As the world spirit of this star region, I am able to manipulate the fate of all its denizens.
This is an authority granted to me when I inherited the old world's myriad Daos.
And being a member of the Divinity Tribe, the oldest race created by the Ten Original Monarchs, my talent for cultivation surpasses most other lifeforms greatly.
With my home being within the dimensional boundaries as well, I've never been attacked or challenged.
And should anything actually happen to me, this star region—that I am the world spirit of, it will receive irreparable damage.
That being the case, unless one is an idiot or a lunatic, there isn't a single native who would dare to kill me—for they would be making an enemy of the entire world.
Having been born with such special abilities and privileges, along with a prestigious bloodline, I figured that it wouldn't be too difficult for me to become a genuine monarch in the future.
After all, it only took me around 10,000 years to cultivate to the peak stage of the Heaven Manifestation realm—starting from the Qi Condensation realm.
All I needed was time and a bit of effort—to reach a cultivation base that most mortal lifeforms wouldn't even dare to dream of attaining.
And because of how easy I've had it early on in life, I…
I was far too naïve.
100 years.
1,000 years.
10,000 years.
A million years…
Regardless of how much I cultivated, or how much time had passed, I seemed to be forever stuck at the peak stage of the Heaven Manifestation realm—unable to breakthrough into the realm of a Half-Monarch.
It was at that point that I began to look through my ancestral memories for guidance.
And according to my ancestral memories, the Ten Original Monarchs all shared a common cultivation method called the Heaven Creation Mantra.
Despite my persistent searches, the only thing that I managed to find out about this cultivation method was that it involved the creation of a world within one's spiritual sea.
Although rare, cultivation methods of a similar nature do exist, but none of them were able to achieve what the genuine article had been stated to do.
However, I was a world spirit.
Doesn't that mean that I already possess a world that was thoroughly under my control, along with all the lifeforms in it?
In that case, what was it that I was missing?
After several centuries of thinking, I figured that it was probably because my world hadn't reached the appropriate level needed to allow me to ascend to the realm of a monarch.
Should that be the case, I need only focus on raising my world's strength.
From what I was able to find in my ancestral memories, there are multiple ways to increase a world's strength.
History, the memories of the star region itself—increasing its density and complexity was one method to raise a world's strength.
However, this was a method that was gated by time, and under normal circumstances, it was generally impossible for a person to single-handedly enrich a star region's History.
As for the second method, it's much more direct, which was to merge another star region into the world that I am a part of.
Using this method, the dominant star region would obtain the assimilated star region's History.
This should be the best way to strengthen my star region; but…
Due to a certain Immortal Emperor, the entirety of my star region is currently locked within a barrier that doesn't allow anything to enter or exit.
And since that barrier was created from incomplete Absolute Laws—a power that is unique to Half-Monarchs, it's impossible for me to make any changes, or assume control over it.
That's to say, if it wasn't for that stupid barrier's presence, the ambitious practitioners of my world would have already ventured into other star regions to place their markers down on foreign lands.
At that point, it would only be a matter of time for the conquered star regions to be merged with my world.
But because of that stupid barrier…
Tch, Ling Yuan Zi—the one who inherited the old world's destiny, he was right to call that Immortal Emperor an old tortoise.
Speaking of that Ling Yuan Zi…
My matters with him will have to be settled at a later date.
Indeed…
It's not like it's because I'm inexperienced in combat that I'm delaying the inevitable.
I simply just…-
I like to get everything done and settled on the first attempt, that's all.
Besides, right now, my focus should be to think of an alternative way to strengthen my star region.
...…
Turning my head in deep thought—over the passage of several more centuries, I eventually figured out a plan when I was randomly observing my star region.
There was a mortal who went by the name of Cuo Qing Yi.
By sheer coincidence, that Cuo Qing Yi had obtained a weapon—crafted by the hands of Ling Yuan Zi, and ended up being labeled as a devil through a series of misfortunate encounters.
I've seen plenty of misfortunate individuals while observing my star region, but this mortal…
Misfortunate doesn't even begin to describe his circumstances.
In fact, observing his situation, I had to ask myself—did this man commit some sort of heaven-shaking, earth-shattering crime in his previous life for him to be this down on luck in his current life?
Hmm…
Regardless, chaos seemed to follow this man wherever he went, as unreasonable hatred and slander were placed onto him. However, it was also because of this chaos that—that man was able to increase his strength so quickly.
