n

n

n

nDyon appeared back within a familiar cave to be greeted by loud booms and cries of agony. It seemed the Belmont Ancestor was very eager to play his role. Having already wasted much of his time, he had a lot to make up for.

nEven without the energy barrier the ancestor put up to protect Dyon and his allies in the cave, the Daiyu wouldn’t have any choice but to completely focus on the expert in the sky. Diverting their attention to a three front war would be no less than completely suicidal.

nDyon watched silently with Ri and Madeleine by his side, lamenting the fact that Alidor didn’t make his pair of sweatpants as soft as he usually liked them. However, Ri and Madeleine were just relieved he was wearing clothes at all. At the moment, his presence was too intoxicating for them to also deal with his nudity.

nHowever, there was something else on Dyon’s mind. How could he, as an array alchemy expert, not have analyzed the formation before he entered it? He had already long since deduced not only what level of formation it was, but also understood that killing Elder Daiyu would make everything worse.

nThat said, what choice did he have? The thought of killing a dao formation expert was enough of an impossibility to drive anyone made, let alone the idea of capturing them alive. The latter was simply far more ridiculous than the former.

nAlthough the arrays Dyon could draw were limited to the grandmaster level, it could be said that his knowledge surpassed that due to one special thing he had access to that no other array alchemist did: The Dao of Array Alchemy.

nNot only had it aided him in building a base of understanding that far exceeded his own self previously, it gave him knowledge far exceeding what he could make use of with his current soul strength. Something that was especially so now considering his soul was sealed.

nThere were two main ways to break a formation. Brute strength or disrupting its cores. Here, brute strength was obviously not an option. To destroy this kind of formation, dao formation strength would be needed at a minimum.

nUnfortunately, Dyon had no idea that dao formation experts were currently outside trying to break through the formation. The problem was that they were limited in the power they could use in order to not alert their enemies. If this wasn’t the case, and they directly attacked the formation at certain key points, a few of which would be easy for Nora to find, they could obliterate it.

nThe second option was likely even more impossible. To disrupt the cores of the formation meant not only having to understand how many there were and where they were, but also in what way to disrupt them and the order in which to do so.

nThere was a pseudo third option, which was just a combination of the first two. However, it was very difficult to pull off. It required first disrupting to weaken the formation, before then attacking it in its weakened state. The problem with this method is that disruptions agitate the failsafes. If not done properly, there can be heavy backlash on the soul.

n“Is something wrong?” Ri couldn’t help but ask. With the turning of the situation, by all rights Dyon should be happier. She couldn’t help but think that maybe his talk with Clara didn’t go so well.

nDyon shook his head before explaining the situation.

n“Even if I had my soul strength, I don’t think there’d be much I could do. Although I already know where the cores are, and how many there are, that’s not enough to disrupt them properly, especially after Elder Daiyu’s death. I would need soul strength similar to that of the level required to draw this formation to begin with in order to succeed.” Dyon sighed, looking off into the distance.

nThe only way to ignore the soul strength requirement, would have be to have a kit specialized in formation disruption. Much like The Seal, such a kit would lessen the load on the soul needed to perform certain tasks. The Seal lowers the usual requirements for sealing, while these kits do the same for core disruption.

nYou would think that the celestial deer sect remains would have at least one of these kits, but it seemed they were among the rare items stolen along with much of their other precious possessions. It was lucky that Dyon had gained even as much as he had. If the treasure room wasn’t sealed away and hidden, he would have likely earned even less from the whole experience.

n“Will we be here until the formation naturally runs out of energy, then?” Madeleine asked.

nWhat would surprise most people is that they weren’t too worried about this outcome. Their husband was safe and by there side, so the idea of being stuck in a place with such abundant resources wasn’t the end of the world, right?

nThe only worry Ri still held, was her mother and what her current condition was. If they were truly stuck, she’d have no way of ever finding out.

nAs for the war, they were even less worried about that. Although that was mostly because they had never known the large scale the Ragnors would use their artificial wills at, for the most part, with Elder Daiyu and Patriarch Ragnor gone, they were now at an advantage with their celestials as long as Ri’s dad made it back.

