Local First Movers

The world which Theodore was in had been named 'Qinglong' by its rulers, the Imperial Han Family, after the one and only state reigning over its entirety, Qinglong State. It was a part of the 'Han Empire', which spanned dozens of worlds just like it. Of course, this wasn't all of what remained of the Hans in the Heavenly Dao and beyond. Rather, this was the extent of the empire here within the event venue of the first round of the Heavenly Succession.

Wherever the Hans appeared, they would follow the same few steps and found a local Han Empire which would continue to extend outward, absorbing as many worlds into its fold as it could. Considering the abhorrent condition of most of the civilian population, these could be aptly described as cancerous growths popping up in the cracks between different forces and Named Families. There were innumerable of these empires, and whenever one of them was eradicated, a couple of new ones would appear somewhere else, like in a civilization-spanning, twisted game of whack-a-mole.

On average, there were five Heaven's Chosen in every single world which was a part of the first round's event venue. Of course, as they had been brought here entirely at random, there were many which did not host a single one of them, and others that accommodated dozens. There were even a few thousand worlds which had more than 100 Heaven's Chosen crammed into them!

The Qinglong world did not belong to either of the extreme ends of this spectrum–however, the number of participants here was still far above average. Amongst all of them, Theodore was the only one who had already encountered his peers, and also the sole one to have started a massacre.

Everyone else was still within the initial exploration phase, trying to find a good foothold. Yet, by nature of the importance of Energy concentration, most had begun to be funnelled towards the prefectural capitals. There were even some fortunate few who had appeared in the relative vicinity of a provincial capital!

There had been some small-scale scuffles between the Heaven's Chosen and the Imperial Han Family, primarily due to the outstanding looks of the new arrivals. Of course, there were also a few who were inherently quite righteous and felt appalled at what they encountered here. Yet, nobody but Theodore had bothered to slaughter every 'evil' person within an entire city up until now!

This could only mean one of two things: Either, there were no others who had a Talent which allowed them to benefit from killing, or those that did simply weren't confident enough in their strength yet.

So far, other than the Winter Family's heir, only five Heaven's Chosen had made significant moves which set them apart from those who were either far more cautious or hadn't found a good opportunity to act yet.

Deep within the innermost palace of one of the provincial capitals, a black-haired, gorgeous youngster with dark circles underneath his poisonous green eyes was flipping through one of the countless books that had been stored in this city's library. He was wearing a black cloak which hid most of his body from view and–at first glance–glittered a little in the light, as if it had been exquisitely crafted out of tiny, black scales. But if one looked closer, one would realize that all of them constantly moved and shifted–they were actually flies!

Kjartan Skordýr had been born to an average Named Family, yet with overwhelmingly terrific Talents–one of which, amongst other abilities, enabled him to control people via the special flies that he could raise. This had allowed him to take over the entire leadership of this city within less than a week. But why was this Talent of his so special?

Obtaining 'Heavenly Dao-certified' Servants could both be simple and terribly challenging. Especially when one was still weak, it was difficult to truly convince others to follow oneself from the bottom of their hearts. Of course, this would get easier once one got stronger, but there would still always be those who harboured hidden goals or rebellious thoughts even when faced with incomprehensibly superior powers. For those people, they could only be made into Slaves, which did not require their consent. But at that point, one would come across the same problem: In general, just those significantly weaker than oneself could be enslaved.

Kjartan's flies did not suffer from such restrictions. While they could be resisted in many ways, they could also often take his enemies by surprise. For example, when nobody knew that they were being targeted, who would be able to detect those microscopically tiny insect eggs which had been mixed into their meals?

While learning more about this world, Kjartan was ceaselessly expanding his number of 'Fly Slaves', not letting go of anyone who had stepped on the path of cultivation. He would fight for supremacy in this round not only via his own strength, but also by literally drowning everyone else underneath mountains of his minions!

The second of the five didn't appear to be so lucky, though. He was currently being whipped in an Imperial Han Family dungeon, bloodied and bruised to the point that very little about his features could be made out, other than his reddish-brown hair and the deep blue eyes sparkling in exhilaration.

Saitou Satoru was not some sort of pervert–at least not originally. Having been born an ordinary mortal within one of the countless worlds of the Heavenly Dao, he didn't have any particularly impressive background to rely upon. If it hadn't been for his Mythical-grade Talent 'Golden Finger Transmigration', he would have lived a commoner's life like everyone else. However, he had been selected as a Heaven's Chosen.

Overjoyed by this opportunity to soar to greatness, he had spent all the years before the Heavenly Succession enriching his knowledge and devising strategies. Then, after the first round had begun, and he had arrived at his initial world, he had immediately ended his life, triggering his Talent in the process. It was a single-use Talent which allowed him to transmigrate into the body of someone who had just died in another world, as well as to unlock a random, beneficial Talent of at least Mythical grade!

