Nestled somewhere within a corner of the first round's event venue, there was a peculiar Plane-type world which had been reshaped by its ruler over an extremely long period of time. By now, it was impossible to tell what it had originally looked like.
Akin to a disk that had been cut up into four parts, each of the sections almost exclusively corresponded to one of the Foundational Elements. No intelligent lifeforms could be spotted anywhere throughout it, except for at its very centre, where fire, earth, air and water coalesced, forming a powerful yet harmonious and stable vortex. Interlaced with all of this were Energy Veins that had been semi-expertly yet still sufficiently well arranged, bringing the Energy concentration here to the current absolute maximum.
Hovering within this prime cultivation location, in a seated position with her legs crossed, there was a transcendental beauty, her hair the colour of the four elements. It, along with her loose, elegant clothes, followed the vortex' flow, seemingly blending into it. This whole world appeared to be made to serve her needs–and that impression wasn't necessarily mistaken.
The one who had originally terraformed it was a 'lucky soul' who had been blessed to become an Ur Family member, and who had then carved out an area for himself in the infinitely vast Lesser True Void. Naturally, his means and fortune had come from his acquired ancestry as well, so he had been mostly unknowingly following their designs to the letter. As a result, this environment perfect for those of his bloodline was created.
Everything had gone well for this favoured son of heaven, until a certain young lady had appeared out of nowhere within his territory. Naturally, he knew about what the Heaven's Chosen were, and had originally intended to wipe them all out the instant that he came across them–but little had he expected to see himself fall under the newcomer's complete control!
It hadn't been only him: All of his progeny, everyone who was carrying his bloodline, they all found themselves transforming into the most loyal, dutiful servants of this person! This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as conflict could be avoided in this way. However, for them who had always stood at the very top, it felt like a humiliating slap in the face–but it was not as if they could do anything about it, therefore they eventually accepted their new reality.
Years later, on one unremarkable day, the lady within the vortex–Ninna Ur–suddenly furrowed her brows, then paid extremely close attention to every single sensation that the elements conveyed to her. Almost imperceptibly, mere moments ago, their flow had begun to change repeatedly, yet nothing about this was unnatural. If one noticed it, one might find it a tiny bit strange, but it wouldn't stick out as something of importance. Yet clearly, Ninna would beg to disagree.
"... I understand, Grandfather."
Muttering to herself, her eyelashes flew open, and her expression relaxed a little as she felt the elements return to their prior normalcy. During this short period of time, it had been as if she had been sitting on pins and needles, not daring to miss even the slightest detail. Naturally, such a stressful period passing was cause for celebration. Well, under regular circumstances they would be, but not now.
Despite the Heavenly Succession explicitly forbidding any outside interference, there were always loopholes to be found, just like the one which her elder had made use of today. It all relied on a technicality: Not only had he not directly meddled with the event venue, but he had also not conveyed an exact message either.
What he had done was to manipulate the Foundational Elements outside of the event venue in a peculiar way, causing an 'accidental' resonance to occur with those inside of it, minutely influencing them. It would be impossible for anyone to sense this... if they were not both in an environment consisting almost exclusively of them, as well as had a related Talent of a high grade.
Yet even then, all that could be perceived was that something about the elements had changed for a short while. But naturally, the Ur Family had found a way around this as well.
During their heirs' training, they would be exposed to plenty of such fluctuations, being taught to associate different kinds of information with various specific sensations. In this way, although no actual, proper data was exchanged, they could decode the meaning of the message themselves if they happened to be in an optimal environment.
It was unknown how many of these reshaped worlds were now hidden throughout the various event venues, and the number of the family's valued descendants who had claimed one of them and had received the elder's message wasn't clear either. But there was at least one of them who did.
'Lost pawn. Winter Family. Male heir. That's all I've got. It's not too explicit, but it at least gives me a general idea of the situation...'
Sighing to herself, Ninna shook her head. Although her family's means were impressive, there were only so many different ways in which the elements could fluctuate, therefore they had to choose a limited number of intel parts that would correspond to them. It was impossible to spell out anything too detailed.
Nonetheless, what she had got this time was sufficient to understand that one of their pre-arranged pieces had died due to a male member of the Winter Family. This likely meant that a small portion of their plan had been revealed to this individual.
Still, all of this came as no surprise to her. Due to the staggering amount of cards that they had played, for some of them to be discovered by their foes was to be expected. On the contrary, it would be strange if it didn't happen! Countermeasures had long since been put into place, so she wasn't worried.
All that was required of her was to keep her eyes open and try her hardest to eradicate the Winter Family's male descendants whenever she came across them. Which was exactly what she would have done anyway, considering they and everyone else were her enemies.
