The old man coughed.

Laughing bitterly, he wiped blood from the corner of his lips, ‘To think such a pathetic showing of power would put me in this state…’

He would never tell Dyon this – partially because of his pride, and partially because that brat was too serious when it came to things like this – but something like projecting a technique through so many dimensional barriers was too much for him in his old age.

Even worse, when he had felt like Dyon would die, he had extended the time past his limit. That small extra fractions of a second may have seemed like nothing in the face of 6 months, but that was only if you didn’t consider how far the old man was already pushing himself to match that 6-month total in the first place.

In fact, because of the old man’s kindness, Dyon was able to reach a state where he thought his death was inevitable, and yet it didn’t occur. Because of that extra split second, Dyon was able to grab onto life, deepening his understanding of death and increasing his life by increments.

By the time the old man couldn’t hold on any longer, Dyon had taken the reigns, fighting for his life himself.

‘He’s laid down a one with heart for himself that will make it exceedingly difficult to move forward in… His comprehension is already at the one with soul level, and yet his intent is still stuck at one with heart. The universe isn’t so easy to toy with Dyon… There may come a point where it’s impossible to move forward, even with all the arrogance in the world…

How will you react then? Will you stay your course?… Or will your heart crumble along with your life?…’

**

Dyon held onto Ri and Madeleine tightly as he sent an unwavering gaze toward Patriarch Ragnor.

“A look?” Dyon responded coolly, “If you were as old as you say you were, then shouldn’t you be aware that cultivation is a private matter by now?

If that isn’t the case, I’d very much like to take a look at your clan’s lightning tribulation technique. I hear it makes the heavens so angry that stepping into the saint realm is nearly impossible for you all, that must be quite the grand technique. How about it?”

Dyon had heard about this technique long ago. When he eavesdropped on a conversation between Elder Daiyu and Elder Kami at Focus Academy, they had spoken about how the Ragnors likely placed so much importance on the blood sacrifice technique because their lightning techniques made it nearly impossible to survive the lightning tribulations of stepping into the saint realm and beyond.

Tribulations often came hand in hand with increasing cultivation. Although the heavens ignored body and soul cultivation in terms of these trials, energy cultivation was never ignored in such a way.

The reason was simple. As Dyon had lamented during his fighting for his life, his demon generals had higher comprehension ability than he did because of their saint cultivation. This was because higher forms of energy gave way to better connections with the universe. This was why it was necessary to comprehend an intent before you could become a saint!

With each successive step up in energy quality – from essence to saint, from saint to celestial, and from celestial to enigmatic – the connection with the universe deepened again and again. And, no step gave a deeper connection than becoming a transcendent being!

As such, martial warriors underwent four tribulations. One for saint hood, one for the celestial stage, one for dao formation, and yet another for transcending.

In addition to this, the universe would often become angry and cast down tribulations for mastering supreme laws. However, it would only be a showcase of anger. There would be no real trial unless a warrior attempted to form a dao on the basis of a supreme law. That is when the universe would truly act. This was also what made the tribulation of dao formation among the most dangerous.

Of course, these tribulations were based on talent. Dyon was quite lucky to not have to face tribulations for his soul, or else his likelihood of survival would be near non-existent. But, this was where the problem for the Ragnors came into play.

Because of their techniques, lightning was essentially the most comfortable thing in the world for a Ragnor. This meant that if they faced trials that were similar to those on their level, it would be much too easy, and the universe understood this.

As a result, Ragnor trials were something of a death sentence for many of them. The cruel reality shaped much of the Ragnor culture, making much of them twisted and depraved – after all, they were basically sentenced to death from the very start of their lives. Dyon would never have sympathy for those who handled their fate like Baal or Vidar did, but that didn’t mean he didn’t understand.

Patriarch Ragnor’s eyes flashed with something imperceptible, but other than that, his smile didn’t change, “I would be more than willing to show you the technique, if it was under my power to do so. However, as you know, we are a mere branch of our lauded family,” He sighed, “I simply don’t have the power to make such a decision. That said….” Patriarch Ragnor smiled, looking toward Dyon with piercing eyes. “If you joined our family, I’m sure there wouldn’t be a problem.”

An uproar sounded through the arena. Very few here had an understanding of the overall landscape of their quadrant, but, what they did understand was that the Ragnors were an unprecedented power house. To be invited to an Emperor God Clan was unheard of! Even if it was by a mere branch!

