John stood close by as he stared at Tiza. He and the others watched her, making sure to conceal their presence.
Thankfully it wasn't very hard.
Their power to hide themselves from others was quite impressive. He even wondered if these rumored Earth-Immortals would be able to sense them.
Just as he was about to speak to Tiza and congratulate her, he received several new notifications.
{CONGRATULATIONS! Jace has grasped an understanding in several laws. Calculating your reward… Override… Improving rewards now.}
{CONGRATULATIONS! You can alter plant life to be compatible with any race and species of any region of your planet/moon.}
{CONGRATULATIONS! Elizibeth has grasped an understanding in several laws. Calculating your reward… Override… Improving rewards now.}
{CONGRATULATIONS! You can create Land Cores.}
{CONGRATULATIONS! Sofia has grasped an understanding in several laws. Calculating your reward… Override… Improving rewards now.}
{CONGRATULATIONS! You can create Dungeon Cores.}
{CONGRATULATIONS! Maria has grasped an understanding in several laws. Calculating your reward… Override… Improving rewards now.}
{CONGRATULATIONS! You can now give natives the ability to level up, and place restrictions.}
{CONGRA…
{CONGRAD…
…
…
…
John and the others just stood there in silence as they saw the notifications roll in!
Just about everyone had gained a new understanding in various laws. Some of them even found an understanding in something called "Mortal Laws," which were just a whole new level of information he had to unpack for later.
What was crazy was that he wasn't just receiving rewards based on levels of comprehension but also because the moon was officially on the cusp of becoming a 3-star moon!
It wasn't there yet, but all it needed was a little more spiritual energy and it would reach that point! It was only at 0.4 earlier today. Now it had surpassed 1-star and was about to hit 3-stars!
Jace was actually stronger than the planet she was orbiting!
Yet there wasn't an ounce of jealousy in him. After all, as the saying goes, "What's mine is mine and what's hers is also mine!"
Or at least that's what he claimed today.
Regardless, he could easily transfer all that excess spiritual energy once she completely devoured it and turn herself into an official 3-star core!
He was already a 1-star planet! So he had just enough to elevate himself!
Just as he was thinking about that, he made a disturbing realization.
'Crap! Jace has the Naiad's Tear and not nearly enough energy to create an ocean, which she'll need to help increase her understanding of the laws of water! Yet, Tiza needs that energy too if she wants to become an Earth-Immortal!' He slowly began to panic.
That is, until he saw Tiza do something even he wasn't expecting.
She had already left minutes ago while he was checking his notifications, so he figured she was going home to rest or finish the job. Yet what she did completely surprised him.
John saw the ship land on the moon and, after a few minutes, a couple dozen men and women around the ranks of Master and Grandmaster were thrown out the airlock.
The Masters were already gasping for breath and on the verge of death, while the Grandmasters were barely doing any better.
He just looked on in confusion, wondering if he should go in to help while his girls stared in confusion and/or horror. John himself just felt like he was watching a TV drama, completely unfazed for some reason.
Sadly there wasn't much he or anyone could do. They didn't even have real bodies after all.
So all they could do was watch as the victims slammed on the walls trying to get back in. They were making plenty of dents, but sadly Tiza wasn't done with them yet.
Why would she be?
Sure, she could have cultivated later, but she knew that killing her targets personally was much quicker than meditating thanks to Holstein.
In fact, just a few minutes prior she had discovered that she now had something called a "Level," and she was very close to making a breakthrough into the Earth-Immortal realm.
Tiza looked at her dying subordinates for a quick second before dashing forward and wiping out her former comrades with quick action. They weren't Dragon-ranks like her, after all.
They didn't even pose a threat to her, even in a wounded state.
So after a few minutes she looked down at the blood on her hands and tried thinking happy thoughts to distract herself. Thankfully, after thinking of her favorite meals and her pet back home waiting for her, she quickly got over it and just sat there waiting.
What was she waiting for?
Well, John was no fool. He understood that she wanted to have a word with him, and he was certainly curious as to what made her do this.
He made his way over and made himself visible after sitting down on a rock nearby.
[You're quite the overachiever, aren't you?]
He didn't know what to say exactly, so he just blew it off and replied sarcastically. Fortunately she didn't understand what sarcasm was, so she just shrugged her shoulders.
He was really hoping for an answer, but sadly she didn't feel obligated to give him one. So he asked the Akashic Records instead and was surprised to know the reason—and the fact that one of the bodies sprawled out somewhere was her own brothers.
[Traitors are tricky business. Are you sure you want to go this route? As you can guess, even Earth-Immortals can die. If you continue to take this route, your people will hold great animosity towards you.] he replied.
Of course he knew what she was thinking thanks to the Akashic Records. Why wouldn't he? She was quite literally connected to it. Most beings were.
Tiza just looked his way, but John wasn't able to figure out if she was shocked or annoyed at his wealth of knowledge and understanding of her thoughts.
She didn't like being seen through, but there wasn't much a mere projection could do about it. Not that he would. After all, the stronger she became, the higher the odds that she'd be able to protect his precious planet.
So she just ignored him and got up, walking back to her ship. However, just before leaving, John heard one of his girls speak up about something that made him want to speak as well.
[Tiza, one of Holstein's moons wishes to discuss your ship and how to fix it. Come back later once you have 'collected' your enemies. It will be enough to raise this place to 3-star and talk about fixing up your ship.]
She turned back around, eyes wide in shock, until she steeled her face and nodded before walking back on board the rusty ship.
Hoping it stayed intact long enough to get back home.
While she made the decision to go to war with the remaining Dragon-ranks, John was still left in a dilemma. Should he give Jace all of his spiritual energy? Or should he take it for himself so that Tiza could become an Immortal immediately?
If Jace kept the spiritual energy a little longer, then she could easily produce oceans and oceans of water. Enough to share with her sisters, perhaps. The best part, according to his understanding, was that once qi is used, it becomes miasma.
Miasma needs to be purified before it can be used again, and that could take days, months or years for it to be fully purified.
So he needed to speak with Tiza once she was fully healed.
Fortunately he had plenty of time before she returned.
Just as he had that thought, another thought popped into his head.
What if… once she ran out of spiritual energy, he could cut off her supply? She would be vulnerable, an easy target, and he wouldn't have to give her any energy at all…
Sure, his planet would be in a weaker position, but so what? Is she a better guardian than an actual native? A person indoctrinated at birth to be loyal to the land they were born on?
Alternatively, he could just ally with someone else… make another champion?
No, Tiza was the best bet.
It wasn't like he knew any other races he could talk to, and he didn't know her enemies, so there was no guarantee she would die if he pulled off that stunt. He could easily create bad blood between the two of them.
He just didn't like these creatures one bit. They seemed like trouble.
He already knew about the women and their bad habits. He knew their civilization was bound to collapse if she continued to rule—and honestly? That was exactly what he wanted.
If she could destroy her civilization AND take others with her, it was basically a win-win. He would be drowning in spiritual energy sooner or later thanks to her overeagerness and cruelty. All the while he'd get to sit back and pretend to be the victim!
'What? I didn't ask her to kill so many people and go to war with the universe? I'm just a baby!'
Just when he had that thought, he received another notification.
{Understanding in the laws of chaos has increased by 0.8. Due to your creation and negligence, you have created a monster potentially destined to overthrow the current order. The Universe frowns upon you.}
All of a sudden his head felt fuzzy, and he suddenly felt like he gained an epiphany of how the universe works.
Chaos is a ladder.
A disturbing quote—yet all the more true.