"I don't like this. That woman's bad news! You can't let yourself be led astray by a pretty face, Theo! Also, more importantly... why is it always a woman?!"
Pouting unhappily, Xie Mei stared daggers at her lover, who had only just updated them all in regard to what had occurred. Needless to say, her heart ached at the thought of yet another ravishing beauty having practically descended from the heavens to potentially occupy a corner of her man's heart again.
'... it's no wonder that she misunderstood. But I think I'll let Yeonnie explain it.'
At first, he had intended to properly lay out the situation himself, but noticing Cheong Suhyeon signalling him to let her do it from the corner of his eye, he stayed silent.
"Mei'er, calm down! This time, it's truly different. Supreme Pillar heirs... are not like us."
Gently grasping the hand of the agitated, annoyed girl, Cheong Suhyeon spoke softly.
"Me and you, and even those from Pillar Families, they're all not qualified to make Theo take them too seriously, which is why it wasn't all too hard for us all to become a big, happy family. But the ones who are his true equals, he can't afford to treat with the same disregard as us."
Sighing to herself for a moment, she lamented the fact that despite how extraordinary she was, in the eyes of those at the very top, she was still relatively unremarkable. Especially in these early stages, she couldn't threaten them at all. Even if she eventually grew powerful enough to be taken a bit more seriously, that was still a matter for the far future. The difference between Supreme Pillars and regular Pillar Families was almost like an entire step on the hierarchy of life itself!
"So that means he can slightly let us into his heart because we're... too weak, and have too little potential?"
Somewhat saddened, Xie Mei hung her head low, a subtle sense of bitterness spreading throughout her. When she felt her hand grasped a little tighter, she looked up and into Cheong Suhyeon's eyes, hoping to hear that she was wrong. Unfortunately, that wouldn't happen.
"You're not incorrect. But instead of feeling depressed over it, you should rejoice. If those from Supreme Pillars ever want to build true trust and rapport with one another, that can take eons! And in most cases, it's still merely an act. As long as they're equals, they cannot let down their guard around each other and become vulnerable, which means genuine connections are far more difficult to build. So whenever you see those on Theo's level interact politely and cordially with each other, be aware that they're likely not being honest at that time. True alliances or even romantic relationships between them are only possible if one side is far more powerful than the other, or if the seeds for those developments had already been sown far before the beginning of this competition."
Her gaze suddenly turning more solemn, she told the adorable maiden another harsh truth.
"Have you ever heard the saying that 'we're all born equal'? Well, that's complete nonsense. Depending on who we are born to, we'll be entirely different creatures from the moment of our conception. We also won't have the same opportunities. Some of us begin life as regular people, whilst others are virtually indistinguishable from what many would describe as 'gods' when they first open their eyes! We're practically different lifeforms, as much as that hurts to say. And Supreme Pillar heirs... they are the most exalted top of the food chain, above all others."
It was painful to hear, and even made Xie Mei almost burst into tears, yet she held it all in. Han Junqiao beside her had also grown more sorrowful, although she didn't show it as clearly. Nonetheless, everyone else could sense her mood having plummeted.
"... I get it already! So, if I understood you correctly, Theo and that Eleanora chick don't feel attracted to one another. Then why didn't a battle break out?"
Xie Mei had managed to bounce back to a state of relative normalcy remarkably quickly, not letting the weight of reality bog her down for too long. Clearly, she had braced herself for something like this many months ago, and her Tenacity Realm cultivation reinforced her will further. Relieved at not only her, but also her sister recovering in mere seconds, a smile lit up everyone else's faces.
"Most likely, neither of them have even thought about the other in a romantic or sensual way for a singular moment. And they didn't fight because this early in the Heavenly Succession, everyone still has their single use life-saving items, making it pointless to risk losing one's own. After all, they're pretty much equals, so dragging each other down won't be hard, as long as the difference between them hasn't become too large. With this little time having passed, that won't be the case. Also..."
Glancing at both Xie Mei and Han Junqiao, the corners of Cheong Suhyeon's lips rose a little.
"Generally, we should expect most alliances of Supreme Pillar heirs to be ones agreed upon between a man and a woman. That's because there are ultimately two positions to fight for: The Heavenly Emperor, and the Heavenly Empress. Technically speaking, they aren't direct competitors and helping each other out would primarily affect their indirect competitors. That doesn't mean that they won't take the chance to obliterate the other when they get the opportunity, though, because such actions would still very often benefit them. What I'm trying to say is that a situation akin to today's will likely reoccur many times in the future."
Turning to face Theodore, she showed a small but triumphant smirk, confident in not having stated any untruths.
"Did I get everything correct, my dear?"
Silently recalling the past, a sigh escaped his lips before he spoke up.
