breath.

“For you, not all that important but for people like myself, it is a ranking system. A forum will be head and you young genius will be the pawns used to distribute new worlds. The higher your ranking the better the rewards we obtain. Of course, we can bet with planets and such to have a chance to earn more and I’m going to. Bet on you that is.”

Oh I see.

“How much of this are you going to give me?”

Emperor Long smiled at me in a weird way.

“I’ll give you two planets if you are able to make it into the top five. One new and the other old. As for resources, you can gather that yourself. Oh, at most you can break through the Monarch realm. You can’t enter Emperor realm,”

I nodded that we had a deal and he vanished. I still don’t understand how he is getting through my guardian formations. Is half-step into the Mortal Shedding realm really that powerful? I understand how amazing true qi is. The evidence is around us.

We are breaking through so fast. Our bodies are harder than grade two treasures. Some people have exhibited traits of reversing the aging process. For example, my butler was a middle-aged man looking like he was approaching his forties. Now, he looks about my age when I was on earth, the age I am trying to emulate now. My maids put some of the so-called number one beauties to shame and they aren’t even the most beautiful in the Star Palace.

So the effects of true qi is obvious. I just don’t understand how he is capable of zipping into my Guardian formation like this. Tsk, such a headache.

I got up and went for a walk to clear my head. Help me realign and focus on the present and important things. I caught sight of Jingyi sitting on a bench looking at the ceiling which depicted a dance of constellations.

I flicked my fingers and saw that Yun was in one of the seclusion chambers. Probably trying to master another technique before we leave. Poor Jingyi, so lonely. Hehehe, so lonely right now.

I dropped down beside her and looked up like this was a normal routine. Well, in fact it was. The constellation ceiling showed real time stars. It quite often switches between star groups or depictions of planets or the galaxy as a whole. During the night it looks brilliant until it runs over a black hole or star exploding.

“It’s beautiful. I wondered what inspired you to create something like this.” Jingyi glanced at me with a warm smile. That subtle look in her eyes reminded me of all the times she held desire but didn’t act on it with Yun around.

But like now, her hands brush hers as she changes positions. A subtle thing that I find women all do. Like they are saying, hey, I’m into you.

“Have you ever looked into the night sky and wondered what else is there? I had this thought many times while on the sea. So I decided to build something that looks into the stars. It turned out to be such a great help to cultivation as well.”

I turned slightly, allowing my leg to bump into hers, resting against hers. Her smile brightened and she turned back to the ceiling. I guess she was attempting to play hard to get. Want me to chase after her instead of it looking like she is chasing after me. Ah, the games women play just to give it up.

“I’m about to go eat, do you want to join me? I’m sure my wife will be out of training soon.” I stood up and proffered my hand.

Jingyi smiled and she took it while straightening her dress. “I already ate but if you could walk me to my room, I would be delighted.”

**

I spun bringing my sword over my back, effortless blocking the sneak attack. My hand snapping out an invisible force pushes Shuren back. She flipped with the force, getting room to send a dozen sword strikes that tore the void.

Xinyue ribbon acted as a spear, attacking from all angles even though she only stood in one position.

It was really challenging fighting three at once and Butler Su was like a perfect assassin. Always attacking when both my hands were occupied.

I clicked my tongue and vanished in the void. Appearing above Maid Shuren, my sword falling like a star from the heavens. She lashed out with her own attack, weaving many sword strikes together like a constellation. Diffusing my more powerful with great tactics.

I felt proud of her but it was still annoying.

Spinning in the air, I managed to block Maid Xinyue ribbon and Butler Su sneaked attack.

Tsk, I could overpower them but I got suckered into using only three techniques. A sword skill, palm skill, and body skill. This turned out to be the worst bet I ever took.

I vanished and appeared at the corner of the ring. Keeping all three of them in line. Butler Su looked impressive, his body sideways with his sword pointed up as if he was fencer. His other hand grace behind his back and annoying smirk on his lips.

Maid Shuren made me feel the worst. She would always engage first and her sword movements contained an illusive ability and charming aspect. Added in with her pretty astonishing looks, it was sometimes hard to look away. Her maid outfit was kind of revealing and I made it just because I was thinking of Earth’s anime girls.

