In the central garden of the Marx mansion, a young girl could be seen sparring against Michael. Of course, this was Michael's student and potential love interest - Sheryl Marx. Initially, Michael had been very conservative in accepting her feelings. But now, he felt differently. Because now, he knew just how important Sheryl was. She was the only daughter of Gordon Marx, a cultivator who stood at the top stratum in the entire Federation. While Michael was not clear about how powerful the entire Marx family was, he knew for sure that Gordon Marx was capable of fighting the plane-will of Aterna head on! This was an entire world!

It could be said that Gordon was almost a god to mortals of Aterna!

He was someone who could hold a secondary plane firmly. He was beyond the ancient emperors of Aterna, beyond the ancient glory and power of an entire world. But with great power came great responsibility. The Marx family was an overlord of Federation, a pillar of the Black Lotus Sect. In a powerful super-force, Gordon Marx was known to almost all members. It was reasonable that he was very busy. In fact, Michael only got to meet him once. But one meeting was enough to give a deep impression in Michael's mind. Michael still remembered looking at the man and feeling a sense of pressure that he had never felt before. Michael was shocked that a cultivator could actually become this powerful!

Just sitting in his seat, he seemed to be the pillar of existence. The power of laws around him was so high that it was like a force-field. Law marks were embedded in his body giving off a suppressive feeling. Michael was not sure which law Gordon practised or even which path he cultivated. But he knew that who he was facing was a true powerhouse of the super-plane. Gordon had not talked too much and only asked Michael to guide his daughter.

As for Sheryl, Michael taught her with diligence. He taught her martial arts, survival techniques and different spells. As Sheryl wanted to impress him, her progress was swift. She was deeply infatuated with Michael and Michael was also not telling the girl off. In fact, he was constantly reassuring her feelings. He was patient with her learning and acted as a counsellor for her personal life. He was slowly developing her feelings. His actions made it seem like he truly cared about her. While he did not feel the same in his heart, what could the heart do?

Michael had already married once for political and military power. Why wouldn't he do so again? What was love? It was the yearning of an innocent heart. Time could kill even divinities - so what was love? Michael, in truth, did not understand romantic love well. He treated his women well, treated them the best way he could. He was ready to kill for their honour. But could he put his life on the line for them? Michael did not know.

If the context was his mother, father, brother or sister, he would willingly give up his life. But could he do the same for Ashley or Maria?

Again, Michael did not know. He knew that Ashley and Maria were loyal to him - so he would always support and protect them. They would always be his women. One could argue that Michael was not giving loyalty in return to loyalty. But the power dynamics of their relationship was different. He was the overlord of Aterna. If he wanted Ashley or Maria, they could not resist. They were loyal, but were they really? If Michael lost his powers and cultivation and became a mortal, would they still only be with him? Would they give up their life for him as well? Michael didn't know the answer.

Lust and power was the thread that joined them. But if the relationship would withstand the test of time, Michael did not know. If Michael died in this foreign plane, would his wives remain as widows till their last breath? Perhaps not. Neither did he expect them to.

What the future had in store for him, he did not know. He had loved Madeline in his past life, but did she even remember him? What was love? Could one truly love unconditionally? The world of cultivation was cruel. Could he find a partner to walk this path? He did not know. He did not want to give this naive girl false hopes. He wanted to tell her that he could not be what she wanted him to be. And perhaps, no one could. The world was inherently selfish and people would always make use of innocent people. Wasn't he doing the same? He had his own responsibilities and ambitions. He couldn't give her his unconditional love. But without hope, nothing in the world last. Even if hope was false, as long as it was there, it brought satisfaction and happiness. Michael did not know if his actions were right or wrong.

But he did know some things - the cold hard facts of life.

He knew Gordon Marx's influence. Securing a tertiary plane was something that only someone of his calibre could do. Michael could perhaps become a celestial and join the black lotus sect. But as long as he did not reach Gordon's influence and power, he would not be able to alleviate the problem of devils. As for killing off all the devils - that was simply an impossible dream right now. By the time he reached the stage where he could make a difference, he was certain that he would lose the chance to do anything at all - left with regrets forever.

Thus, Michael shamelessly manipulated the heart of this young maiden. He would make it up to her afterwards. This was what he promised himself.

At another location, a youth and a middle-aged man were standing looking at a crystal ball which showed two youths smiling and talking - Michael and Sheryl. The youth was Sheryl's bodyguard - Darius.

Darius looked at the crystal ball and said

Darius : Bastard! Teacher, this person is extremely scheming and crafty. The young miss is very young and is easily fooled. As she has not awakened, she is not even herself yet. To think that he is using the young miss to climb social ladder - he is a truly despicable person!

