?2006 Soon

Had Dyon comprehended it all earlier, there was no doubt that his Mortal Empire would be at least twice as strong as it was now. Unfortunately, he hadn't.

Though they had his master capable of concocting in this path, her soul stamina was nowhere near Dyon's. It was impossible for her to concoct millions, even billions of pills in one sitting like Dyon could. As a result, it was impossible to rely on her to support more than a handful of people.

This path could be the considered the only time Dyon had ever struggled in Array Alchemy. His initial failure was part of the reason he insisted on starting from scratch, learning everything from the ground up.

In the end, his perseverance worked out. 20 years after he finished his 60 years of foundational training, he finally grasped the quintessence of his Master's Legacy.

This couldn't have made Esmeralda happier.

Though she never mentioned it, she had always felt a sense of inferiority. She didn't think she was worthy to be Dyon's master. She had hardly guided him, and had even placed such a massive burden on his shoulders when he was just a child. Even if Dyon never complained or even raised a single ounce of disrespect toward her, this only made her heart heavier.

However, now she felt she had truly done something for him. Though she didn't believe this could erase all of the wrongs she had brought into his life, it still set her heart at ease just the tiniest bit.

"Master! You can't start crying now, you know I can't deal with that." Dyon shook his head in a slight panic, wiping away Esmeralda's tears. Lilith's outburst all those decades ago had left him with some lingering trauma.

To the side, her husband, Jorkai, laughed heartily, his deep voice shaking the foundations of Soul Palace.

"With you master and disciple around, I feel like a third wheel. I need that little boy to hurry and bring me a grandchild so I don't feel so lonely anymore. To think he has two wives, yet I've yet to hold up my grandson. Can he even be my, Jorkai's, seed?"

Jorkai had an incredibly old-fashioned way of speaking, but his heart shone through with his every word.

Poor Zaire had been beaten on the head by this father of his for a grandchild, but he had never truly put his mind to it.

As for who Zaire's two wives were, he married both Lyla and Damaris. Dyon might have expected the former though he never pushed the issue, but the latter was a surprise to him. It honestly may have never happened had it not been for Lyla's interference. After all, she could see through the thoughts of both of them with ease.

"You inflexible old codger." Esmeralda pulled on her husband's ear. "These are dangerous times, who has the mind to have a child? Stop speaking nonsense."

Jorkai blushed slightly after Esmeralda's words exposed him. He was just making fun of his son for being incapable of having a child, but it was clear to anyone that he had tried to have a second one himself only to be rejected by Esmeralda.

Dyon smiled as the resolve in his heart grew stronger. Even if he had to give his life, these were the smiles he would protect to the end. To want to destroy the happiness of his family The Entity must truly be tired of living.

...

Ri stood silently, looking off into the dark night sky. She was currently on the edge of a long, luxurious balcony of Soul Palace, her thoughts drifting off toward the bright moon.

She was slightly startled when she felt two strong arms wrap about her slim waist, but smiled in the end, leaning back and into a tall, sturdy frame.

"He should be back soon." Dyon said softly.

" It's been almost a century Mother misses him a lot." Ri responded.

Of the Supremes of his Mortal Empire, his mother-in-law had long since become one. Of course, as a newly born Celestial Fox, she didn't have to undergo a tribulation, so no one was certain what level of baptism she received, but Dyon was quite sure that she too received the pinnacle only available to those who climbed 9999 steps.

"He resolved in his heart to do this. Though it may be a nice thought for him to stay behind all of this time, those insecure feelings would have festered for a long while. In the end, he may have done something even worse than Delia's father had for the sake of power. This was the far better choice."

Ri and Dyon still remembered the story of Delia's father and her mother. In order to cultivate his ice will to the 9th intent realm, he had coldly watched as his wife married another man and almost sat back even as his wife and daughter were about to be killed before him.

Ri's own father likely hadn't been far from this sort of masochistic ending.

He had abandoned his Kingdom for the sake of saving his wife, only to come back and find that what he was tasked to protect was saved by a human boy who swept his daughter off her feet.

Then, following this, this same human boy allowed his wife to break the shackles of her bloodline and leave with a level of talent he could never hope to match.

What could he do at that point? Could he rely on Dyon again to catch up to his wife? To his daughter?

His pride simply couldn't allow him to do so. He knew he had committed wrongs in the past, but he didn't want others to fix it for him. He wanted to do it under his own power, to prove why it was him the Elvin Ancestors chose to rule their Clans.

In the blink of an eye, nearly a century had passed since he resolved himself. Dyon knew that he was safe because all he had to do was ask his grand teacher, but that didn't ease the worry his wife and daughter felt for him.

"You're right" Ri nodded. " But when he comes back, I'll chain his feet to mother's! We'll see if he dares run away again!"