"Do you believe me now?" Ballom asked with a hint of schadenfreude in his voice as he looked towards his enchanting partner.

Ballom, as a Dao Lord, prominent leader among the devils, and high level member of the Humanoid Alliance, was naturally someone with an incredibly high status. As such, it was no surprise that he had many concubines. He had even more children.

As of late, Lilith, one of his many daughters, had been receiving a lot of attention, but generally speaking her achievements were incomparable to her siblings. One of his other daughters, Loretta Pendal Val Kilger, had much greater achievements in terms of demon rearing.

In fact, she had even shown great potential in her cultivation, as well as leadership and espionage capabilities. It was only natural, in a sense, for not only was she Ballom's own progeny, she was also from the great Pendal family - another prominent Devil family led by a powerful Dao Lord.

Although Pendal himself was not as strong as Ballom, his influence among various realms was sufficiently acceptable to Ballom, which is why he took one of Pendal's descendants as a concubine. Neither Ballom, nor Pendal himself had anticipated that the concubine Ballom took would one day rise to the rank of Dao Lord.

While many would rejoice at such a thing, and the Pendal family was truly rejoicing, Ballom wasn't the least bit pleased. Back when she was a Celestial, this concubine of his dared not voice any complaints. Who could have guessed that upon becoming a Dao Lord, instead of becoming more independent and proud, she had turned into a jealous housewife?

She had only just become a Dao Lord, but instead of going into retreat and trying to gain better control of her powers, she had latched herself onto Ballom, staring at all his other concubines with venom in her eyes, not leaving him alone for even a moment.

"Yes, I suppose you were right - the Innkeeper isn't a woman. Can you blame me for being curious when you held him in such high regard?" Bridget asked as she watched the performance from afar.

"But who is that lady he's standing next to, and why is that monkey giving her a flower?" Bridget asked openly, without a single shred of the caution she should have had as a newfound Dao Lord.

"Have some respect," Ballom spoke solemnly. "That monkey is Sun Wu Kong, a legendary Dao Lord who has alone created his own legend. You have only just become a Dao Lord - you wouldn't even realize as he stripped you of your Dao and sent you back crying."

Bridget snickered.

"Yes, he can beat me. But can he beat you? I'm very curious to see your unleashed form. Maybe you should challenge him to a fight."

Ballom sighed, and rolled his eyes. Even Ballom didn't love himself as much as Bridget loved him, and while that was flattering, it was also tedious. It felt like he was stuck on babysitting duty.

"Even if he cannot beat me, he is not an enemy I want to provoke needlessly, so mind your tongue," Ballom instructed. "That lady you asked about is known as the Primordial Queen. She is an extremely powerful lady - and an incredibly mysterious one. I can't believe the Innkeeper knows her. I wonder what their relationship is - they seem quite familiar:"

Bridget did not like the attention and curiosity that Ballom was giving the queen, and could not help but scrunch her nose. Of course, even if she was lovestruck, she was not an idiot. She could tell that even the very formidable Wu Kong was very afraid of this queen, so she must be very strong or influential.

"Is she stronger than you?" Bridget asked.

Ballom nodded without hesitation.

"She is a Dao Queen. Do you know what that is?" Ballom asked, not moving his gaze from Eclipse. Wu Kong had already given his flower, and so the others were also lining up, taking this once in a lifetime opportunity to try to build a connection with her. Already this tea party was worth way more than the cost they were paying to attend, and it had barely begun.

"Dao Queen? I've never heard of that? Is that the realm after Dao Lord? But wait a minute, I've never heard of a realm after the Dao Lord realm," Bridget said, confused and curious at the same time.

"It is not the next realm, but you can consider it as much," said Ballom slowly, his voice deep and low, adding immense gravity to his words. "Most Dao Lords, once they reach the realm, never make any progress again. It is not that they are too lazy, it is just too hard. To improve their Dao, to grow it, is a task beyond difficult - it is practically impossible.

"Of course, the many restrictions of the universe also play a role in why most Dao Lords are unable to grow much stronger. Some, however, find a way to keep on growing. Whatever the reason, these few who keep on growing eventually gain dominance in the universe, and become incredibly well known. "Wu Kong is among such Dao Lords. A new Dao Lord, or one who has never improved, is basically just a child in front of him. Yet he, much like myself, has only made some progress. There are some, however, who have walked far beyond others on such a path. I do not know if there is an end to the progress one can make to their Dao, but if there is, there are very, very few who have reached it. Across the whole universe, including all the Sage races, maybe there are one hundred. Maybe!"

Bridget was genuinely amazed, and looked at Eclipse with wonder.

"So someone who has reached the end of the Dao Lord realm is a Dao Queen? Or Dao King?" she asked, though she believed the answer to be self-evident. "No," said Ballom, shaking his head. "A Dao King or Queen is someone whose Dao has no equal. It is not about how far they have grown their Dao. Rather, it is someone who has measured, someone who has tested their Dao, and found all others wanting. A Dao King or Queen is someone whose Dao is so strong, that none dare challenge them anymore. In the whole universe, there are many theorised Dao Kings or Queens, but only one, truly uncontested, unquestioned

Dao Queen."

Awe radiated from Ballom's voice, as he did nothing to hide his reverence for the Primordial Queen. This was a true legend of the universe - the kind that was far rarer than even Dao Lords.

"So if she is all that... how can the Innkeeper and that other guy stand next to her so casually?" Bridget asked.