Dyon soon stood in a vague world, filled with dense black fog. The only thing that filled his vision with any sort of light were seven doors, seeping dense fog of their own, but also illuminated by a faint dark gold light around their edges.
There wasn't much thought for Dyon to understand just what these doors were, after all, he had been preparing himself for this ever since he learned the secret of the Epistemic Tower.
The left most four doors were levels available to non-key wielders. They were split into Viscount, Earl, Marquesses and Duke. It didn't take much of a stretch to understand just why those Dukes and Duchesses were so proud of their talent. Aside from key wielders, they had successfully weathered to trials of the peak most trials available.
However, Dyon didn't spare a single second on these doors. The truth of the matter was that he had no obligation to enter the key wielder doors, but would he really be Dyon Sacharro if he took it easy on himself? No. He hadn't thought of doing so for even a moment.
The right most three doors had grasped Dyon's attention the most. These were split into King… Emperor… And God.
According to Dyon's knowledge, it was actually possible for non-key wielders to enter the King and Emperor doors. However, they had to first pass the Duke doors sufficiently. And, obviously, if they wanted to enter the Emperor doors, they would have to pass the King trials sufficiently. Only a key wielder could completely circumvent such requirements.
However, the God doors were different. No matter what you did as a normal Epistemic Tower participant, you could not enter any God related events without a key. If you reached the Emperor ranks, your only option would be to challenge your quadrant's key wielder.
It was also possible to challenge the key wielder of another quadrant, but the rules and restrictions for doing so made it much more difficult. As such, it was a rare occurrence.
Taking a deep breath, Dyon settled his emotions.
The softness in his heart became rigid. His pulse steadied. His hazel eyes darkened.
He stood there as dark fog seemed to engulf him. A man with nothing but the clothes on his back and a black wrist band that no longer responded to his calls.
Normal individuals took their everything to pass these trials. In fact, if one entered any one of these doors, expecting it to be easy, only death of their body and spirit awaited them. And yet, Dyon planned to do so without his wills, energy cultivation, or soul.
Some would see this as a foolish move. In fact, even Dyon didn't know if this would necessarily be smart. But, he knew that if he wanted to build his dao heart to follow his own path, compromising because of difficulty was something he couldn't do.
An hour passed before the Dyon capable of hugging his little siblings disappeared. What was left was a man absorbed in his hatred and his singular pursuit of strength.
Dyon's dark eyes looked up, his gaze tearing through the void and landing on the God door.
In the next instant, Dyon appeared before it, pushing apart the large and heavy doors.
All he left to the outside world was a lonely back etched with intricate tattoos.
Dyon's grand teacher watched this from afar, finally understanding just what Dyon meant by a show. It truly wasn't often that one stepped up to the God level trials, but to do so in Dyon's state was another level of insanity all together.
'I can't do much for you… But, I can at least make sure that your soul doesn't act up in the mean time… Good luck.'
**
Within the tower, there were 9 floors for foundation stage levels, and 12 for every cultivation level beyond. However, this only mattered for non-key wielder trials. In those cases, there would be a new challenge to meet for every floor.
In Dyon's case, and in the case of anyone taking a King or above trial, there were only 5 tasks to deal with. That said, anyone with common sense would understand that these trials were not easier just because of their lesser number.
The moment Dyon walked in, his vision was blinded as the gate automatically noted that his bone age was 18 years old. Taking this into account, it automatically adjusted the difficulty of the trials to scale appropriately before sending Dyon into his very first trial.
When the lights cleared and Dyon could finally see his surroundings, he was surprised to find himself in a maze.
He stood at the very center with oddly placed and curved walls all around him. There seemed to be six choices for his starting point, each completely identical to the other. It was safe to say that there was no obvious choice of maze entrance.
The atmosphere was dark, and although Dyon's first idea was to try and soar above the maze walls, he found that when he leaped up hundreds of meters using the strength of his legs, the walls increased in height along with him. When he unleashed his wings and tried to out pace the walls, they seemed to have an endless ability to increase in speed.
It was truly frustrating. The walls never increased in height any more than they needed to, so Dyon was caught in a cycle of just barely being able to peak over, but never quite being able to.
It was clear that for this trial, no cheating would be allowed.
After understanding this point, Dyon didn't hesitate. He immediately picked a random direction and entered the maze. With his every movement, he etched more and more of the maze into his mind.
He had to admit that the mental fatigue of doing such a thing without the support of his soul was exceedingly high. It seemed it had taken for granted the kind of replenishing effect the soul could have on his mind and its stamina. It was no wonder that he could always be so focused, he had his soul to thank.