nWhen Ri and Madeleine thought of this point, they couldn’t help but look at the side profile of their husband. How had he done it?… How did he constantly make the impossible, possible?…

nDyon had already told them much of how when he explained the reason he was forced to burn his soul, but even knowing that their husband would never lie to them, it was still so unbelievable.

nWith a light smile, Dyon shook his head. “We won’t have to wait that long. Just until my soul recovers should be enough.”

nHowever, although he said this, Dyon knew it would be quite dangerous to leave then. With the situation the way it was now, who knew what the Earth would look like in that period of time? It might be better to wait out a few hundred years until they reached sufficient cultivation to defend themselves against the threats of the martial world.

nDyon’s worries weren’t without reason. He was apprehensive about two things in particular.

nThe first was, of course, the repercussions of defeating the Ragnors.

nThere was a 0% chance that the main Ragnor branch hadn’t already learned of Loki’s death. If Dyon knew that Loki’s faith seed was ranked second among the Ragnor’s collection, he would have been even more firm in this belief.

nAs a result, the reaction of the clan would be unpredictable. The Ragnors didn’t seem like the kind of clan that acted out of familial love. However, they were the type of clan that did not like to be slighted.

nAlthough Loki’s strength was acknowledged, to the Ragnors, they would know that he was a mere peak saint. In fact, to them, Loki might even be weaker than that considering they wouldn’t have exact tabs on his cultivation after being apart for so many years.

nThis meant that Loki dying, although he was an important piece, wouldn’t be enough to make the Ragnors fear what enemies they’d provoked. In fact, it was more likely that they’d send a scout or two, to ascertain the situation.

nWhen they realized that Loki’s death was a fluke, they may send someone less important, sure, but also much more powerful than Loki to handle the mess he created.

nRemember, Loki was only chosen as the leader for this mission because of his cunning. The Ragnors believed in his survivability as well as his capacity for manipulation and planning. They had hoped that by using Loki, they could remain lowkey, not overextending themselves.

nThis was why Loki hid his identity. He couldn’t afford the Pakal main branch learning of their actions, or else it would sprout curiosity. Something the entity did not want.

nSo, instead, the Ragnors were portrayed as an unwanted branch clan. And because they were sent to the worst universe in a quadrant, it was believable. It was only a shocking turn of events that resulted in this ‘unwanted’ branch in fostering not one, but three faith seeds.

nIn addition, since the Pakal branch of this universe wasn’t in contact with its main branch, because they had been forced to flee from it, they were never a real worry to begin with.

nAll in all, this meant that within the 20 or so years it would take Dyon’s soul to unseal itself, the Ragnors could have already re-established themselves in this universe. Even worse, their target would without a doubt be this very Belmont Holy Land considering that was Loki’s target as well!

nThis place would be constantly monitored, looking for changes. If Dyon took his wives and subordinates to leave then, none of them would be strong enough to deal with the situation. In fact, Dyon might be forced to give himself up again as the one who dealt the final blow to Loki.

nAs for the second reason, it was one that maybe only Dyon would have the awareness to be worried about at this current stage. While everyone was worried about the immediate problem at hand, Dyon was fully calculative of the ripple effects of what had transpired over the past half year.

nJust what was Dyon worried about?… The Uidah King God Clan.

nBefore the last campaign, the Uidah had treated this universe as a joke. Their Sons and Daughters would only come here on a whim, and most often, they would only be the Sons and Daughters of the meridian formation level. The only reason those of the Essence gathering level appeared this time was because of Alidor’s odd movements, in addition to Amethyst’s temple. Usually, even they wouldn’t bother.

nHowever, many things they couldn’t ignore had happened this time… And the most glaring? Was the death of their 5th Son. Even worse? Because of Alidor, the murder was attached to Dyon!

nTo a certain extent, that could be ignored. Sons and Daughters were often in tough competition, so why would they care so much about a 5th Son? Let alone one of the meridian formation level.

nFor one, that thinking is faulty. Although the Sons and Daughters wouldn’t care, the elders would. This would be nothing less than a slap in the face to them.

nTo put things into perspective. There were millions of meridian formation experts within a clan so close to becoming an Emperor God Clan. And yet, this person was ranked 5th out of all of them! Regardless on if he was looked down by his siblings, within the clan, his worth was only outmatched by higher ranked Sons and Daughters.

