Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Tanya laid Aliya's injured body on the sofa before feeding her mending pills which quickly showed results in the healing of Aliya's wounds.

After confirming that Aliya would be fine, especially after her stirring on the sofa, Tanya returned her attention to the object of most importance in the office at the moment; The Nexus stone.

Tanya retrieved a brass bracelet, with intricate designs and symbols as well as markings all about it from her spatial ring and then placed the Nexus stone close to it to kick start an assimilation.

There was a bright green glow as both the Nexus stone ad the bracelet merged to become a magnificent Artifact that Tanya strapped to her wrist and watched as it wrapped around and stuck tightly to her as though to never be released.

The Nexus stone didn't have to always be close by for her to make use of its ability as she would always feel connected to it no matter what distance was between them but Tanya did not wish to be too far from the Stone.

Not many knew of the existence of the stone and even fewer people knew that she already had possession of it... Those that knew she had it would never expect her to keep it close but close she would keep it.

Always in sight... Always in reach.

It was about time she outdid any one of her siblings who was even considering coming out on top in their individual quests to be declared heir by their father.

All of her research and all of her dedication had paid off and Tanya took specific pride in having selected herself to be heir to the Empire by getting her hands on the Nexus Stone.

She had always been the most talented and her being better than the others should have long been expected.

As a smile crept onto Tanya's face, she looked down at the Orb that was now completely ordinary besides having good workmanship.

Her mind went to Hal and she wondered if the imploding Space had down away with him as she had intended.

For a second she almost entertained the thought that she might have handled the situation terribly especially when the dissolving of their professional relationship could have been more amicable but then she shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts.

All that was in the past.

Was he dead though? She wondered.

"No" she whispered the answer to her own question.

She could feel it...

Hal was not dead... He would return and he would be the greatest threat the Haron Imperial family had ever faced.

There needed to be preemptive measures.

***

One week Later...

There was a lot of buzz in the Imperial city in regards to a drop of heaven in the shape of a pill.

The Nirvana Pills...

A product that was being marketed by the most successful trading organization on the Haron Continent; Paladin Trade Union.

There had only been a few of the pills in circulation and those had especially been offered to those in the middle classes and certain upper-class families and fellows who were not too high in the hierarchy of the Empire.

Any sound business-minded individual knew why this was the case and that was because, for a pill to have mass appeal, those at the top of the hierarchy were the worst possible marketing choice.

They like to keep things to themselves out of a sense of importance and the more is supplied to them, the less accessible it is to the public.

The first batch of the pills was distributed at a very low cost to much more grounded families and individuals who were especially good at news carriage and rumor leaking so word quickly spread.

The Nirvana pills began to generate interest and more of the pills were sold, once again in relatively small numbers and interest kept growing.

The best feature of the Nirvana Pills which caused to have so much critical acclaim was in how it negated all metabolic strengths a cultivator's body had.

Nothing really works on cultivators and the stronger they become, the more immune they become.

Getting drunk becomes a thing of the past just as getting nourished by anything other than plants thick with cultivation energy becomes an obsolete idea.

The fact that any cultivator, including many saints who proceeded to have themselves a taste, could just plop a pill into their mouths and drift into a trance and state of high was what made the Nirvana pills so special.

Also, it was actually marketed by the head of the Paladin Trade union in all manner of forms among which were;

For recreational use.

For cultivational use.

As a bonding agent for a dear parent and their child... What connection could be stronger than one former while both are high as fuck?

For those who are more for the gritty aspects of life and are sickened by the cringe that is wholesomeness, the Nirvana pills are the best way to train tolerance.

Pop more than one and see how well your substance tolerance truly is!

For whatever you think you are; a battle-hardened badass, a family-loving parent, a disappointment, or a success, the Nirvana pills are perfect for you.

They are perfect for everyone.

-----------------------------------

These were some of the manners in which the pills were being marketed.

Anyway, the pills had only really made an appearance a few days prior but they were now announced to be a part of the Paladin Trade Union Trade fair happening at the end of the week... On this very day.

The trade fair was a large gathering during which many independent contractors whose products were not Auction worthy could borrow the Paladin Trade union name and reputation to market and sell their products and services.

All those involved had been vetted thoroughly and it had been a very busy week for all those working at the Paladin Trade Union, especially the Head of the Union who was rumored to make an appearance at the union for the auctioning of a fresh batch of Nirvana pills.

This was a big deal for many fans of the Paladin Trade Union as it gave them the chance to see the brains behind the success of the organization and this was not a common occurrence.

Either she was not around or just stayed out of the spotlight and let her employees run the show while she managed things from behind the scenes... That was how Lady Lucile operates.

Anyway, the fact that she was going to personally handle the auction of the Nirvana pills was a signal to everyone that this was the most important product marketing the Trade Union would be involved in.

Plus, she was known to be quite a beauty and many distinguished fellows of the Haron Continent would surely not say no to the idea of getting with her.

The trade fair was happening in a massive courtyard that was a part of the territory that was the Paladin Trade union Headquarters and it was there that an arena was set up with only specifically invited individuals allowed to seat and take part in the auction.

Lucile walked into that arena and stepped onto the raised stage in the evening to commence the final event of the Trade fair and there was a good deal of excitement.

She was dressed in quite an illustrious gown that highlighted her curves... Especially the high peak of her breasts.

"Welcome all... We will not take any more of your time. The Nirvana pills, as well as the goodness they contain and the magnificent high they provide, are no longer obscure knowledge.

As she spoke, a worker of the Trade Union wheeled out a box which was promptly opened to reveal a thousand small bottles... All of them arranged neatly.

Lucile gestured to the box with a smile,

"Each of these bottles contains ten Nirvana pills and each bottle is initially priced at one thousand Blue gems.

We will start small with the first five bottles.

Let the bidding begin"

To any calculating mind, it was clear that the box of pills had just been valued at an initial price of one million blue gems.

That was a lot and also it was not.

Honestly, the making of the pills cost Hal next to nothing.

The ingredients, apart from Infinity and Devil energy gotten from Hal's Devil seed (which were basically resources that could never get used up), were gotten cheap.

They were the basic ingredients for making a cultivation pill and were only made special and effective by infinity and Devil energy.

Anyway, unless Hal gave the pills away for free, he could not really make a loss and neither could the Paladin Trade union.

There was no fixed price or valuation for the pills just yet and this auction that would show just how much interest had been garnered as well as how high the bidders are ready to go was what Lucile would use to decide a baseline for valuing the pills.

There were batches of the pills ready to ship to other Duchys for sale the moment that price baseline was discovered.

And then they got the first bid...

"6000 Blue gems for Five bottles"

Then came the contention,

"6100 for the five bottles"

"6500..."

"6600..."

"6650...."

"7000 Blue gems...!"

And thus began the bidding war...