There was another reason Dyon didn't like the idea of Jade running around freely, though. The memory of Miss Everdeen was still fresh in Dyon's mind and he would never forget his promise to have all who harmed her kneel in front of her tomb.
After having dealt with the Eostre family, only Jade was left.
Having heard what he needed to hear from Elder Daiyu, Dyon's features steeled as he prepared to absorb the last of his remaining soul.
'Wait.'
The Dragon King's voice suddenly sounded through Dyon's ears.
"Is something wrong?"
'You'd be wasting a good opportunity if you crudely absorbed his soul like this. Even though his daos are damaged, they were still once formed. Normally, it would be impossible to take advantage of something like this, but you're a special case. Use the Soul Tome.'
A sudden realization dawned on Dyon. A portion of the Soul Tome's function, aside from cleansing, almost worked like a seal. It was capable of taking things and inscribing them within its pages for future use. Also, by utilizing Dyon's array alchemy talent, within certain boundaries, it can convert those things directly into absorbable arrays which can be used to learn anything instantly.
Basically, while anyone would only be able to watch helplessly as those daos disappeared from the world, Dyon was likely the only person in existence with not one, but two methods of stopping that from happening. He could either use his seal or the soul tome!
However, using The Seal would require a constant strain on his stamina. In peak condition, this would be negligible to Dyon. But, right now? It was literally the difference between life or death.
Luckily, he had the soul tome. It could store things passively, without Dyon's soul aiding in binding it!
That said, there was still something troubling Dyon.
"Dragon King… If I absorb these shattered and remnant daos into the soul tome, will they really be helpful?"
Dyon's worry wasn't baseless. After all, he knew first hand the important of establishing your own dao heart. If he learned from the comprehension of others, wouldn't he be handicapping himself all while setting himself up for a massive backlash in the future? It all seemed counter intuitive.
'It is important to build your own daos, yes. However, these daos, even in their shattered state, can be useful for plenty of things.
'For one, there's weapons. Attaching a dao to a weapon is incredibly difficult, but it's also the main step in forging a legendary path piece of equipment. The dao supplies the energy so you don't have to.
'Secondly, all daos of the same vein originate from the same origin. Even if his path diverges from yours, utilizing his comprehension will still speed up yours as long as your one with heart is firm.
'And that leads to the third benefit. This is a very ancient and almost masochistic method, but it's one I believe suits you very much. You've seen how the strength of one's one with heart can be shattered by those with superior cultivation, right?'
Dyon looked off into the distance at the still chained hand and couldn't help but agree. They were still thousands, if not tens of thousands, of miles away, and yet Dyon always felt this formless pressure. He had always believed himself to be arrogant without bounds, and yet somehow this entity still made him feel like his will was nothing compared to its…
'Truth be told, the mere fact you can stand here without falling to your knees is already a testament to either your stupidity or arrogance. But, I have to say I like your attitude regardless. So, I'll teach you something.'
A look of interest surfaced on Dyon's features. He knew that the Dragon King had many legacies within it. In fact, it might reach into the millions considering how many life times it had gone through by taking over bodies.
"Does this mean you can teach me Dragon Soul too?" Dyon asked, expectantly.
'Impossible. You don't have any dragon blood within you. Your Demon Sage was so arrogant that he never mixed his blood with anything else than his own. Do you understand now why that thing said your arrogance is fake? It doesn't run deeply enough to compare to the man you're succeeding, let alone me.'
Dyon could only shake his head at this. He was arrogant, but there were things he placed above his arrogance as well. If it meant saving the life of people he cared about, he wouldn't hesitate to bow down. What was pride in the face of the death of a loved one?
But, this was exactly what the entity had seen through. That said, Dyon didn't agree. To him, arrogance could come in many forms.
Maybe in other situations, others might be 'more' arrogant than he was. But in a situation where it meant the life and death of those he cherished, there wasn't a soul who could compare to him.
"You mean I can't body cultivate to that point?" Dyon asked this, but he already knew the answer. If the demon sage – a man known as maybe the greatest body cultivator to ever live – hadn't been able to, then it was likely impossible.
'Humans simply do not have the connection to the universe we do. Dragons exist to embody arrogance and sovereignty. This is what the universe birthed us to do. You would have to create new laws for yourself in order to use Dragon Soul without dragon blood.'
Dyon nodded in understanding. It wasn't all bad, maybe in the future he could find potent enough dragon essence… Although he highly doubted it. That said, he still had the Dragon King. For a hefty strain on his soul, he could use Dragon Soul as well by relying on it.
"So, what did you want to teach me?" Dyon turned his attention back to the topic at hand. He hadn't forgotten that Loki was still some distance behind him, nor had he given up thoughts on helping to end this war.
'It's an ancient technique that likely no longer exists in this world. If you want to stand on the pinnacle of the world with an unshakeable dao, this is the only way to do it.'
