These elders had no way of knowing that the two Dyons they were laughing about was the same person. However, they were right about one thing: Killing a Duke was no small matter.
After being held to such a low ranking for so long, the public was yearning for more. But, they had no choice but to swallow their frustrations because they simply didn't have talented enough young geniuses.
Maybe the most troublesome part about all of this was that this was only considered public knowledge in about five or so of the main and strongest universes of their quadrant. As for the remaining number? Information was completely censored in addition to travel being heavily restricted.
According to The Cathedral, this was for the sake of safety of those weaker individuals. But, intelligent people knew different…
One might wonder at this point, with so much censorship and monitoring, how did Dyon enter this quadrant so easily?
Dyon was wondering this too. However, he didn't have an answer just yet. It seemed he would have to slowly find out why such an air-tight quadrant had such a seemingly large hole in their system.
That aside, this information was well known to the main and most prosperous universes of the 98th quadrant. As such, many powerful families and sects resided here. After being suppressed by The Cathedral for so long, they were already pissed off and disgruntled. It was just that The Cathedral was very good at manipulating public opinion and diverting the attention of families to lesser matters. However, if they gave these families a blatant reason to team up, although The Cathedral would still win in the end, that didn't mean they wouldn't suffer a loss.
Therefore, they had to do things carefully. It was likely that by now, with their robust information networks, they already knew about Dyon's appearance and were already planning…
**
Within the very same universe, on the very planet Soul Rending Peak resided on, the largest city of the quadrant stood: Cathedral City!
The hallmark of this lofty city, the former stomping grounds of the Jafari family, was the massive pearl and silver laden Church that stood mightily at its center, as though it was a Palace rather than the place of worship that it was.
This Universe had 6 inhabitable planets, one of which was this Planet Cathedral. As for the other 5 plants, they were reserved for the branches of the main forces that resided on this planet. These, of course, included Unseen Peak, where Dyon was currently residing.
Currently, within the seemingly pure and holy church, dark forces were moving within. Surprisingly, their actions had little to do with Dyon, but it seemed Dyon's matters were a convenient addition to their topics of discussion.
… In the Cathedral Basement …
"How's the month's quota?"
"Above expectations, but nothing too crazy. We've had a steady flow of revenue for the past few millennia."
"That's good. The Sapientia Quadrant Centennial Auction is coming up soon, without enough capital, we won't be able to compete with those top quadrants."
"To be still worried about such a thing, you're such a money grubber Old Ten. We've been accumulating this wealth for thousands of years, we long since had enough wealth to compete. Unless, you've been skimming off the top and there's something we should be worried about?"
Old Ten froze before narrowing his eyes. Even as a passing joke, saying such a thing was practically a death sentence considering who they were working for. None of them would dare to do such a thing.
"Why so serious Old Ten? There's no need to take the ramblings of an old man seriously."
Seeing the tension, another robed elder cut in. "Forget it, Old Twelve, you know better than to say such things.
"That aside, we all know how inconvenient it is for our employers to cross into our quadrant. However, they have a much easier time sending less noticeable members of the younger generation. Their Devil Qi isn't so potent yet, and is, as such, untraceable."
"Why are you telling us this?"
"Isn't it obvious, idiot? He's warning you brash fools not to treat them like children just because they are, unless you want to die an ugly death."
The elder who cut the tension the first time once again interjected. "Old Ten. Old Twelve. I won't say it again. I usually tolerate your squabbles, but my rope length is at 0 for the coming months.
"The Dark Elf Clan, The Fulgur Black Clan, The Infernal Beast Clan, The Eclipse Sect, and even Nightmare Palace have all sent representatives."
The air was sucked out of the room the moment these clans were listed… Each one was more legendary than the next.
The Dark Elf Clan were a former branch of the Elvin Kingdom that fell into demonic practices. However, unlike Elves that innately had Earth level constitution, Dark Elvin bodies were innately Heaven level!
The Fulgur Black clan was a family of black lightning cultivators and were among the few to survive prying apart the secrets of the most imposing and mysterious will in all of existence!
The Infernal Beast Clan was the peak most enemy of the Celestial Beast Clans, being their equivalent in power, while also following the Demonic Path!
The Eclipse Sect was a faction built on a legendary cultivation technique surpassing the peak divine level!
However, none of these four clans and sect held a candle to Nightmare Palace that ruled them all…
Maybe the most shocking part was that if anyone outside this room heard these talks and saw these reactions, they would be confused beyond belief… Because despite being so imposing and undoubtedly easily as powerful if not more so than the top three quadrants of the cosmos… The names of these clans were completely unknown….
The question was, in a plane of existence that was sure to only have 100 quadrants and 10 000 universes. In a plane of existence where every powerful clan was on full display for all to see… Just where did these contenders come from?
...
"W… Why? Why would they send so many experts?"
"I do not know the details, but they definitely wouldn't send so many young geniuses into such a dangerous environment for no reason.
"It's like a combination of the Sapientia Auction, making sure that their investments are panning out, as well as that Epistemic Tower event coming up…"
The elders furrowed their brows. "What event? Why haven't I heard of this?"
"Of course you wouldn't have heard of it. Our best geniuses are only Dukes. Even that bastard child Dyon we got a report on a few hours ago, is nothing before those geniuses meant to participate in this event. Our small quadrant wouldn't need information on it because we don't stand a chance anyway."
One of the elders laughed, "Are you planning on letting that child do as he please? Although he's nothing but an ant and a frog in a well, he's quite a large fish in our quadrant. You all know that those devil clans won't have a use for us for much longer, at that time, all of our problems will have to be dealt with by us. It'll become much more difficult to hold onto our position of power at that time."
"Handling that child won't be easy. If he had decided to stay in the dark, and our information network sniffed him out, getting rid of him would be as easy as flipping a hand. However, by now, his name is too well known."
"Hmph, the only reason he'd be so well known so quickly is because those elders of the Unseen Peak spread it out intentionally despite saying they wouldn't do anything to help him."
"It hardly matters. He's a mere 1st stage essence gatherer who happens to know some body refining. He's not a match for even Soul Rending Peak's core disciples, let alone being a threat to us. If you really want to get rid of him, just do it during this year's assessments."
"How's that?"
"Just change the rules up a bit." The elder said with a shrug that made it clear he could care less. "Since he's a Duke, just give him an opportunity to become a Legatee of Soul Rending Peak by defeating one of their two current Dukes. Then, have them kill him."
"We don't even have to try that hard." Another elder said mysteriously. "Remember, he said that he was a Duke of the 74th quadrant, you all know what that means, right?"
The eyes of the elders widened. "He's being suppressed!"
