There was a reason the heavens gave creatures so much time to cultivate. It takes time to accumulate wisdom and comprehension… It takes time to build an impenetrable dao heart. And, even then, it can crumble given enough time…
This wasn't even the worst of it. Dyon hadn't spent 40 years living life. He spent half of his life in a trial, fighting for his life. He spent nearly another three to five years unconscious. He even spent his childhood locked up in a room filled with computer screens, hiding away from the truth of his dead parents.
All Dyon knew was fighting and pain. Even his wives, the small blips of happiness in his life, were exactly that, small blips. The amount of time they had to make an impact on him, to show him that there was something beyond the pain, was minimal…
So, when this young man who knew nothing of the reality of life was suddenly faced with an unshakeable comprehension "gifted" to him by his heaven defying talent, how could he have the will to refute it? How could he give the good a chance when in his experience, there was so little of it?
Dyon's finger flashed, causing the Dragon King to appear on his wrist, wrapped around in a slick, long band.
The metal body shifted, turning into a slender knife so sharp that its edges were the only portions of its light absorbing body that reflected anything.
Dyon's hands trembled, clutching the knife with his whole strength. "I shouldn't exist…"
Before anyone could even realize what happened, Dyon had plunged the knife into his heart.
Blood spurted out from his wound, however, judging by his lack of a reaction, one would think that the crimson stream wasn't his own.
Esmeralda trembled. Even if she had come out, what could she have done? Would Dyon have even listened to her? No matter how much she yelled and pleaded, Dyon couldn't seem to hear her.
The hopes of the spirits dimmed. Not only were they saddened by Dyon's end, but Dyon's death also symbolized their own. Without his soul energy supporting them, they would have long since dissipated.
Now the young man they had placed all of their hopes in had plunged a knife into his own heart, seeking to take his own life.
...
Dyon sat there for hours, expecting his life to slowly slip away. But, even when hours turned into more than two days, nothing happened…
Esmeralda's nerves were on the edge. 'He has an undead body now, the strongest I've ever seen, but even an undead body has its limits, it can't continue like this….'
The best person to wake Dyon up from this situation might be Clara, and even then, it wasn't guaranteed. The problem was that Clara had exhausted herself to the utmost limit for three months, it would probably be weeks before she awoke. It was impossible for Dyon to last that long, especially not if he decided to inflict more harm upon himself.
Suddenly Esmeralda thought of something. 'Being direct won't help. But…' Her gaze shifted toward The Seal that hovered before Dyon's soul.
When Esmeralda first saw Dyon's soul, she was shocked to find two seals. The first was one she recognized: the inner world sanctuary seal. It was none other than the block placed on the soul, the energies and the wills the permeated one's body, siphoning their strengths away to build one's inner world. However, the second seal were crystalline chains, etched with such ancient and profound markings that even the White Mother couldn't understand them. In fact, she wasn't even certain that they were related to array alchemy at all.
However, despite not recognizing this second seal, her intuition told her that it had changed since the last time she saw it. At first, she was confused, but after a private conversation with the celestial hamster twins, she learned of the existence of Evangeline.
Knowing her disciple's intelligence, it was impossible for him to not have understood at least a portion of the story the twins had told her. Yet, he seemed completely oblivious, as though there was a block on his mind. Still, this block was somehow so subtle that he didn't even notice it was there. The only explanation was that Evangeline had taken control of The Seal and placed the block there.
Unfortunately, even though Esmeralda had once been the owner of The Seal, it was no longer hers. In addition, unlike Dyon's wives, her and Dyon's souls weren't linked, so she couldn't make use of The Seal.
However, the idea still remained… To subtly manipulate Dyon.
'How… How can I manipulate him?' Esmeralda's brows furrowed. This is the problem she had been stuck on for the last two days, unable to come up with an answer.
'The key isn't to manipulate him into finding the answer, but rather to manipulate him into thinking that your idea is his own.' A delicate voice suddenly spoke.
Esmeralda, who had been lost in her own thoughts, looked over to see the Princess of Beauty smiling lightly.
'The game of Go is a lot like life. One could spend eternity studying its secrets and still feel like they could continue to improve.' The Princess of Beauty explained quietly. 'However, the truths behind the game always rely on simple concepts that masters hone to astounding levels.
'When I play a master of Go, I take territory by pretending as though my opponent is gaining territory. I take stones by feigning as though my opponent will gain stones.
'My godly moves seem weak and my overbearing strikes seem soft.'
The Princess of Beauty raised her small, delicate hands, extending her index and middle finger, one laid atop the other as though she was laying a Go stone in the air.
Her aura changed completely. The once shy and reserved beauty became as sharp as a sword, her spiritual robes fluttering within Dyon's inner mind.
'If we want to give him a chance to crawl out from under this and reforge his dao heart, we do not need to build the entire road, we simply need to show him to the entrance.'
Esmeralda's eyes shined. The title of Princess of Beauty was definitely not hollow. She had been so blinded by her concern that she couldn't separate herself from the situation to think of the best solution, but the Princess of Beauty had.
At that moment, a single word overtook Dyon's psyche: Why?
The word had no further explanation, it had no deeper or profound meaning, it simply repeated. Again and again, in an eerie rhythmic fashion that caught Dyon's attention despite his state of mind.
Why?... Why?...
Dyon looked at the knife that was still in his chest and the blood the flowed from it. "Why?..." He muttered.
He didn't know why this was reverberating in his mind. He knew why he wanted to kill himself. It was because nothing mattered. All of his effort, all of his hopes, his dreams, his aspirations, they were all empty. So, what was the point in living? There was none.
So, why did this word keep coming up? He knew his answer. He did. He really did.
"Do I?..." Dyon muttered. His eyes scanned the surroundings.
The beasts had long since smelt the blood coming from Dyon, but when they saw him, they didn't dare to approach. There was something dangerous about this young man… So dangerous that they didn't dare to attack him even while he had a knife in his chest.
"Why are we all here if nothing matters?..." Dyon muttered. "…I… I need to… need to find out…"
Dyon slowly pulled the knife from his chest, watching the blood drip without expression.
White flames surged, closing the wound in an instant as though it had never existed to begin with. And then… Dyon disappeared from where he stood.
--The 74th Quadrant.
Much like many other quadrants, the 74th has a very complex power structure, rife with powerful families and sovereignty disputes.
The 74th quadrant was an amalgamation of the sect and clan system, having one Emperor God Sect, but two Emperor God Clans. Similar to Dyon's home universe, these three power houses controlled 80 or so universes between them, making the remaining near 20 a battlefield for their vying.
Among these three Emperor God level conglomerates, one stood above the rest. The Grand Templar Sect.
