Sovereign of the Karmic System

One of the things Daniel had learned about the multiverse since he had arrived at the site of the Exalted Assembly, was the way the universes were categorized and separated into stages.. But most importantly, he had learned that these stages were not indicative of what was inside them, but what degree of influence the domains that owned had on them.

Every universe within the multiverse belonged to either one of two categories-Unaware, and aware universes. An unaware universe was a universe that had yet to naturally develop a preference in its aspects of existence. These universes were off limits to any domain, and could not be entered without severe restrictions to one's cultivation. An example of this was Daniel's universe of origin, which had existed as an unaware universe until the Murderous God had exposed it to the multiverse. 

Once exposed to the rest of the multiverse, a universe would then belong to the second category, and its life as an active part of the multiverse would begin. The stages of such a universe were the Contested, Owned, and Consumed stages.

To the first stage belonged the universes that had just become aware of the multiverse, and was indicative of the span of time in which the domains with a higher natural influence would be allowed to send their emissaries to aid the indigenous powers in increasing the influence of the aspect they represented over any other, claiming it for their domain. Once a winner was decided, the universe would be considered an Owned one.

The last stage of an aware universe was the Consumed stage, which was used to indicate any universe whose source of influence had been exhausted during time. An example of this, were the universes of War's domain, inside which war raged on endlessly granding the aspect of War pure influence. Once war consumed all life in that universe, the domain would either be stripped of its natural resources, or would undergo forced repopulation, so that in a few thousand years war could rage on once again. The universes that were used to bet during these kinds of events were usually of this kind.

What was incomparable in value to a consumed universe, was an untouched one-a recently owned universe that had yet to be exploited by its new owner, and was full of both life and resources. Contrary to their older counterparts, recently gained universes represented the most valuable part of a domain's territory.

"An untouched universe.." muttered the old gentleman that stood next to Daniel, while trying to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat.

Similar reactions appeared on the faces of the observing cultivators, who would have bursted out shouting if they didn't fear the power that was behind Daniel. Instead, they could only bury their words under a surprised gasp, and watch with dejection.

Daniel had expected this reaction. It wasn't everyday that a universe would open to the multiverse, and even rarer was the event where an untouched universe would go to a mid or low domain, instead of a high one. For that reason, the number of untouched universes that each of the present domains possessed could be counted with the fingers of one hand, which said a lot about their value. And yet, Daniel's comprehension over the essence of spacetime was unique.

"I understand, comprehension over an essence isn't comparable to an untouched universe, but my domain requires a universe, and this is all I have to bet." Daniel said with feigned embarrassment. He then added while hiding the orb of spacetime into his spatial ring, "Forget I said anything, I will trade this privately with the one who makes me the best offer."

Daniel's intentions were clear. While within the exalted assembly even enemy domains had to be respectful of rules, rivalries still existed-The idea that a rival could obtain Daniel's comprehension of spacetime was something that no domain was unwilling to accept, as with it, anyone would be able to easily outperform its competition whenever a contested universe would appear.

Within the crowd one could see dozens of hands being slowly raised, but before anyone could say a word, the raucous voice of a middle-aged man in military attire resounded throughout the ring shaped pocket of space, "Ah, you didn't give us the chance to accept. We are not all cowards.. I'll take your bet." He said while making his way through the crowd.

Daniel immediately recognized this man as the champion of War that had tried to kill him for meddling into the fight between his juniors, and the champions of Morality. "We meet again." Daniel said with a polite tone that matched an equally polite smile. "Do you want to add any conditions to this bet?"

A grin suddenly appeared on the face of the champion of War.

While the stakes of Daniel's bet were extremely high by any standards, the reason why he and many other domains were willing to accept it ,was because Daniel's side had chosen to let Ashura fight, a cultivator at the early stages of high immortality. In the eyes of a cultivator at the godhood stage, this was akin to put a beetle against a gladiator, and bet their entire fortune on the beetle. In their mind this bet was so absurd, that the only explanation for why Daniel would even consider it, was likely because he was hoping in the assistance of his lord, Karma himself-like everyone believed he had done in the past.

Luckily, unbeknownst to Daniel, these domains had ways to prevent that from happening. "I have only one.. We swear to respect the outcome in front of Lord Fate." Said the champion of War confidently.

After a brief confused look, Daniel offered his palm to the champion of war, and said, "I will follow your lead."

The smirk on the champion's face widened. "The domain of War accepts the bet of the domain of Karma. The outcome is fate, and fate is undeniable."

Known as a Fateful contract, this oath was used to guarantee that an agreement's conditions were respected. Failing to respect its terms would immediately put the insolvent party against the entirety of Fate's domain, as at that point, they would not only have failed to respect an agreement, but rejected Fate itself.

As the champion of War finished speaking, Daniel noticed the dejected expressions on the faces of most surrounding cultivators. The middle-aged man had done what they all wished to do, but without any hesitation.

"The domain of Karma also accepts the bet, the outcome is fate, and fate is undeniable." Daniel said calmly before turning towards Ashura, and saying a few words in a language that only the two of them could comprehend.

