After a single top 1 finish, although it was shocking, especially considering the margin of victory, displacements of the first place on one ranking were rare, but not to the point of being completely shocking.
Every so often, there would be a genius who excelled in one particular facet of cultivation, and was thus highly suited to passing a given trial. As such, they might do well on one ranking, but not even place in another. It was only true geniuses that placed well on at least three rankings… As for those that placed first one multiple… It had never occurred before in the history of the Epistemic Towers!
Even then, maybe it would be acceptable if the margin of victory was within reason, but in both cases, Dyon completely obliterated the record!
On the first ranking, he was the first to gain a "perfect" completion, with referred to finishing in ten years or less. Yet, Dyon did it in less than two!
On the second ranking, he completed a trial no one had ever completed before! Maybe others had come close, but even then, it took them decades within the second trial world to do so. Yet, Dyon had done what they couldn't do in 7 days!
Even worse, if those who took the trial remembered correctly, the 7th day was the day the opposing army attacked. Which means Dyon waited for them to attack, before annihilating them in a single day! What kind of ridiculous concept was that?!
If all of this wasn't shocking enough, this young man wasn't from any of the top ten quadrants. In fact, he was from the quadrant that had been ranked at the very bottom for the last several thousand years!
They normally wouldn't know this, but it was too obvious by now. Every time Dyon's name shot up a ranking, the Celestial Deer Quadrant also shot up the rankings.
Before, it had gone from number 100 to 81. But now, it directly went to the 67th spot.
What all of these people didn't know was that over the next few years, it would continue to climb to ridiculous levels. This was because the Demon Generals were still taking their own trials! In addition, Ri, Madeleine and Clara had yet to take theirs.
**
Within the Epistemic Tower inner world, on the peak saint floor, there was a Palace bathed in white snow and made of pearls stood tall. Its white gates almost blinded those who looked upon them, while its ice sculptures had a certain dignified elegance to them that made the space otherworldly.
This was the domain of the Snow Family young geniuses, members of the Kitsune Clan, and from the 30th ranked quadrant. It also happened to be the place with Alexandria Sacharro was currently residing.
Much like many weaker quadrants, the 30th ranked quadrant wasn't monopolized and was thus shared by two power-house clans. The Kitsune Clan and the Shruti Clan. They had been enemies of many years, but they still cooperated on occasion when it came to the safety of their quadrant as a whole. This was because if the didn't work together, they wouldn't have the power a 30th ranked quadrant should have.
That said, if only the Kitsune Clan was taken into account, they would still have the power of a quadrant ranked around the 40s to 50s. This was because as you shot up the rankings, the strengths of them would grow exponentially. This was why although Dyon's first, first place finish shot him up 19 places, his second, first place finish only shot his quadrant up 14.
Within a room of the Palace sat an otherworldly beauty wearing robes of white. Her blue-silver hair lay gently down her back, but her eyes were covered in an opaque visor. Despite the blocking of her eyes, everything from the delicate curve of her lips, to the adorable point of her nose, and the slender slant of her cheeks, reached the utmost perfection.
Behind her, ten tails radiating a pure white aura lay quietly, only subtly moving occasionally and Ri sat in meditation.
Suddenly, a necklace on her neck glowed. It was subtle, but Ri could clearly feel it. After a moment, the one tranquil Ri smiled brightly before it vanished and she returned to her meditation, the fierceness in her hidden eyes growing.
**
Much like her two sworn sisters, Madeleine Sacharro had set off on her own adventure as well, entering the 4th ranked Quadrant and joining the Flaming Lily Sect.
This quadrant was one known for its fire cultivation and it was rumored that the Golden origin flame was also somewhere hidden within its realms. This was the very same flame that the Aumen family of Dyon's universe hoped they would one day find, but that was a story for another time.
Because of the nature of Ri and Clara's missions, they knew it was smarter for no one to know that they were the wives of Dyon as that would only be detrimental. Although they both made it clear they had a husband, they didn't give any more information other than that. However, Madeleine's goal was slightly different, as such, from the very beginning, she made it clear that her name was Madeleine Sacharro.
As expected, this filled the Flaming Lily Sect with great excitement.
At first, that last name didn't mean much to them. However, after yesterday, when Dyon's name resounded through the quadrants, many of the elders convened with Madeleine to find out if they were connected. When they found out that Dyon was actually Madeleine's husband, their moods soared!
This was truly the chance for their Flaming Lily Sect to rise.
In truth, the Flaming Lily Sect was a women's only sect. So, many of their best disciples remained unmarried. However, this wasn't a rule, it was just how things happened to occur.
Because the disciples of the Flaming Lily Sect were so talented, obviously, considering they could hold their own in the 4th ranked quadrant, it was often difficult for men to impress them. This was because even if a man was more powerful than you were, or even more talented, that didn't mean they could capture your heart. As a result, the ladies of the Flaming Lily Sect had an ingrown arrogance that made them turn their noses up at men.
However, it wasn't all of them that were like this. Almost hilariously, there was a steep divide that split the Sect into two even factions. One side refused to marry, while the other side had entire reverse harems of men. It was truly a funny twist.
Luckily, unlike those disgusting Ice Sects which forced women to seal off their emotions, a fire based sect like theirs did no such thing, allowing their women to be free as long as they helped the sect in their times of need.
This was why Dyon chose this sect for Madeleine after going through ridiculous amounts of information provided by his grand teacher. Not only would Madeleine be welcomed with open arms because of her Amethyst faith seed, their relationship wouldn't be barred. Dyon did this because he knew if he had one other bullshit clan try to stop him from seeing his Madeleine, he might rage to the point of even uprooting that clan's innocents.
That aside, despite being a female only sect, its members having powerful male counterparts was very good for them. This was because there was heavy competition within the 4th quadrant. In fact, there were exactly 4 Emperor God Sects within their quadrant, splitting their 100 universes into even shares of 25. As such, many were vying for the upper hand constantly.
In times of struggle, the Flaming Lily Sect relied on the powerful husbands of its members to maintain its position.
In truth, it wasn't that they didn't want to admit men into their sect, but rather that their legacies were tailored to the female body. If men practiced it, not only would it be slow, it would be detrimental to their vitality.
After understanding all of this, and knowing that they weren't just a bunch of men hating, closet nymphomaniacs, Dyon felt much better about sending his first love there. At least there, she could grow stronger in peace while also subtly laying the floor for his plans.
At the moment, though, Madeleine wasn't thinking about any of this. Instead, she was beaming as the women around her praised her husband incessantly.
"Aiyah, Madeleine, where did you find this one. I can't believe the both of you came from that pitiful quadrant."
"He's definitely one man I'd consider joining the harem of. If an angel like Junior Sister Madeleine can fall for him, he has to be a good guy."
