Michelle glanced around the office. Compared to the sect leader’s room, this presidential building was way less conspicuous. Even though the intergalactic society was richer than the Moon Lotus Sect, the president was still an elected official, and money couldn’t be squandered that easily; the office wouldn’t be that opulent compared to one for a sect leader. It wasn’t lacking, but it really wasn’t all that impressive. However, she had severed her emotions long ago. Why would she care about the condition of the office? She plopped herself down in the president’s seat and folded her hands on the desk. A disciple from the Moon Lotus Sect came forward with a camera and asked, “Are you ready for the broadcast?”

Michelle nodded.

“We’re going live in three, two, one.”

Michelle nodded at the camera. “Greetings, citizens of the federation; this is your leader speaking. I am Michelle of the Moon Lotus Sect, and from now on, the Moon Lotus Sect is in charge. We’ll do everything your previous leaders were incapable of doing. Rest assured; your lives are now in better hands.”

The disciple glanced around the camera, and Michelle nodded, indicating she was done. The disciple turned off the camera, and Michelle relaxed her posture. With that, the Moon Lotus Sect formally took over the federation. The people might take a while to accept it, but what could they do? Post their outrage on the internet? Protest? With their measly strength, what could they accomplish? As for the families with strength? The Moon Lotus Sect already took care of them. With this, all the resources of the federation could be redirected towards the Moon Lotus Sect. It was a shame the sect still had no idea where Ancestor Rachel had disappeared to.

***

Rachel glared at Jade from within the water bubble. How long had she been trapped for? Over a month had passed at least, but the false immortal still wasn’t showing any sign of getting tired. Was it that easy to contain someone indefinitely? Although Rachel was trapped, she could still cultivate, but one month wasn’t enough to accomplish any meaningful gain in strength. How could she break out of the bubble? She exerted some force against the barrier, but all it did was move and bounce back like a flexible piece of rubber. “What exactly do you want from me?” Rachel asked. “How long do you plan on keeping me here?”

Jade opened one eye, the waterfall still crashing down on her body. She saw Rachel’s impassive face, and reckoned the trapped false immortal wasn’t frustrated enough. Jade closed her eyes once more and focused on her meditation. Once Rachel passed her body tribulation, she would be able to break out of the bubble on her own. It’d be better for the intergalactic society if such an aggressive false immortal learned the meaning of patience. However, it wouldn’t do if this caused a giant feud to appear between the two of them. Jade cleared her throat. “In four hundred seventy-four years, the Snow Fire Lightning Fruit will be ripe. I’ll consume it and ascend to a higher realm. When that happens, naturally, you’ll be free.”

“Snow Fire Lightning Fruit?” Rachel’s brow furrowed. She hadn’t heard of a Snow Fire Lightning Fruit before. Her knowledge was limited to what could be found on the Moon Lotus World, and the intergalactic society might’ve named things differently as well. However, it sounded like an extremely useful treasure considering the fact it could help a false immortal ascend. Four hundred seventy-four years though…, was she really going to be trapped in this bubble for that long?

***

Grandpa Vremya stroked his beard. For him, the most optimal thing to do was seclude himself for the next three hundred years, growing his soul seed. As long as there were no external disturbances, he’d become a false immortal. His soul seed was the highest-class of soul seeds available, one formed through an absolute domineering attitude. His cultivation was guaranteed to be smooth without any hindrances. After making sure Azalea would keep the phoegons fed, Grandpa Vremya secluded himself in the bunker underneath the presidential office. It was built to withstand terrorist attacks, and its fortifications were even stronger than the Moon Lotus Sect’s sect-defending formation.

***

Karta glanced at Vremya. “So, your avatar should reach the peak in around five hundred years?”

“That’s right,” Vremya said. “We’ll be free from this black hole soon, and when that happens, I’ll make sure Gravitat’s face won’t appear for the foreseeable future.” The only reason he was trapped was because he wasn’t expecting Gravitat to trap him. Like Gravitat could contain him, Vremya could also send Gravitat into the future. It was just a matter of who struck first, and Gravitat certainly wouldn’t expect Vremya to break free from the black hole any time soon.

Karta hummed to herself and narrowed her eyes. “I’m allowed to continue playing around in your bellybutton even after you ascend, right?” She had invested so much into the people within Vremya’s bellybutton, giving them cultivation methods and special elixirs to support their growth. Her divinity had increased by quite a bit with all the exchanges occurring. She was especially fond of Emily. Although the woman was moving quite slowly, she was still steadily eating up the competition, having defeated over ten system users, taking over their businesses.

Vremya snorted. Although it wasn’t too inconvenient to connect a personal computer to his bellybutton, there was still a physical cable that had to be attached. However, if he declined Karta’s offer now, who knew if she’d sabotage him when his avatar was so close to completion? She was trapped in the same situation as him, but he wouldn’t put it past the stinky dog to mess things up just by being herself. “Fine,” Vremya said. “I’ll let you have continued access to the dimension in my bellybutton, but once you reach a certain point, you have to transfer your users out.”

Karta beamed. “Alright,” she said, bobbing her head up and down. It was just half a year of accumulation, but even a mosquito was still a piece of meat. Deep down, Karta was still frugal from her years spent as a snack god; it would pain her to lose her current progress. She glanced at Vremya. “Wouldn’t your avatar need to defeat the false immortal for a chance at the Snow Fire Lightning Fruit?”

Vremya stroked his beard. “It isn’t just the empire’s false immortal,” he said and shook his head. “If Rachel passes her tribulation of the body, my avatar will also have to compete with her.” He glanced at Pravos. “However, it shouldn’t be a problem. Rachel won’t succeed, and my avatar will have one final hurdle to overcome before ascending.”

Pravos nodded. “That’s right,” she said in a small voice. “Rachel failing her tribulation shouldn’t be a problem. With all the negative karma she’s acquired, unless I interfered heavily, she’ll definitely fail.”