“I say we’re a mere branch family, but as you can see, we’ve birthed two faith seeded geniuses through our humble lineage. A meritorious feat like this would of course sky rocket us into the good graces of the main branch. With an endorsement from us, you’ll be valued just as much as either Vidar or Thor!” Patriarch Ragnor’s voice boomed.

Dyon raised an eyebrow, releasing his grip on Ri and Madeleine so they could stand to his sides.

Seeing Dyon’s apprehension, Patriarch Ragnor lightly smiled. “Tammy, come here.”

Thor’s face twitched, but other than that, he remained unmoved. However, Dyon’s frown only deepened at those words.

As quickly as her cultivation would allow, without daring to delay, a petite girl with blond bob-cut hair and light blue eyes shuffled her way onto the stage below Patriarch Ragnor as he touched down. Her usual bubbly personality had completely disappeared, and although she was clearly trembling, she didn’t dare to disobey orders.

“Unfortunately, I have no daughters of my own, so it’s difficult for me to show my sincerity to you…”

Thor’s grip on his spear tightened.

“However, Tammy can be considered a close relative of mine. In fact, she’s the daughter of my late brother, so she can be considered as my niece.

I cannot say that she is as beautiful as your wives, nor is she as talented, but she is quite unique in her own right. She’s a survivor of a meridian transplant technique my family stumbled upon, so her affinity for lightning is even higher than most of us – I dare say that the only one who beats her in this aspect would be my nephew, Thor.”

‘Meridian transplant?…’ Dyon’s mind flashed back to his own dealings with such a technique. But, the difference between him and Tammy was that he was crippled – it made sense for him to undergo such pain. But, her? Was it even her own wish?

Everything about the Ragnor’s disgusted Dyon. They treated people like tools, and raised their next generations to be just as depraved as the former.

Their auxiliary clans were nothing but human puppets. The Saeclum clan was practically bred purely to be used as sacrificial pawns to see the future. The Ipsum practiced an artificial will that required bloody sacrifices on their own part. The Ragnor were willing to use the lives of innocents to further their own power with the blood sacrifice technique. And now they were experimenting on their own people too?…

Dyon’s eyes flashed and he suddenly realized that when he thought Tammy was moving particularly slow, it was because that was all she could muster… Her cultivation had fallen to the peak of the foundation stage. All of the work she had done on her meridians were gone! Replaced by a completely new set. Except unlike Dyon’s, they weren’t already tempered.

Tammy’s energy seemed unstable and imbalanced. But, she did her best to shyly smile, staring at the ground as though Patriarch Ragnor’s wish to give her to Dyon was her own wish as well.

Ava, who was in the Belmont skybox, suddenly felt something inexplicable well up inside of her. This was a girl that she had once seen as her best friend, someone she shared everything with. This was a girl that she had thought might one day be her sister in law because of how much she loved Arios. But, this was also the girl that had betrayed her that day in the forest. This was a girl that put her own survival ahead of the dignity and life of her friend…

There was no easy way in deciding how to feel… There was no clear-cut white and black, right and wrong, here…

In the end, Ava realized that the feeling in her chest was pain… Pain she couldn’t tell if it was out of pity while looking on to the plight of a stranger, or heartfelt agony at watching someone you love be treated like a toy.

It was only now that Ava realized that Tammy didn’t participate in the tournament not because she was running… But because she no longer had any free will of her own…

“I won’t bore you with the details,” Patriarch Ragnor continued, completely unperturbed by the odd silence in the arena, “But, essentially, her ability as a dual cultivation partner for those who are interested in the lightning arts can’t even be matched by transcendent level lightning beasts!”

Although Patriarch Ragnor was being nothing less than a disgusting human being, he had not told a single lie.

The idea of a lightning type constitution was simply unheard of – it didn’t exist. The model of trial that the heavens used to test cultivators was lightning, so it made sense that they would never choose to bestow upon said cultivators the ability to circumvent said trials. That said, much like how every important law had its own beast representation, lightning was no different.

That said, these lightning beasts were a joke. The lightning that Thor wielded, or any other lightning wielder might, was of a far inferior grade to tribulation lightning. As a result, these ‘lightning beasts’ had no supreme beasts among their kin. In fact, they could barely count as transcendent beasts at all.