nSecondly, even if the Sons and Daughters didn’t care about 5th Son’s death, per se, that didn’t mean that they didn’t also take it as an insult. Not for the sake of 5th Son, but themselves.

nAll of this pointed toward the Uidah placing much more of a focus this universe. Something they had never done before…

nIt was too late to blame Alidor at this point. In reality, Dyon didn’t even care too much. If Alidor hadn’t been there, Dyon would have had to fight for the tower anyway. After controlling the Epistemic Tower, it was only a matter of time before everyone noticed the differences in that gate, then the Uidah would have set their sights here anyway.

nWhen all of these issues are coupled with the information Dyon found in 5th Son’s spatial ring, it all pointed toward a bad future for this universe.

nWhy? Because the Uidah King God Clan, as 3rd Son stated himself, was only a single universe away from becoming an Emperor God Clan, solidifying themselves as the third in this quadrant. After all, only controlling 25 universes was needed for such a rank.

nWith this being the case, it was only a matter of time before the Uidah focused their forces here. And now, they had even more ample reason to.

nDyon had little doubt that come the time when the gates opened next, his main opponents would be the Sons and Daughters of the Uidah King God Clan.

nWell, as much as Dyon would like that to be true, the reality of the situation was that he was stuck here. Not only that, he was stuck here with many of the talents that were meant to be tasked with defending Earth’s gate.

nLionel was here. Evelyn was here. He was here. Madeleine was here. Ri was here. His demon generals were here. Even worse, it was unlikely that Thor and Vidar would be participating in such a thing either considering the Ragnors would now be war criminals of the Belmont family.

nDyon couldn’t save Zabia now and had to leave him in a coma-like state because he couldn’t make the pill necessary to recover his talent without his soul. Ulu would be 3-4 months pregnant when the gates next opened, not to mention dead with 9 months.

nDyon didn’t know it now, but the Shruti had left the universe, unwilling to deal with the fallout of the war the Ragnors started.

nThe Aumens and their planet would have to be punished, and the Clyte and theirs had been severely crippled with the death of their king.

nThis was not to mention up and coming talents like Delia and Zaire were trapped here with Dyon as well.

nThe truth of the matter was that the Uidah had been placing more and more pressure on this universe recently because they were only one universe away from a watershed. However, because of the influence of the Shruti and Jafari, who came from other universes and quadrants, this universe had gotten a boost in strength they hadn’t noticed until this world tournament.

nHowever, now, all of those things were gone! To say the power of this universe had halved would be an understatement. If Dyon didn’t lock down the gates, they might fall within one campaign.

nThis wouldn’t be a perfect solution. After all, travel without the gates was possible. However, because of how expensive it was, and the numbers the Uidah would need to succeed, this method would likely buy them a lot of time, and as such, was worth using.

nEven with all of these worries though, all Dyon could do was watch the Daiyu be massacred by the Belmont Ancestor. He felt handicapped beyond belief with his soul strength, but there was nothing he could do about it. That was the price he had to pay to keep him life.

n**

nIn a distance universe stood a prosperous kingdom few could match. Whether it be the grandeur of the towering structures, the density of the energy, or the quality of its people, this was truly an Emperor God Clan.

nThis was the Ragnor Clan’s empire. It looked very much like a silver wonderland, with an interesting power structure that ran solely on lightning will sources. The inlay of crystals would astonish anyone seeing them. The display of wealth was unprecedented as those very crystals that embedded themselves into the exquisite pavements were without a doubt essence stones!

nThat value of such a thing was astronomical. But, no less was expected of the Universe known as Asgard.

nWithin the largest building of the Ragnor Capital, Rainbow Bridge City, a meeting of the elite and the elites was taking place.

nAt the helm, sat a man relatively short in stature. He had a full and round beard as clear as white snow that matched his long and flowing hair. His sharp and deep blue made few dare to comment on his height. In fact, doing so was nothing short of a death sentence considering this man had long since eliminated those who ridiculed him in his childhood.

nThis man was none other than Odin Ragnor. A man feared by billions and revered as the leader of their Emperor God Clan.

