"It's okay, I don't need anything." Little Alauna wrapped herself around her father's arm and smiled sweetly. She wasn't lying. Being by Dyon's side was the most fun gift for her. At least, though she was now nearing 15 years old, she hadn't reached the age where she was sick of Dyon's face just yet.
Dyon looked around the skies they stood in.
Below them was a beautiful blue moon, dusted in ethereal sands. But, the true shock sight was all around them. Stars of various shapes and sizes were abound, forming an array so large it was beyond imagining.
There were two reasons it had taken them a bit more than a year and a half to make it here. The first was that Dyon had used it as a training session for Alauna, and as such didn't participate aside from making sure she was protected. But, the second reason was due to this very star array.
Legolas, who had been a mere Lower Dao Formation expert in the past, theoretically shouldn't have been capable of creating a test Alauna would struggle with for so long. However, likely due to some special abilities Hell's Right Eye had, he was actually capable of forming a protective array of stars that could stall Dyon's daughter for so long.
"You realized it too, right dad? Hell's Right Eye, and our flames" Little Alauna opened her palm, revealing a flickering black flame. " Are strongly connected to one another. But it seems to like your flames a lot more."
Almost a decade ago, Dyon realized that his daughter was similar to himself in many aspects. For one, she was born with both his Purity Flame and his Chaos Flame.
Dyon found this a bit odd. After all, his flames were a product on his manifestation, but his daughter didn't inherit his own. In fact, her manifestation was nothing like his.
The truly odd part, though, was that aside from his Chaos Flame's Inextinguishable Heat and Solidification characteristics, and his Purity Flame's Piercing Cold and Solidification Characteristc, Alauna couldn't seem to comprehend or unseal any of the others. This included the very first characteristic Dyon had unlocked as well, the Amplification Characteristic despite the fact she had already comprehended her Flame Dao to the Second Dao Realm.
These matters confused Dyon, but he truly didn't have an answer, especially since Little Alauna hadn't inherited any of his other manifestation related abilities. But, unfortunately, even his Immortal Sense didn't give him the answer he sought.
Suddenly, Dyon's eyes lit up with an idea.
"Since dad can't give you the present he wanted, he'll give you the stars instead." Dyon grinned, looking out toward the formation of 108 stars.
Some of them glistened a fiery red, others were condensed into an impregnable white density, others flickered with blues and greens. However, all of them would be reduced to a gift for his little girl.
"Watch very closely, Alauna. [Nine Suns of Armageddon]!"
In that moment, a single dot of condensed black flame appeared above Dyon's head. But, the instant it did, it began to expand faster than the human eye could fathom. In a single blink, it rivaled an asteroid in size, in another, it rivaled a small moon!
The black flame was condensed so finely that it resembled a smooth pearl. It was impossible to conclude that it was a sun It was more like a blackhole!
Though his daughter didn't seem capable of inheriting the full ability of his flames, Dyon had continued to awaken his flames' characteristics. It seemed that with each passing day, they grew more and more mighty.
Due to his unique flames, the legacy techniques of the Golden Crow Clan had reached a pseudo One with Self Realm in Dyon's hands. Because the ability of his flames were so mystical, those techniques began displaying abilities they otherwise might not be able to despite the fact Dyon would never claim to have reached the One with Self Realm with them.
One of these abilities was about to manifest themselves now thanks to Dyon's newly comprehended characteristic The Engulf Characteristic and the Repel Characteristic!
Dyon's white flames could repel all things, maintaining its pure, unstained appearance. However, his black flames engulfed all things, taking the whole that humanity had to offer and forming a seed of Chaos!
What happened when the Engulf Characteristic was suddenly paired with [Nine Suns of Armageddon]?
The world bowed down to its knees.
The beautifully constructed array suddenly crumbled. The sight of 108 stars collapsing was one that could shock even the most resolute of man and woman. However, Dyon did it all for his daughter, a precious little girl he couldn't describe his love for with mere words.
Torrents of colored flames charged toward Dyon's black pearl, uncontrollably being sucked into it one after another.
"Alauna, open your inner world to me."
Little Alauna's eyes sparkled. Opening one's inner world to another was a feat that required an unconscious level of trust. But, toward her own father, would she have such reservations?
Although she had yet to step into the dao realm, her inner world was already incredibly vast. But even so, it wasn't so large as to be able to take in 108 stars. Even Dyon's own inner world wasn't so large. Still, despite knowing this, Alauna didn't hesitate.
Dyon turned to his daughter, placing his hand on her belly. In an instant, his mind found her inner world and a vast golden array began to form in the skies.
Having studied array alchemy, Alauna immediately recognized the Star Grade teleportation array and relaxed herself completely.
"Go."
The black moon flame above Dyon's head disappeared along with himself.
...
Dyon looked around his daughter's inner world with a satisfied expression on his face. All of his previous discontent had vanished.
In the skies, 108 stars circulated in perfect balance, however they were far smaller than they had been in the past. In fact, they were only about a single kilometer across each.
Shockingly, though, Dyon hadn't extracted their power in order to do this. Instead, he relied on a combination of Alauna's control of her inner world and his own Engulf Character to forcibly compress them down. Now, the power they held had actually increased several fold.
Alauna's avatar shimmered into existence by his side with a big grin on her face. She couldn't help but hop upward and plant a big sloppy kiss on her father's cheek.
Dyon nodded with satisfaction. "With this, you're more than ready to take on your Dao Tribulation."