Intermission: Fox’s Perspective

At the same time, in one of the other worlds which were a part of the event venue of the Heavenly Succession's first round.

Seated in an idyllic pavilion hidden amongst clouds of pure Energy, a disastrously charming fox-eared lady with dark-brown hair was combing her lustrous and well kempt bushy tail of the same colour. Thousands of finger-thick strands of it had been plaited into a beautiful pattern and bizarre, glowing aquamarine runes ran across its entire length of more than a metre.

A disc-shaped device was hovering not far in front of her, displaying the holographic image of another woman of the same kind, who was devoutly kneeling as she gave her report.

"Young Mistress, until now, it has been confirmed that 1,279 of the worlds which our targets resided in have been destroyed by the Ravagers. I have personally observed that everyone affected made use of their life-saving items to evacuate to safety. However, the Ravagers have experienced severe backlash for their excessive interference and have been confined to their current territory. They can therefore be considered to be out of the picture."

Smiling in a natural, seductive manner, Rheya Gold acknowledged the news with a nod.

"It went better than we could have hoped for. Amongst the ones which we managed to snipe, were there any noteworthy targets?"

Pondering for a moment to make sure that she hadn't forgotten anything, her Follower soon responded.

"Unfortunately, there were only two: Lucas Lerner and Theodore Winter. The other two happened to be too far away from the Ravagers for them to reach them in time."

Raising an eyebrow and looking up from her grooming session, she couldn't help but fall silent. Then, she chuckled to herself, evidently elated.

"My, my! How fortunate! I thought we would get one of them at most, not two. And the ones whose trump cards we nullified were also the extremely troublesome ones! I'm off to as good of a start as I could possibly be, it seems."

Staring into the distance and at the city surrounding the tens of kilometres high mountain which she was situated atop of, strong fighting spirit flickered in her lovely, honey-brown eyes. Her mother's plotting and plans over the past eons had masterfully paved the way for her, allowing her to make use of her own particular Talents and those of her Followers to have a significant head start in this competition.

Due to the nature of their business, the Celestial Fox Gold Family controlling the CFC had always been looked down upon by the other Supreme Pillars. Even ordinary Pillars thought themselves worthy of speaking to their representatives as equals. Occasionally, regular Named Families also dared to give them trouble. Despite their powerful means, the amount of respect which they had been treated with within the Heavenly Court was sorely lacking.

They provided an essential service to everyone living under the Heavenly Empress' rule, yet due to their approachable and friendly mien, those in power took them for granted–although Rheya's mother had reached the exact same height which they did. But because she made use of bewitching and controlling methods the most, ordinarily not displaying a lot of direct combat capabilities, she had faded into the background too much to be seen as a significant threat.

Of course, all of this was by her design. From the very beginning, she had never let anyone but the Heavenly Emperor and Heavenly Empress know about her true skills. The CFC also functioned as one of the prime hidden intelligence agencies under their direct control. Nobody else in the Heavenly Court was aware of it!

Therefore, when the Heavenly Succession was first announced–and even before then–Rheya's mother had been exposed to far more insider knowledge than anyone else. Because her only direct superior did not seem to mind her being in on a lot of secrets with regards to how the competition would play out, many a scheme could be laid out and prepared beforehand.

To say that her mother had been blessed by the heavens was the understatement of the eon! Rheya was an only child, yet her own aptitude far surpassed those of other Supreme Pillar descendants. While she was certainly not the very best out of them all, she could at least contend for that title. Ever since her mother had realized this, Rheya had been hidden in plain view, never displaying too much excellence in comparison to her peers.

'Just you wait, mother! I'll show them all that we're not their obedient little minions. I will be the next Heavenly Empress, and nobody will be able to stop me!'

Naturally, she wouldn't let her considerable chances of success cloud her judgement or allow any mistakes to slip by unnoticed. The Heavenly Dao bestowing upon someone a Heaven's Chosen Level meant that they had a non-zero chance of becoming one of the two final winners. Just because she had it far better than almost everyone else did not mean that she could rest on her laurels!

"You've done well, Hercyna. Proceed according to the plan. Inform me in case any of the noteworthy targets leave their worlds."

Bowing respectfully, the blonde Celestial Fox lady left behind one more sentence before the holographic image of her dissipated.

"Understood, Young Mistress!"

All alone once more, Rheya couldn't help but furrow her brows a little, the majority of the joyous expression that she had displayed on her face melting away like snow under the scorching sun.

'The moment that Hercyna informed me about this, I started to feel a vague danger. I cannot say where it originates from, not even when or if it will threaten me. It seems to exist on the level of fate itself. Interesting! I wonder which of the ones I've dealt a blow to is the cause of it.'