nHowever, right now, he only sat and quietly listened. It was very rare that he would appear in public like this, so there was much he needed to catch up on.

n“It’s been too long. With our karmic manipulation, Thor and Vidar’s faith seeds should have already appeared within the general population. The hundred-year mark has long since passed, we’ve never had a mistake like this occur.”

n“This was never an exact science. Messing with fate has always been the bane of our Ragnor Clan. It’s about been about two decades since the hundred-year mark passed, we should have a bit more patience instead of seeking out more trouble for ourselves.”

nWhat the Ragnors had learned, that few other clans dared to do because of the sheer inhumanity, was manipulating karma to force faith seeds to manifest much quicker.

nKarma was capable of being manipulating should one accumulate enough blank karmic slates to be sacrificed. In this case, the only way to do such a thing was to use newborns…

nThe Ragnors not only used this sacrificial technique to bind faith seeds to the clan to forever control them, it also sped up the reincarnation of faith seeds so that the Ragnors would never have to deal with a drought of them.

nNormal clans would never go to this length. However, the Ragnors felt they had no choice. Because of the increased anger of the heavens during their break throughs, the number of Ragnors who could produce faith seeds to leave in the cycle of reincarnation were much too few. In fact, aside from Odin, Loki, Thor and Vidar, the Ragnors only had a single more! Even the Uidah King God Clan had more than 5 faith seeds. And, as a comparison between two Emperor God Clans, the Kitsune had 13!

nThis was of course not accounting for faith seeds lost in the stream of time after having been shattered by enemies during conflicts. These faith seeds would manifest eventually, but it would take so long that often records of them would be lost. As a result, the reality was that the Kitsune likely have more than 20 to 30 faith seeds in their history, waiting to reassemble themselves. Whereas the Ragnor clan have no such hope.

nThose 5 faith seeds they have are vigorously protected by karma, making them impossible for any normal warrior to destroy before they dissipate.

n5 vs 30… The difference was clear.

n“Thor and Vidar have already appeared.”

nThe voice of an old man with wrinkled skin hardly attached to his bones caused everyone to pause before a sigh of relief filled the room.

nThe old man, quite eerily, had no pupils. Both of his eyes were nothing but an endless milky white. Likely backlash from a karma related cultivation deviation. However, despite this, he was the foremost expert in such matters.

n“They awakened their fates just two or three years ago. The most recent was just a few month ago, that being Vidar. They’re likely both around 20 years old, so it falls in line with our predictions. There aren’t any issues with our methods. However, they aren’t in our territory.”

n“Aren’t in our territory?” The brows of many Ragnor ministers furrowed. Where could they be then?

nIt wasn’t rare for Ragnors to be exiled. However, it was more likely that they’d be killed for offending someone with the power to exile. This was why many were confused now.

nHowever, this was when many remembered that many had been sent on missions in the past hundred years because of a calamity that struck the Ragnors during that time. It was a calamity that caused them to lose two faith seeded geniuses in one sweep. This was the reason why, even with their methods, Vidar and Thor both appeared at the same time. It was because their previous owners died at the same time!

n“They aren’t a part of those missions led by Hela. They are, interestingly, part of a mission I had long since forgotten about.” The old man closed his eyes, no longer saying any more. However, what he had said was enough for many to remember.

nIt had been a few hundred years now, since they had sent Loki off. The reality of the matter was that this was a mission few understood the purpose of because it was kept highly confidential. After all, the displeasure of an entity on that level wasn’t something the Ragnors could afford to deal with. Although they were an Emperor God Clan here, that didn’t mean they would be elsewhere.

n“Since this is the case, no longer speak of this. They will return in due time.” Odin spoke for the first time. Although his stature was small, his voice seemed to put an unseen suppression on all of those present. Even the old man, who was respected by many, was no exception to this. His demeanor made everything clear. He was the one above all, the only Ragnor who didn’t have to answer to anyone else. And the closest currently alive Ragnor to transcending.

nEveryone understood at this point that this wasn’t a mission they would find more information about.

