Chapter 205: Immortal's Will

"Understandable, but having been born with the Immortal Will, you were destined to one day awaken it; best it is under our own circumstances, no?" Said Lourdes with a slight smile and a gentle nod as she took a sip from the teacup before placing it on the table.

"I suppose." Replied Elif lightly as he fanned himself with his Quạt tay and approached the table before sitting in the only open seat opposite Lourdes.

"Hmm, I see you've got a good taste for accessories." Remarked Lourdes as she glanced at Elif's purple and black Quạt tay with a golden handle.

"Well, I did take inspiration from someone, after all." Said Elif with a slight smirk while glancing at Lourdes, who nodded in response.

"So, Progenitor Lourdes, as delightful I am to speak with, I don't think you wished to see me just so we could have a casual chat; then again, it would be understandable if that were the case. After all, I'm just that marvelous." Added Elif with a serious expression that quickly morphed into a narcissistic one as he flicked his long hair behind his ears.

"Even in my presence, you're still so narcissistic; I don't know whether to be annoyed or impressed. However, yes, I didn't summon you just so I could chat with my descendant; if I so wished, I would just do what I've done the previous two times. As I'm sure you've already deduced, the reason is to inform you about the Immortal Will you have." Replied Lourdes with a raised eyebrow before softly shaking her head and turning more dignified.

"Seeing as it has a name, and you seem to have it as well, it must not be nearly as rare as I thought." Remarked Elif solemnly, though, to his surprise, Lourdes had shaken her head.

"You're wrong, my descendant; it is, in fact, even rarer than you give it credit for. It also doesn't have a proper name; it can go by several different names, such as Heaven's Will, Dao Heart's Intent, and Spiritual Intent. Those are just a few of the more common names, but I prefer using the term Immortal Will, as I believe one is required to be in possession of it if they ever wish to ascend and become a True Immortal." Declared Lourdes lightly as she stood up and slowly walked around, looking like a Master speaking to their disciple.

"For you to believe that Progenitor Lourdes, you must be close to becoming a True Immortal, as I doubt you'd say that unless you've got some kind of evidence to support such a claim." Said Elif with a raised eyebrow as his eyes followed Lourdes's lithe figure walking through the small cottage.

"Hmm, you could say so; among every living being within this reality, I'm the closest to becoming a True Immortal. Then again, my words don't amount to much as I haven't made any progress in so long; I've been stuck in the same cultivation base for the entirety of the Harmonious Epoch. It's very irritating, but there isn't much I can do about it, as I'm the sole one at fault for my lack of progress." Stated Lourdes with a slight frown as she stopped walking for a few moments before continuing, though her words slightly surprised Elif.

"So, I'm currently speaking with the strongest being in existence? I wonder who's more lucky? Progenitor Lourdes or myself?" Muttered Elif softly with widened eyes, his narcissistic expression emerging once more.

"Focus, my Descendant." Said Lourdes as she smacked Elif in the back of his head, using her profound cultivation base to suppress most of his emotions; the only one that remained was his pride.

"Anyways, before we got off track about Immortal Will. people born with it are always destined to cause monumental waves to happen throughout the OverRealm and possibly beyond. While it may not seem like too much, considering people could just kill them before they get too strong, nipping the problem in the bud, to this day, such an occurrence has never happened." Stated Lourdes as she turned around and eyed Elif, who was looking back at her with an expression of extreme pride.

"Either people with Immortal Will can't be killed through normal methods, or the people who were trying to kill them were pathetic; however, I find the first option is more believable." Remarked Elif lightly while glancing at Lourdes for confirmation.

"They can theoretically be killed by anyone, it doesn't matter who, nor is the method required unique in any way, just killing them like normal will work; however, after living for so long and watching several people with Immortal Will being born, I've realized the only way to kill them successfully, is if another person with an Immortal Will does it. This is still confusing to me; it's almost like some incredibly powerful force from beyond is invisibly interfering, preventing them from being killed by normal cultivators." Said Lourdes with a troubled expression as she looked toward the sky, seemingly looking for answers, though no such thing happened.

