Chapter 63: Sovereign Dominion

With a sharp flick of his wrist, Ethan channeled the latent spatial parameters of his system inventory and swept his hand through the air.

*Fwump.*

A heavy, intricate white cloak materialized from the void, dropping gently onto the polished stone floor of the Warborn Mansion study. From beneath its folds, two figures stepped out into the dim light: Seraphina, her silent, calculating demeanor immediately locking into place, and beside her, a young girl with piercing silver hair and sharp, crystalline blue eyes—**Mia**.

Mia blinked rapidly, her breath catching in her throat as she glanced around the unfamiliar, heavily warded obsidian room. She was barely twelve years old, yet her natural ice-affinity mana pulsed faintly beneath her skin, marking her as a promising young talent.

Ethan stepped forward, his dual-colored eyes locking onto hers with absolute authority.

"Mia," Ethan began, his voice cutting through the silence like cold steel. "You have already developed into a formidable second-rank ice mage. But merely reaching the second or third rank is entirely meaningless in the grand scheme of this world. If you truly wish to achieve your ambitions, if you want the power to dictate your own fate and stand against those who look down on you, you must climb relentlessly. You need to reach at least the **Eighth Rank**."

Mia’s jaw dropped. Her eyes widened in absolute shock, a cold sweat breaking out across her neck. *Eighth rank?* She was currently only at the second rank! The chasm between the second and eighth rank was like the distance between an ant and a soaring dragon. She didn’t understand why her master had suddenly pulled her out of stasis, let alone why he was demanding such an impossible height from her right out of the gate.

Yet, seeing the absolute, unshakeable confidence in Ethan’s gaze, something deep within her spirit stirred. She swallowed hard, clenched her tiny fists, and bowed deeply.

"Y-Yes, Master!" Mia stammered, her voice trembling slightly before steadying with fierce determination. "Please tell me... what must I do to become that powerful?"

A faint, approving smile touched the corners of Ethan’s lips. He subtly activated his special perception, his gaze piercing through the physical veil to look at Mia’s spiritual aura. Surrounding her soul was a delicate, distinct ribbon of **pink energy**—a metaphysical marker exclusive to the heroines chosen by the world’s primary Heavenly Chosen Ones. Genetically, Mia was Kael’s younger sister, and in the original, unalterable script of this world, she was destined to be bound to Kael’s faction, serving as one of his supportive heroines.

*In the original timeline,* Ethan thought coldly, *she would have been tied to Kael’s pathetic destiny. But under my rule, scripts are meant to be rewritten.*

"Tell me, Mia," Ethan asked smoothly, folding his arms across his chest. "Have you ever heard of the **Ice Star Empire**?"

Mia’s eyes widened further as she processed the name. She quickly composed herself, her academic knowledge surfacing. "Y-Yes, Master! It is a massive empire located nearly two hundred thousand kilometers away from our current territory. According to ancient texts, the entire region is locked in perpetual winter, surrounded by glacial wastes, and it is universally known as the holy land for ice mages and ancient ice-monsters."

"Good," Ethan said, his tone turning absolute. "You are going to go to that empire, and you are going to survive there. You will train in the harshest frost-bound sectors. The Ice Star Empire has an ancient law: any cultivator who breaks through to the **Fifth Rank** before turning eighteen is granted a rare, supreme privilege—they are given the right to establish their own private elite force, and they even become eligible to compete for the throne as a **New Emperor**."

Mia staggered backward a half-step, her chest heaving in sheer disbelief. "An... Emperor? At under eighteen?!"

She was only twelve years old right now, struggling to consolidate her second-rank foundation, and her master was casually telling her she needed to scale the towering wall of the fifth rank before her eighteenth year to claim an empire’s throne. It sounded like an impossible, feverish delusion.

Yet, Ethan was not surprised by her panic. He knew how brutally difficult it was for a normal mortal to achieve such a feat. But Mia was no longer bound by normal mortal constraints. She was about to be grafted directly into a new cosmic authority.

Ethan turned his focus inward, communicating directly with the system interface.

"System," Ethan’s consciousness commanded, "I want to designate Mia as my official **Heavenly Chosen One**."

*Ding!*

A sharp, warning-toned prompt flashed across his vision.

