Hao Harem Sect was the ultimate aspiration for everyone, a sect that held the dreams and hopes of all.
Each year, an exam was conducted to determine who would earn the opportunity to enter this prestigious sect. It was a coveted chance for every human, promising long life and protection, allowing its members to bask in eternal enjoyment.
The exams were conducted at multiple levels. First, at the local level, the chapters of the Hao Harem Sect would select candidates to proceed to the provincial level. From there, candidates would be chosen to represent their respective province at the state, country, continent, and finally, planet levels.
There were a total of 1000 habitable planets in the world, and each had one slot reserved for a candidate of the Hao Harem Sect.
After the selection process, the chosen candidates would be sent to the Hao Harem Sect headquarters, located at the center of every planet, radiating light like a sun and illuminating the other planets.
Today was the day when the final candidates were expected to arrive at the Hao Harem Sect.
...
Su, with a serious expression, surveyed the group of 1000 candidates.
Among them were boys and girls, representing all genders.
However, it was well-known among insiders that Hao Gongming only had an interest in boys. Therefore, if any girls were selected, they would be given the option to undergo a sex change. If they declined, they would be sent back, and a male replacement would be sent from the planet.
As Su observed the group, a throbbing headache overcame him. To his surprise, 95 percent of the candidates were girls.
"It seems that there has been a serious misunderstanding among the planets regarding Gongming's preferences, or perhaps girls simply excel in the criteria we have set," Su contemplated aloud.
"Indeed, girls definitely seem to have an advantage," he muttered to himself. Determined to address this issue, Su decided to suggest to Gongming that they allocate 50 percent of the slots exclusively for boys, in order to prevent such a situation from recurring.
…
Hao Gongming gazed upon the world she had created and nodded with satisfaction.
She had recreated the Hao Harem Sect here, but she had eliminated almost all of the previous members. Only those whom she favored would have a place in her harem.
Su would assess them initially, and then she would make her choices from among them.
Formal membership was unnecessary for reality points as everyone living in her world relied on her completely. This was the highest form of dependence, so, in essence, they were all part of her harem.
It had been over 100,000 years since she had escaped from the real world.
After arriving in this self-made world, she made the decision to banish all supernatural elements.
Only the reality Dao remained unrestricted. Those she favored would receive extended lifespans, but they would be ordinary people.
Hao Gongming eradicated all destabilizing factors from her world. She chose to revive only the human race and proceeded cautiously, carefully crafting the system that exists today.
She now focused on accumulating reality points and gradually expanding her world.
The expansion knew no bounds. There were no rules; she simply collected reality points, expanded the space, created more humans, collected more reality points, and repeated the cycle.
"There seems to be no end to it," Hao Gongming mused.
For some reason, that feeling that it's all an illusion still hasn't disappeared.
After such a long time, she had come to the realization that true invincibility was a pipe dream. It was an something that no amount of reality points could transform into reality.
"However, in my world, I am invincible," she smiled.
Her world remained concealed in a hidden dimension, existing between the gap of void and anti-void. The previous real world had existed within the void.
The anti-void was also void, but with negative value that destroyed the void upon contact. That was why both void and anti-void avoided each other by design. In the space between them, there existed a forbidden realm.
She had created her world within this forbidden zone.
While people might be able to come to this space between the void and anti-void, conducting a search here was impossible as Neither void power nor anti-void power could be used for searching.
There were many other hidden worlds in this area of the universe.
The space was thin in the main dimension, but when viewed from other dimensions, an endless expanse of space existed. Nothing limited the growth of her world.
Pushing aside these thoughts, she called for Su to bring in the newest members of her harem.
...
One million years later...
The world she had created now consisted of more than one billion planets, and her harem boasted 10,000 members. It may seem small, but these 10,000 individuals were the cream of the crop after one million years. She never allowed them to die and extended their lifespans multiple times. They were her treasures.
She rose from the bedroom where Peng, who had been transformed from a demon of sloth element into a human, was sleeping. "This guy hasn't changed, even after I changed his race. I guess sleeping is the only thing he knows how to do." She dressed herself and left, heading to see Kang.
Kang had become a master of every form of art and had essentially become the secretary of education for the entire world.
He had many disciples who had passed the tests and entered her harem. Currently, Kang was visiting some of these disciples at the Hao Harem Sect.
She arrived and after a while, she spotted Kang. He appeared old and bowed before her. "Gongming, it's been a long time," he said.
Hao Gongming sighed.
Kang had never asked anything from her, but recently he had requested that she stop extending his lifespan. In a few hundred years, he would die for real, and she wouldn't bring him back.
"Kang, why don't you change your mind?" she asked.
Kang smiled bitterly and said, "I'm tired, Gongming. I'm tired of living! I want to embrace death, like many of my disciples and my family. I want to go."
Hao Gongming sighed and suddenly felt a chill.
She realized that someday she might also grow tired of living. Maybe not now, not even in a billion or trillion years. But what about a googol years later?
"I have to find a way to prevent these thoughts from even appearing in my mind," she resolved.
She decided to research spells related to that.
10 million years later...
On this day, Eagle Eyes came to bid farewell to Hao Gongming.
Like Kang, who had died many years ago, he too had grown tired of living and decided not to extend his life any further.
"Why, Eagle Eyes? Isn't living fun?" Hao Gongming asked.
Eagle Eyes, now looking old, chuckled and replied, "Yes, it is, but only to a certain extent. I've done everything you can imagine, and I've done them many times over. There's nothing else for me to do. So, I want to experience something I never have—something new. And that is death."
