The concept of Fortune was ambiguous. Even if you could tell that whatever crazy action you were committing was going to cost you Fortune, you could never know how much.

But Eridel was sure that he was fine, the Tribulation had given its judgement and he had paid back in full. Whether or not being saved by the proverbial bell ended up costing him more Fortune was irrelevant. He was safe.

And now, he was fully interested in digesting the gains that he had won.

Flowing about within his World Core was a strange substance that looked like a ball of red mist, undulating calmly and seemingly possessing no threat. But as it swished back and forth, a piece of it would separate and fade out of existence as if it were fusing into the Core. It was very peculiar and perhaps even dangerous if it turned out to be something harmful. However despite the suspicious activities within the Core, it remained stable and seemed to take the unknown energy in stride.

But as things progressed, the rest of the World which had just begun to experience a semblance of stability… once again burst into chaos!

All manners of Essence flew about crazily as they performed literal ground-shaking events that forcefully changed the structure of the World. The planet’s increase in size that had been slowing down after reaching 5x bigger than before once again sped up as new continents appeared within. All kinds of natural treasures including those without life shot up in grade as the force feeding that had been going on for the last 10 minutes increased. Even the Sentient beings were subjected to the buffet of Essence with most of them experiencing multiple breakthroughs. But by far the most hair-raising event was the folds in reality that occurred as the sky and ground warped, the fabrics of space visibly contracting as something grand took place.

WHUM-WHUM-WH-CR-CRR-CRRRACK- BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Space shattered as the pressure of whatever it was trying to suppress finally overpowered it with a deafening explosion.

And yet nothing came out. In fact, the fabrics of spaces soon restored itself with a few visible ripples before everything was settled once more. It was like nothing had happened in the first place. What was the meaning of this?

Eridel let out a long sigh as he inwardly counted up to 10.

He knew that he was going to pay dearly for the feat that was just performed and there was nothing he could do about it.

If only he knew what he knew now before he started introducing new concepts. He would have forgone the majority of them in consideration for his health, ensuring that his next Tribulation wouldn’t claim his life. But if it must be known, it was this very reality bending phenomenon that he wanted to get rid of the most, the one concept he KNEW was going to come back to bite him. And what a vicious bite it would be.

What use was a powerful World if that same power threatened its continued existence? But it was too late now. The deed was done and couldn’t be undone.

“How aggravating…” Eridel whispered.

As Eridel continued to watch, the concepts that he had written into his Core that had most assuredly become part of the Worlds Integral Laws like the Tribulations, were causing all sorts of fantastical events that did a lot more than what they were written to do.

Colours flew everywhere as the essences that were so concentrated that they became visible did their work, explosions and rearrangements of landscapes happened all over the place, strange existences popped into life and oh-

‘Oh…’ Eridel wanted to palm his face but he didn’t have either of such things at the moment.

All over the Eridius World, a large number of sapient beings were undergoing unforeseen changes, experiencing subtle adjustments to their bodies and even minds. But it was not an evolution!

They became more handsome or beautiful with a rare few who actually became more ugly. It wasn’t anything drastic, a few tweaks here and there, an increase or decrease in height with a facial makeover, or a darkening or brightening of colours in their skin or hair. The changes weren’t limited and some of them were more notable than others, but it wasn’t too grand. Nobody would wake up and find a new person replacing their friend.

The changes to their minds were obviously not visible and even if Eridel could detect it, he couldn’t accurately judge it. But he was sure that it was minute. Why? Well…

…This was all caused by the Soul Mate Project.

The imperative of the Soul Mate Project ensured that there would be 2… or more people that were perfectly compatible with each other. Sometimes there were people whose minds were too… strange, for one person to balance them. But that’s besides the point. Soul Mates were both physically and mentally compatible with each other and when standing next to each other would look like a match made in heaven. Their powers complemented each other and they even had a psychic connection with each other that was established when their bond was consummated.

It was easy enough for Laws of Fate to take control and create unborn beings that were perfectly compatible with each other, but what about the ones that were already alive? Would they be forever without a Soul Mate? Would they be… Soulmateless?

Well no. They would not. Normally, as Eridel planned for, everybody would eventually get one even if it was 10,000 years down the line. After all, if they ever lived that long then there was a good chance they still looked youthful too, cultivation did a lot of wonders. And so long as their mate was above a certain age (depending on what the Era considered the age of consent), it was fair game.

Other than that, Eridel planned to forcefully turn a few special couples, like Gabriel and Seraqiel, into Soul Mates. Eventually, everybody would find their Soul Mates if they lived long enough to see them. But now…

That had all gone to trash.

Everyone would still get a Soul Mate. That was absolute. But when the Soul Mate mechanics became a part of the Integral Laws… things changed.