On the top floor, the red-armored guardian was only growing more depressed. If Dyon hadn't spent three weeks, he would have already cleared the sky castle. When was such an overwhelming genius born? It was borderline unfair. To think he did all of this with his sick wife in his arms. If he had been willing to let her go, he would have finished even faster.
The blackened doors continued to grow. There was a good portion of the treasures that remained useless to Dyon. More cauldrons, more alchemic robes, and more techniques. But, others were more useful in the sense that they would help him grow his empire.
He found a room filled with soul stones. Although the actual purpose of the room was to show of the formation at the center of it that sped up soul cultivation by almost 50%, Dyon didn't care about it. This was because the [Dao of Array Alchemy] had a more efficient formation that increased soul cultivation speed by almost 100% percent.
What actually caught his attention were the stones themselves.
Much like energy stones could be created by great experts, so could soul stones. Dyon didn't need these soul stones for himself, but he thought they could be useful to alchemists when they were on the final step of a concoction and needed just a little bit more energy.
Since there were several trillion of them, more than Dyon could bother to count, Dyon believed that using these would be good for building the foundation of his Empire. It wasn't like he had the time to sit around and concoct every pill and forge every weapon.
Actually, soul stones had another use. In large scale formations that didn't rely on the laws of Feng Shui, they were necessary for upkeep. They could also help Dyon create formations his soul was took weak to form right now. For example, creating a Planet Grade formation with mere Moon Grade strength. Of course, Dyon would have to research these formations heavily, but it was still possible.
Finally, there were a whole host of pills that Dyon found incredible as well, many of which fell between the comet and moon grades.
The first were Moon Grade Soul Foundation Pills. These were among the pills Stella asked for all those years ago. Back then, Dyon could only promise her 1, but here were several hundred thousand, just sitting and waiting.
These pills were able to give those without innate souls a baseline of soul talent and also expand the Mind's Eye. If Dyon combined this with the aurora steps, the results could be devastating.
The second weren't exactly pills, but rather, tea leaves. Or, more accurately, a stock of ten spiritual plants and seeds that produced these tea leaves. They were known as Heaven's Selfless Breath and were Planet Grade plants.
They allowed one to sink into their selfless state without penalty. Or, sink into an even deeper selfless state than one you were currently in, again, without penalty.
However, the function that caused Dyon's heart to beat the most was something the twins had said off-handedly when they saw the ten bushes that stood barely a meter tall. According to history, these plants were the best means by which one would learn the secrets of their Manifestation!
After being surprised by his own just weeks earlier, Dyon realized just how little he understood his manifestation. He remembered that those of the Elvin Kingdom had told him that awakening two manifestations wasn't necessarily a good thing because it was so easy to confound which had which ability. It wasn't until now that Dyon fully understood this…
Having a unique manifestation was about plotting out a path all on your own. No one would be there to help you…. At the very least, these heavenly treasures would help.
The last pills, ironically found in the very last rooms Dyon visited, were a myriad of healing pills – billions of grandmaster grades, one thousand comet grades, ten moon grades and exactly one planet grade. To Dyon, at a time like this, they were invaluable.
He didn't give one to Madeleine because this was a trial she needed to jump over alone, or else her three newly formed meridians would become weaker than the others, thus defeating the purpose. However, these would be of great use for him and the celestial babies.
...
Dyon organized and put away the healing pills, muttering to himself about how stingy the sky castle creator was. He created a room with 1000 star grade pills, but only left 1 planet grade healing pill? What a scam.
Madeleine giggled lightly at Dyon's words, finding his shamelessness funny. A planet grade pill, especially this 'Essence Reversal' pill, could bring even a dao formation expert back from the brink of death to full health.
The truth was that healing pills had always been the most valuable type. This was because those of the highest level were even capable of extending life.
For example, if someone who was perfectly health took the essence reversal pill, they would gain an additional thousand years of life. If the individual was injured, this number would lessen depending on the severity of the wound. But, in most cases, they would still gain a few hundred years. Its value was clear.
The ten moon grade pills Dyon received gave one an additional one hundred years of life and were known as 'Yin and Yang Replenishment' pills. The thousand comet grade pills gave an addition ten years and were known as 'Heaven Soothing' pills.
It was debateable whether someone would choose an extra thousand years of life over a martial saint pill. If one was already talented, it was an obvious choice. However, if one was less talented, wouldn't you choose to have extra time instead? After all, reaching the celestial realm only gave one ten thousand years of life. An extra thousand was extremely valuable.
After Dyon dealt with the healing pills, he proceeded to plant the Heaven's Selfless Breath within his inner world. Now that his world could grow life, there was hardly a better place for it, especially if he bathed them in white flames every so often.
As a planet grade spiritual plant, it would take several million years to fully mature from the seeds he was given. But, luckily, there were already ten mature bush-like structures with several hundred leaves each. Even if he snipped away all of their leaves, it would only take about ten years for them all to grow back assuming proper care.
With these things set aside, Dyon took the frail Madeleine who had fallen asleep into his arms and left the final trial, finding himself facing a tall, winding set of stairs.
Surprisingly, there was no second or third floor. It sounds odd to say, but the stairs simply continued, winding and winding until Dyon felt as though he had climbed several hundred meters. For there not to be another floor before this top one, was truly curious.
Still, Dyon eventually made it to the top or second floor, opening a door to find himself in a grand space.
He felt decidedly small. Despite being just over two meters tall, the ceiling above his head was at least twenty times that. To match its grandiose appearance, massive marble pillars lined the arched hall, all leading to a wide set of stairs, a lush red carpet, and a throne of precious metals.
To each side, silver knight statues stood with various weapons, making Dyon roll his eyes. 'You better stay statues…'
"You've come…" The red-armored guardian leaned against his throne. After weeks of watching Dyon suck his castle dry, he finally got over it. After all, it was at least more entertaining than sitting here and doing nothing for the last several trillion years. It wasn't as though those treasure were benefitting him in anyway. Plus, they weren't his treasures to begin. Rather, they were the treasures of the man who left him here. Whether or not his spirit would appear was an unknown.
Dyon smiled. "You're less angry than I thought you'd be."
"And you're just as arrogant as I thought you'd be." The red-armored guardian retorted. Which of the people who came here dared to converse with him so casually? Plus, walking in here with your wife in your arms? Did you not take this challenge seriously at all?
"Tell me… Is there a test I can take to gain ownership of this castle?"
The red-armored guardian twitched. "What did you say?"