...…!
And it was in that moment that I thought of a plan.
An emperor—although powerful, the former must occasionally heed the words of their subjects.
And the Immortal Emperor, despite being an emperor among practitioners, the former wasn't any different. That person must also occasionally heed the words of their subjects to maintain their power.
At the same time, the resources of a single star region weren't infinite.
It's only a matter of time before my world's cultivation resources dry out, and once that happens…!
Once that happens, if enough practitioner households and sects pressure that Immortal Emperor, then that emperor won't have any other choice but to open the barrier!
Indeed, famished for resources, the ambitious practitioners of my star region would direct their eyes towards other worlds.
But for cultivation resources to dry up sooner, there must be someone to consume them.
Since chaos follows this Cuo Qing Yi wherever he goes, he should be able to become the greatest demonic practitioner in the history of my star region, so long as I pull a few strings.
Life for him was already a living hell, for me to manipulate his fate—to have him die sooner, the way I see it, I'm practically doing him a favor.
Once he reincarnates, his slate would be wiped clean as well, and at that time, he might even be able to live out an ordinary life.
Un, let's do this then.
"…"
Drawing upon my authority as the world spirit of this star region, I immediately begin to make changes to Cuo Qing Yi's fate; however—
"…Hack!!!!! Aaaaaaaaaarrrgghhhh!!!!!"
For the first time in my life, I finally knew what pain was, as I raised a scream of immense agony.
Falling onto a random piece of rubble, my body trembled uncontrollably, as I felt my organs twist and turn—almost as if someone was kneading them.
And for the duration of an entire day, I continued to cough out blood, as I despairingly sensed my cultivation base declining at a gradual rate.
Within the span of a single day, my cultivation base, which was in the peak stage of the Heaven Manifestation realm—it was knocked down to the Foundation Establishment realm.
Why?
Why did this happen to me?
Nothing like this had ever happened when I attempted to manipulate the fates of others.
...…
Ever since that incident, I spent several months trying to figure out the answer to those questions, and my conclusion was…
The mortal named Cuo Qing Yi, he was not a denizen of my star region.
This would explain why my ability to control the fates of my star region's denizens doesn't work on him, but this doesn't explain the backlash that I suffered through.
...…
Ultimately, my answer as to why I received a backlash was—that someone terrifying had placed a curse, or a blessing onto that Cuo Qing Yi.
Whichever it was, it prevented others from manipulating his fate.
I…-
Given some time, my cultivation base would recover, but even then…
…I do not have the courage to make another attempt at manipulating that Cuo Qing Yi's fate.
But…
I'm just as unwilling to allow this humiliation to slide.
"…"
Still, if I've learned anything from this traumatic experience, it's that a person could die for very random reasons.
...…
As I spent more time thinking of a way to get revenge, that Cuo Qing Yi, he ended up in the dimensional boundaries by sheer coincidence.
Deciding to collect some interest, I caused a dimensional storm.
Watching that Cuo Qing Yi and several other mortals flee in panic was somewhat amusing, but it didn't do enough to sate my anger with the former.
At the same time, I was fearful of actually killing that Cuo Qing Yi because the person who had placed that curse or blessing onto him might seek me out later.
That being the case, I debated whether or not to just simply dump him out of the dimensional boundaries for the time being.
"…I can't manipulate his fate, but what if I manipulate the fates of those that have grudges against him instead?"
As soon as I thought of this, I recalled the world barrier's purpose.
The reason that barrier had been setup, it was a means to deter the three forces that invaded my star region in the distant past from making another attempt.
Over the years, the strength of the barrier has declined, but even then, a foreigner from another star region would still not be able to force their way in.
However, that doesn't matter.
"Ifs, maybes, perhaps, possibilities," things of this nature exist for a reason, and so long as they were called into question, the truth no longer matters.
Since I cannot manipulate that Cuo Qing Yi's fate directly, I'll manipulate the fates of everyone else—into thinking that he was a foreign star region spy, who was sent in to kill my star region's younger talents.
Also, the flute in that Cuo Qing Yi's hand—with the renown surrounding it, it's the perfect tool for me to use, to cause greater chaos.
I'll apply a similar fate onto the next person to pick that flute up.
"…"
But just to make sure that—that traumatic experience doesn't repeat itself, I must investigate the people that I plan to manipulate the fates of carefully going forward.