Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Though he could trust the girls to meet his expectations, that didn't mean Vahn had nothing to do. He still needed to convince multiple 4-Digit Communities to participate in his upcoming Gift Game, so, following Shiroyasha's suggestion, he sent a missive to the Jade Palace requesting an audience.

After eleven days, leaving him with just 48 until the Coronation Ceremony in the North, Vahn finally received a response from the Jade Palace. They, or, more specifically, the Jade Emperor had invited him to participate in an event known as Zao Shin's Immortal Banquet.

As the Jade Palace and its affiliate Communities believed in the ideology that gathering strength was to stand in opposition to Heaven, they were constantly competing amongst themselves in an effort to determine who was the strongest. Zao Shin's Immortal Banquet was an event where each of the Gods, Sages, Faeries, and Immortals affiliated with the Jade Palace would gather together to feast, and, more importantly, challenge each other for a more dominant position within the Imperial Court.

Simply put, by inviting Vahn to participate in Zao Shin's Immortal Banquet, the Jade Emperor was giving him a platform to debut within the Imperial Court. The Communities affiliated with the Jade Palace respected strength and wisdom over all else. So long as he could prove himself their equal or better, Vahn would be accepted into the Immortal community without question.

While he appreciated the Jade Emperor's very obvious intentions, Vahn had absolutely no desire to tie his fate to the Jade Palace. He wasn't particularly fond of the mentality that most people aspiring to become Immortals possessed. They regarded normal people as little more than cattle, and, more often than not, oppressed anyone outside their immediate line of succession.

Though there were a few notable exceptions, nearly every cultivation/murim/wuxia novel Vahn had ever read revolved around a very similar premise. The Main Character almost always started out as a normal person or a cripple with a prestigious background. Everyone they came across, with the sole exception of potential love interests, venerable seniors willing to sacrifice everything for them, and simple-minded childhood friends who were no better than patsies, was a heartless monster, pervert, or someone with a massive ego who spared no effort to try and suppress or outright kill them.

The thing that annoyed Vahn the most about such a premise was that, more often than not, even the close family and relatives of the Main Character treated them poorly. As a result, when the MC finally gained some kind of fate-defying power, their first victims were almost always their own kin. Then, despite being a clan that had dominated their regions for hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years, the very next town over would be filled with powerful experts that could have easily taken over the MC's hometown.

One of the most ridiculous things Vahn had ever read was a cultivation novel where the Imperial Family of the MC's starting world or continent wasn't even in the top ten in terms of power. While there was nothing inherently wrong with this, the thing that irked him was the fact that they were described as having thousands of years of history and a tremendous amount of wealth during their initial introduction. Then, a few hundred chapters later, there were literally bandits and thieves with even greater cultivation than the literal Guardians of the Imperial Family, yet, instead of taking over and ruling as Emperor, they remained simple thugs in a region where any stray Young Master could kill them with a wave of their hand...

As the Communities affiliated with the Jade Palace adhered to these kinds of sensibilities, it wasn't an exaggeration to say they were among the most contentious and confrontational groups on the East Side. Were it not for the existence of Shiroyasha, they likely would have taken over a long time ago. Instead, they treated their individual Communities as closed worlds/realms, each containing a society that directly reflected the types of stories Vahn had read about.

With the Little Garden having a surface area equivalent of a medium-sized star, not even counting the surrounding landmass, it was possible for large Communities and Alliances to dominate an area even larger than a planet. This, combined with the fact that a Community's territory could be much larger than the plot of land they were assigned, allowed the more ambitious Gods to create literal metaversal structures that were wholly unaware of the existence of the Little Garden.

While he wasn't particularly fond of the way they regarded their people, Vahn couldn't actually pass judgment on this particular subject. After all, he was host to an ever-growing number of metaversal structures. He had even converted a part of his Little Garden into an experimental testing ground so that he could better understand how societies developed and changed under certain conditions. He had even allowed a hell-like layer to form within, a place where negative energy pooled to produce creatures evocative of eldritch horrors...

In the end, the only real difference between Vahn and the beings presiding over the three hundred thousand Immortal Communities was the fact that he cared more. He didn't view the people living within his Little Garden as resources. Instead, he had created a system where everyone, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, had a chance to be happy. Those that sought power were given the chance to obtain it while those who simply wished to live in peace could literally reside in a sub-dimensional plane reminiscent of Avalon or the Garden of Eden.

From a subjective point of view, the structure of Vahn's personalized Little Garden was idyllic to the point of defying reason. Unfortunately, even this didn't really give him the right to judge others, as, even at the pinnacle of Tier 5, there was a limit to the amount of power and influence the Creators of various metaversal structures could exercise whilst under the influence of the Law of Equivalent Exchange. They needed to expend their Divine Power in order to create worlds, and, depending on the complexity of the verse, their powers would be drastically weakened. This was a limitation that simply didn't apply to Vahn as his body was basically a factory that produced an unlimited amount of Source. He might experience a bit of backlash from creating an Actualized World, but, after a few hours of rest, he would be fully recovered and demonstrably more powerful...