Soon smirking in a hint of delight, rather than growing excessively worried, she rearranged some of her plans and chose to prepare herself in advance for anything which she might have overlooked.

'Reason dictates that either Lucas or Theodore are the one who caused this Talent of mine to trigger. But I suppose I cannot rule out someone else hiding even more deeply than me. However, amongst the two most likely suspects... which one would I bet on?'

Recalling every single piece of intel about them as well as all interactions that she had had with them, she soon came to a conclusion.

'Although Theodore outwardly appears to be the more dangerous of the two, I've never felt any threat while in his presence. I cannot rule him out simply because of this, but at least at first glance, he doesn't seem to be the one. Lucas, however, has always made me deeply uncomfortable. Neither of them ever triggered my Talent before, but my own personal intuition has constantly warned me about Lucas, not Theodore.'

Shrugging a little before continuing to comb her tail, she helplessly shook her head.

'Why am I even bothering to theorize like this? At the end of the day, I will have to keep an eye on both. Neither the Winter nor the Lerner Family are slouches. That Theoderick especially is bad news. He is one of the few people that mother legitimately fears. His comparatively unassuming 'saint' of a son cannot possibly be too lacking.'

Furrowing her brows once more, she distractedly stared up at the sky, as if intending to see past the practically endless distance separating her from her competitors.

'No matter what, by the time that this round ends, everyone will have an idea about my capabilities. After all, I should be able to make it very close to the top, which is unlike the aptitude that I have portrayed up to now. All those who lost their trump cards because of me will recognize that I might have been the one behind it.'

Leaning backwards and playing with her freshly brushed tail absent-mindedly, a confident smirk stole itself on her lips.

'But I knew what I was getting myself into from the beginning. My path is set, and nobody shall be able to stand in my way! With both soft and hard power, I'll make it until the very end.'

Getting up from where she was seated, she left the pavilion and made her way into a nearby palace, all the way to the throne room, where she unhesitatingly took the seat of supreme honour.

Everyone who she met along the way practically grovelled at her feet, absolute devotion, obsession, infatuation and faith warping their features. No matter who they were, or what their cultivation realm was, nobody could resist this influence.

She, who had only just entered the Energy Refinement Stage, was lording over the very leaders of this world, who had all surpassed the Core Formation Stage. There were a few fellow Heaven's Chosen amongst those she had gathered here, some of which were even from Pillar Families–yet none of them could escape her grasp.

"I trust that everything has been arranged?"

The strongest amongst them all, who had undoubtedly been the previous ruler of this place, knelt down like her most devout acolyte, worshipping the ground which she had just stepped on.

"Your Sacred Divinity, we have begun to build the Arrays, exactly as you have instructed. The motherland has also been contacted and envoys from there should arrive within one week at the latest."

Acknowledging his report, she threw her last remaining languidness to the back of her head and resumed actively turning her mental arrangements into reality.

Rheya was far from the only one amongst the contestants who had insider knowledge about the Heavenly Succession. Many had benefited from this in one way or another, and even Rheya's drastic actions which had influenced more than a thousand of her peers the very moment that it all began were not unique amongst them.

There were quite a few Heaven's Chosen who had grown up in the event venue that caused terrifying schemes to unfold as well, taking even a few of the publicly recognized favourites by surprise.

Not everywhere was as 'peaceful' as the world which Theodore was in–many others had found themselves amidst a gruelling battlefield just moments after they had opened their eyes, unable to extricate themselves from it until now.

In yet another world amongst many, next to a peacefully trickling small river, an entirely average young man opened his eyes, his serene gaze betraying the countless years which he had already experienced. The extreme contrast between his outward appearance and his aged aura was quite unsettling. It took a long time for him to slowly return to normal. Clearly, his state of mind had previously changed drastically from one moment to the next.

"So it was you, Rheya Gold. Well played!"

As one of a dozen or so unremarkable few who had been fortunate enough to barely qualify to join the 'friend group' which Theodore, Barrett, Evangelina, Rheya and Lucas were a part of, he had always been merely a face in the crowd, easily overlooked.

Somewhere else, floating high in the sky, a dreamy, bookish young man opened his eyes as well. A special, illusory yet real kind of lightning flickered across his body, his stare a distant and cold one akin to a deity far removed from the mortal realm. Every outcome could be perceived, and there were no surprises. Once the butterfly flapped its wings, it couldn't escape his notice.

'You were the one who broke the non-aggression pact, Rheya? Impressive. Looks like I underestimated you. I won't make that mistake again.'

Unbeknownst to the fox in question, not just one, but two of those who had fallen for her schemes had become aware of them before the end of the first round. Only time would be able to tell whether or not the 100 years advance warning that they had got would allow them to meaningfully counter her arrangements.

One thing was for certain, however: The Heavenly Succession's waters were far deeper than any of them were currently expecting.