As Daniel spoke to Ashura, the middle-aged champion of War sent a strand of sound essence towards his domain's ship, a city-wide military facility which included the domain's mobile headquarters, military barracks, and training facilities. This thread of sound essence moved straight through the spatial formation and into the headquarters, a ten-storey tall building in the shape of a pentagon.

"Your chance has arrived. Come here, and pay them back for the humiliation." said the voice contained in the strand of sound to a young man in grey military attire-a young man who Daniel would have immediately recognized as the soldier that had led the champions of war against the team of the champions of Morality.

This soldier, who for days had had to stomach losing control over an assured win, and a promotion in his domain's ranking, was now smiling once again. "Thank you for the opportunity, Sir." He muttered to himself while pulling his combat knife out of an oddly shaped sandbag. He then left his private quarters, leaving the sandbag to suddenly bleed.

-----

"Young man.. What you did was a big mistake.." Said the old gentleman who was currently sitting on the stands next to an indifferent Daniel, and a still nervous Lilith. Together, they were watching the fights that had already been scheduled before Daniel's arrival. "The domain of War is extremely aggressive.. The rest of the domains can't allow them to have this advantage to themselves. They will torment you into surrendering your comprehension."

Daniel had been forced to endure the complaints of the old man for several minutes now, and yet he did not show any sign of worry or nervousness. "My domain's wealth is mine to risk, you don't have to worry about it." Daniel said while picking a piece of fried vegetable from a paper cone, and bringing it up to his mouth-this was the closest he had found to the street food he had made a habit to consume when watching the sparring sessions along with the friends he had made in the martial academy.

While the old man's interest towards Daniel's comprehension was in no way less selfish than any other cultivator who had seen it, now his interest had turned into worry. A worry that Daniel's willful behavior would destabilize the balance between the domains. "You don't understand.. Your comprehension of time space-it isn't something only one domain should possess.." the old man said with a grim tone. 

"This is where you are wrong." Daniel chuckled before taking a bite of another fried vegetable. "That is exactly the number of domains that will ever get a hold of that comprehension."

The eyes of the old man narrowed suspiciously. If he had to take Daniel's words for granted, it almost looked like he believed a high immortal could defeat someone at the godhood stage. Unfortunately, he was too old to believe that such a miracle could ever happen. Before he could once again try and talk some sense into Daniel, however, the latter cut him off, "Keep your eyes open, it's almost time." Daniel said while unconsciously moving the paper cone towards Lilith, who shook her head in embarrassment to refuse Daniel's gesture.

Just as Daniel finished speaking, the champion of Horror who had welcomed Daniel into the ring shaped pocket of space appeared in the middle of the ring, where a young championess of Duel's domain who brandished a rapier was standing unscathed in front of the corpse of a young man in military attire. While the latter's body appeared intact, it was actually covered in thousands of hair thin wounds caused by the lightning fast piercing motion of the championess's rapier.

"The winner is Alana, championess of Duel's domain." Said the monstrous cultivator while casually waving his right hand. This simple motion released a wave of horrific power that hastened the decomposition of the soldier's corpse, causing it to mummify, and fall apart into specks of dust in mere seconds. He then added, as the young woman left the stage, "Fighting for two rounds consecutively, with a chance to recover some of their face, the domain of War sends Victor. His opponent is Ashura.. A high immortal of the domain of Karma."

The noise of chatter turned into an uproar at the mention of Ashura's cultivation, as among the tens of thousands that were spectating the fight from the stands, none of them was at a level inferior to the godhood stage. The sheer fact that a domain had wasted a valuable placing to bring a high immortal to the Exalted Assembly was absurd enough for these cultivators, but when paired with the fact that he had been put against a champion at the godhood stage in the arena, it became shocking.

As the monstrous warrior finished speaking, Ashura and Victor emerged from the entrances of the arena, and stepped onto the stage.

In victor's hand was his combat knife, and by his waist, was the holstered pistol that was used by the champions of his domain. Of his military attire only the pants remained, leaving both his feet and his heavily scarred chest uncovered. In front of him stood the stoic figure of Ashura, with his usual black head scarf that covered his head, leaving only his eyes visible, and a maze of tattoos that covered his muscular chest.

An intense silence fell on the arena as both warriors arrived on stage. But while the crowd waited quietly for the champion of Horror to start the fight, the latter looked at Ashura in silence.

"What is taking so long?" Said Victor after a pause that felt several minutes long, but that in reality had only lasted a few seconds.

The words of the soldier were able to shake the monstrous warrior out of his trance, after which he sank into a puddle of screeching liquid that had formed by his feet which dried up the very moment it finished swallowing the entirety of his greasy body. "You may begin." Said his now disembodied voice.

"I usually take my time to enjoy these fights.. But today I cannot afford it.. You'll have to die for me." Said Victor before grabbing the hilt of the knife backwards, with the blade running up his forearm. He then turned into a flash of light, and disappeared-When he reappeared a fraction of a moment later, he was standing on the opposite side of the stage. On the stage's floor was a bright red half moon, which had appeared quietly around Ashura's feet just before his head detached from his shoulders, and fell in front of him with a heavy thud.