'We're only in the first round, which means that all that could be exposed is overall inconsequential. I can't believe gramps is making such a big fuss about almost nothing... what a drag! But oh well, I suppose it's better to be informed than to be completely in the dark.'
Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she was about to continue her peaceful cultivation, when all of a sudden, an overwhelmingly cold shiver ran down her spine and she froze in place, sweating bullets. Maybe it was because she had managed to make her elder blow his top too many times before coming here, but she could purely instinctively tell that he had just flown off the handle again.
"I'm sorry, Grandfather! I promise I'll do my best, so calm down!"
Although she was completely alone, and there was no way for her to get a response, she nonetheless bowed earnestly, a sheepish, heart-rending expression on her face, with tears shimmering in the corners of her eyes. Not too long later, possibly as a result of how pitiful she looked, her instincts told her that the coast was clear again, therefore she hastily rose into the air once more and resumed her cultivation, appearing to be fully focused. The only evidence of the plight that she had just escaped from was her drenched back.
'Damn it! I didn't expect him to continue paying attention to me after I already told him that I got his message! It's only been a few years, and he misses his dear granddaughter? Heh, what a softie.'
Not allowing her internal thoughts to show at all this time, she soon fell back into her previous routine.
-----
Meanwhile, outside of the event venue, in a rustic yet elegant residence floating in the endless expanse of the Lesser True Void, a middle-aged man whose temples had long begun to turn grey heaved a sigh of relief. Taking out an embroidered handkerchief, he wiped the sweat off of his forehead, then sank back into his comfortable chair.
"I've been pampering her too much. She's not been away for long, but she's already showing her rebellious streak. Normally, that wouldn't be an issue, but this time..."
Recalling something utterly terrifying, he paled, barely keeping himself from fainting on the spot. He might be one of the strongest people in the Ur Family, but that didn't mean that he could really stand at the pinnacle of all–he wasn't even close.
The pawn that they had lost to the Winter Saint today was not the first one that had met their demise ever since the Heavenly Succession had begun. On all previous occasions, what needed to be done was simply to send out a notice, nothing else.
However, this time, the family's backer had chosen to involve themselves! But he didn't remotely understand why. What was so noteworthy about Theodore Winter stumbling across an insignificant part of their bigger picture? The youngster wasn't even the first Supreme Pillar heir who had done so!
Very well aware of what kind of existence was propping them up from behind the scenes, he couldn't remotely fathom how a small shrimp like Theodore could have possibly attracted 'their' attention. The Ur Family hadn't been given specific instructions as to how they should handle this matter, but it was clear that they couldn't simply ignore it. At the absolute least, they had to portray the proper decorum of a good underling!
This was why he had been so harsh with his favourite grandchild, although it hurt his heart to see her in such a sad state. Still, this was all for her own good. Whilst he doubted that their backer would care about the girl's behaviour, as that was both way beneath 'their' notice plus 'they' weren't exactly petty, it was still best to be safe.
Witnessing her return to an acceptable conduct really took a load off his mind, allowing him to feel as if the storm had passed.
'But that aside, what is so special about this Theodore Winter that 'they' saw it fit to become involved?'
Furrowing his brows, he recalled all of the intel about the young man that he was privy to. From this, he could tell that he was definitely amongst the not all too many top contenders for the position of the Heavenly Emperor, but he was quite lacklustre in comparison to those who truly led the pack.
If it wasn't for their backer, they never would have learned about all of these hidden aces and dark horses, but what was far more terrifying was that he was certain that there were many out there that even 'they' could not discover.
With all of the forces involved, this was no wonder. Therefore, in the great scheme of things, what did a Winter Saint amount to? At first glance, and even at closer inspection... almost nothing. And yet, 'their' attention revealed that there had to be far more to this man than met the eye.
'... I'm not certain whether I should hope for little Ninna to meet him so that she can get rid of him and gain 'their' favour... or for her to never come across him. I'm very confident in her capabilities, but this Theodore is too much of an unknown. There's also another possible path that I dare not mention...'
His expression darkening further, he got up from his seat and nervously began to pace back and forth, trying to figure out the optimal decision to make.
Eventually, minutes later, a barely perceptible flicker of realization lit up his gaze, then an almost mad, wide smile blossomed on his lips.
"Let's leave it all to fate! No matter what transpires, I won't interfere."
Waiting for a while for something to happen to him, he soon heaved another sigh of relief, as no change ever actually occurred. Although his words might have sounded harmless to those who didn't understand their implications, 'they' certainly knew exactly what he was getting at–and yet, he hadn't been executed on the spot.
'Is it a good sign, or a bad one? I suppose I'll find out someday.'