Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

With the defeat of her inner demon, Lillian closed her eyes and took a deep breath with a big smile on her face.

"Lillian?" Hal called to her in a low voice but Lillian did not seem to notice his presence.

She was deep in her thoughts and the deeper appreciation she had for herself.

The discovery of her Dao had an even bigger impact on her because she knew it was not the same as before she became a part of Hal's circle.

She had undergone the biggest change in her life following her deflection over to Hal's side.

How she came to be on that side was not exactly a predominant thought in her mind.

That it had happened due to Hal's persuasion by seduction was not important.

What was important was that she was here.

She was his subject.

She was a subject of a sovereign.

And with that realization came the discovery of her Dao that would forever tie her to Hal... Even more tied to him than she already was.

"Thank you Master" Lillian said and a tear fell from the corner of her right eye before she vanished from the space.

She was done with the Array.

She had passed the test.

And had no idea that Hal had been there with her personally.

She felt his impact had been all in her mind.

He had influenced her decisions by being a constant and very welcome part of her.

At first, Hal was puzzled and then looked over at the apparition of the owner of the tomb who had been struck dumb for the second time that day.

The apparition shrugged and it proved what Hal had so far only hypothesized.

He was not actually 'Here'

This was just his mind.

All this was happening inside his mind.

His body was definitely within the Array but it was stationary pending the obstacles their mind had formed for them all individually.

All that he had faced so far was in his head.

All that everyone had experienced so far within the Array was in their heads.

Lillian could not 'see' him and could only 'feel' his presence.

That he could make direct contact with Sassy was because of their partially shared Psyche on basis of their Master-Familiar connection.

Anyway, Hal reached out to his body and contacted Grimoire to deliver the good news on the discovery of his Dao.

'What? Not going to congratulate me?' he said with a mild smile to which Grimoire replied,

'Ah, of course. Congratulations are in order. You are once again proving yourself to be above all others. Actually getting the chance to comprehend the strongest Dao that even eludes Primevals. Yeah, congratulations are indeed in order.'

'Well, you don't sound too thrilled' Hal noted which actually caused Grimoire to be surprised,

'That's what you picked up on? Not the fact that I just revealed to you that you have discovered the Strongest Dao?' it asked.

Hal shrugged mentally,

'I literally stopped caring about the title of 'Strongest Dao' the moment I discovered mine. The Dao of Sovereignty is all that matters to me. The fact that it's the strongest Dao is simply a welcome, but not overly important fact' he said.

'Oh, I see. Will that title have more impact when I tell you why the Dao of Sovereignty is the Strongest Dao?' it asked and Hal nodded.

'It might help'

'The Dao of Sovereignty has never been comprehended by anyone. You would have to be arrogant to think you are the first to think of being Sovereign.

Many have thought of it.

All Ten Priemevals especially.

But Sovereignty eludes everyone.'

'Except me' Hal said.

The Grimoire nodded mentally,

'Yes, Hal. Except you. And how did you do it?' it asked. Having access to Hal's memories, Grimoire could have sourced that information by itself but there was a certain value to Hal explaining the feeling himself.

'I have no actual idea. It felt right. It felt like me. It felt like what I wanted. What I need.'

'The Dao of Supremacy never came to mind?' Grimoire asked and Hal shook his head.

'No. Not once' he said.

When Hal had met his mother, or more accurately, the apparition of his mother within his Bloodline, he had stated he would not be Supreme. That he would strive to comprehend a Dao even greater than that.

That he would be Unique.

At the time, it had mostly been lip service, and when it came to the actual discovery of his Dao, he had had not even remembered the conversation but he seemed to have achieved his aim.

'Grimmy, how unique is the Dao of Sovereignty? Who else has comprehended it?' Hal asked because even though Grimoire had technically answered this question already, he wanted to be sure.

To hear it directly.

Grimoire sighed,

'Hal, I once told you I was forbidden to speak of the Strongest Dao which I have now revealed to be the Dao of Sovereignty.

If that did not make it clear, then I will be clearer now; No one, absolutely no one can be Sovereign.

Anyone with enough imposable strength can rule over any region and be 'Sovereign' or be a monarch but to actually embody Sovereignty... To actually impose a rule on that which is most elemental to every powerful being... To impose a rule on Cosmic energy... That is forbidden.

That is the Dao of Sovereignty.'

There was a brief pause before Hal said,

'It's a pretty big deal huh'

'Yes, it is.

Hal, you are the first to ever discover the Dao of Sovereignty and actually have a chance at comprehending it and until you die, there will never be another.

There can only be one Sovereign.

There can be many Supremes... Thousands... millions in fact but there can be only one Sovereign to rule over them all.'

'Well, that's a good thing' Hal said in an uncertain tone.

His tone was uncertain because he had a feeling it was not totally a good thing.

'In a way, Yes. The Dao of Sovereignty hides many secrets and holds a lot of power but it is consuming. You are protected here and can use it as you wish because this is your mind. But once you are out of here, you will have to comprehend what it really entails before you can impose your rule on anything or anyone. It is also limiting. It does not support or allow mediocrity. Or more accurately, it does not support or allow anything that it considers to be mediocre.

It has extremely high standards.

Honestly, between the Dao of Sovereignty and your connection to Order which has so far hindered your comprehension of Ordinances, I am absolutely sure you will have to pave your own way a lot of the time.

You will not be able to truly rely on guidelines laid down by predecessors.

You're in a situation that is absolutely new.

There is no precedence.

The knowledge within my pages is for your use but I advise you to be liberal in your use of them.

Especially when they pertain to your personal development.'

'So I'm screwed' Hal said.

The fact that Grimoire had acknowledged his connection to Order to have so far been the reason he was so far incapable of comprehending any Ordinance made the situation seem even bleaker.

'*sigh* Yes, in a sense... You are indeed screwed'

With that, the connection was cut off and the conversation ended.

As usual, the conversation had only taken a second in real-time. Real-time being the time of all those not involved in said conversation.

Hal felt he could not dwell on all he had just learned.

He especially did not want to dwell on the fact that he had been wrong and the hard part was not yet over.

Considering all he had just learned, discovering his Dao was definitely the easy part.

With one last look at the apparition of the owner of the tomb, an apparition that had an insidious gleam in its eyes, Hal and Sassy vanished from the space.

They regained control of their bodies and the Array spat them out into the room that was smack dab at the center of the tomb.

The first thing that caught Hal's attention, after the quick realization that he and Sassy were the last ones in the room, was the large golden Sarcophagus in the middle of the room

The Sarcophagus that Ergo the half-naked man was pacing around and staring at.

The intensity of Ergo's stare made it clear that this was why he was here.

This was much more important to him than all the Cultivational and Alchemical recipe scrolls on the many shelves and inside the many Bookcases in the room…