nIn the mortal realm, Odin was the father of Vidar and Thor, as well as the adoptive father of Loki. However, in reality, Loki was Odin’s only and most beloved son. That phrase may sound odd. Of course he’s the most beloved, since he’s the only one. But… The reality of the matter was different. After living for so long, and understanding the failing of the Ragnors, how could Odin truly only have a single child?

nNo. The truth was the Odin had many children, but only one he truly acknowledged.

nTo say that Loki had a high position among the Ragnors was… An understatement.

nThe topic quickly changed.

n“What of Hela and her side of things?”

nThe truth was the Hela was of high standing within the Ragnor Clan. In fact, she was betrothed to Loki, being the female with the highest talent and potential within the clan. If Loki hadn’t taken it upon himself to undertake that mission of his, they would have long since been married.

nA smile spread across a minister’s face. He happened to be Hela’s father, and also the minister who was in charge of accumulating the information gathered by these missions.

n“First, a bit of good news. That daughter of mine ignored out advice and underwent her celestial break through.”

nThe air seemed to freeze as the hearts of the men in attendance seized.

nIn other clans, this would be a happy occasion. Geniuses, although they faced more of heaven’s wrath, rarely died from tribulation trials. However, it was clear to everyone by this point that the difficulty presented to a Ragnor was hundreds of times that of a normal individual. Especially one with a faith seed like Hela.

n“Be at ease, it’s good news. She managed to survive, although she spent months in critical condition. In fact, she filled 7- and three-quarter meridians!”

nAstonishment filled the room. Even the old man once again opened his eyes, a slight look of surprise on his features before he smiled.

nTo put things in perspective, even the Dragon King only filled 8 meridians during each of his advancements, and he was among the top ten talents to ever be birthed into the Dragon Clans. For Hela to fill so close to that number as she became a celestial was something that improved her position even in Odin’s heart.

n“Good news aside,” The minister continued, “There are much more pressing matters.”

nIt had taken a few decades of research and planning for Hela’s team to find a method of crossing quadrants. So, much of the information received from Hela’s team had been superficial until now. But, it seemed like the century long investment had finally paid off.

n“Hela classifies this as a top priority. And after reading it, it is without a doubt a quadrant level classification. If not higher.” The minister’s features lost his smile, becoming supremely focused.

nOdin faintly nodded. His one action caused a cascade of events to take place.

nBarrier after barrier fell down, accompanied by Moon level formations. Minutes went by before the endless booms ceased, leaving the once light room, completely darkened except for a few torches. In the next instant, tens of ministers died. However, it hardly left a mark on the hundreds of them that there were.

nNo one blinked an eye to these events. And soon, the minister spoke again.

n“After you hear of this, you will not think that I’ve exaggerated even a bit. We’ll call this codename Epistemic Tower.”

nThe minister continued to diligently explain the information his daughter had collected, not daring to miss a detail as the dead bodies were dealt with.

nAny government would of course have spies from competitors. It was also unlikely that the Ragnors had weeded them all out, but that just meant that those currently in the room would be heavily monitored for the next hundred years – a policy put in place by the very first Odin himself.

nHowever, they all also understood that simply by virtue of killing these spies, they would alert their enemies that there were likely to be large movements taking place in the near and not too distant future.

nThat said, there was nothing that could be done about this. It was better than didn’t know what was going on.

nThe more the minister explained the more shocked the room became.

nTo think that there was such a treasure trove in their very own quadrant, yet they never knew. How long would they have spent in the dark had they not been forced into a corner on that day a hundred or so years ago?

nThe day that Vidar and Thor died, or rather, the day the previous wielders of their faith seeds died, was a black stain on the Ragnors. And shockingly enough, it wasn’t their long-standing enemies, the Pakals, that were responsible. In fact, the Pakals suffered as well, losing their faith seeded genius, Asura, in the process.

nAt that time, the Ragnors had little understanding of what was happening, or even why these people attacked them. All they knew was that although their cultivation levels were similar, their foundations were incomparably pure and refined, to a level many of the Ragnors and Pakals couldn’t hope to reach.

nBy the end, it was clear that they were looking for something, but couldn’t find it. So, after toying Vidar and Thor to death, and realizing that Odin and elders like him were too much for them to handle, they leisurely used their escaping treasures to disappear without a trace.

