Sovereign of the Karmic System

Nineteen hundred years. That was how long it had taken for Daniel, a cultivator with a vague attachment to the power of Karma, to become the aspect of Karma. The reason for that wasn't related to the amount of power he had accumulated, but to the understanding he possessed regarding the meaning of karma itself, a barrier which none of the other aspects of existence had ever been forced to overcome.

To the other aspects of existence, the meaning of the aspect they represented was the very cradle inside which their consciousness developed. An unconscious mind that grew while being kept safe, and protected by the immense power they possessed-a distinction which made the aspects of existence closer in nature to elementals, rather than humans.

A fire elemental would not argue why a flame would emit heat, nor would it expect it not to burn what it came in contact with, as that was the nature of fire. Similarly, an aspect of existence like Fate would not doubt his knowledge of the future. If he had seen something, he had no reason not to believe that that something was meant to happen, as he was Fate, and that power was part of him even more than being able to see, or touch.

Daniel, on the other hand, was born a mortal. In the shape of a human, with human experiences and a mortal existence, he had no choice but to learn about his powers as they developed. Unfortunately, the vastness of his powers itself developed much faster than his ability to comprehend them, hence why he had been stuck on this planet for almost two millennia.

What had allowed him to break through this bottleneck, was finally realizing what his existence meant. Karma, like fire, did not only have the ability to exist. It was created within the multiverse by circumstances, and was now part of it.. But in the same way a flame existed to burn, karma had a purpose too. To punish, and to reward.

It was only after Daniel understood this, that he was able to break through the bottleneck and finally become a full fledged aspect of existence.. Yet, a question kept appearing in his mind. Was he still human?

-----

Now omnipresent in every space that contained the power karma, Daniel sat on a stone throne built on top of a hundred meters tall pyramid. While very similar to the ones built on the surface of planet Earth, however, this pyramid was not built on a planet, but on a continent-sized island that floated within the emptiness of space.

At the bottom of this pyramid, was an enormous city whose confines reached beyond the eyes of a mortal could see, with millions of inhabitants that lived their lives while practicing cultivation in isolation. Most of these inhabitants had been hand-picked by Daniel during his stay on planet earth, and served him as the first batch of champions of Karma.

Among them were not only Ashura and the young women who belonged to the domain of competition, but also Flamma the gladiator, Domitian the Roman emperor, the leader of the small Ostmen raiding party, and many more.

At the moment of their natural deaths, these heroes of humanity had been offered the chance to abandon the world of mortals to follow Daniel through the path of cultivation, which they practiced alongside Ashura and the others for as long as Daniel chose to stay on Earth. In the span of the past two thousand years, these individuals had become powerful cultivators in their own rights, and now that Daniel's efforts had paid off, they had been bestowed the blessing of Karma, which marked them as champions of Karma's domain.

The reason why Daniel had chosen mortals as champions was simple. People with a shorter lifespan had an immensely useful ability that was essential to comprehend the nature of Karma.. An ability which the world of cultivation lacked.

They understood the importance of life.

Due to their shorter lives, made shorter by war and sickness, mortals would place an enormous value on their lives, as they had a very limited time to experience life. To them, killing a person was just stopping someone from cultivating for the following thousand years, but taking a loved one from friends and family, turning someone into a widow, or a kid into an orphan.

Because of how short their lives were, mortals expected and feared the consequences of their actions to a point where, through their history, the humans of planet earth had managed to develop their very own understanding of Karma thousands of years before Daniel was even born.. Leading him to believe that no one was more suited to be his champion, not even his friends and family, who did not follow him as the entity he currently was, but for the man he had been in the past.

Noticing this distinction, days after ascending, had allowed Daniel to remember about his system, which he had not interacted with for the entire time he had spent on Earth.

Without noticing, after witnessing the birth of Destiny and awakening the power of Karma, Daniel had become less and less reliant on the power of his system. But that was not all.. With time, the numbers above people's heads had disappeared, replaced by the visible karmic power that people created through their decisions, and his family and friends, once part of the group system that he would check up on regularly, had become a vague cause of nostalgia, which would struggle to emerge like a drowning person, kicking frantically to get one small breath before being submerged forever.

While not completely absent, Daniel could feel himself having less emotional responses to what before would have caused him to become angry, or nostalgic.. While on the contrary, his dedication towards the path of Karma had become his highest priority.

This had caused Daniel to doubt whether he still possessed the same humanity he once based his actions on.

