Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Lucile began to lay down the groundwork for the introduction of the new pill business and once Hal gave her a Harem Key, she was able to go into the Harem space and interact with Arya on the development of the prototype.

Hal, on the other hand, made his way to the Silva Duchy capital through Arya.

Arya had opened her portal in the Duchy capital and as such, her default exit point should she reopen her portal would be right into the very area she had entered the Harem space through.

***

Silva Duchy Capital...

Lady Irma's Estate...

A massive estate with quite a good number of buildings and a very good number of guards for security...

Within a particular building in the estate was a woman who sat cross-legged and had her eyes closed in focused meditation.

The woman looked to be in her forties but her face was devoid of all wrinkles and had a bit of a timeless quality to it.

In terms of beauty, she was definitely attractive with curves in all the right places but it was the timelessness and maturity that she was giving off that was most enticing and most attention-grabbing.

The woman had silky black hair which she put into a ponytail. Despite the ponytail though, there were bangs on the right side of her head which were bleached white.

The bleach was natural and was an effect of the stress she had put herself through all through her attempts at breaking through her mental block... The block that seemed adamant about stopping her from achieving her goals.

The woman was not absorbing cosmic energy and her cultivation pressure was very dormant... The area of her body that had the most activity was her head around which there was a formless pressure brewing like an impending storm.

Beneath the woman was a formation that was being powered by Blue gems.

The woman had been like this start for three months now without break and had decided she would not leave until she achieved her aim. Taking breaks had, after all, not done her any good so far.

She had no time for all the business that came with being a member of the Alchemist Organization branch that was in the Silva Duchy.

She had taken to ignoring her apprentices but that did not have too much of an adverse effect as the few apprentices that she had, were advanced enough to let their master try her hardest to break through a block while forging their own paths.

She had instructed her guards as well as all those who worked for her that he did not wish to be disturbed and they were not to interrupt her process under any circumstances...

*Bang!*

A focused blast damaged the rune lock she had placed on her door and the door was pushed open a few inches.

Irma was beyond annoyed by the interruption as the blast was clearly an attacking sign of an intruder but even then, she did not get up from her cross-legged position although she was very prepared to attack whoever the intruder was.

And then a face pushed through the gap in the door... A face that even Irma's hyper-alert self identified as perfect beyond words.ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ N(o)vᴇl(F)ire

Those blue eyes of Infinite pool, that friendly smile... It was hard not to lose her guard before this man but she had immense mental fortitude on account of possessing a spiritual sense at the Seventh rank and was able to keep herself alert and prepared.

"Hello," said the face "I'm sorry for the interruption. I wanted to come in the normal way but apparently, you gave express orders to your staff about not being disturbed. I had to make my way here on my own"

As the stranger spoke, he walked into the room to reveal his whole body which was clad in quite a simple attire.

He moved gracefully and the rest of him was just as perfect as his face and still, Irma held on.

Carnal desires had never met been able to rule her thoughts and they were not about to start now... This fellow must be dangerous and have wicked motives... Why else would he sneak into her home?

"Who are you and why are you here?" Irma asked calmly.

"My name is Hal and despite how bad this looks, I am here to help you and not to hurt you," Hal said and raised his hand in surrender.

"How did you get in here?" Irma asked with the question being posed to all of her defenses that had failed to identify the presence of an intruder.

Hal shrugged,

"Believe it or not, I just walked right in," he said before he waved his hand to retrieve a chair from his inventory as this room was devoid of all furniture.

"That has nothing to do with the security of your home, I assure you it still works and it is likely to be the very best, it is just not enough to keep track of me.

Speaking of which, you can rest assured that no one heard the ruckus I caused at the door and we will not be disturbed. As far as anyone that is not you or me is concerned, you are in here alone" Hal added as he settled into the chair.

Locating where Irma was had been quite easy... Before he even set foot in the estate, he had already scanned about with his Astral perception and while he could not possibly go in-depth to every corner of the estate, the area that was giving off the most Spiritual perceptive pressure was clearly her location.

He was quite encouraged by how calm Irma was... She was not being hysterical and yelling out death threats.

She was sure to attack should she see an opening and the entire room was thickly permeated with her spiritual perception so she could 'see' all about the room and was even more at the ready but even then, she was not acting irrationally which would have been expected from how Hal had made his entry.

"Who sent you?" Irma asked Hal.

"No one sent me... I have a business proposal for you... One that is mutually beneficial" Hal said with a smile.

"I want for nothing... What could you possibly have to offer me?" Irma asked while she was working up plans of attack and escape in her head.

Why was she being so calm?

Well, she was intrigued...

She knew nothing about this young man other than his name which he could have very well lied about.

She did not know his strength which was perplexing on account of how much her spiritual perception filled the room and should have revealed it to her.

He had so far shown himself to be capable of keeping his cultivation secret as well as sneaking past all her defenses to gain entry into the room and that alone at least guaranteed him her patience.

She might as well be calm... Especially since he had thus far not attempted attacking or assaulting her.

That said, she was rubbing her spatial ring within which a lot of her trump cards lay ready to be unleashed.

Anyway, while Irma was incapable of sensing Hal's cultivation, it was not the same for Hal who could immediately tell, the moment he was in the room, that Irma was a one-star cosmic Saint.

While he felt that the information he had received from Arya that Irma was not actively focused on cultivation as opposed to Alchemy seemed a tad untrue, the Alchemist was still very much in a range he could handle.

He wasn't going to let down his guard as there were always surprises when Experts of Irma's age and experiences were involved.

"Really? You want for nothing... Why then are you in this room separating yourself from all outward interferences?

If you truly are not in want of anything, then surely, there is no point trying hard at what you were trying hard at before my arrival.

Come on Irma, we both know there is something you want and it is that something that I have come to deliver." Hal said.

Irma narrowed her brows and then she burst out into laughter,

"Hahahahaha, So you are telling me that you can help me break through my Spiritual sense to the eighth rank?" she asked during the short breaks she took during her hearty laughter.

Hal was unbothered by her mirth and just shrugged,

"That is exactly what I am saying. In fact, why stop at the Eighth rank?... With my help, you can become a Divine Alchemist" Hal said with confidence.

Irma laughed again for a full minute... When she finally stopped, she wiped droplets from the corners of her eyes to tell Hal with a smile,

"Listen, kid, you are not the first who will come up with a revolutionary new method of breaking through the bottleneck and they all always turn out to be bullshit.

They are real and work well enough but cannot actually deliver on what they have promised.

People like me who have truly tried it all know that achieving the eighth rank is a matter of luck than it is of hard work and technique.

Either it is attainable by luck or it is unattainable period!" she said and while she had started with mockery, she did end on a more respectable note.

Hal nodded,

"You are probably right. Advancing to the eighth rank is a matter of luck so I guess you can consider yourself lucky that out of the many Alchemists in the Haron continent, I chose to share my technique with you.

Congratulations Irma, you are one lucky lady."