Chapter Book 7: 255: Cheap Imitation (3)
Book 7: Chapter 255: Cheap Imitation (3)
The mad ravings of the Lord Creator continued. He incoherently told stories about all the times he had been thwarted by elves and how he valiantly stepped into the realm of Higher Existences even with their interference.
One had to know that the tribulation to enter the realm of Higher Existences was different from the previous three, which was why it was often left out of discussions.
When one first begins their cultivation journey, the Heavens help in any way it can. For example, when one crosses a realm barrier, the Heavens can complete a certain amount of cultivation for you. In Madeleine’s case, she jumped directly to the peak of the 1st celestial stage the moment she triggered her tribulation.
Another example of this help was the disablement of interference. Unless one had a death wish, no one would ever interfere with a saint, celestial or dao tribulation. In addition, the moment a tribulation was cleared perfectly, all injuries incurred during it would be healed. Only those who fail to perfectly clear their tribulations by being too weak or forcibly take it before they are ready suffer severe injuries – like Giralda who prematurely took hers or Hela, who was too weak.
Giralda took a tribulation meant for an eighth or ninth order celestial when she was a mere 11th stage saint. Her accumulations weren’t enough, and therefore she suffered.
As for Hela, her talent was nowhere near that of Giralda, so after being caught off guard by her tribulation, she suffered injuries that took her a while to heal from.
So why was all of this important? It was because the Heavens no longer did any hand holding when one sought to become a Higher Existence. Not only could the Heavens rain down tribulations upon you, so could your enemies.
The Lord Creator suffered such a trauma. And, although he managed to survive, he didn’t clear his trial perfectly. In the end, the hidden injuries left by this trial was the reason he was never able to shed the final layer of his mortality and become a transcendent.
This anger and rage followed him to this day. On some days, he managed to ignore it, but on others, like today, he was triggered to the point of insanity.
At the same time, however, it was this exact oddity that made Dyon pause his actions and close the Soul Tome. How could someone with such a vicious Heart Demon survive for trillions of years? What was the secret? If he could figure this out, he could win this battle.
Heart Demons were an enigmatic existence in the martial world. Since the cultivation of spirituality could breed good things like battle intent and refined killing intent, why could it not breed bad things as well? While the former two were very helpful in cultivation, a Heart Demon was detrimental. The worst kinds can immediately cause the destruction of one’s Dao Heart and even death!
Interestingly, though, Heart Demons weren’t always bad. When paired with the right person, it could be a source of motivation and strength, even increasing cultivation speed and steadying will power and perseverance.
Dyon had such a Heart Demon that he had yet to rid himself of to this day. In fact, he had experienced numerous Heart Demons in his life.
His first was when he was forced to watch Madeleine be taken away by her former master. He had pretended not to care at the time, as though it was his decision, but he knew how he truly felt about the matter.
The second Heart Demon Dyon faced revolved around his parents. This was a Heart Demon he was able to set down and rid himself of after facing the entity for the first time. He finally resigned himself to stop chasing after their resurrection and live his life for the loved ones that still lived.
The third was his guilt over the destruction of the Mortal Realm. To this day, he still felt guilty.
Still, the greatest Heart Demon Dyon faced and one that plagued him to this day revolved around his black flames. The dao comprehension he gained from them forced him to the point of suicide. If it wasn’t for those of the Mortal Clan reaching out to him, he would have died without a doubt.
‘Is that what it is?’ Dyon’s eyes sharpened. ‘Could it be that Orcus is experiencing something similar to the effects of the Sovereign Heart? Is it really just a coincidence that the Sovereign Heart and the Sovereign Flames share half a moniker? Could this be related to why he can use Presence without a body?’
Dyon looked back at his still struggling wife. The four beast babies also did their best to support, using a secret technique of the Beast Masters to share their energy among one another to help Biibi sustain Madeleine.
‘I can’t delay anymore, I have to take a risk.’
In that moment, Dyon did something absolutely foolish. He directly sent his divine sense toward Orcus, knowing fully well that if the remnant spirit lashed out with his Presence, he would suffer untold damage to his soul…
Due to his incoherent ravings, Orcus didn’t seem to notice Dyon’s suicidal actions.
“…. I fought them with all my might! Gya, gya, gya! Those bastards really didn’t want a genius like me to become a Higher Existence, but my Black Bone Army was too ferocious for them! I slaughtered elf after elf, drowning them in blood and death! With every one that fell, my dao of death only grew stronger! Gya, gya, gya! …”
It was at that moment that Dyon saw what he was looking for. In the barely formed, vague nascent soul of Orcus, within its small fetus-like chest was a small ember, scarcely flickering. In fact, this small ember looked almost exactly like the planted seed of a Sovereign Dao Heart! However, it was somehow far more powerful even in this embryonic form.
‘That’s it!’ Thunder clapped within Dyon’s mind. ‘This Lord Creator has long since lost his mind. He knew this would happen, so he had already planned a replacement! This replacement was the seed of the Sovereign Flame. If it wasn’t for this, he would have lost his mind already.’
Normally, when the Heavens helps someone form a Legacy world, it also makes contingency plans to preserve that person’s life to not lose themselves to madness in the stream of time. However, this contingency plan entailed putting the world’s owner to sleep until someone found their world. It was similar to what the Higher Existence demon tigers were undergoing now.
However, in order to accomplish his goals and slowly refine the Sovereign Flame and his new body, Orcus had to stay awake!
Every time another genius of the Flame Dao died, Orcus was steal the root of their unique flames, slowly feeding the seed of this Sovereign Flame for trillions of years. Now, althoughit was on the verge of being born, Orcus paid the price of his mind for it!
The Sovereign Heart… It was just a cheap imitation of this Legendary Flame!