Mortal Realm, in the Decan Kingdom's territory. While the preparation were being done for the activation of the teleporter, the captain sent a report to her commander about what just happened, including the discussion she had with the Lady. The commander's face went through many changes while reading, from anger, resignation, fear and to finish, hope. The roller coaster of emotions he just went through made him feel as if he lost 500 years of lifespan and left him exhausted. “Well, at least there is a high hope of everything getting better. If it wasn't for the soul magic used by the royal family where they could find out where a member of the royal family died, we wouldn't be in so much trouble. After all, no one knew who he was... Sigh... Fucking Nobles!” He mumbled under his breath. After cursing the Empire' Imperial Family a few times, he felt a bit better. He then commanded his AI to show the scene in front of the teleporter. The scene appeared suddenly where a gigantic spaceship was situated in front of the Huge metal circle, ready to traverse the portal as soon as it would appear. After a few minutes, the latter did appear in between that huge metallic circle. It was a shade of grey and was moving around like a tide as if it was a spatial ocean, ready to be sailed upon by adventurers looking to find new land and amazing treasures. Following the appearance of the Portal, the vessel in front of the teleporter started to accelerate towards it until it went through and disappeared, making a wave in that mysterious ocean. The commander thought. “Hopefully, you'll keep your promise. Sigh...” *************** Mortal Realm, Hoborg Empire, Capital System, Official Teleporter. On the side of the teleporter was an empire's spaceship housing an official and his team in charge of the people arriving through the teleporter. Looking at the data transmitted from the Decan Kingdom and noticing the information about the first vessel on the list, he couldn't help but exclaim in shock. His vice team leader noticing his out of place behavior, approached him to ask what it was about. “What is wrong, sir?” Hearing his second in command's question, the Official woke up from his stupor and answered him in a solemn tone. “The first spaceship coming through the portal is supposed to house a Level 9 powerhouse. Possibly at the Peak of Level 9, although that is still to be verified.” The second in command could not hide his shock from his face. “Should we notify the higher-ups, sir?” The other man nodded at his question and added. “We also need to be careful around that person. Especially if they really are at the Peak of Level 9. After all, if we anger them, they could kill us without consequences.” After saying his piece, he sent a report to his superiors about the urgent situation. Following which, he made sure that his whole team was ready to welcome the VIP coming through the portal that would appear in a few minutes. A few minutes later the portal appeared in-between one of the giant circular teleporters. One might ask why does this empire had multiple teleporters instead of one like the Kingdoms such as the Decan Kingdom. The answer could be sum up in one word : Resources. To explain it a bit more in depths, it had to do with the difference in grade between each planets and each zones. Grade 1 planets could produce rank 1 mana materials, but nothing higher. The same thing applied to Grade 2 and Grade 3. However for those two, they could produce lower rank materials too. They also produces a lot more low materials than a planet or zone with the corresponding grade. In simpler terms, a grade 3 planet produced 1 unit of rank 3 material for 100 units of rank 2 and 10,000 units of rank 1. A grade 2 planet may produce 1 unit of rank 2 material for 100 units of rank 1. It had to do with the concentration of mana. Although, it may not be as precise as described previously, it could give an idea about the riches of Empires, which are all based on at least one grade 3 planet. Added to that, the fact that teleporters needed rank 3 materials to be built, those kingdoms were more or less forced to submit to powerful Empires to access rare resources and protect themselves against the greed coming from more powerful kingdoms. Back at the teleporter activating. A Huge spaceship came out from the portal. The official, being used to see different quality of spacefaring ship, because of having to deal with arrivals, noticed the high-level of the metal monster right away. “Seeing that vessel, the lady being at the Peak of Rank 3 may not be so far fetched.” He thought, giving more credit to the report he received from the Decan Kingdom. Once the ship completely exited the portal, he ordered the AI from his to advance towards it and to send a demand for communication. *************** Mortal Realm, Inside the Fox Family's spaceship, before going through the portal. Bai Yue thought about the steps she had to take to settle the Empire problem and to find a place to settle for her and the family of three. While she was pondering with the baby in her arms, she sent a telepathic message to his parents to inform them that she had to talk to them about something important. After less than a minute, the two people entered the room looking a bit exhausted, but also delighted. Noticing their delight, her lips curved up slightly. After which she asked with her beautiful but cold voice. “Looking at your face, I assume that you made a bit of progress, didn't you?” She immediately scanned them with her Divine sense to see their changes