Dyon immediately steeled himself. This was not a time to panic.
Deviations in cultivation where one would essentially go berserk were things he had read about. But, those materials weren’t helpful here.
Normal occurrences usually involved over-tempering meridians that could result in scarring or sheering, and maybe even them completely bursting apart. There had also been documented occurrences of people dying by trying to absorb higher level energies too soon, but that type of cultivation deviation would normally have to be fixed by an expert of that level taking the energy, all while the person in question stopped absorbing it.
But, how could Dyon stop absorbing saint energy right now? It just wasn’t possible. This was a break through, and as such, his soul wouldn’t be satisfied until it was filled to the brim. The only saving grace was that this universe had such a poor concentration of saint energy that Dyon had some time to think before he completely blasted apart.
‘Okay, think think think.’ Dyon stood oddly like a statue, all of his muscle tightened to their peak degree. He couldn’t move even an inch and he felt as though he was becoming a slowly inflated balloon. The worst part was that his soul was still threatening to become too powerful for his body to handle, and although the bulge wasn’t obvious now, he could feel his soul pushing against the barriers of his body.
Dyon didn’t even have time to think about the benefits of something like this, although he was sure there would be. After all, if he was dead, how would he enjoy anything?
‘I can’t panic. Panicking will only slow me down. I have to think about things from their simplest forms and work my way up.’
The first thing Dyon remembered was a seemingly useless piece of conversation he had had with the old man. He remembered very clearly that his grand teacher had said that he would never be able to sense saint energy because his body would never be able to withstand mastering an intent unless he reached the essence gathering stage. Something that was obviously impossible for him at the time because he had had a seal on his energy cultivation.
This let Dyon know a few things.
For one, the old man had no idea that sensing saint energy would be possible for Dyon as soon as his soul broke into the saint stages. That meant that this had never happened before – or else Dyon had no doubt that the old man would have known. And, if the old man had known, he would have without a doubt told Dyon and warned him, because he should have been aware that Dyon was only a single small leap from reaching a saint soul.
Although this information was seemingly damning, to Dyon, it was really important. That let him know that there was no need to waste time looking for solutions that others had come up with, because no one in history had dealt with what he was dealing with right now.
The second thing that Dyon thought of was energy. What was it about and what made it different.
Then his thoughts shifted to Gama. That was an amalgamation of wills and energy if Dyon remembered correctly. The old man spoke about how Gama was split into levels, but each level was the same in that they held every will in existence in combination with a comparable level of energy.
Then Dyon thought of qi and wills. Will outputs were known as qi because will power was dependent on a level of energy output, was it not?
This was the mind of an innate aurora wielder. The way they thought of and connected things reached levels a normal person couldn’t hope to reach, and Dyon’s mind only seemed to be thinking even faster with his life on the line.
But, there was one thing grating on Dyon.
In orthodox cultivation, you had to temper your meridians with wills to open them up to accept energy. However, it was also commonly understood that the more wills you used, the more powerful you were. This was why the best of clans didn’t bother with tempering with wills one by one, but instead used Gama energy to floor the meridians with every will.
However, how did those things connect? Why did using more wills allow for more energy acceptance? Couldn’t you just understand a single will incredibly well and then use that to open your meridians to their fullest extent? What was it about wills and their connection with meridians that made you more powerful if you used more? And how did that connect with energy?
Every avenue of thought brought Dyon more questions, and they were all seemingly dead ends.
Then Dyon thought of something else. His aurora. He used a form of energy to draw arrays to then change the laws of his surrounding, right? But, what kind of energy was that? What exactly was his aurora and what was it made of? It was clearly not a normal flame. And yet, at the same time, it was its own eye.
The aurora, or mind’s eye, seemed to contain a flame. That flame was of course the special energy that was used to either draw arrays or produce an alchemic flame. At the same time, that flame was among the best for manipulating energies. This was why Dyon was so good at dual cultivating. His ability to manipulate energy flows within others was unprecedented. How ironic…
To be able to control energy flow in others so well and yet be so lost when it came to himself.
His ability to control energies within himself was completely useless to him right now! The problem was energy control. It was the fact that the energy itself was too pure for him to handle. It’s flow into himself wasn’t something he could stop, but that didn’t mean that he had lost control of the energy itself. It was only that his soul was massive hole at the bottom of a lake, and the saint energy was the water in that lake.
And that water was killing him.
‘Fucking hell. No more thoughts of death. Focus.’
Dyon immediately continued his train of thought, refocusing on his aurora.
The aurora flame within his mind’s eye had its power dictated by his soul. At the same time, the power that the flame gained from the soul was used to power the eye and decide things like his 6th sense and the like.