This was why lightning was seen as a mere elemental will. It still had frightening destructive power, even in its severely weakened state… But, they’d never match tribulation lightning.

However… Wasn’t cultivating about defying the heavens? From the very first observation of this truth, martial warriors have been trying to find their own way to leap through the hurdle. They wanted to form their own lightning techniques and their own lightning affinities and constitutions, and none were more adamant about this than the ancestors of the Ragnors.

They threw everything away in pursuit of their own with true lightning state, experimenting with wills and their own people in hopes of one day evolving elemental lightning will into the supreme law it was meant to be. But… Defying the heavens came with a price…

The Ragnors became cursed with their lightning affinity bodies, being destined to pass on those same genes from generation to generation. Instead of giving them the power and immunity they wanted, it ended up increasing their trials hundreds of times over, to the point where the mortality rate of the Ragnors reached unprecedented scales…

And now, because they had experimented on Tammy even more, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that it would be impossible for this fragile girl to survive her saint hood tribulation.

Patriarch Ragnor rubbed the top of Tammy’s head, seemingly with love, before gently pushing her toward Dyon. “Since you were interested in our lightning arts, I gift you my niece as a concubine. With her as a dual cultivation partner, coupled with your talent, I doubt you’ll ever have to face many hurdles in the pursuit of the dao of lightning.”

Tammy did as she was told. In an awkward walk, run and skip, she made her way to Dyon. But, she never once met his gaze, acting every bit a part of the servant she was meant to be.

She politely bowed to Ri and Madeleine who were still stunned about the situation. They weren’t the type to place themselves loftily above others, so it never crossed their mind that Tammy was or was not worthy of Dyon because of how good they were. All they felt was an endless pity for the girl in front of them… A girl that was just as young as the both of them…

Dyon himself had mixed feelings about Tammy.

On the one hand, he had read through Ava’s memories of her betrayal. He found it sickening that a friend could do such a thing to someone you supposedly cared about. Even worse, she had done so not once, but twice. Because even before she co-signed Ava to her fate, she had been the reason why Arios was forced to fake his death.

On the other hand, though, he had caught a glimpse of her true personality, on untainted by the pressure of the Ragnors. In that light, she was a good person… But could you really judge someone by how they acted in the good times?… Weren’t the genuine people distinguished by how they acted in times of adversity?…

That said, in an odd way, Dyon owed Tammy his life. During the Legacy World opening, it was because Tammy had alerted the Ragnors of where to find the blood sacrifice technique in exchange for her and her brother’s life that Thor hadn’t seen a need to attack Dyon. Because Thor didn’t attack, Dyon was able to escape with his few wounds… At the time, there was no doubt in Dyon’s mind that he stood not a single chance against Thor. In fact, with Thor’s current will mastery, even Dyon didn’t dare to say he had no chance of losing even now.

Tammy tried to maintain a shy smile as she looked down to the ground, but inwardly she was trembling violently. As twisted and depraved as it was, Tammy didn’t care if she taken in by Dyon to be used as a sex toy. The sad part was that she was technically a ticking time bomb. The more she dual cultivated, the closer to saint hood she would be. Eventually, there would come a moment where she would no longer be able to suppress her cultivation, and she would inevitably die. She knew just as much as anyone else that with this new set of meridians, she would never surpass her first tribulation.

However, she still found that fate better than what would happen if Dyon rejected her. Patriarch Ragnor didn’t care for her life. In fact, he had only used her to experiment with the assumption that she’d die in the first place… Tammy was the very first to ever survive had true tribulation lightning infused with her meridians. But, none of that mattered.

If Dyon rejected her, Ragnor wouldn’t find fault in Dyon, he would find fault with her. If Dyon rejected her… She wouldn’t be alive by the end of this day…

Dyon opened his mouth to speak, but just as an inkling of sound came out, Tammy suddenly spoke in a voice as soft as the flapping wings of a butterfly. “I’ll serve you to the best of my abilities. I’m not very useful, but I have at least protected my virginity – you don’t have to worry about me being tainted. And when you don’t want to use me, I am perfectly trained as a servant girl. I won’t ever bother you. And – And I –“

Suddenly, the light sound of feet meeting the stage caused Tammy to shiver to silence. She was well aware that she had just spoken out of turn, and yet she had said that she was perfectly trained. Nervousness had gotten the better of…

Patriarch Ragnor didn’t say anything, looking off into the skies with his hands clasped behind his back. It didn’t seem to be his problem whether Dyon accepted or not.