and focused on the man. “Hei Qiang, your cultivation bottleneck is loosening. I'm guessing you should breakthrough in the next few weeks. The same can be said for your Law of Light. You also improved on your Law of Darkness. Good.” Before he had time to recover from the shock of her being able to instantly see through him, she continued her analysis, this time for Guang Hua. “As for you, you improved a little on your cultivation level and Law comprehension. Although you're far from breaking through, an improvement is an improvement.” “From your progress, I can tell that you didn't completely mastered the Mortal Layer part of your scriptures. That, and the lacking mana. Otherwise, you would both have improved a lot more. Once we find a place to settle, you need to focus on cultivation. Otherwise your son will catch up to the two of you easily.” Hearing that remark, a wry smile appeared on their face. Indeed, their quick improvements went a bit to their head and Bai Yue had to remind them to stay humble for their own sake. The taboo for a cultivator was excessive arrogance, as an arrogant cultivator was not capable of seeing his own shortcoming and thus incapable of progressing. She did not want them lagging behind Guang Yang too much, for his sake and theirs as well. “Now, do you have any question?” Guang Hua then asked. “Could you tell us how you found out about our Law Levels? After all, I understand that your Divine sense can “see” our dantian, which means you can guess our cultivation level. But our Law Levels are something more ethereal since it's about comprehension, right?” The two of them wore confused face while waiting for her answer. “Good question. You are half-right and half-wrong. Indeed, your Law Levels are about how much of a specific Law you understand. However, have you ever thought about why you need to reach a specific Law Level to breakthrough the next Rank?” Guang Hua said. “To be honest I didn't. I only considered it a necessary criteria and went with it.” A sigh escaped Bai Yue's lips from her thoughtless behavior. “Well, I can't completely blame you for that, since the cultivation heritage in the Mortal Realm is extremely limited, and you need to reach higher levels to see obvious results.” She thought for a second and started to explain. “Actually, reaching a higher rank, means getting more attuned to the Realm's origin Laws. And for that you need to absorb those Laws into your body, soul and energy. That transforms and improve them towards perfection. That is why there are no ugly person in the higher ranks, unless they wish for it or they were hurt by something like curses or poisons. Now, when you refine your being, you use the Law that you comprehended, which means that it will have a different effect on you depending on the Law you comprehended and how much you comprehended it. For example, the Light Law makes you naturally more approachable, the Darkness Law naturally more stealthy, etc. Higher Level of Laws and Higher Layer Laws can have weird effects, and you will probably see them once we reach higher Realms.” After her lengthy explanation, she proceeded to answer their questions about cultivation and some of the points that baffled them about their scriptures. Listening to her explanations, it was similar to a forest trail completely hidden suddenly becoming a wide and straight paved road. She turned the difficult into simple, and the obscure into the obvious. That was the huge advantage of having a high level cultivator guiding someone, as it helped avoid many twists and turns in one's cultivation journey towards an unlimited lifespan and the peak power. Not everyone was worthy of being guided by a Rank 9 being and it was the first time Bai Yue acted as a teacher, especially to weak Mortal Layer Cultivators like them. While she was teaching them, she thought in wonder. “Who could have guessed that the most dangerous assassin in the Divine Realm would be teaching patiently two mortals brats in the Mortal Realm? Life is really full of wonder.” After she finished answering all their questions, the AI contacted her. “Madam, an Official from the Hoborg Empire is contacting us. Should I allow him through?” She answered. “Tell him to wait a few minutes while I explain the situation to Hei Qiang and Guang Hua.” “Understood, Madam.” After she gave her instructions to the AI, she proceeded to explain what happened in the Decan Kingdom and what she planned for the Empire. “I agree.” “I'll follow senior Bai's instruction.” Getting their approvals, she asked to talk to the Official. A few seconds after, the Official's hologram appeared in front of the four, looking very respectful. “Your Ladyship, the Hoborg Empire welcome you in our beautiful territory. I apologize for the poor welcome, however we were only notified of your Ladyship's arrival a few minutes ago, so we didn't have time to prepare anything grander.