The woman stood before a statue of what seemed like an untouchable goddess. At first, Dyon thought that it might have been master, but he was quickly disappointed since their features were far too different. However, Dyon could tell that this statue was definitely that of a soul cultivator.

Having seemingly sensed Dyon’s presence, the alluring back of the woman swayed slightly before a beautiful oval shaped face came into view.

Her eyes were a deep and profound gold, only made bolder by her dark, jet-black hair. Her features were subtle, and delicate, curving softly to the form of her face.

A slight look of surprise crossed her eyes before she quickly hid it, instead smiling when she saw Dyon and turning her back to him.

“Do you recognize this woman?” She suddenly asked.

Dyon was surprised by the question. Considering the rarity of statues in the core valley, logically speaking, someone should be so calm when a potential contender invaded a statue the found first. Dyon wouldn’t have even blamed this mysterious beauty for attacking first and asking questions about his identity later.

In the end, he decided to play along, curious about what she wanted. “I don’t.”

“Her name has been lost in time, but she’s most definitely one of the 108 Holy Princesses.”

“Holy Princesses?” Dyon asked in slight confusion.

“I’m surprised you don’t know.” The mysterious beauty spoke in a slight teasing tone. “Your wife wears a visor made of material from the Holy Arc. It was a legendary vessel, so much so that mere pieces of broken furniture that were once housed within it could be sold for astronomical prices today.

“Among those who rode the Holy Arc, there wasn’t a single one who didn’t cause world shattering events. The 108 Princesses, the 12 Queens, the 3 Empresses and the Holy Goddess. Legend has it that the First White Mother, the ancestor of the guardian beasts of the Celestial Deer Sect, was actually one of the Empresses of the Holy Arc. Imagine that, a woman that powerful was only one of three, and there was actually a woman even more powerful than her!”

Dyon blinked. When this mysterious beauty had mentioned Ri, he was slightly on guard. But, then he remembered that everyone knew he was Ri’s husband. It wasn’t a secret. After all, his video embarrassing Aki had spread through the martial world.

However, what was truly curious was why this woman was telling him all of this. If anything, telling him how important the figure in the statue was, would make him want it even more.

“Unfortunately,” The beauty sighed. “No one understands the credentials required to gain her acceptance. She’s very clearly a soul cultivator, but we’ve long since lost count of how many soul cultivating geniuses have come, yet not gained her acceptance. She’s, by far, the longest standing statue here.

“Some think that her soul fragment has long since dissipated. After all, even the tower can’t preserve a soul indefinitely. There must be some kind of limit.”

Dyon smiled. “Is that why you’re so confident in telling me?”

“Well,” The mysterious beauty pondered for a bit. “Even though the requirement of this Holy Princess are unknown, it’s pretty much certain that she wouldn’t hand her legacy off to a man. Everyone knows that the Holy Arc was a strictly female vessel, it would be far too abnormal for one of their own to hand a legacy to a man.

“Although, there is a story that makes it a slight possibility that she might…”

“Oh?”

“Mm. Apparently, the Holy Goddess spent most of her esteemed existence alone, solely chasing after the path of her cultivation.

“However, later in life, she met a man she could no longer ignore. He was the first disciple of the creator of the aurora, mind’s eye!” The beauty sighed. “It was no wonder such a holy woman fell for him, that man was the originator of the long lost Dao of Array Alchemy… His concepts and thoughts are the only reason a martial world even exists today. If not for his achievements, we humans would have long since lost the ability to retaliate.

“Think about it, we only have a mere fraction of his teachings, yet it’s still so much to the point where we’re still learning about it today.”

Dyon had never been surprised so often in such a short amount of time. In terms of seniority, he couldn’t even figure out his connection to his grand teacher’s first disciple, but he knew it was there. Then there was the fact that the Dao of Array Alchemy was actually in his hands, what kind of coincidence was that?

The mysterious beauty suddenly giggled. “I guess if one day you became as outstanding as that man, you could gain the acknowledgement of this Holy Princess.”

“Hm,” Dyon mumbled absentmindedly while he looked up at the large statue.

“Do you believe you can?” The beauty asked.

“There’s nothing in this world that I can’t do.” Dyon replied without thought. It was clear that his mind wasn’t truly focused on the question, or the beauty. Although this surprised the woman, it also told her that these were Dyon’s true thoughts.

“Mm, well. Good luck.” The beauty smiled a final time before starting to walk away.

“What was your name again?” Dyon suddenly asked.

A giggle came from far away. “Aritzia. Aritzia Sapientia.”