Dyon settled his emotions and exited the ten-point star form to re-enter stealth, collecting bits and pieces of the massive beast along the way.

The star form was dubbed the obliteration form by Dyon. It had the highest single attack power of the forms he had created and was essentially a one shot shotgun. Its only drawback was that it wasn’t suited to long drawn out battles as the time lag between its energy beams was substantial. Well, it was only a few seconds, but in a battle of immortals, such a time frame was an eternity.

After a deep breath and controlling the graveyard to shoot away from the battlefield, Dyon stood and headed to the lab.

There were only two areas of the Sacharro Graveyard that weren’t perfectly streamlined for battle. One was the luxurious living quarters he stayed in with Saru and Lilith, and the other was the lab. This was a place he had set aside for the study of void beasts.

In his absentminded state, Dyon didn’t register that Lilith was by his side until she wrapped her arms around his, following along with a bright smile on her face.

“Ha, let’s see that little vixen Saru try to steal you away from me now.”

Dyon was speechless before shaking his head and chuckling. It seemed that Lilith was still a bit angry about Saru kissing him first, something he found to be a bit silly. After all, it wasn’t like it was his first kiss.

“You never told us, why are you so interested in void beasts?”

“… The way they are birthed is completely unlike any other entity. Well, that’s not completely true, they’re quite similar to sprites in a way. They’re creatures birthed from qi, yet somehow manage to have tangible forms. But, unlike the birth of other species, their existence isn’t sanctioned by the Heavens. They exist whether the Heavens want them to or not… And that, that’s fascinating.”

Lilith’s eyes widened.

Across bubble worlds, across worlds, across universes, quadrants, planets, endless existences… void beasts existed. As long as there was substantial void qi in the surroundings, they could proliferate as they pleased.

The mortal plane was now too small and the barriers of void between universes and quadrants were too thin to sustain their birth. But the mortal plane was just one small corner of an impossibly vast corner of existence.

If one were to ask an objective individual who the rulers of all of existence were… Maybe that answer would be the void beasts and not humans.

Dyon hadn’t been there for Aki’s rant on the void and its strength, but he didn’t need to be. He alone could tell that the void was an enigmatic, all encompassing existence that was difficult to describe in just a few words…

To understand this, only a simple thought experiment was needed. Humans see the world in a linear way. There’s a defined beginning and end to everything. For something to exist, it must therefore have had an origin, a starting point that began a cascade of cause and effect that logically flowed to its current state.

However… The void had no such thing. It had always existed. It had no beginning. And it would have no end. Before the first sun on the first world rose, it was there. And long after the last sun set on the last world, it would Be.

Dyon and Lilith made it to the lab. It didn’t have the same extravagance as the forms of the graveyard. In fact, it was quite minimalistic and covered in a precious metal that looked a lot like shining stainless steel.

“Why do they have to smell so terrible, though…” Lilith wrinkled her little nose.

She had wanted to have a romantic private moment with Dyon, but how could they with this terrible smell hanging in the air? It was no wonder why Saru watched her leave with a serene smile, that scheming little vixen.

Several pieces of the jellyfish void beast’s head and sharp tentacles were neatly arranged in the lab as though by magic. However, no matter how neatly they were sorted, there was no changing the grotesque, stomach churning scent.

“I have a theory about that…” Dyon muttered as though taking Lilith’s question seriously. “… It might not be that they have a legitimate smell at all. I’m thinking that it’s for the same reason mortal humans evolved to feel that the scent of mold is so bad.”

Dyon believed that void beasts were to cultivators what mold was to mortals. It was a simple matter of evolution. In prehistoric times, there were probably many would-be humans who died eating rotting food. Over time, those who survived were ones who avoided mold due to their sense of smell detesting it.

In a similar way, cultivators probably found void beasts to be something worth avoiding. There was nothing inherently foul about mold or void beasts… It was just a matter of perspective.

However, such an analogy made Dyon’s curiosity pique all the more. Not all molds were deadly, many were, but many more had wide ranging benefits from enriching food to producing life saving antibiotics.

Who was to say that void beasts weren’t similar? What secrets they held greatly intrigued Dyon.

If others heard his thoughts, they’d likely think him to be a madman. But that was the way Dyon wanted it. At least then… He would be one of the few to benefit.