'Tell me more grand teacher!'
"Hmph. At least you're listening. Truthfully speaking, it's not all of your fault. Most people have to meditate much like you did. In fact, it's a testament to your intelligence that you even came this far by just relying on meditation. However, when you have an aurora, you don't have to take the slow route."
'That's right grand teacher… Before senior disciple created array alchemy, what was the original purpose of the aurora?'
"You disappoint me. You only just thought of this? I'm losing all hope in you."
Dyon laughed at himself. It was true, he should have thought of that much earlier.
If array alchemy was created after the aurora, then it wouldn't make sense for the aurora to have had no purpose before array alchemy. Therefore, the old man must have created it for a purpose.
"At its core, the aurora is meant to increase your connection with the world around you. In enhances the way you think, the way you see, the way you feel.
"The reason people think the soul is so important to learning wills, is because it is. It may not be the only important thing, but it is important. So, I took advantage of that.
"I created the aurora to enhance the soul's already strong connection to the abstract. It was doubly important to do this because the aurora also needed a power source.
"The best method anyone could have in learning wills is their aurora."
'But then, how did Buddah's Eye come into being?'
"I never claimed to be the first to try and create such a technique, and I won't be the last. However, Buddah's Eye is specifically tailored to learning Ethereal Permeation. It's not very useful for learning anything else.
"That's why it has the secondary ability of predicting and seeing through attacks. Although, it doesn't do that as well as the Mathilde family technique either."
'Interesting… So the main purpose of the aurora is communicating with the laws of the universe. No wonder why it translated so well to being used in array alchemy…'
"Glad you understand. Now go figure out that technique. I'll be back once you're at the peak of the 9th formation stage. No earlier. Begone!"
'Grand Teacher Wait!'
In typical fashion, the old man sent Dyon away without listening.
A blinding light disrupted Dyon's senses before his eyes slowly adjusted to his new surrounding.
'Tch…'
The room itself was quite large with massive pillars wrapping around the outside. In fact, it looked like a bit of a classroom with multiple cultivation platforms hanging around at various heights. But, maybe the most interesting thing was that in a clearing in the middle, there was an orb of floating light..
'The key?!'
Dyon wanted to rush forward, but, something was telling him that it wouldn't be possible even if he did. The old man wanted competition… He would have to fight Alidor for the right to take the key. But, first, he had to cultivate.
'How do I learn a technique I know nothing about… I can't even read it…'
Dyon walked around until he found a platform he liked before taking out a ridiculous amount of spiritual food.
While he ate, Dyon continued to observe the room and think.
Although he had never energy cultivated before, what he did know was that this room had the densest essence energy he had ever felt before…
Essence energy was important for the three first stages of energy cultivation.
It primed one's body in the foundation stage. Connected meridians in the meridian formation stage. And then filled those meridians in the essence gathering stage.
The truth was that relying solely on wills for the meridian formation stage was the best option. Using essence energy to temper the connections between meridians was a bit of a cheat. In fact, using essence energy as a replacement is often what led to clogged meridians and an inability to proceed to higher levels.
However, it seemed clogged meridians wouldn't be a problem in this room. The essence energy that warped around in the air had been filtered to such an extent that Dyon's aurora would only pick up the faintest traces of impurities. This energy was definitely pure enough to allow the opening of 99 meridians by relying on it alone.
That being said, what Dyon needed to focus on now wasn't meridian formation. In fact, if his grand teacher wasn't lying to him, he could skip having to worry about meridian formation entirely. What he needed to do now was focus all of his energy on the foundation stage.
The problem was that Dyon was still worried about Ri.
Madeleine should be fine now because she had not only gotten reinforcements, the trials of a legacy relied on one's self. He had been slowly learning that he should trust his fiancées in situations like that.
But, Ri's situation was different. She was at a severe numbers disadvantage, their scouts weren't reliable, and it was likely the basilisks would soon call in stronger reinforcements. And yet, Dyon was very clear on the fact he would need a few weeks if not months to do what he needed to do.
His first step had to be solidifying his array alchemy foundation. Then there was meditating on the technique. And then there was the actual time it would take to cultivate – not even mentioning the time it would take to integrate the new set of meridians to himself. Even Dyon's quickest estimations required half a month to three weeks.
'Hang in there Ri. I know I've given you a lot to shoulder… But just hang on. Your useless husband is coming.'
He had let her suffer enough. As much as Dyon wanted to allow his wives to share his burden, he didn't also want them to bear too much, that was something he would never allow. If there was somethign he could take on himself, he would never allow them to suffer it, whether it was this very trial or anything else for that matter.