But what exactly was that flame? Was it converting the energy to something else? Or was it maintaining the same energy?
In fact, what exactly was the soul made of? What did ‘reaching a new soul stage’ really mean?
In energy cultivation, it was simple. You reached a certain accumulation of energy, and as a result, you would reach a new stage. Each meridian could hold a finite amount of energy, however, that amount changed depending on a person’s body composition. For example, one of the main defining characteristics of what divided, normal, earth, heaven, God and Faith seed level bodies, was the size of their meridians.
However, what exactly was improved during soul cultivation?
Dyon knew that each time he cultivated his soul, he had to tear it apart before building it up. In the end, this was a lot like normal muscle training from the human world. That said, when muscles built themselves back up in thicker and larger sections, they didn’t do so with nothing. There was a reason why proper diet and rest was needed for muscles to grow. Why? Because they needed energy.
‘That means that when my soul is reforming, it’s using energy too. And this time, it needs a higher quality level of energy, which is why its absorbing saint energy. Great… Now I know why it’s killing me. I just need to know how to stop it.’ Dyon could help but roll his eyes and berate his own self with his personal brand of sarcasm.
That said, this was still an important thing to understand. Dyon’s soul was undergoing a new transformation and thus needed this energy. This meant that some possible solutions had to be ignored.
For one, Dyon immediately crossed off the Florence Family technique from his list of solutions. At first, he had thought that maybe if wills were technically forms of energy too, then the Florence family technique would be able to absorb saint energy.
However, therein lied a problem with that solution. If he took away the energy his soul needed to properly mend itself, then he’d be left with a broken soul. His array alchemy would suffer, and he might die anyway. He couldn’t afford that.
Suddenly a thought flashed in Dyon’s mind.
‘I’m such an idiot!’
If anyone heard Dyon, there would be a line going across universes to strangle him.
The truth was that every single thing Dyon had thought of had brought him to this solution. This solution was unorthodox and convoluted. The fact he had even thought up to this point with the pain he was in currently was a miracle unto itself.
The first thing Dyon had crossed of his list was the use of a saint expert to take the energy away from him. The truth was that there were a thousand demon generals with lower saint level cultivation in this very world. Although Dyon couldn’t move right now, if he sent a signal large enough, they would converge on his location. In fact, considering the commotion being caused by his break through and the vibrating of the world, it was likely that they were already headed here.
However, not even five seconds had passed since Dyon began thinking. If it had been any more time than that, he would have likely already died despite the low density of saint energy.
That aside, the main problem with that first solution was that this wasn’t cultivation deviation. His soul needed this saint energy to mend itself properly to the next level. Which mean no matter how much saint energy his demon generals diverted from him, only more saint energy would flood in to replace it.
The second solution that Dyon had shot down was using his Florence family technique to create a saint energy humanoid. And the reason was for the same reason. No matter how much he absorbed, his soul would only need more.
And that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that the technique wasn’t meant to absorb that kind of energy, although it would theoretically be possible.
So, after all of this, Dyon knew that the only solutions were to either somehow break his soul into a state where it was no longer on the verge of a break through. Or, to find a way for his body to be able to withstand saint energy.
Knowing those were his only two options, Dyon immediately chose to ignore the first. He refused to ruin his soul in such a way, especially since it would likely result in either death or a death-like state. If he was going to die, it would be while trying to reach perfection.
And that was when Dyon had thought of a solution.
In energy cultivation, in order to reach the essence gathering level, you had to first reach the level of a 7th grade expert – or a lower 6th stage. But, to reach the saint level, you had to be at least a 6th grade expert – or a lower 7th stage expert.
That gave Dyon a ray of hope to grasp on. He didn’t have to reach the peak level of essence gathering to withstand saint energy. He just needed to be the equivalent of whatever a lower 6th grade peak essence gathering expert was.
Dyon was already a peak first grade peak meridian formation expert, the distance he had to travel was shorter. Now, the question was how to travel that distance.
Just as Dyon was thinking this, flashes of figures began appearing before him. He couldn’t move his head, but those he could see were his demon generals.
“Dyon?”
Hearing the familiar voice, Dyon immediately knew it was Ri.
“Dyon, what’s wrong? How can we help?”
‘Eli? He’s awake?’
Dyon chuckled bitterly, “Sorry buddy, I can’t greet you right now.”
“Successor, why do I sense saint energy around you? You should be able to …” Faenor asked nervously. She would normally be teasing Dyon about being naked right now, but this situation seemed far too serious for that.
The inner world of the ring seemed to be crumbling under the strain. Something wanted to come in, but it wasn’t being allowed. It suddenly dawned on Dyon that maybe coming into the ring was a bad idea, it was too important for him to allow it to break.
