Just as Elder Conli was about to reach Laura, a massive explosion resounded in his heart, causing him to cough up blood and fall from the sky.
He looked up in shock to find a goddess descending with a look of rage on her face. But, it didn’t make sense. A celestial who just broke through, using a dao?! What was going on?!
Dyon laid in the rumble of a mountain, trying to move, but not having the muscles intact to do so. If his soul wasn’t still burning with such fire, there was no doubt that he would be dead right now.
Dyon wanted nothing more than to heal himself and help Amphorae, but he couldn’t! The only way such an overwhelming formation could be put in place, allowing him to teleport at will and use power far surpassing his own, was for it to be set to a limited space. The range of a few hundred miles of the Angel Clan was well within Dyon’s control, although being closer to the middle of the spiritual vein allowed him to heal much quicker. However, Dyon had been directly blown out of that range! Not only could he not help Amphorae, he couldn’t even help his own self!
Dyon’s mind roared with unwillingness, could this really be how he died? With his soul sealed, at best he could keep his mind working. He couldn’t even go and steal another body because his soul wouldn’t be able to leave until his Inner World was finished. But, for his Inner World to finish, he needed energy cultivation. But, with his meridians destroyed, how could he have anything of the sort?!
In the distance, Luna sat pale faced, unable to stop her petite body from trembling. The moment Luna heard her sister being threatened, her control crumbled to dust. Unable to control the energy anymore, Dyon was forced to withstand the burden with his own mental energy, but that immediately went horribly.
It was as though they were playing a game of musical chairs and Luna had pulled the seat Dyon had chosen out form under him. At first, Dyon had been prepared to limit himself to one or two daos at the most to limit his consumption and maximize his effectiveness, but Luna’s help allowed him to use even five or six without any burden at all. The moment Luna’s help vanished, Dyon was bombarded with fatigue his mind could only barely handle, making his attack with Poison dao far weaker than it should have been and destroying his calculations.
Dyon was aware that there was a good possibility that the Energy Core could probably control the energy within the spiritual vein. The problem was that it was within his Inner World, completely sealed away from his senses. The only reason he was even aware he had it was because his soul had forcibly broken its restraints to break through to the celestial level, thus allowing him to notice the oddity. However, afterwards, he had once again been cut off from his Inner World.
That aside, when Luna saw Dyon still put his life on the line, even after she lost control, what Amphorae had said finally clicked with her.
“To be by his side is a privilege, not a burden…” Luna croaked, unable to deal with her guilt. She told herself that she had lost control because Elder Conli threatened her sister, but was that really true? Was it unintentional? She could control energy since her youth as easily as breathing, would she lose control so easily? And so quickly?
At that moment, all of the good feelings she had built up, thinking she had done something good, completely shattered, scattering with the wind.
Amphorae viciously plucked the strings of her harp, each note digging a hole into Elder Conli’s heart and causing him to cough up blood without question.
“Second Verse: Maiden’s Tears!”
“Third Verse: A Lonely Back!”
“Fourth Verse: Sorrow’s Vengeance!”
“Fifth Verse: Betrayal’s Blood!”
“Sixth Verse: Goddess’ Descent!”
Amphorae’s every word was accompanied by a melody of grief and pain. Even as her lips dripping with blood, and her snow-white skin tore apart, she didn’t stop for even a moment.
She knew this would happen from the very beginning. She was a mere celestial, the only reason she could use the dao of music to begin with was because she was the creator of the will. As the creator, why would she need to go the same stages as everyone else? She was immediately granted a full understanding, and could thus wield it if she chose… But… That came at a price…
The body of a celestial couldn’t withstand dao levels of energy… It was the very reason Dyon was forced to use his glaive. However, Amphorae’s lyre was a treasure of the 33 Heavens. Not only was it a burden for her to use her music dao, it was an even greater burden to use the treasure at all!
Even Dyon, with his overwhelming soul talent, could barely use his Aurora Steps for a few minutes before running out of energy. Knowing this, plucking even a single string for Amphorae while she was a mere celestial should have been enough for her to fall from the skies completely drained.
However, she kept herself awake, forcibly absorbing energy from the atmosphere through her wings and withstanding her body turning to mush from the inside out. Even if she died, she would have no regrets because she was doing this to protect the person she cared the most for…