> **[System Alert: Host, are you certain? Designating a subject as a Heavenly Chosen One permanently binds them as your primary investment target. Every Fate Point you invest into them will exponentially multiply their growth and yield direct returns of harvested destiny back to your core as they claim treasures. However, this karmic and soul-bound contract is absolute and irreversible. Once established, the link cannot be broken by any mortal means.]**

"There are no bonds I wish to break," Ethan replied coldly. "I want to invest my Fate Points into Mia. Initiate the binding."

> **[Affirmative, Host. To establish the foundational link for your first personal Chosen One, an initial investment of 100,000 Fate Points is required.]**

> **[Before proceeding, you must officially designate a name for your personal Heaven.]**

Ethan’s eyes gleamed with supreme ambition. Without a second’s hesitation, he named his nascent cosmic domain: **"The Sovereign Dominion."**

*BOOM!*

The moment the name was codified, a cataclysmic, soul-shaking shockwave erupted from deep within Ethan’s spiritual core.

Inside his mind-sea, the metaphysical landscape underwent a terrifying, jaw-dropping transformation. The chaotic expanse of his spiritual consciousness violently expanded, doubling in volume overnight.

His three existing mana rings—the crimson flame ring, the spatial white ring, and the temporal black ring—suddenly surged with brilliant light, their inner density doubling in power.

Ethan’s consciousness was violently pulled inward, projecting directly into his transformed soul-sea.

What was once a standard mental expanse had completely vanished. In its place stood a majestic, awe-inspiring **Golden Temple** that stretched endlessly into the higher dimensions. Built from celestial gold and divine architecture, the temple radiated an oppressive, sacred majesty that could humble gods.

In the center of the grand hall, instead of a traditional deity’s statue, sat a towering, obsidian-and-gold **Sovereign Throne**.

Without hesitation, Ethan’s spiritual projection walked forward and seated himself upon the throne.

*RUMBLE—!*

As his consciousness merged with the seat of power, the entire Golden Temple and his entire mind-space shook violently with thunderous resonance. Through his newly established divine link, Ethan could suddenly perceive a vast, intricate web of connections radiating outward from his throne.

Right before him, a glowing avatar representing Mia flickered into existence. A detailed metric panel displayed her current status, including her absolute **Likability Index** toward him, which glowed at an astounding **70%**.

According to the system’s psychological parameters, a 70% likability rating meant Mia viewed him not merely as a master, but with the absolute devotion and emotional dependency one might reserve for an idealized husband or an infallible older brother, willing to follow him to the ends of the earth.

Curious, Ethan shifted his mental focus to check Seraphina’s metrics. The system immediately displayed her status: her Likability Index stood at an unshakeable **90%**. A rating of 90% meant absolute, unconditional soul-and-body submission—a true, unwavering servant who would willingly step into the fires of annihilation the second Ethan gave the word.

A dark, satisfied smile curved Ethan’s lips.

Suddenly, from the heart of the Golden Temple’s throne, a blinding ray of pure golden light surged outward. Piercing through the dimensional barriers of the mansion, the golden beam traveled across space and locked directly onto Mia’s physical body standing in the study.

*Ding!*

> **[Initial Investment of 100,000 Fate Points successfully executed!]**

As the golden ray flooded Mia’s body, she let out a soft gasp, her eyes fluttering as an overwhelming wave of profound warmth and spiritual clarity washed over her. She didn’t fully understand what had just happened, but her soul felt lighter, purer, and infinitely more attuned to the laws of the universe, as if a supreme blessing had just rewritten her innate potential.

At that exact microsecond, a miraculous phenomenon occurred: the faint, lingering ribbon of **pink energy**—the lingering karmic tether of Kael’s future—suddenly shattered into dust and completely evaporated from Mia’s aura. She was completely severed from the old script.

Outside the Warborn Mansion, the clear night sky suddenly fractured. Heavy, violent bolts of purple lightning cracked across the dark clouds, howling like an enraged beast as the local Heavenly Will sensed its script being forcibly rewritten.

Yet, Ethan didn’t even spare the stormy sky a single glance.

He stepped forward, his hand glowing with spatial mana as he traced a complex, glowing blue teleportation circle directly beneath Mia’s boots.

"Your destiny is now inextricably linked to mine," Ethan said, his voice echoing with absolute finality as his red-glowing eyes locked onto hers. "And my destiny has never known failure. Whatever is written in the stars for you from this day forward belongs to the Sovereign Dominion. Go forth and claim your empire."

*FLASH!*

Before Mia could even utter a final word, the teleportation array flared with blinding intensity, swallowing her small frame in a flash of spatial light.