nHowever, before that, they had challenged hundreds of geniuses in the quadrant to battle, and not a single one but Hela, Loki, a genius of the Pakals and the current Uidah first Son of Sainthood survived. But… Surviving didn’t mean they won…

nThey called themselves Dukes and Duchesses. But, it was clear that that was a ranking their respective universes gave them in acknowledgement of their talent… A title well deserved.

nIf it wasn’t for them causing the Pakals and Ragnors to divert much of their resources into figuring out just where they came from, the Uidah would never had risen as far as they had. It was nearly impossible for three Emperor God Clans to appear at once, yet, that was what was about to happen.

nIt was only now that the Ragnors finally understood just what happened.

nThose geniuses had been the participating members of the adjacent quadrant’s Epistemic Tower. They had come here because they had noticed that no geniuses had emerged from this universe in a long time. Because of this, the directly deduced that either this universe didn’t have geniuses capable of earning the tower’s acceptance and were tossed out just like Alidor’s companions had been, or that this quadrant had somehow neglected their Epistemic Tower.

nIn order to figure this out without revealing their hand, they decided to go around challenging geniuses. At first, it was clear that they were inferior, and many started to believe that it was the former reason. But, after running into Loki’s tricks, and Hela’s ferocity, coupling this with the Pakal and Uidah geniuses, it became clear that there were in fact members of the younger generation that were capable of earning the tower’s acceptance. This left the latter option as the only remaining option. This universe had forgotten about its Epistemic Tower!

nHaving deduced this, those geniuses spent a lot of effort trying to find the tower. After all, if their quadrant could have two tower key holders, instead of one, they’d have an unprecedented advantage.

nUnfortunately, because of their rampant and carefree nature, and overall carelessness, they had alerted the true experts of this quadrant. After that point, they had no choice but to return. If they had stayed, no matter how talented they were, it only meant death.

nHowever, at this point, the Ragnors could only thank them. If it hadn’t been for this Dukes and Duchesses, how would they have known to investigate other quadrants? It wasn’t that the Ragnors never had any ambition to do so, but with so many enemies here, how could they divert their attention away unless they were forced in this way?

n“Does Hela have any ideas on where our Epistemic Tower may be? We cannot allow the keyholder to be a Pakal.”

n“Hela made a few guesses, but there is one other thing of importance that must be stated first.

n“Hela noted that the Pakals made the same moves as us, as well as the Uidah. It is likely that even with our counter measures, their own intelligence groups have learned what we have. In fact, it is because Hela fought with the 1st Son of Sainthood, the bastard from the Uidah, that she could no longer suppress her cultivation long enough to come home.

n“Because of this, Hela suggests that we quickly find the tower, however we need to make concessions to the other power house clans as well.”

nA heavy tension filled the room. Everyone here understood Odin’s personality. If it wasn’t for the fact his son’s father in law had said these words, Odin may have directly killed this minister for suggesting such a thing. However, this minister understood that this needed to be said.

n“I apologize for my words, Lord Odin,” The minister apologized sincerely, bowing his head. “However, a treasure of this caliber will result in nothing less than all out war. If we do not do this, it is likely that we will have to face both the Pakals and the Uidah. This is something we cannot afford.”

nWhat the minister said was correct. There was a reason why although there was only a single key wielder, there would still be many tower participants who weren’t from the same clan, necessarily, as the wielder.

nThe Epistemic Tower was literally the best key to transcendents throughout the cosmos. If only an astronomically small percentage of martial warriors became transcendents, the number who did without using the Epistemic Tower was an even more unfathomably small percentage of that already small percentage.

nThis basically meant that if you wanted to have hopes of becoming a transcendent, something that was already nothing but a dream for the vast majority, doing so without the tower would be even worse than a dream. It would be nothing short of foolish.

nKnowing this, how could those clans be willing to give it up without a fight? Even if it meant teaming up to suppress the Ragnors, they would do it.

nThis is why clans share their Epistemic Tower quotas. Although many prefer to be the key wielder, as it gives certain advantages, as long as the clan who holds the key currently is willing to share, so to speak, conflicts can be held to a minimum.