‘Dammit.’
“I don’t have time to explain right now.” Dyon’s voice was strained. It had only been ten seconds since this whole process began.
He had intentionally sent Ri far from himself, but everyone had ended up converging on him anyway.
Although he couldn’t move, he remembered that he had given Ri partial ownership of the ring. Something she had needed when he was in a coma for four months.
“Ri, take me out of this world along with ten saint level demon generals. I need protectors.”
Dyon hadn’t given Ri ownership of the ring containing his celestial level puppets. If the situation called for it, he would have to first stabilize himself before he could call out for them.
Dyon had obviously never experienced a saint level event. But, if his manifestations appearance was any useful gauge, then he would need space… And a lot of it.
His manifestation had torn through the inner world that held Acacia Academy. He didn’t trust this ring to hold up.
Ri immediately nodded, her slim figure immediately appearing beside Dyon along with 10 saint demon generals.
Dyon had the utmost confidence in his demon generals. The saints of Earth couldn’t possibly be a match for them. Although Ri didn’t know what grade experts they were, Dyon was fully aware.
No demon general was below a peak second grade expert. And the best among them? The ones surrounding Dyon now? Were at least mid first grade experts.
The twelve of them immediately flashed out of the ring under Ri’s guidance, appearing in the hotel room and bursting out of the floor boards.
“Outside.” Dyon grit his teeth, struggling for the last of his sanity.
Ri wrapped her arm around Dyon’s solid torso, immediately stepping into a void and appearing outside.
With their sudden appearance in the air, the demon generals immediately followed, standing in the air with their long white hair flapping dangerously in the wind. Their previously cheery demeanor had completely changed. Dyon was a leader they put their trust in and his protection was their top priority.
It was early morning on the third day from Dyon and Ri’s stint in the Chaos Arena. Ri had tore through Dyon’s expectations and had already reached the second level of the meridian formation stage. But, she still had a long way to go to reach the peak – at least another week or two.
“Sorry, Ri. Give me some space, I don’t want you to get hurt. Keep away all those pesky people who want to catch a peak at your husband’s naked figure.”
Ri rolled her eyes, but still looked worriedly at Dyon as the stood on the hotel’s roof. Would he really be alright?
But, she had no choice but to let go and move away, leaping to an adjacent building as clouds began to roll in the skies.
The trembling of the earth and the shaking of the skies had caught the attention of the citizens of Arena City. But, maybe the most interested were those gathering experts of the planets. Why?… Because they could very clearly sense that someone was breaking into the saint realms. And yet, this was among the most powerful they had ever felt…. Who needed this much saint energy to break into the next level?
In normal circumstances, the break through into the saint stage would only require enough saint energy to fill a single meridian. The more talented you were, the more meridians you could fill in that one go. However, there was a cap at the peak of the first stage, or the equivalent of nine filled meridians.
But… This amount of saint energy was far more than was necessary to fill nine meridians… Even if this person had a faith seed. It was just too much.
That said, there was a group of people even more interested than the norm. The array alchemists of the planets who had converged days ago were still having a heated debate on how to deal with this demon sage. And tensions were only rising because it was clear to them that this demon sage had ignored their invite. However, when they felt the blanket of soul pressure cover the city, they couldn’t help but shiver. This soul… It was too powerful…
Royal God Clan Head Jafari. Royal God Clan Head Shruti. Royal God Clan Head Clyte. Royal God Clan Head Aumen. Royal God Clan Head Belmont.
The most powerful figures this universe had to offer. And yet, all of their attentions were focused on a singular point.
Their celestial cultivation bloomed as they blanketed the city to see just what was going on. Which of their planets was birthing such a genius? And since they were only just breaking into the saint realm… Didn’t that mean that they should be on the rankings?… Was it? The demon sage?!
Dyon stood as stiff as a statue, taking deep breaths as he continued to suppress his breakthrough. Giving Ri’s figure one last wink, he steeled himself and roared into skies.
His voice tore through everything, creating a vortex of black clouds as Dyon strained to move.
Slowly, but surely, he brought his arms together and focused his senses into a meditation stance.
And then… He did something absolutely ridiculous. Anyone looking at him thought only one thing: he has a death wish.
The Tree of Life and Death bloomed into existence, its branches spreading so far and wide that the vortex forming in the skies was nearly swallowed by it.
Thunder and lightning tore through the surroundings as Dyon did something completely idiotic.
Dyon’s rings flashed as pile after pile of saint stones appeared around him. He wasn’t satisfied until he had thousands laying across the room of the hotel.
And then… He began to absorb them…