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With the invitation allowing him to bring two additional guests, Vahn asked Fenrir and Mikoto to accompany him. The latter had decided to join the Sage Dragon's Hearth along with most of the girls that hadn't formed Communities of their own. She was also intimately familiar with the Laws of Lightning and Tribulation, so, if push came to shove, she had more than enough power to teach the participants of the banquet a lesson.

"Talk about excessive..."

Smiling in response to Mikoto's remark, Vahn stared up at a massive gate that was more than a thousand meters in height. The Gods of cultivation worlds were among the most extravagant, so, prior to attending the feast, Vahn had been required to ascend to Heaven via a set of ivory white steps that had descended from clouds of gold.

Though there had been tens of thousands of steps, it only took a few minutes for Vahn to ascend past the clouds and through an invisible membrane connecting to the Jade Palace's 'Lower Heaven'. This was the place where most Immortals lived, and, despite appearing as a vast and seemingly infinite expanse of clouds from the outside, the interior was clearly inspired by the Divine Realm. It was a literal island, and, while he couldn't grasp its dimensions, Vahn suspected it was even larger than the actual Divine Realm...

Approaching the massive gate, Vahn's smile promptly faded as two gigantic statues, each more than 300m in height, used their massive spears to block his path. Then, in paradoxically soft yet booming tones that resonated through the surrounding void, they synchronously roared, "Thou who hast crossed the Silver Bridge, submit and allow thine bodies to be cleansed of impurity."

Without a moment's hesitation, Vahn adopted a resonating tone of his own as he said, "I refuse." with a deadpan expression on his face.

"IMPUDENCE...!"

Punctuating their words, the two statues swept their oversized spears towards Vahn and his two animalistic companions. Fenrir was presently in her wolf form while Mikoto was hanging out on his shoulder as a Pikachu wearing a Raichu hoodie. She had always enjoyed riding on his shoulder, and, though she was more than capable of protecting herself, she had elected to remain in her Pokemon form to reduce the chance of an incident occurring. Neither she nor Fenrir enjoyed being gawked at by licentious, overbearing, and egotistical idiots.

Reacting the moment the statues began their assault, a runic pattern manifested across Mikoto's body as she released what appeared to be a very small spark of luminescent golden electricity. It was so small that you could have easily missed it if you weren't looking, yet, in spite of this, both of the statues paused mid-sweep as she said, "Our Master came here at the invitation, not the behest, of the Jade Emperor. The next time you attack him, do not expect mercy."

The moment Mikoto finished issuing her threat, cracks began to manifest along the surface of the gigantic spears. Moments later, the inordinately large weapons began to crack and split as vibrant golden electricity danced about their interior. A similarly colored electricity affected the two guards, but, in spite of her words, Mikoto had no intention of killing them. Her paws weren't exactly clean, but, unless the situation forced her hand, she would never go out of her way to kill her opponents.

Fortunately for the two guards, they wouldn't have to put her conviction to the test, as, immediately after their weapons were destroyed, a raucous laugh echoed through the surroundings. Then, from atop the massive gate, a rather heroic-looking man with three eyes, accompanied by a peculiar dog with ivory white fur and amber eyes descended like meteors towards the Silver Bridge.

With a body covered in silvery golden armor and an inordinately large spear in hand, the three-eyed man adopted a friendly yet challenging smile on his face as he rose to his feet and said, "It has been centuries since anyone dared to threaten the Menshen. You said you were invited by the Jade Emperor? State your names. If you are who you profess to be, I, Erlang Shen, shall escort you to the Jade Palace. If it turns out you are lying, however..."

Brandishing his spear, Erlang Shen caused a wave of pressure to descend upon Vahn, Fenrir, and Mikoto. To the God's surprise, none of them so much as flinched as Vahn proferred forth a letter, smiling as he said, "We have no reason to conceal our identities. Tell your father that Vahn Aldrnari Mason and his two companions have arrived."

Recognizing the name, Erlang Shen's surprise turned into sincere exhilaration as he shouldered his spear and exclaimed, "You're the Pure-Blooded Dragon that recently appeared in the East! I've been looking forward to meeting you for quite some time! Please, enter! This old fellow will be more than happy to show you around~!"

As rumors regarding Vahn had already disseminated through the Jade Palace and the surrounding Heavens, Erlang Shen wasn't lying when he said he was looking forward to their meeting. The thing he conveniently neglected to mention was that every War God in the Heavenly Domain was looking forward to trading blows with the Little Garden's most recent star. They knew Vahn was remarkably powerful, but, until they had confirmed it for themselves, most of the warriors representing the Jade Palace couldn't help looking down on him. Erlang Shen was no exception to this, so, while his smile was sincere, there was also a fierce glimmer in his eyes as he scrutinized Vahn like a succulent piece of dragon steak...

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Deadlines are never fun o_o...','The return of Mikotochu~!','Battle junkies and bricks have a lot in common...')