In another plane of existence, an old man's brow furrowed. He sat in a rocking chair, looking out onto a war that had already raged for hundreds of thousands of years. And yet, this was the first time his features had fluctuated from his normal calm smile in just as much time.
'One of my chosen lost their ownership of their key?...'
It was absolutely impossible for any one entity to keep tabs on the going-ons of ten thousand universes at once. However, what this old man could do was keep his mind tethered to 100 specific towers. This allowed him to anchor his mind in the lower planes much like the Dragon King had done with his weapon – except this was on a much grander scale.
The rarity of a chosen losing their key could not be understated. These were usually warriors that were coddled and groomed to perfection by their universes. And, even in cases where they weren't, the advantage that an Epistemic Tower key gave you in hiding and biding your time was unprecedented. If you had been talented and clever enough to conquer the tower, there was no doubt that you were also smart enough to use the key effectively.
With all things being equal, the likelihood that a key holder would lose possession of their right was minimal.
When the old man cast his mind out and trained it onto the tower that was now ownerless, he couldn't help but sigh.
This old man was Dyon's grand teacher, of course. How many young geniuses had he seen die in his millions of years of life? He had lost count, truthfully speaking…
But, that didn't mean that some didn't pain him more than others. Although he had plenty of geniuses he favored, and none of them would surpass his first disciple in his heart, Dyon was one that had left a lasting impression on him.
To the old man, the words of a genius meant little. With his abilities, he could delve so far into the mind of a person that he would likely know them better than they knew themselves in a mere breath of time. And yet, Dyon seemed to have a depth that even he couldn't see all the way through.
Because of this, he had had no choice but to ask Dyon directly how he would react to knowing the truth of things. In any other situation, that would have been a waste of his time. He had become so lofty and otherworldly, that he had begun to see the thoughts of lesser beings as predictable and pattern driven. But, somehow, the thoughts of a child who had an age that wasn't even fit to count as a mere second to him had caught his interest.
'And here I was hoping to give him some guidance when next the gates opened…' The old man sighed. Truthfully speaking, the gates only needed to close because he himself was gradually losing the power to keep them open. Realistically, if he continued to pour his soul strength into the gates, they'd never need to close for 'maintenance'. But, even he had his limits – limits he couldn't help but hate right now.
The old man closed his murky eyes, ready to cast his mind away from that universe. 'Maybe it's time 100 Epistemic Towers became 99… That way, maybe I'll last a little longe –' The old man paused, 'Hm?'
With Dyon's grand teacher's level of True Empathy, if Lyla and King Acacia could tell he was still fighting, how could the old man not? However, given the oddity of the situation gave him, even with all his experience, cause to pause.
'What…?' How long had it been since he was confused? The emotion was almost foreign…
He closed his eyes once again, and used the Epistemic Tower of Dyon's universe as a beacon to project his mind outward. If the experts in that universe were on a high enough level, they would have felt a formless presence of unprecedented power descend onto their world… The likes of which they had never, nor would ever feel again.
However, the old man's cultivation was simply too high for them to fathom, let alone sense.
The old man sighed again when he noticed the floating key and Dyon's upright form.
'Don't tell me you died in this garbage tournament. You'd make all my hope in you seem like a joke…'
But, when the old man noticed the residual soul of Dyon's opponent still slowly dissipating, his brows furrowed again.
'Soul burning technique… Your personality is truly infuriating Dyon. To make someone go so far just to kill you.'
Despite his thoughts, the old man still continued to ponder the situation. Even if Dyon's opponent had done such a thing, with how many life saving measures Dyon had, it should have been possible to survive for the length of the burning…
'This young man is an upper grade 2 expert, but that's still a far cry from Dyon's grade 1 peak level… Although it is quite rare for someone to reach such a level in this universe, just what is going on here?...'
The old man, out of curiosity, spread his mind outward, scanning the rest of the arena. Everything was happening so quickly that it was as though everyone was locked in place, when in reality, the old man's processing speed was just that quick… Miles ahead of even Dyon's. No. It was more accurate to say light years. Even light millennia.
'Shruti Clan?... Indra's faith seed?...' The old man got another surprise, 'What are they doing here?...'
'Kitsune?... Ragnors?... Oh? Amethyst's faith seed? Oh? Kukan's faith seed? Isn't this supposed to be a weak universe?'
The more the old man looked, the more shocked he became. He recognized Thor's faith seed, then Vidar's, then Asura's faith seed.
When he finally settled back on the young man who had burned his soul, a sudden realization hit him.
'To think the Jafari still exist in the cosmos…'