“You’ve had it hard…” A male voice spoke out. But, the moment Tammy recognized a voice she definitely shouldn’t have, a wave of emotion overcame her. Her shoulders visibly trembled as she tried to stop herself, she even bit into her cheeks so firmly that blood began to fill the insides of her small mouth. And yet, no matter what she tried, she couldn’t seem to control herself.

“I’m sorry, I’m not usually like this. I promise I’ll be better in the future. I pro –“ A finger found its way to Tammy’s chin, tilting it upward.

The sight of Arios caused the tears Tammy had been holding in to spill out uncontrollably. ‘He’s dead. I killed him. I killed him with my own hands. I must be seeing things….’

Dyon had personally told Arios was Tammy put his sister through, knowing fully well that with Ava’s personality, she would have died before telling him such a thing.

Arios hadn’t known how to feel. Ava was his little sister, and Tammy was a girl he had been willing to sacrifice for. They were two separate kinds of loves, and he just couldn’t come up with the right answer for it. In fact, for a long time, he had been angry – angry enough to feel as though he might kill Tammy the moment he saw her next.

And yet, here she was and all he could do was feel pity… He felt like scum of the earth, but all he wanted to do was protect her…

But, that was all. Arios barred himself from any relationship with Tammy that passed that line… There were just some things that couldn’t be forgiven… But, there were also some feelings that couldn’t be forgotten or erased…

Dyon looked toward Arios’ strong back as he stood before him. With a wave of his hand, Tammy and Arios disappeared from sight, before he secretly sent them into his ring under the influence of his concealment array. Dyon barely noticed the now black gold tint of his arrays.

“Oh?” Patriarch Ragnor seemed amused about Tammy’s disappearance. But, somehow, Thor felt relief… He inexplicably felt that maybe his little sister was truly safe now…

“Well, I did gift her to you. I guess it’s up to you whether you share you not. You’re quite benevolent with your subordinates.”

Dyon’s expression didn’t change. Before all of this, he thought all he had to do to get Thor to his side was rescue Tammy, but, Patriarch Ragnor had willingly handed her over… If Tammy was truly the only means he had of controlling Thor, he wouldn’t have handed such a chess piece away so easily…

Suddenly, Dyon smiled. Waving his hand nonchalantly in the air, he laughed. “Nothing of the sort, Patriarch Ragnor. Arios is a good friend of mine and happened to have a long-time crush on your niece. I couldn’t bare to steal the love of someone so close to me, so I only allowed them some time to chat.

Considering Arios’ talent and lineage, I have no doubt that you’d willingly accept him as a nephew in law, no?”

Patriarch Ragnor thoughtfully stroked his chin despite it being devoid of a speck of hair, “You make quite a good point. The boy is barely 20 and yet he had already progressed so far into the essence gathering stage. Truly commendable. I would indeed accept such a union. And since he is such a good friend of yours, this also strengthens our relationship too, no? Haha, truly a brilliant move.”

“I’m glad that you approve. That said, I should make it clear that it’s impossible for me to join any clans. I have heard many things about the power and prestige of the Ragnors, but, I have an obligation to my master to rebuild the celestial deer sect, I hope you can understand.” Dyon smiled lightly.

“Of course, of course. A filial disciple like you is the envy of this old one.

However, I still must insist on seeing this treasure of yours. My curiosity has been piqued. Won’t you allow me this small service? Think of it as a betrothal gift for my niece to your good friend. Just a small bride price.” Patriarch Ragnor’s smile didn’t fade, but the tension in the air seemed to multiply.

King Acacia’s eyes snapped away from the seen below just as his wife appeared beside him. “I’ve been such a fool!”

“Edrym, what happened?” King Belmont asked seriously.

“He never cared about any of this, this was all theatrics to distract us.”

“Wha –“ Before King Belmont could even finish his words, tens of thousands of warriors suddenly appeared in the skies above the stadium.

Their aura was stifling. Even the weakest among them was a peak essence gatherer. But, the majority were high level saints!

And maybe the worst part? More began to pour in from every which direction. The skies became blotted out with experts as Patriarch Ragnor casually strolled through the air.

That said, there was another major problem… One that could pitch Earth into a hopeless abyss…

It wasn’t just the Ragnors acting…