It backfired.

Maid Xinyue while not the best of the group, her ribbon could act as both soft and hard attacks. Defense and offense. It left her with the perfect blend of abilities and she utilized the spatial concept well enough that her ribbon looked like it was dancing inside a room full of mirrors. You never knew which direction she would attack from. Things could turn bad when you think you effortlessly block it.

Only overwhelming power would prevent her from beating you. In this situation I can’t achieve that.

I straighten up and sheath my sword. Blinking as I turned to someone clapping off on the side.

“Excellent fight but why did you limit yourself to three techniques?” Emperor Long asked with a smirk on his face.

My brow seemed to have acquired a twitch.

“They tricked me into a bet and I was foolish enough to accept.” I glared at the three who acted as if nothing happened.

Bringing me my outer robe made by Maid Xinyue who fancy herself a seamstress. Though the design is perfect, it looks like a moving galaxy. Even attain some concepts of the stars.

Maid Xinyue laid it over my shoulder and the Emperor nodded.

“You look impressive. Like someone important, I like this. Plus you all are in the Void Interpretation stage. Excellent. I don’t have many doubts left. Now how about the people you are bringing. How many and are you ready? We leave tomorrow morning.” The Emperor smiled as he studied me then the maids.

I guess he had his likes too.

We vanished and appeared outside of the palace where the group was standing by.

“Twenty people. They are in between, Void interpretation and Void Prying stage. Should be enough to dominate any and all of the same realm. Each comprehended a Principle or two.” I spoke proudly as we walked in front of them.

Emperor Long raised an eyebrow, “Principle?”

“It’s what I called the concepts at Martial stages. Concepts are fragments of Principles and multiple concepts fused together forms a Principle. Multiple Principles form laws that govern reality. Forming a Law allows you to form a domain and your just about God inside. Multiple Laws fused together form a will. Will is the governing aspect of a world.”

I shrugged like this was common stuff but I knew I shocked the Emperor for a second. He considered things in different ways. Even though both ways were correct, may way just sounded simpler.

“Have you formed a Law yet?” he asked after a moment of contemplation.

I grinned and space around me transformed into the starry sky above. Emperor Long reached out and touched a star that passed by and was about to grasp it but the domain faded.

A pill slipped between my lips and my qi reserves recovered.

He looked at me with a smile. “I see. You only last for three breaths but three breaths is enough to kill dozens or so peak stage martial emperors.”

Emperor Long walked towards the bridge. You could hear him mumbling about Principles and laws while his back view faded. I couldn’t help laughing.

**

I returned to the demon realm much more powerful than when I entered. With backing much more powerful than before. Haha, I looked at the original six who looked with slight regret. Even though they made progress it wasn’t all that impressive.

Gao Jian, the strongest amongst them, merely reached the fourth stage of void prying and that’s the little task I needed. Haha, I no longer needed them for pleasure and relaxation. Thus I tossed them aside right away.

I glanced away from them as I stared at the island coming up. There were already several ships parked around it. I turned to look at the two Emperors who were quiet playing chest while discussing things related to their cultivation.

Apparently taking my words to heart.

I leaned against the railing and enjoyed the cool, moist air. It felt rather calming compared to the thoughts of facing off against another genius who might be just as talented or more talented than myself.

We pulled into a harbor city built. I guess someone wanted to earn some money while people awaited to enter the Ancient World. How clever.

Yun elbowed me as we walked through the town.

“I wonder how those you used to know will feel about me stealing you.”

I raised an eyebrow and looked at her sideways. She stole me? I thought it was her father and didn’t she look hesitant about it back then. Throwing around a cold face as if the ice mist would drift off from her imaginary heart and freeze me. She was just lucky enough she had a carrying father and I didn’t kill her with those two strikes.

“Probably won’t even care. Talents can be found everywhere if you know what to look for.”

Yun thought about it before nodding. Going back to converse about this or that with Jingyi who looked a bit, round. Cough, might not be my fault. Totally not my fault, Yun is not pregnant. So I couldn’t be that fertile.