Dyon's agonizing screams filled the Pride World as his body deconstructed itself. Bronze Silk unraveled his body, quaking as they were coated in blood and blasting apart into fine light particles.

Soon, they began to descend once more, but not as bronze, but instead as silver.

2 billion jin 3 billion jin 4 billion jin!

Two paths clashed. They fought and tore each apart.

In one world, Dyon sank into a lake of transparent pink with a near endless depth. In another, he bathed himself in red.

To choose arrogance, or to choose a humble calm.

One path was unyielding, unforgiving. To take a step back was to die.

The other was like water, flowing with the ebbs and accepting things as they were while slowly forging a lane for yourself that didn't disrupt your realities.

But, Dyon didn't want to choose either. He didn't want to lose him. He refused to lose himself. But, he also refused to allow his shortcomings to cripple himself as they had in the past.

[I disdain the sovereign path!]

5 billion jin.

The words Dyon's manifestation had said in the past flowed to his ears.

[You were pathetic enough to lose yourself to the despair of a mere Chaos Path!]

6 billion jin.

[ You have the face to be arrogant even while you rely on the hopes and dreams of others to keep yourself stable?!]

7 billion jin.

[ How is this the demeanor of a Ruler?!]

8 billion jin.

Dyon's roar shook the two realms. It was unknown whether this was due to the tearing apart of his mind or if it was the tearing apart and reconstruction of his body.

[ Do you know how many have reached God Presence by relying on the Sovereign Heart? Zero!]

9 billion jin.

It was then that Dyon remembered. His crown It stood above that, it didn't refer to ruling over a mere Mortal Plane or a mere Immortal Plane It stood for absolute control Not of petty, unimpressive things But of Dyon himself!

[GOOD!]

10 billion jin.

A shroud of grey clouds seemed to separate in Dyon's mind as his Crown vibrated, pulsing with an unyielding light.

That was true arrogance. Arrogance wasn't about running into any and all situations with a hot head, willing to fight any and everything you crossed path with.

The answer had been within himself this entire time. What was true arrogance? What was true, unyielding pride? It was to have absolute control. To have absolute control of oneself no matter what may be happening around you.

Control. To mold your own future with your hands. To not allow the world collapsing around you to causally imply your collapse as well

This was the path Dyon was looking for.

In that moment, an empty piece of his mind's eye trembled. A radiating light pierced through both worlds, threatening to tear them down.

Dyon was too enthralled to realize it But the voices had been silent for a long time.

...

Dyon's mind's eye pulsed. In that moment, his nascent soul that had inexplicably disappeared just a year prior made its presence known once more.

In its chest, the very place the sovereign heart once appeared, a new heart began to form.

Its two remaining seals trembled under the might of its creation. Had they not been inanimate, one would think they felt fear.

A pulsing rainbow light flooded Dyon's mind's eye, pushing against its sides. What once was a sea of gold, became a beautiful array of vibrant colors.

By now, Dyon's body had completely entered the Ancient Battlefield.

The perfection realm of the Bronze Silk stage was 1 billion jin. But, the perfection of the Silver Silk stage was 10 billion jin! The moment Dyon reached that mark, his body had gained the ability to perfectly enter without any hindrances.

If one entered this space now, they'd be shocked. The world of crimson had completely disappeared. The blood Dyon had just soaked in became water clearer and purer than anything he had ever seen. What remained of the Pride Clan had been completely expunged from the world.

Filaments of silver silk descended from the skies, rapidly spinning and reforming Dyon's body.

In those moments, Dyon's blood became a beautiful sea of mercury. If one looked into his body, it would be no different than looking into the vital blood of a God.

His heart thrummed to life and his eyes shot open, sending outward a beam of rainbow light.

"Huuu." A breath left Dyon's lips. He could feel it Within his mind's eye, the rainbow light had rapidly shrunk, burrowing into his nascent soul's body.

Suddenly, Dyon's eyes widened. "Shit!"

As quickly as he thought it, Dyon's body entered the void.

An instant later, his nascent soul grew a size, becoming around 17 or 18 years old. But, what was truly damning was

Snap. BOOM!

A seal shattered. Its catastrophic momentum shook the void, tearing its way out into reality and wreaking havoc.

The eyelashes of the golden nascent soul fluttered opened, suppressing the explosion as it had done in the past. But, whether that would be useful or not remained to be seen

Dyon frowned as he left the void. Once again, the abrupt explosion didn't harm him in the slightest, but the things around him were a completely different story.

Dyon sighed a slight breath of relief. At the very least, the black unicorn skeleton was completely unharmed. Though some might say it was irrational, Dyon was certain that even a Higher Existence corpse refined to such a high degree would have not a single chance against the full brunt of his nascent soul exploding outward with power. It was lucky that his nascent soul didn't seem keen on allowing the latent strength of the seals that bound it to blast outward wantonly.

However, although the unicorn was fine, the same couldn't be said for the remaining almost 40 of the skeleton army. Still, the sturdiest among them had survived, leaving an addition 8 aside from the unicorn.