‘Since you can see my mind in its entirety, you probably know the answer better than me. What do you think?’

“I think you’ll lose it. And you’ll lose it to an even worse extent than the demon sage did.”

‘… You’re probably right.’

“You realize that’s not the answer I want to hear, right? Why would I help you now?”

‘I don’t have to know what happened to know the result of it.

The mortal realm is filled with pain and suffering. Death and disease. Cynicism and greed.

And now, on top of this, you’re telling me that someone has to do with the death of my parents?’

“How is anything you just said different from the martial world? We deal with all of the same things.”

‘Wrong.’

A light smile played on the entities face from worlds away listening to Dyon.

‘In the mortal world, there’s no out. .𝒎

‘In the human world you might live to 120 years because of technology – a number that’s completely meaningless in the face of martial experts.

‘The human world is filled with disease – something a martial expert never has to deal with.

‘The human world has a set class system that’s almost impossible to break out of for a good 95% of the world. The places that allow you to improve yourself simply by virtue of your hard work are few and far between.

‘There are places in the eastern part of our world that decide your class simply by the place you were born. Imagine not being able to buy land in certain areas or attend certain schools or own certain businesses simply because your parents had no standing.

‘And all of this is made even worse because of how short our lives are. You feel like you spend the whole time working toward an inevitable demise. What kind of life is that?

‘But, in the martial world, can’t everyone cultivate? Can’t everyone participate in campaigns and fight their way to this tower? Can’t everyone take advantage of their long lives to accumulate what they need to push forward?

‘There is no ‘ghetto’ of the martial world. And if there was, it would be the Focus Academy I started in. If you could even call that high-tech place a ‘ghetto’.

‘I’m not claiming that the martial world is perfect. In fact, it disgusts me so much that, often times, I want to return home. But, what it does allow is the right to fight back. A right that was taken from those born in the mortal realm.’

“You’ve seen too little of the martial world to be saying these things kid. Much too little. Sometimes living too long isn’t a good thing…”

‘I hope you don’t expect me to agree with that. There are rich people in the mortal realm who constantly talk down to poor people. Telling them that money doesn’t make them happy. And now you sound like one of them.

‘To me, you’re just people who’ve taken for granted the things you’ve worked for. I’d like you to go and tell a man who’s only lived 70 years that living longer isn’t a good thing while he’s on his last breath.’

A sudden robust laughter filled Dyon’s ears. “I know what you’re thinking. It’s even worse for me to say living longer is a bad thing, hm? Because at least some the people saying money isn’t everything have experienced being poor?”

‘At least I didn’t have to say it.’ Dyon said defiantly.

In Dyon’s life in the mortal realm, he hadn’t become well known just because he was a genius. It was because he spent his time creating things that benefited the entire world.

His understanding of the suffering poorer regions of the world had to deal with was as good as anyone else’s. So, he didn’t like listening to privileged people talk in this way.

“HA! Because you’re getting cocky, I’m giving you a difficult test. In fact, I’ll be giving you the True Empath trials.”

‘That’s a good thing… isn’t it?’

“Nope. Because now you’re not taking the trials to gain more of my power. You’re doing them to earn meridians. So, you only get to gain one thing.”

Dyon pouted. ‘Hey wait! That’s not fair! I’ve already fully grasped your aurora, so I should have already earned the meri – ‘

The entities robust laughter filled the space again as he teleported Dyon away. “What a cheeky kid…”

Off in a small cabin in a world that couldn’t be fathomed, sat an old man on a rocking chair.

His features were wrinkled a ghastly, but the smile on his face seemed to light everything up.

Outside of the cabin, the sound of a battle the scale of which couldn’t be measured was taking place… Transcendent beings tore through space and bent the laws of the world themselves to their will.

The old man watched all of this from his rocking chair, seemingly unbothered by the disturbances.

His hair was an unhealthy and straw like grey color. That on top of the fact his eyes seemed unnaturally blinded – they looked like a blue-ish milk filled bowl as opposed to normal irises.

“Master? You haven’t moved in so long, I was worried!”

A beautiful woman dressed in white rushed over. Her features were delicate now, but there was a hint of cold that made it clear this was an expression very few people had the right to see.

The old man looked up. Although he could no longer see, the gentle flash of a holy light etched into his forehead, bathing over the woman.

“Master? You haven’t used your aurora in so long! Did you have a break through?… This color…”

The old man coughed lightly, taking in the woman’s appearance and burning it into his mind.

“I was just speaking to your grand-disciple… He’s quite the interesting character. Much too na?ve. But. Interesting.”

A confused look appeared on the woman’s face. “Grand disciple?…”

“Ha! It looks like your 23rd grand daughter found herself a good one.”

“But – “

“Ai. The Celestial Deer Sect is gone… But, maybe not for too much longer…”

The woman smiled lightly. “Alright master. That’s good. They need me, I’ll come check on you again later.”

The old man smiled as the beautiful lady flashed away.

He could hear the despair in her voice. It was clear she had long since given up. To her, what use was a child chosen by a granddaughter of hers? Especially a granddaughter so far removed from the main Celestial Deer bloodline?

And yet, she did her best to put on an act for her master. A man she respected with her everything. Even to the point where she hid the fact her body was mangled beyond belief.

Her legs were shattered, so she was forced to hover above the ground. The back of her dress was matted with blood and torn skin. She was even missing an entire arm having become tired of healing her limbs…

But, the old man ignored all of this. Him showing concern wouldn’t help. As sad as it was, the best he could do now was pretend he was oblivious to all of this…

Blood seeped from the corner of the old man’s mouth. “I guess I’ll let you do it for your little sister. After all, she has the best affinity I’ve seen for the true empath path.” The old man chuckled.

.