When he awoke, he had found himself lying in a ditch outside a prefectural capital, being gnawed on by dogs. This had instantly caused his new Talent to spring into action. To his relief, he had found out that it allowed him to both recover from injuries extremely quickly, and to grow stronger the more that he was damaged. He could increase his Standard Attributes without a limit!

Days later, he had deliberately caused a disturbance deep within Han territory, getting the punishment that he had been looking forward to. His depraved grins in response to their torture only made everyone around him more furious, determined to break his spirit! All this while, they were blissfully unaware that they were personally raising the 'monster' who would slay them.

In the centre of yet another prefectural capital, there hovered a usually imperceptible soul body, a member of the Spirit race's Aatma Family. These spirits were not the same as the souls of the dead, bur rather a distinct humanoid species populating a part of the Heavenly Dao. They possessed both a soul and an oddly spirit-esque vessel for it, making them technically living beings.

Navya was the name of this particular individual. Those able to see her would be greeted with the stunning sight of an utterly angelic beauty with dark grey hair and eyes of the same, lifeless colour. Everything about her felt matt or dull, akin to a faded painting, yet creepily beguiling as well. All Spirit race members were like this, though. In their eyes, she was the most irresistible woman that there could be.

Her species was often incorrectly thought of as a blight, or as harmful, when most of them were no different from regular humans at all. Navya, however, had a particular Talent... one that allowed her to absorb a part of the vitality of every living being in a cultivation-stage dependent area around her, strengthening herself in the process!

She would not end up killing those in her area of influence, but they would certainly be significantly weakened. With such a tempting target as the Imperial Han Family nearby, how could she possibly hold back from making use of them?

Unable to be seen by anyone–as the Hans here were all still too weak to do so–she unhurriedly progressed step by step, only hiding herself out of a fear of being discovered by other Heaven's Chosen. Else, she could have completely let loose and danced on the street or play-haunted the entire city. After all, nobody could perceive her, so why not do everything that came to her mind without a care in the world?

In sharp contrast to the vitality-sucking 'ghost' was the fourth of the five: Cheong Suhyeon. In any and all aspects, she embodied a true saintess. Clad in pristine white, gorgeous robes with flowing, blonde hair and gentle, emerald green eyes, she wandered the mortal realm, a charming, calm smile perpetually on her lips.

Naturally, she exuded an air of holiness and platonic love, making those around her feel close to her the instant that they noticed her. Without any active input on her part, they turned into her most ardent believers, standing by her through thick and thin. Like an unstoppable mind control spell which would hit everyone who saw her, the people in her vicinity actively weeded out injustice around her whenever they saw it. They were like a swarm of locusts–if those were actually helpful to society and exclusively did good deeds, that is. Their numbers would certainly match those of locusts within a few more weeks, though.

Walking the path of a saviour goddess, a genuine saint, she ended all 'evil' in all the villages and towns that she came across. Her entourage snowballed in size, yet no single complaint was uttered, and no issues arose whatsoever. Undeterred from her path, Cheong Suhyeon steadily made her way to the nearest county capital, an army of believers following in her footsteps.

The last Heaven's Chosen to have made a move was just as odd as all those before her, but in a different way. If her bewitching beauty was ignored–which it should be, considering that the vast majority of competitors' looks were so far beyond the ordinary that they would qualify to be gods and goddesses of beauty in the eyes of mortals–then she looked just like a normal human. Except for the runic tattoos covering the vast majority of her body, each one faintly glowing a deep red.

Her entire family consisted of a particular human variant, and they had taken to referring to themselves as a new race: the Rún. This was also what their Named Family was called. Vigdis was one of their most outstanding heirs who had qualified to partake in the Heavenly Succession. With almost blood-red hair and eyes of the same colour, coupled with her runic tattoos, she exuded a ferocity which would intimidate many opponents. Yet, she rarely ever killed or behaved brutally.

The only reason as to why she in particular stood out from the rest of the participants was that she had broken into the vaults of three county cities within the short time that she had been in this world. As a result, many enemies had pursued her, but due to her Talents, she had no issue shaking them off and making it to safety.

Sitting in a hidden cave far away from the nearest settlement, she picked up one metallic item or precious ore after another and held it in front of her Middle Dantian, where it then quickly got absorbed into the runic tattoos, filling her with strength. She was the owner of another Growth-type Talent, one with infinite prospects. Any and all metals in existence would allow her to take progressive steps forward.

'The closest city is... Jingshan City? It may be a prefectural capital, but I should be able to handle it now. There shouldn't be any other Heaven's Chosen there, right? I mean, it's not like I'm going to a provincial capital, where the chances to meet one would probably be close to fifty-fifty. Still, never hurts to be careful.'

Choosing her next destination based on one of the many maps that she had stolen, she squinted her eyes and looked into the pitch-black darkness outside. It was already late at night, yet she didn't let that stop her. Getting up, she soon ran at her current top speed through the wilderness, the spine-chilling red glow of her runic tattoos illuminating parts of her surroundings.