"Progenitor Lourdes, earlier you mentioned 'this reality'; are you suggesting that there may exist another reality, a different reality from our own, that is possibly interfering with people born with Immortal Will?" Questioned Elif while squinting his eyes as he intently looked at Lourdes.

"I'm not entirely sure, though occasionally, when cultivating, I'll feel faint presences entering from beyond, but by the time I manage to pinpoint their location, the presences have long since vanished. However, recently, I felt a rather strong presence enter from beyond our reality, and while it did eventually disappear, I managed to pinpoint it before it happened." Replied Lourdes in uncertainty with a frown as she glanced at Elif with a knowing glint in her eyes, though before he could further comment on the subject, she quickly changed it.

"You're quite good at changing topics, my Descendant." Added Lourdes as she scrutinized Elif before returning to their previous topic.

"Back to our topic once more, Immortal Will is simply beyond unique; it is almost an anomaly that'll continue to occur, and when that's the case, every single one of them is slightly different. You might've noticed it already, my descendant, but just like how your Immortal Will is centered around your indomitable and Immeasurable Pride, mine is centered around a different emotion: Passion." Stated Lourdes.

Once Progenitor Lourdes finished speaking, she once again unleashed her Immortal Will; this time, though, it wasn't in such an overbearing and suppressive manner as before, thankfully. As her Immortal Will filled the cottage and beyond, I felt it gently caress my own Immortal Will, which was still leaking out, though I could more vividly feel and observe her own Immortalt's Will, and just as she said, I could sense nothing but passion.

"What do you have such passion for, Progenitor Lourdes?" Asked Elif curiously as he used his Immortal Will to break the seal that was suppressing his emotions.

"A passion for cultivation; during my time, when cultivation was just introduced to us, I don't know why, and till this day, I still don't know why; all I know is I have an unbearable amount of passion for anything related to cultivation." Replied Lourdes with a smile, seemingly enjoying speaking about cultivation.

"Lucky you, at least you weren't required for someone close to you to die in order for your Immortal Will to awaken." Commented Elif with a snide remark while looking at Lourdes, who retracted her Immortal Will.

"True, though it seems like you've figured out why your dear sister needed to die in order for you to awaken your Immortal Will." Said Lourdes with a nod as she approached the table and sat back down.

"Yes, since my Immortal Will is based on my pride in being the greatest and most perfect being in all of existence, Elaine was holding me back since I view her as my equal, though how could the greatest and most perfect being have an equal? If that were true, I wouldn't be the greatest and most perfect; however, with Elaine's death, it wouldn't matter whether I saw her as my equal any longer since she was dead." Stated Elif with a prideful expression while his eyes constantly twitched as he looked at Lourdes.

"Incredibly annoying, but the only person I have to blame is myself; I'm just glad it was all fake." Added Elif softly as he shook his head.

"Well then, I think that's enough talking for one day; now, my descendant, let's finally get down to the real reason why I summoned you here. To train you." Remarked Lourdes as she stood back up, her words surprising Elif

"To train me? Well, I'm not opposed to it, but it's definitely not what I expected." Said Elif with a raised eyebrow as he stood up and followed behind Lourdes, who exited the cottage.

"How else were you going to control your Immortal Will? Although you're even more talented than me, it would still take you years to gain a decent level of mastery. While normally that wouldn't be such a big deal, you've got five other people with Immortal Will to deal with." Replied Lourdes as she exited the cottage and walked toward the nearby lake, which wasn't previously there.

'What the? This isn't the Ancestral land; where are we?' Thought Elif in shock as he observed his surroundings.

The vicinity of the cottage was still filled with flourishing vegetation, but the lake and disappearance of the Realm Tree were all big indicators that we were no longer in the Ancestral Land; we were in a different dimension.

"No, this isn't the Ancestral Land; this is my personal dimension. Besides my children and Grandchildren, you're the only other Royal Elf ever to step foot within this dimension. It's also the place where you'll be spending the next year while training under my guidance." Replied Lourdes as she stood overlooking the large lake before glancing at Elif, who was currently in shock.

"Huh?" Muttered Elif as he gave Lourdes a confused look.