Unseen Peak was actually one of 5 peaks that acted as subordinate sects to the leading sect of this 98th ranked quadrant.
As much as Dyon wanted to just go directly to the leading sect, known simply as Soul Rending Peak, there were certain rules he needed to abide by.
In order to earn a right to participate in a selection exam for Soul Rending Peak, one needed one of two things. The first was a recommendation from a sect elder of that peak. Obviously, Dyon didn’t have such a thing.
The second possibility was to earn a participation spot from the subordinate peaks. So, that was what Dyon was doing now.
Technically, he had long since missed the registration period for Unseen Peak. It was too bad that things would never be so convenient for him. However, he didn’t regret spending the time he did with his wives.
All of that said, that didn’t mean he was willing to wait half a year for the next entrance exam. That was because the selection exam for Soul Rending Peak was in just a few weeks. If he waited for Unseen Peak’s next exam, on top of waiting those 6 months, he would have to wait yet another 6 months for the next Soul Rending Peak exam.
Clearly, Dyon didn’t feel up to wasting so much time. So, he decided to head straight to Unseen Peak. Did he really need to put a place with mere peak saints for elders in his eyes? He’d steal a placement if need be.
Truth be told, Dyon was only having such thoughts because he was disgruntled. Dealing with such heavy suppression, while also having to trek up such a long trail was pissing him off. If it wasn’t for the fact he could idly chat with his wives as he did so, he would have flown into a rage long ago.
As one might expect, that rage also made him think silly things. Even Dyon would have to take those elders of Unseen Peak seriously considering the suppression he was under.
Realizing this, he couldn’t help but ask Madeleine a question. “How did you adapt to the Golden Flame Quadrant’s suppression.”
Madeleine, who was currently organizing her supplies for the coming trials responded. “After I was officially accepted by the Flaming Lily Sect as an Inner Disciple, I felt the suppression loosen a bit, but it’s still there. I suspect that unless I become a Legatee, it won’t ever truly disappear.
“But, luckily, it doesn’t seem like gates are a place you have to deal with that suppression in.”
Dyon nodded. The gates were a neutral place and although they didn’t all have epistemic towers within them, they were still connected and heavily related.
From Dyon’s understanding, there were 5 tiers a disciple fell into. The first was working disciple, the lowest tier. Then there was the outer disciple, then the inner disciple, then the core disciple. Finally, there was the Legatee disciples.
Considering Madeleine’s words, depending on your level of integration into a clan or sect, you received a certain level of protection from their faith. By this logic, only the faith level given to a Legatee could completely eradicate this suppression. However, just how rare was such a thing?
“I’m more surprised that the suppression you’re facing is so heavy… It doesn’t seem any weaker than the level of suppression I faced.”
Dyon could only sigh. This was supposed to be an easy mission, yet things had already gotten off on the wrong foot. He couldn’t even remember sweating this much during his trials. How ridiculous.
At some point, Dyon began blaming those fancy clothes Ri made him wear.
**
Nearing the end of the afternoon, Dyon found a stream and decided take a dip to cool himself off. Under Clara’s berating, he triple checked to make sure no women were conveniently taking a bath along with him before diving in.
The cool water wrapped around his body, causing him to sigh in relief. At that moment, he couldn’t help but wonder what level of suppression his quadrant had… ‘If Saru wasn’t suppressed when I fought her back then, would I have still won? What about Zabia?…’
Just as Dyon was thinking, he heard the rustling of some leaves from the edge of the forest. He didn’t particularly care if he was seen stark naked, so he only casually looked over to see what was going on. Although Dyon’s hearing was outstanding, he didn’t actually need it here, which he found odd.
Any martial warrior who could enter these mountains should have long since learned how to silence their footsteps. Maybe not to the extent Saru’s had with her music will silencing steps, but it should, at the very least, be at the point where their footsteps didn’t sound like thunder going off in Dyon’s head.
The reason was simple, this mountain range was filled with decent leveled beasts. To walk around that loudly was just asking to get attacked.
Soon, Dyon saw the masochist pair appear at the edge of the clearing to the stream. It seemed his luck wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t too great either.
One of the two was quite a nice-looking beauty. She had dark hair and large, watery brown eyes. If one had to describe her figure, it would be somewhere between Luna’s petite stature and Madeleine’s overwhelming voluptuousness. She wore what looked like black disciple robes with a distinct insignia over her left chest. If Dyon’s information was correct, she wasn’t from Unseen Peak, but was rather, a core disciple of Soul Rending Peak.
The other was a male wearing white disciple robes, with a different insignia over his left chest. From Dyon’s understanding, this made him a Legatee disciple of Unseen Peak.
This said, maybe their most distinct characteristics was the wild and blooming blush on the young lady’s face and the unbridled anger on the male’s.