Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

When Hal walked into the hall, his arrival was impossible to ignore and he had the ladies of the Sapphirine Guild looking over at him with Suri actually stepping forward to ask him,

​ "Valerie?"

"In her room. She wished to cultivate after we sorted out our differences" Ha replied with a straight face as though he did not realize what mentioning 'room' in his words had indicated to all who heard.

Then again, he was only acting normal because all that had happened was normal to him as he was not exactly worried about catering to what the considered normal.

Besides, the only expressions he saw on the faces of the ladies, including Suri, were all curious and overall positive.

The party had long ended at daybreak and only then did the members of the Guild disperse to return to their rooms for a rest from the night's merriment.

Hal, Melinda, Nicole, and Sassy of course had their own private celebrations within the Harem space but it did not happen as though it was a goodbye because thanks to the infinite Harem keys, Hal could be with them whenever they pleased.

No departure between them was really going to be as long as they usually were a year ago. Right now, it was only if a similar situation to Hal comprehending his Dao happened that he would be totally unavailable.

When Hal left the Sapphirine Guild headquarters at almost noon to meet up with Princess Tanya in the Imperial Palace, he was alone.

Sassy stayed behind at the Guild headquarters for a while and there was no real issue with this as Hal could basically summon her back to his side whenever he pleased with the use of her Harem key.

Melinda had her rest and then, her duties as the leader of the number one Guild that had won the Guild war began.

The next day had a bit of an award ceremony where the Sapphirine Guild received their rewards in the typical form of cultivation resources as well as time allotted for the use of cultivation accelerating chambers belonging to the Academy.

Starting off, Melinda, Nicole, and Valerie announced that they would not be using any of the resources.

They did not really give reasons why and they were not really required to give reasons as members of the Sapphirine Guild considered it as a boon and saw it as their leader making a sacrifice for their good.

The explanation of sorts also worked for Nicole who was lieutenant but it fell apart when it was noted that Suri was not giving up her share.

And why should she?

She was not in the same situation as Melinda or Nicole.

Overall, resources were not bad for Melinda and she could find minuscule use for them the same as Nicole but she had other means.

The scripts containing Divine energy which the Empress possessed and allowed her to pore through and Hal's powerful seeds worked just as well as a cultivation resource and even better from the perspective of the dual cultivator and Divine energy wielder she had now become.

Yes, the journey of cultivation was a personal and selfish one but she could still do without the resources and already did without them.

Nicole was similar to her as she believed Hal was enough for her.

Valerie could not cultivate normally from the very start and had never actually been after the resources in the first place.

As for the cultivation accelerating chambers, every single one of the ladies now had access to the Harem space wherever and whenever they wished and no longer needed to have Hal with them to enter it so they had no issue in that regard.

Also, if one combines benefits received from Hal's seed as well as the pleasure with a large extra-dimensional space that would speed up time by ten then everything the Academy had to offer was nothing in comparison.

With the Sapphirine Guild being as small as it was, the resources were even more abundant with every member receiving sizeable portions and a considerable amount of time to spend within the cultivation accelerate chambers.

As the Sapphirine Guild enjoyed the rewards of their win in the Guild war, the other Guilds could only look on in envy and respect for the Guild no one wished to trifle with.

The leaders of the Guilds that were once the Top four were still being nursed back to health but their position as leaders remained because, despite their defeat, every member of their Guilds knew with certainty that they were still surely the strongest in their Guilds.

They did have some people step up to act as leaders though until the actual leaders awoke from their unconscious states.

With no one with him, Hal got out of the Royal Academy territory grounds at his fastest speed, and once outside, he boarded a commercial carriage to take him to the Imperial palace and which was in the central district of the Imperial city and more than a few distances away from the Royal Academy's district.

Unlike the last time he had been here, once he introduced himself to the guards at the entrance, they let him in.

Probably the Princess had informed them. that she was expecting his arrival.

Then began the use of successive teleportation circles until he was within walking distance away from the Princess' residence.

"Welcome" said a beautiful lady with a small bow once he was within sight of the residence and Hal smiled at her,

"Lena, long time no see. Have you missed me?" he said while taking a few steps closer to her.

Lena, the Princess' attendant furrowed her brows at him and said,

"I have been instructed to treat you with respect but if you step out of your limits and get too close to me, I take no responsibility for what I do to you"

"Yep, you missed me" Hal said with a slight roll of his eyes before he tapped her pretty nose and walked past her towards the residence.

Lena's cheek burned red and it took a while before she recovered and quickly noted that Hal had just walked past her and was heading into the residence with familiarity she did not believe should be accepted.

"Wait..." she called out to Hal who waved her off.

"Calm down. I doubt the Princess will be so careless to let me see what she does not wish for me to see" he said.

"It's not about that," Lena said with a frown and quickly caught up with him but Hal did not stop talking although his steps were slow, calm, and in no hurry.

"Then what is it about?" Hal asked with a light smile.

"It's about etiquette. She's a princess of the Empire and I am her attendant so I will guide you in. You can't just walk in like you are trying to do. There are rules... Protocols..." Lena said and stood in front of Hal with her arms spread.

Hal grabbed her arms and for all the bravado that Lena had shown before at well as her threats, she made no objections to his hands on her arms, and simply bit her lower lip while her cheeks got even redder.

"I think my relationship with your princess has just about gotten past the point where we are hindered by things as trivial as 'protocol'," he said before letting go of her arms and walking into the residence.

Lena followed a bit later with her cheek still burning.

Tanya was in her lounge and smiled at Hal upon arrival having no issues with him breaking 'protocol'.

"You did it. You overcame. You pulled off the greatest upset the Royal Acadeny has ever seen" she said with a smile.

Her lips had Hal remembering the times in the past when she wore a veil especially when they first met and he felt the urge to tear the veil away and take her lips.

As he took a seat opposite her just as Lena entered the room, Hal said,

"Was there ever any doubt?"

"I'm sorry for letting him walk in ahead of me, your highness" Lena said with a low bow.

"It's alright, Lena. We are well past the level of protocols now" she said and Hal smiled and looked back at Lena to say,

"Told you"ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ (f)ire

Lena just frowned at him and said nothing.

"So how did it feel?" Tanya asked.

"How did what feel?"

"Ho did it feel to put everyone else down?"  Tanya clarified.

"If felt as it always does... It felt good" Hal replied.

Tanya smiled at him while some other attendant came over to serve drinks that Hal inspected before taking a sip.

"You know, a vast majority of the Elders hate me now.

Your win did not get me on their good sides" Tanya said.

"Really?" Hal said with a raised brow,

"Really. But they also see me as more of a threat and consider my foresight unmatched for being a sponsor of such a talent.

They might hate you but they truly acknowledge your strength. Your strength as well as the strength of that fiancee of yours." Tanya said.

"Good" Hal nodded with a smile and before taking a sip of his drink.

Tanya nodded as well,

"You have truly proven yourself to be potentially as great an asset as I expected.

When I rule, you will surely have a place in my Court"