Middle Aged Man : Darius, he may be despicable but he is ambitious as well. In our investigations, we couldn't find anything about his background. All trails end at Glandor. Master Marx has gone to meet with one of the ancestors to divine this person's information. Once we know his motives, we will also know how to deal with him. Meanwhile, keep an eye on him. He is using an open scheme! We have to monitor the situation constantly. Sheryl is very important and all her experiences will affect her awakening.

Another place, another time.

Tzui : Young miss, you should know that Michael has ulterior motives for being close to you. Both the master and madam are watching his every move! While I don't know what he wants, you should be careful. Don't think that he is truly in love with you!

Sheryl gave a sad smile and said

Sheryl : I can see sincerity in his eyes. He truly has ulterior motives in approaching me, but I can see how much guilt he feels over it. Whatever he wants should be very important to him. For all the happiness he has given me, I am already beyond in love with him. Now, I just want him to have whatever he wants so badly that he tortures himself so much. I know that I should tell him the truth! He is running a fool's errand. But I just can't bear to see him leave! And I can't bear to face his disappointment. You know that I don't have much time - it should be okay even if I am a bit selfish for a moment.

Tzui did not say anything, but two streams of tears flowed down her cheeks.

Beyond the plane Jupyter, in a location in the law ocean:

Interesting! This kid is actually from an undiscoverd plane. From the looks of it, the plane is actually fighting against the devils. I think I know why he is targeting my descendant. He wants to join the family and garner help from us in reversing his plane's fate. There is no other explanation.

Gordon Marx : He thinks that he can scheme against me! He doesn't know how big the world is!

In a different location in the law ocean, a different place:

Killian Marx is simply too much! To think that he dared to charge into a primary plane in our possession and fought the plane-will bringing so significant damages! That guy needs to pay!

You should know that Killian would not have dared to do so if he was not in alliance with divine daughter Joana. We need to tread carefully here.

So what if he has a divine daughter by his side? How many divine children are there in Jupyter? You think that Joana will reach the divine realm soon? As long as one is not divine themselves, we don't need to show any face. Lets attack them!

No! The opening of heavenly realm is nearby. A large-scale battle will be a suicidal move. Leave Killian alone. We were also in the wrong in this matter.

What are you saying? Since when are Norohans so easily bullied? How can we not retaliate?

Of course, we will retaliate but not against Killian! I have heard that that kid Gordon has a single daughter. Gordon is their public face. Lets have her raped and killed. It will give a good slap to their faces. But even if they grow angry, they won't be able to truly do anything!

But this will go against the divine treaty! Do you think yourself as divine?

Heh! The treaty only says that we can't kill talents - celestials, psychic path cultivators, dao path cultivators and those who have shown great talent. That girl has not awakened. There is no guarentee that she will be a talent. Thus, we can kill her now!

This is indeed a loophole. Let's do as you are saying. Find a suitable pawn then.

Time kept on passing relentlessly. Spring and autumn cycled in an endless loop as the supreme law of time flowed through existence, slowly for some, hastily for others. Michael's relationship with Sheryl had grown deep. Having taught the girl for such a long time, Michael treated her as his little sister. He had actually started caring for her. Though it was nowhere like romantic love.

As Michael taught his courses and worked on his research, he was already close to perfecting the new spell. The new modified spell was also master rank. But it focussed on a single target - Michael himself. It used Michael's own blood as a substitute for spirit blood. This made it so that even Michael, who had a deep foundation in life laws was not able to keep up with the consumption for more than a few minutes.

As for his celestial breakthrough, Michael was again near success. In fact, Michael estimated that in only a few more months, he would be able to breakthrough.

A total of six years had already passed since the time he came to this plane. And now, he was finally close to the goal he had initially set. Around this time, Michael finally mastered the next level of the skill Intuition. As soon as he mastered it, he felt a deep sense of unease! The feeling of danger was constant and was intensifying each day. It was likely that a life and death calamity would be upon him anytime!

Michael got even tenser. He completely threw himself to his research and training. Michael knew one thing for sure. No matter what the obstacle was, as long as he had more power, he would have more options. Thus, it was not long after that Michael managed to complete his buffing spell - Battle Body! This was a master rank spell that made his body completely battle-ready. It amplified his basic foundations by around three times! With this trump-card, Michael was confident of holding his own against someone with 3 to 4 law marks!

As one ascended, one obtained law marks. But how many law marks one could form depended on one's cultivation and the ability to withstand the tribulation. Generally when one went through their first transformation, one got 3 to 4 law marks. It was these law marks that made one a cultivator. It was not wrong to say that Michael could hold his own against an average cultivator with one transformation. Though holding his own only meant that he would not die pitifully in battle.

After that Michael jumped into finding the balance in his spirit, body and soul. His martial arts and internal energy attainment realm was master rank. Now that he had also obtained master rank attainment in his spells, it was possible for him to truly find the celestial path.