“ Bai Yue kept her tone indifferent and radiated an imposing aura that demanded respect. “It's fine.” The Official realized that the woman in front of him was even more powerful than his emperor, be it in martial power or dignity. He thought. “She is definitely from a higher empire level organization. There is no way that such an aura could be cultivated in a low level empire.” He then asked respectfully. “May I ask her Ladyship, what could my Empire do for you? Is there somewhere you wish to visit in our territory?” She then replied imposingly with a hint of anger that didn't escape from the sly old man. “Lead us to your Emperor. There is a matter that needs to be solved.” Guessing that someone from the Empire messed with someone they should not have and the possible consequences, he started to have cold sweat. Thinking quickly, he asked her. “May I have a few minutes to contact my superiors? After all, I'm only a lowly Official and I have no say as to who can meet my Emperor.” Since Bai Yue was not a mindless killer, she replied. “Go ahead. But don't take too long, or you and the empire behind you will regret it.” Hearing that she wasn't unreasonable, he thought that the problem had a chance of being resolved without too much bloodshed. However the last sentence made him not dare to waste time, as he was not tired of living yet. Less than five minutes after he sent the urgent report, he received the order to lead the Lady and her entourage to the Imperial Palace to meet the Emperor. *************** Mortal Realm, Hoborg Empire's Imperial Palace, at the same time of the third Prince death. In the room where the soul tablets of the Imperial family were kept, two guardians were meditating lightly while being aware of their surroundings. Those two people had their bodies covered with dust, looking like statues, probably due to staying in the same position for years at a time. Indeed, as one's cultivation level improved, so did one's lifespan. Coupled with the need of higher amount of time to increase one's cultivation level, meditation sessions can last dozens of years for high level Mortal Cultivators or even more. And those two old looking people in the room were both high level Cultivators. However, the sudden sound of a tablet breaking interrupted their concentration. Those seemingly lifeless statues opened their eyes at the same time, shaking the dust away with their mana. The only man among the two, which emanated the fiercest pressure in the room started to speak, frustrated. “Sigh, I still can't breakthrough to the next level. Will I ever be able to in this life?” After which, the old woman said smiling, trying to comfort him. “Marc, you shouldn't despair. After all, you may have an enlightenment tomorrow and breakthrough on the spot. Or you may have a fortunate encounter and do the same. Life is always full of twists and turns.” Hearing her kind words, he looked at her face marked by the passage of time that was once, the most beautiful and talented woman in the Empire and was now hidden in this lifeless room with him, waiting for the end of their long life, with no other purpose but accompanying him. After looking at his wife in a daze full of reminiscence for a few seconds and without being interrupted by her as she knew that he was thinking of the past, he said. “Although I know you're right, but what are the chances? We're both close to the end of our lifespan, and meditating doesn't seem to work... I think we should leave this room, otherwise we'll have no chance in reaching Level 8 and increasing our lifespan by 10,000 more years.” She then asked. “How about the Grand Elder's order?” He said with a smile full of pride. “We both know that my father ordered me to guard this room as a way to placate for the fact that I, his illegitimate son, was chosen by the most beautiful and talented woman in this empire instead of his favorite crown prince who is now the emperor.” Hearing his praise for her, she also smiled at him full of love. “Thankfully, I was too talented and useful for the empire to get rid of and since I am an illegitimate son, I was no threat to the crown prince's stake on the throne. What a broken family...Sigh” His wife replied. “Well, in almost every large and powerful family, there is the same problem. But yours is pretty bad, it's true.” She said laughing a bit. After which, she checked on who died. “Anyway, we should notify the Emperor that the third prince died. Not as if we both care about his death, though.” Nodding his head in agreement, he started using a soul technique from the imperial family to find out where the third prince died. “He seemed to have died around the Decan Kingdom. I wonder what he was doing there.” Shaking his head he continued. “Since we have nothing to do, why don't we go in person to tell him that his son died? That way we could see his dejected face, hehe.” He started to laugh in a sadistic manner. Looking at him laugh in this manner, she shook her head while laughing a little. “You're such a child. Alright, let's seal this room and go.” After sealing the room to avoid anyone going in it, they flew towards the throne room where the emperor was supposed to be with his court. A few minutes of travel later, the arrived close to the room where they saw a few guards. The old couple showed the guards' captain their badges as high level elders and asked them if the Emperor was inside. Following a brief conversation, they learned that he was indeed inside waiting for the arrival of a high level VIP who just arrived in the Capital System. From the Official in charge of welcoming her, she seemed to be a Level 9 Cultivator and she asked to meet the emperor to solve a problem she seemed to have with someone from the royal family. Hearing the information, the old man thought about something and said to his wife. “Illia, why don't we go watch the drama? What if it has to do with what just happened?” He said with schadenfreude, referring to the third prince death. Illia, seeing his expression smiled and said. “Alright, let's go in first.” A mysterious and powerful woman asking for answers, a jealous emperor and an old couple. Marc thought. “Doesn't it sound like the beginning of a joke?”