Dyon's master kneeled before him, taking his rough hands in her small and delicate palms. Dyon didn't seem to react to anything, remaining listlessly staring off at nothing.
He hadn't had a single coherent thought in as long as he could remember. All he felt was a torrent of emotions.
Rage had engulfed his mind and the boiling of his essence blood, balanced only be a woefully inadequate amount of celestial deer blood, was steadily overtaking his crumbling will power. His demonic intentions were overriding his rationality, and the grief in his heart seemed to be the only thing stopping him from doing something that fell in between ripping his master to shreds and ravaging her dignity – forever tainting their master-disciple relationship.
Dyon's master knew this. How could she not? But, she was willing to bear the consequences. If it meant even a sliver of a chance at saving Dyon's mind, she would allow it. As a consciousness, there was little she had left to offer Dyon. All that remained was the small bit of power she had left within, most of which she had had to use when saving Dyon from the demolition cube Chenglei had tried to use against him.
"After we sealed your people, our clan was already in ruins… Because of The Seal, this universe lost its desirability to many and was soon forgotten…
"So many clans participated in the war under the coaxing of the entity that many of the most powerful clans of our quadrant were washed away completely, allowing the current Pakal and Ragnor clan to take root as the two ruling Emperor God Clans of this quadrant…
"All we were able to do for your people was to ensure that our wars never effected them obviously… And because the route of cultivation was completely cut off to you mortals, you developed something never before seen in the cosmos: science.
"Although faint concepts of such a thing can be seen here and there, your people were the first to take it so far. Even the Sapientia pale in comparison to your methods. If our celestial deer sect could have survived, we would have loved to learn from your methods…
"Before you all, everyone believed the only way to comprehend the universe was through philosophy and understanding. To slowly tease apart the daos and truths of the universe. But, the mortal realm began to understand the universe at a far faster rate than any other population in history…
"Your modern history reaches back a mere 5000 years, and yet you've already comprehended something like heat death – a concept martial world populations take billions of years to grasp.
"You're all so physically weak, and yet your structures don't pale in comparison to martial world concepts at all.
"There are so few of you, and yet your accomplishments can be said to be otherworldly and almost magical…
"However, you've all paid a price that no one should have to pay… You carry the burden of having your future prospects chosen for you… Who's to say that with your superior talent that you wouldn't have even greater accomplishments had we not interfered?"
Dyon's master raised her small jade-like hand, gently wiping the tears of blood from Dyon's face. She worked slowly, as though Dyon was a fragile doll that could collapse at any moment. Many people forgot just how old Dyon was, but the 25th White Mother never would. She saw Dyon as her own son, she was more clear than almost anyone how brittle his mental state was.
She had thousands of years of life lived… But Dyon had only 19… Just 19 years…
"Dyon… I –"
Her words were immediately caught in her throat.
She hadn't noticed when Dyon moved, but when she looked up, she found a pair of dark red eyes staring into her soul. Even as a former dao formation expert… Even as someone who had stared the dragon king in the eyes… Even as someone who had fought bravely against the entity… Never had the 25th White Mother felt such pressure.
It was as though Dyon's soul was bearing down on her consciousness, threatening to stomp it out completely.
His eyes were like calm crystals, reflecting no emotion at all. And yet, she could feel the deep seeded rage within him. She could feel the sorrow and despair…
Dyon didn't move. He only looked. Scanning his master's eyes as though he was searching for a reason not to lash out.
In the next moment, the 25th White Mother did something that went against all of her instincts as a beast. Everything in her was yelling danger… Telling her to run away…
But she refused to abandon Dyon… Not again…
Tears sprinkled from her eyes as her soft lips planted a gentle kiss onto Dyon's forehead. Her arms wrapped around him tightly, cradling his head in her embrace.
"After everything was settled, the events were not a secret to the martial world. However, we soon found out why the entity allowed himself to be voluntarily sealed. He had placed his own seal on us, disallowing the harm and talk of what had transpired.
"That seal wasn't broken until 19 years ago, with your birth. However, people continued to follow it, not knowing that they were free of the burden."
What Dyon and his master didn't know is that Elder Daiyu and those under the rule of the entity were subject to a completely separate seal. One that acted on them to this day. This was why Elder Daiyu suffered a penalty for alluding to the truth of things when he spoke to Dyon just months prior.
Even now… He was under the power of the entity…
The 25th White Mother continued to hold Dyon, speaking softly.
"The mortal realm became a taboo. Nearly untouchable. If it wasn't for mortal realm technology becoming so powerful that they could threaten even weaker essence gathering martial artists, all ties would have been cut from the mortal realm entirely, so as not to anger the entity.
"However, you all continued to advance at such a rate that you could no longer be ignored. As such, so as to bend to the pressure left behind by the entity, weaker martial academies began to have yearly ceremonies in partnership with the mortal realm. This allowed friendly trade between us and your world, which allowed our cultures to mix to a certain extent.
"This was all meant to be for show, of course. Everyone knew that it should be impossible for a mortal to have enough talent to be accepted by the martial world. After all, your talent was sealed away.
"Until… You."
