[Bonus chapter for 100 Golden Tickets :)]
Dyon was stubborn, but truth be told, he had no idea what he was working toward.
The first step in mastering a Dao, and the first real journey in understanding a will, was to first reach a state of one with mind. Dyon knew this, he understood this, and had long since taken this step.
However, the second step increased to an all new level of difficulty. This was why affinities existed and also why said affinities often influenced your personality.
Madeleine had an unmatched affinity for purity path type wills even before she gained new affinities with her faith seed. As a result, much of her personality revolved around being caring and selfless. Although having a Goddess' Disposition didn't automatically mean that you would be a magnanimous and benevolent individual, it still meant that your personality would lean toward such things.
Ri's beast blood heavily influenced her personality even before the clash between her Faith Seed and God level constitution was settled. And, once that conflict was resolved, her domineering traits became more pronounced, because that was simply what came with the Elvin Queen's Reign constitution. Let alone the innate superiority provided by being a prideful supreme level beast.
It was clear that the wills one could comprehend, depended on what their heart leaned toward. And, what their heart leaned toward, also decided just how powerful a Dao could be…
Patia-Neva's failure and the near crippling of his cultivation was a perfect example of this. His heart leaned toward the more natural aspects of the Patia-Neva bloodline, and yet, he threw all of that away for power.
The ice belt had been too much of a temptation… The progression in Patia-Neva's cultivation had been so staggering that he was almost willing to throw away everything he loved just for the benefits he thought he would receive. But, what he noticed much too late was that his thinking was twisted and contradictory….
Why had Patia-Neva wanted to grow stronger in the first place? Wasn't it so that he could repay Kawa Acacia for saving his life? Wasn't it so that he could perform meritorious deeds for the universe? Wasn't it so that he could help forge a better place for his wife and future child to live?
He was by definition a compassionate man. Compassionate to the point where it became tainted, twisted and ultimately blinding…
And yet that compassionate man had tried to sever his emotions… for the sake of being compassionate?
From the very beginning, Patia-Neva's one with heart had been built upon crumbling ruins. His foundation was so shaky that it would have been near impossible for him to form a Dao. He was driven so mad that he nearly did something unforgivable…
Patia-Neva's story was just a single example. The journey of cultivation was rife with warning tales like his. Dealing with and manipulating the laws of the universe wasn't meant to be easy. It was meant to be an uphill battle, and trying to learn something you had no compatibility with… Well… Simply shouldn't be done.
In one way, Dyon's grand teacher was right. Dyon didn't have any affinity barriers… With his intelligence, he knew exactly how to break through to the next will level, it would only take some time, patience, and coaxing. If he slowly tempered himself, he would eventually have a break through and reach a new level of understanding.
However, where Dyon's grand teacher was wrong was in assuming that Dyon would be okay with acting on that knowledge… That he'd be okay with laying down and allowing death to take over… That he'd be okay with bending to the whims of the universe…
Dyon was arrogant to the extent that even his manifestation's mere potential tore apart a weapon of the 33 heavens. It used its own residual energy to write letters so fiery and so corrosive, that even celestial level experts couldn't last beneath them for too long. And yet, the old man had somehow expected this very Dyon to accept death for what it was…
In the past six months, Dyon's comprehension had long since reached the one with soul level, surpassing both one with heart and body. However, he hadn't even broken through one with mind yet… Not in any tangible aspect…
Dyon understood why he had felt that death was simply part of a cycle… He understood that it lay at the end of the inevitable road everyone had to walk… He understood that the one will that would never erode was death, because in the coming times where there would be nothing, it was inevitable that something had been there first – and for that something to be gone, could only mean that it had died…
Dyon understood that death was in itself its own form of chaos, and that as the organization of life decayed and broke down, death would inevitably come to scatter what used to be…
Dyon understood that sometimes death was necessary… He understood that if there was no death, the drive that pushed people would be lacking… If you could live forever, could you say with any certainty that your motivations would stay the same? Even things as fundamental as the beauty of raising a child would seemingly become meaningless… If you could live forever, was there any use in passing on your genes?
The potency of Dyon's one with mind had reached unprecedented levels… And yet, he still couldn't bring himself to take the next step.
Dyon's soul could no longer be said to be gold. It had become a dense and dark black… Almost as though it was a single step away from crumbling entirely…
Despite the ticking time, it seemed as though Dyon was at peace.
One minute…
His soul was like a calm lake, tranquil and without ripples.
Ten seconds…
He was very much aware of the time he had remaining and was very much aware that his failure meant death.
One second…
The flickers of black flames engulfed Dyon.
Even in the end, regardless of the fact he understood it was coming… He would never accept it. He would never accept Death.
Zero.
