Dyon sunk into deep thought. He wasn't new to the idea of constitutions hurting their host at all. For example, his own wife, Madeleine, would have died to her Goddess' Disposition if he hadn't found the remains of the Celestial Deer Sect, and thus awakened it for her. Of course, Akihiko claimed that he could do this for her as well, but his only plan was to steal her talent away.
It wasn't outside the realm of possibilities that these twin sisters could also have such a double edged constitution. And considering the state of this 98th quadrant, there was no way they could get their hands on the constitution awakening pill.
The only problem with this was that Dyon had never heard of such a constitution. Although he didn't research them as stringently as Clara had, he still had a rough idea about them all…
'I haven't heard of this constitution either,' The Dragon King continued. 'But, you're still a little too tender. Haven't you wondered why constitutions are constantly repeated? Why so many people share the same constitutions, even to the point where they've 'all' been documented and understood?
'There are 33 God Constitutions, 33 Heaven constitutions and 33 Earth constitions. This number is almost double if you consider the separation for both genders – although, not exactly double because there is some overlap between constitutions as some of them are gender neutral – do you know why this is?'
'I once hypothesized that constitutions existed as a clue left by the laws of the heavens. As though they were telling us that were should take all three core paths of cultivation, the soul, the body and their energies, seriously.'
'That's part of the truth.' The Dragon King said in slight surprise. 'However, it isn't the heavens who left this clue, it was the powerful members of a generation even older than mine.'
'You mean?'
'Constitutions are a more perfect form of the faith seed. Although they are generally less powerful, they also don't have the same drawbacks.
'It's a lot like how your aurora flames are. Ancient aurora flames are much more powerful, just like faith seeds are, however, if you tried to fuse them with your soul, you'd do irreparable harm to yourself. In the same way, if you rely too heavily of a faith seed, it will effect your cultivation in the future because your dao will no longer be your own.
'In order to use aurora flames, they had to be weakened and made more docile. Following this same logic, constitutions are generally seen as weaker than faith seeds, but they also don't put up the same road blocks to future cultivation.
'The reason this is, is because a group of ancient cultivators gave up their right to transcend to create these constitutions, imprinting their legacy across time.'
...
Soon, Dyon's tour of The Cathedral came to an end. Unfortunately, other than meeting the twin beauties, he didn't get much out of it. Of course, he still found gaining a deeper understanding of this quadrant valuable.
The twin sisters seemed genuinely disappointed that Dyon was going to leave so soon, but there was nothing they could do. As devoted members of the nunnery, they likely wouldn't be able to leave for the rest of their lives. At the same time, especially as orphans, they felt that they owed The Cathedral more than they could give. So, even if the opportunity was presented to them, in all likelihood, these two beauties would choose to stay.
"I'll come back to visit often!" Dyon said with a smile. Although the sisters couldn't see it behind his mask, they could feel his sincerity, and that was enough for them.
Watching Dyon leave, the two sisters felt the slight pang of loss.
"Who do you think he is, big sister?" Bella asked absentmindedly.
"Are we even sure that he's a he? He or she might have purposely changed their gender so that they'd be even more difficult to pin who they are…"
"Maybe… There are many more men than women amongst the core disciples. But, I asked him about his voice, how could he lie under our suggestion?"
Mia sighed. "Core disciples aren't existences that we can so easily underestimate. With our abilities, we still couldn't see through his cultivation. It's truly baffling."
The twin sisters greeted incoming guests before returning to their private conversation.
"You're right…" Bella muttered. They were among the very few with high soul talent that weren't forced to cripple their souls at birth. As for the reason, they were the people of The Cathedral. Of course they would receive benefits others wouldn't. But, at the same time, this kept them in the dark about many of the happenings of the 98th quadrant, while also making them complicit in many other things. Unfortunately, nothing was so black and white here…
"But, I feel like we can trust him… Our intuition has never been wrong."
"I heard that an important guest came here earlier today?" Suddenly, a voice startled the two silently talking sister. It was particular old and dry, completely void of emotion.
"Den Mother!" The two sisters replied respectfully.
Although the master of craftsmanship intent was their very first Den Mother, this position had obviously been passed down many times. The voice currently sounding in the ears of the two young girls was the current Den Mother of the nunnery.
"Yes, a core disicple came earlier." Mia answered in place of both of them.
"A core disciple?" The mind of the Den Mother immediately flew to one person. "Was it Dyon Jafari?"
Hearing this pointed question, the two sisters were a bit surprised. They didn't know much about the happenings of the outer world, but they did know what was told them by thei superiors. Among this information was both a picture and description of Dyon Jafari. For obvious reasons, The Cathedral wanted to keep an eye on him.
A major part of the reason the sisters immediately began by bewitching Dyon was exactly because of this information. Of course, they were aware that Dyon had become a core disciple. Normally, they only used their bewitching arts to hide their scars, but they took it a step further with Dyon, attempting to force him into telling the truth.
"We cannot confirm this, Den Mother. He or she was wearing a mask." Bella interjected.
"A mask?" A slight rage vibrated along with the Den Mother's voice. "Absolutely no regard for the rules! How dare you let him do as he please?!"
The shrill voice was like a thunder clap in the ears of the girls, causing them to immediately pale as a small stream of blood dripped from their cherry lips.
"Please rest your anger, Den Mother." Mia replied quickly. "If we insisted on him or her removing their mask, it wouldn't be in line with the core teachings of our Cathedral. It would do more harm than good. It would also prove that, in the case that he was in fact Dyon Jafari, that we were on guard against him, which is of no benefit to us."
"Hmph. Spend more time training your younger sisters as opposed to fantasizing about nonsense. You two diseased sisters don't have much longer to live anyway, you might as well do some good before you go." The Den Mother snorted, but she knew that Mia was correct. If Dyon had remained covert, and they learned of him through their channels of information, they could deal with him quietly. But, now that he had so publicly advertised himself, and even became a core disciple of their best sect in such overbearing fashion, it was impossible to deal with him as they pleased.
Plus, even if they exposed him as Dyon, it wasn't as though they could act against him right here. The twin sisters were far from strong enough to take on Dyon alone.
After this exchange, the Den Mother left the two girls with a cold sweat down their alluring backs. They didn't even dare to be angered…
However, it wouldn't be long after this that The Cathedral received reports that Dyon had in fact entered Cathedral City, but had left through teleportation station many hours before this mysterious masked core disciple ever stepped foot into The Cathedral.
For reasons even they didn't understand, the two sisters breathed a sigh of relief. They didn't like the idea of the person they so closely identified with also wanting to destroy the place they called home, it was too conflicting…