Hao Gongming sighed and realized that people could go mad after living for a long time. She didn't insist any further and bid him farewell.
10 billion years later...
Her world now encompassed countless planets and had grown beyond comprehension.
But Hao Gongming appeared gloomy.
She turned to Su and asked, "Why, Su? Why?"
Su, now looking old, appeared extremely serious and said, "Gongming, after billions of years of service, I deserve some rest. I can't do it anymore. I no longer feel anything; I'm like a robot. So please forgive me for leaving you, but I am tired."
She sighed and pleaded, "Su, please don't leave."
Su sighed and replied, "I'm sorry, Gongming." Then he turned around and walked away.
…
A googol years later
Hao Gongming was sleeping alongside Peng in the headquarters.
Her world had grown so vast that it might be larger than the void outside, yet there was no trace of the Hao Harem Sect.
In the countless and almost endless worlds beyond, nobody remembered her or her sect. Her planet was now considered a large gas planet devoid of life.
Without magic, nobody could see beyond the gas and magnificent buildings of the Hao Harem Sect.
Hao Gongming had been in slumber for countless years.
Only she and Peng remained from the original group. Time had erased everything else.
She slept because, after countless years, thoughts of death had entered her mind, prompting her to activate a spell to put herself to sleep and avoid the fate of Su, Kang, and Eagle Eyes.
But now, she suddenly opened her eyes. After a googol number of years, the spell had lost its effect.
"Sigh, there is no point in true longevity and immortality," she murmured. She was now in a state similar to Su.
Just as she was about to activate her final plan and send her soul on the path of reincarnation, she noticed that Peng was sitting there, smiling.
It was a smile she had never seen before, and he appeared neither drowsy nor tired.
"What? Peng, how did you wake up?" she asked, puzzled.
Peng laughed and replied, "You still don't understand? I never left! I have been with you since the beginning."
"You... the creator?" she exclaimed.
Peng chuckled and said, "Yes, I am the creator."
"But why did you sleep with me here for this long?" Hao Gongming inquired.
Peng sighed, tears welling in his eyes, and replied, "It's a pity that you don't remember me, but I never left you. I have always been with you, sister."
As she heard this, a torrent of memories rushed back to Hao Gongming.
In the beginning, there was nothing but two children—reality and illusion.
She was reality, and her brother was illusion. Together, they created the world, shaping everything that existed.
However, after countless years, she grew weary and contemplated ending her own life.
But her brother, illusion, did everything in his power to keep her alive, creating illusion after illusion to preserve her existence.
But after all, she was reality, and if she decided that she was dead, she would die.
However, her brother didn't give up and trapped her in an endless illusion moments before her death, hoping to change her mind.
Realizing that these were her final moments, that everything around her was within her own mind, she spoke with a mix of awe and understanding. "So these are all illusions you created in my mind," she said.
Her brother, tears streaming down his face, replied, "Yes, but the outcome remains the same. Despite my efforts, you once again choose the path of death."
She contemplated his dedication and mustered her resolve. "I am grateful for everything you have done for me, Creator, or rather, Hao Chonglin, my brother," she said.
"But you are mistaken. My mindset has changed, and I no longer desire death. I want to reincarnate countless times, to experience life fully. Your hard work has yielded results."
Hao Chonglin laughed heartily upon hearing her words. "Then let us leave this illusion behind and depart," he said.
However, Hao Gongming shook her head and stated, "No, this world deserves to be real. I want to make it real." And with a single thought, the illusion became reality.
"I want to experience many lives, but not from the perspective of one of the universe's creators, but from a lower vantage point." She said
Hao Chonglin agreed, saying, "I concur! Let us both move on and reincarnate in different worlds and times, to view the world from different perspectives."
Hao Gongming smiled and replied, "But first, let me check something."
She peered into the vast expanse of the endless world and soon detected Earth, her former self before her reincarnation into the real world. "It truly exists! My brother's illusion is so powerful that it connects the beginning to the end. He was afraid that I would choose death once more, so he left this final choice for himself."
If she had chosen the path of death again, her brother would have sent "hao gongming" living on earth to the real world again, repeating everything that had happened before.
She pondered this realization and smiled.
On Earth, her existence had been an illusion before, but now it's a reality.
Hao gongming on earth now could be considered a distant clone.
Memories flooded back to her, and she realized that these events had occurred before. In previous iterations, she had always chosen death, and her brother would send her distant clone for another round of transmigration. But what had changed this time? She delved deep into her thoughts and decided to ask.
Hao Chonglin replied, "Of course, the only variable everytime was me! I had always played an active role in trying to influence events, but it never worked. So this time, I simply slept through the whole process, and ironically, it worked!"
They shared a laugh, and Hao Gongming declared, "Then let's begin. Starting from this world that I created, I truly want to witness its progress!"
With a mere thought, her desire became reality.
Her first reincarnation took place on Earth alongside her brother, experiencing the lives of ordinary mortal humans.
After their mortal lives ended, they looked at each other and felt that living as mortals had been more exhilarating than being invincible in every aspect with no room for growth.
Hao Gongming and her brother both created clones to expand the world when necessary and oversee everything.
After that, she embarked on a full-time career as a reincarnator, seeking new experiences and adventures. Her brother made the same choice, and sometimes, they would encounter each other in various worlds without recognizing each other's true identities.
In every world where Hao Gongming was born as an emperor or noble, she would establish a harem.
It was her nature and had nothing to do with the illusion her brother created. One thing was clear: they both achieved what they desired. Her brother succeeded in keeping his sister alive, and Hao Gongming found a way to have endless fun without it becoming boring.