nThe minister understood this, and as such, had no choice but to bring it up. They could search for the Epistemic Tower, and hopefully find it first. But, in the case that they do, they had to be prepared.

nSeeing that Odin’s sharp gaze lessened, the minister sighed a breath of relief before continuing.

n“As for where, Hela is not sure, but she did have some ideas. It is almost an impossibility that the previous Emperor God Clans didn’t know of this tower. In fact, it’s likely because they were wiped out by that unknown force that the information about the Epistemic Tower was lost to us in the first place.

n“So, Hela suggested that we explore gates that bordered those olden regions. The Epistemic Tower was likely on the cusp of shared territory because whoever wielded the key, would have had to share as well. However, finding records of such a thing will be exceedingly difficult, especially since if we had records like those, we would have long since known about this tower.”

nThe ministers nodded in agreement. Finding information about those times was exceedingly difficult. There were without a doubt many resources that were lost now because of that warring period.

n“AH!” The old man startled awake, causing everyone’s eyes to be attracted to him.

nThis old man was always the calmest of them all. What could possibly make him react like this?

nHe held his chest, breathing heavily as a bitter look appeared on his features. He knew that this news would not bode well for the Ragnors, but even worse, if he was the one to say this out loud, he had no confidence that Odin wouldn’t just directly kill him to vent his anger.

nBy the time the old man finally calmed himself and steeled his nerves enough to look up, he found a pain of blue eyes so piercingly cold staring at him that they looked like lasers of light even in this dark room.

n“Lord Odin…” The old man was unable to look away. Although he had no pupils, it could be said that he saw things far clearer than most people. He could feel death creeping up on him, finally ready to take him away. It was his misfortune that he wouldn’t die to old age…

n“Loki is dead.”

nSilence reigned the room. Not a single person dared to speak. All excitement that might have been brought by the information on the Epistemic Tower was completely wiped away by this singular three worded sentence.

nA dense tension hung in the air, slowly building even as Odin’s facial expression remained the same.

nFew understood what Loki’s mission was, but Odin did. As much as he wanted to rampage about, and take out his anger and the person who ended Loki’s life, if it was who he thought it was, even if all 100 quadrants came together it would mean nothing to this entity.

nAnd now he had given up his. For what?

nNot once did Odin even think that Loki could have died another way. The only reason he was restraining his temper was out of fear for the entity. But, if he had known that the person responsible was just a mere child in his eyes, who knew how he would react.

nThe old man knew very little about this mission of Loki’s, but when he saw his short tempered Lord react with restraint, he couldn’t help but make some guesses as to just what level of danger Loki must have been in to make Odin respect it.

nHowever, there was one more piece of information he had to muster up the courage to share… This effected the entire Ragnor Clan, and no matter how scared her was, he must say these words.

n“There’s something else…” The old man said in a weak voice, finally prying his gaze away from Odin to stare at the floor, ready for whatever punishment may come. “I’ve lost all sense of karmic ties to Loki’s faith seed. I can’t find it in the stream of reincarnation as a result. I – I don’t know what happened…”

nSurprisingly, though, this tidbit of information made Odin even more sure of what happened. Who else in this universe could have the power to erase karmic ties if not for that entity?

nRight now, he regretted trusting that thing from the very beginning, but he also knew that the entity was much too powerful to be ignored. And although he was imprisoned now, judging by the power of his subordinates, the Ragnors had no choice but to submit…

nIn the next instant, Odin stood, disappearing from where he stood. None of the Ragnors knew when they’d see him again.

n**

nBack in the Belmont Holy Land, a book inside of Dyon’s spatial ring was happily glowing, excited to have added a new power house to its pages.

nThere, on the 6th page, sat the glowing bulb of light that had endless inscriptions floating within it, each of which corresponded to a different legacy or dao.

nIf Odin had seen this, his anger would have been enough to destroy universes.

nIn this world, there were very few things that could undo such strong karmic ties. However, to a weapon of the 33 heavens, such a thing was child’s play.

nWhereas Odin thought the entity was the one who used his power to steal his son’s faith seed, the truth was the true culprit was The Soul Tome!

nThat bulb of light, riddled with endless inscriptions, was none other than Loki’s faith seed!

n