"Yes. I don't trust Eleanora as far as I can throw her–which I can't successfully do at all, as she's currently far physically stronger than I am. I'm not against working together with her, but I'll always have to be on edge. Except for my siblings, there are only two of my equals that I harbour considerable amounts of trust for, but solely because I have an exceptionally thorough understanding of them from before, and we've formed a sufficiently strong bond."
Very surprised at this revelation, Han Junqiao couldn't hold back her curiosity.
"If you don't mind me asking, who are those two?"
This time, as he smiled, his expression gave them all the impression of it being a little bit more genuine than usual.
"First, there's Evangelina Kismet. She was always a tad of a strange brat, often spying on me, from what I've been told. I know that she knows... that I know that she's always liked me a lot, in her own way. Aside from her, there's Arvystas Rudens. Out of the two of them, I trust him more. Even after he experienced all those illusory lives, he didn't change at all..."
Chuckling to himself, he couldn't help but be lost in his memories for a while. There were too many people that he had met and 'been on friendly terms with' prior to the Heavenly Succession. Some of them, he did indeed think of rather highly, and held minute traces of trust for. However, none of them could compare to the two who he had just mentioned.
He had first met Evangelina when he was three years old. If it hadn't been for both of them needing to compete in this most important of events, then he had no doubt that their parents would have eventually tried to matchmake the two of them. They had always got along great, and she could be seen as his oldest childhood friend. Admittedly, the way in which she usually showed her affection was more than a little peculiar, but she had also been quite upfront about it.
As for Arvystas, he was his sole other childhood friend. Just like Evangelina, their parents were extremely close, therefore they had been introduced to each other very early on. They had sworn to only ever fight if they were the only two guys left–and Arvystas was not one to break his sincere promises. He had a heart undisturbed even by the innumerable years which he was made to live through.
'I wonder how the two of them are faring now. Knowing them, they should be doing perfectly fine. But considering what happened to me, I suppose I shouldn't take that for granted.'
Furrowing her brows, Xie Mei couldn't help but notice something that he had said, cautiously inquiring about it.
"That Evangelina... will you marry her?"
As he stared back at her, he had a somewhat teasing as well as mysterious smile on his lips.
"If she becomes the Heavenly Empress, then that's a definitive yes. But otherwise? Who knows. Like I said, she's always been a bit... odd. Nobody except for her can be sure whether or not her fondness of me is romantic in nature."
Choosing to end this part of the discussion here before it all could get any further derailed, her left Xie Mei with this response. Then, he chose to address Vigdis, who had been brought here for their little get-together. Naturally, he could have contacted her via Kiran's network, but meeting directly like this usually felt better. While she wasn't in the Qinglong World, Conrad was chosen to take over her post–having been taught the basics, he was already proficient enough to temporarily be put in charge.
"Vigi, except for your single use life-saving item, do you have other ways to ensure your survival? For example, if you were to encounter a fatal threat in another world, could you escape to somewhere else? Worry not, you don't have to show me any related Talents if you don–"
Before he could even finish, a window had already popped up in his field of view.
[ Array Anchor (Transcendent):
• Depending on one's own cultivation, can form a resonance with a number of Arrays, turning them into one's 'Anchors'.
• As long as an Anchor exists, at the moment of death, can consume the Energy within it to instantly teleport to it and recover from one's most grievous wounds.
• The above effects cannot be interfered with by any Talent at or below Transcendent-grade. ]
Despite being a fair bit worse than Cheong Suhyeon's Devout Substitute, it was still more than sufficient to ensure her safety. That aside, he felt a hint of warmth at having been trusted with this information. Exchanging glances with his secretary, the two nodded at each other.
"Good, perfect. Then, when it's time to go to the Longxin World, you and Yeonnie will come with me. And don't look at me like that, Mei'er and Qiao'er! I'm afraid that if something goes wrong, I won't be able to protect anyone other than myself. So, if you come with me, you might actually die. I won't allow that!"
Feeling his care, the sisters grew teary-eyed, before enthusiastically hugging him, bringing a wry smile to his face. While partially buried underneath the two of them, he informed everyone about their plans for the future and assigned them the necessary duties.
In the coming month, they effortlessly and quickly took down the Hailong State, then spent all their remaining days on becoming as strong as they possibly could be. This time, Theodore didn't proceed as usual and allowed the Hans in this fourth world he controlled to live on without any daily cleansings for now. Instead, he spent every single second on actively improving himself.
Still, a month of effort could 'only' bring his Energy Vein Incorporation from 48.36 to 55.32 percent. His Body Refinement Stage advanced to around the 1.259 billionth realm, bringing with it another roughly 3 billion points worth of each Standard Attribute.
Unfortunately, none of the two who would accompany him on his short trip managed to have any breakthroughs of their own–although Cheong Suhyeon got extremely close. However, Navya surprisingly did advance to the Resolve Realm a step before the saintess. This lit a competitive fire in her mind, further motivating her.
Amidst this atmosphere, the time for them to set off had arrived.