-----

For the past two weeks, Daniel had led the continent-sized island through the emptiness of space, and towards the interdimensional portal. This portal, which initially only appeared as a small speck of light, not unlike any other star, became bigger and bigger the closer they came to it, until finally, the island's inhabitants were able to distinguish its shape. A massive blue portal behind which lay the Trigate, a separate plane of existence that contained the entrance to every universe in existence, connecting them.

The moment Daniel had become an aspect of existence, he had felt the power of Karma within the other universes, calling him. What made this power different from the one produced within the same universe, was the quantity which he was able to tap into. This power, almost smothered by the other aspects of existence, struggled to reach him to a point where the amount produced by the rest of the universes combined could not compare to the one universe Daniel was currently in.

In order to free this karmic power, and allow it to strengthen him, Daniel needed to own that universe, and force the other concepts of existence into submission. That was how the aspects of existence gained power, and how the ownership of a universe was established. The more prevalent a power of existence was within a universe, the more likely that universe would be absorbed into that entity's domain.

That meant more power to the entity itself, which dictated the standing of an aspect of existence within the pantheon.

It was only after Daniel became such a being that he had become aware of how weak he was in comparison to the other aspects of existence, as they had spent millions of years acquiring universes and accumulating power. Luckily, the uneasiness caused by his lack of strength did not discourage him, but fueled his desire to conquer more universes instead. The first step was to gather information, as well as to prepare himself to the encounter with other aspects of existence.. After all, who knew how they would react to him. Would they treat him the same way the other champions treated Iewah's children? Or would they welcome him as a peer?

Without trying, he would never know.

Luckily, becoming an aspect of existence had allowed Daniel to interact not only with the power of karma, but with the power of his peers as well. Specifically, the power of Sacrifice, of which the blood mark that had made him a target for the Blood Sect, causing him to be separated from his friends and family, was made of. Removing it, after becoming the aspect of Karma, was an easy task.

While solving this problem had eased Daniel of one of his worries, a bigger one had taken its place.

Almost two thousand years had passed since the Exalted Assembly had taken place, an event which had ended with every domain joining together to hunt what he had been in the past.. A champion of Destiny. A mobilization of such proportions, in such a long time, must have changed the multiverse drastically-changes which could have been related to him, but that he had not been there to witness. Needless to say, he had much to catch up on, and leaving this universe was the first step.

Without thinking twice, he led the floating continent towards the even larger portal, guiding it right through it.

On the other side, where was supposed to be an infinite white expanse with uncountable opened and sealed portals, was an uncountable number of cultivators that floated in a tight formation.. All belonged to hundreds of different domains.

After observing them for just a moment, it became obvious to Daniel that these cultivators were not waiting for him, nor were they expecting to see him. What they were there for, was to chase the person that was standing in between the group and his floating island, a stunning woman dressed in a red cheongsam dress and high heeled shoes of the same color. In her hand she carried a large metal folding fan, which she used to cover her face while dashing through space.

As the woman noticed the large continent that emerged from the previously locked portal, her lips curved into a smile. "There you are, just in time!" she said with enough power to cause her voice to resound for hundreds of thousands of miles. While anyone could hear her words, however, the sound essence she had constructed was aimed directly at Daniel, pointing out for everyone to see who she was talking to.

Just as surprised by Daniel's apparition as the woman was, the enormous group that was giving chase came to a stop, and from its depths, several powerful cultivators emerged. "This woman is a champion of Destiny! If you interfere with her execution, you will face the same fate!" Said a muscular middle-aged cultivator in blue robes with an authoritative voice.

Daniel, whose attention had been caught by this woman, could not help but feel surprised. Not only was this woman's power leagues beyond any other champion of Destiny he had ever met before, but he also couldn't perceive her as one. To him, she appeared like a completely normal cultivator, who was being chased for reasons he had nothing to do with.

While Daniel would have doubted the words of the muscular man, he also doubted any other being would have as many enemies as a champion of Destiny. Was what the man said a lie, or was he unable to recognize champions of Destiny anymore?

Before he could decide on how to react, the woman turned towards the group that was chasing her, and exclaimed, "You are a fool if you think you can come in between me and my allies!" As she finished speaking, she turned towards the continent inhabited by Daniel's champions, and with a silvery and melodic tone, added, "Come, show them how strong our bond is.."

As if waiting for these words, the millions of cultivators on Daniel's side erupted with fervor, and without waiting for his permission, flew towards the large group of cultivators while brandishing their weapons. The pursuers, still unsure of the nature of the woman's powers, could not help but to respond in a similar fashion. Under the lead of their most powerful members, they embraced their weapons, and charged towards Daniel's army.

After charming his champions, the woman blinked in Daniel's direction, then dashed past his island and flew into the instance.. In just a moment, she was nowhere to be seen.