Dyon's eyes shone. "Unshakeable dao?"

'It will be impossible for you to end up with a shattered dao. The power it would take to do something like that to you, should you master this technique, would be more than the universe would allow a single person to have.'

Dyon diligently listened to the Dragon King's explanation. In the end, his reaction was a mixture of anticipation of apprehension.

He anticipated the benefits, but at the same time, a technique like this wouldn't be easy. In fact, it sounded a lot like suicide. As much as he was practically born a masochist, he had more people to worry about than himself now. He couldn't do things on a whim just because he felt like it anymore, he had to consider the thoughts and opinions of his wives, especially since hiding things from them while their souls were connected as one was practically impossible to begin with.

The technique itself was known as Will of Heart.

The first aspect of the technique was the sovereignty path. In order to reach perfection in Will of Heart, one needed to form nine daos utilizing this path. At the moment, Dyon had his music, weapon's master, demonic, and death wills that all followed this path, but they were far from becoming daos.

The second aspect was the masochistic aspect. It required tempering your one with heart by comprehending or absorbing contradicting paths to your own.

When Dyon heard this, even he couldn't help but break out into a cold sweat. This technique was essentially asking its wielders to purposefully cause their cultivation to deviate! What ridiculous requirements.

This was why the Dragon King wanted Dyon to take in Elder Daiyu's shattered dao. It was a rare opportunity to absorb weakened daos This wasn't a privilege previous wielders of the technique had.

However, Dyon also finally understood why the Dragon King had such a technique. Only the embodiment of sovereignty would have such an overbearing technique. But, that didn't mean Dyon would jump into this blindly.

The backlash for the shattering of a one with heart that served as the basis for a supreme law was death. And yet this technique asked him to continuously try and break that foundation to build it up. It was a tall ask indeed.

Dyon shook his head and stopped thinking about it before stretching out his hand toward Elder Daiyu.

There was a faint unwillingness in as Elder Daiyu's remaining soul strength accumulated toward Dyon's palm, but the struggle was futile

Elder Daiyu was someone who could no longer handle even something as simple as a soul contract. The fact his soul had even last this long was a testament to his tenacity and grit. There was no doubt that having a damaged soul meant you were in constant pain, but he fought through it Only to meet his end to a teenage boy he hadn't placed in his eyes just a few months ago.

There was no screaming, nor were there any last words of hatred. Maybe Elder Daiyu decided to maintain the last bit of his dignity and leave the world silently

Saying that he regretted his actions would likely be an understatement. However, maybe not for the reasons many would think. Although Elder Daiyu made the wrong decisions time and time again, what he was most ashamed of was how he disregarded his moral compass again and again. He had tried to sacrifice the life of a 19 year old boy, how could that sit well with any sane elder?

It was only oh so ironic how the weapon that started all of this for him, would also end it.

Elder Daiyu closed his eyes as he felt his soul strength slow drain. Dyon didn't torture him, but he did something for more sinister.

There were very few people Dyon used devour to completion for, but it wasn't under today that he learned what doing such a thing really meant

Dyon's parents would never returns to this world because they had no souls of their own. There was nothing anchoring them to this world and nothing for the universe to remember them by. Elder Daiyu and his allies had used the lives of his parents and people like they were mere tools to be discarded and never used again.

However, isn't this exactly what devour accomplishes? A technique capable of shattering daos and crippling souls A technique capable of erasing an entire person from existence.

The end of Elder Daiyu's life was uneventful and was a hallmark in history no one would remember. Such was the cruelty of the martial world Preying on the weak and snatching away what was never yours was the only way to survive

Dyon slowly felt his dissipating soul recover a bit, giving him more breathing room to use the Tree of Life and Death. But, first

Dyon's hand flashed as an ancient tome appeared. His mind stretched over Elder Daiyu's corpse, using the hints of the Dragon King to finally find the source of light he was speaking about.

And instant later, Dyon's breath was taken away.

Magnificent daos appeared in the air. Although they were clear cracked and broken in many places, unable to show their true power, Dyon could still feel a certain majesty that made the wills and intents within him ache for improvement. They too wanted to reach their own perfect state!

There weren't an infinite amount, only about three from what Dyon could tell. That said, because of their shattered states, it was difficult to tell. It would take time to decipher them, and even more to absorb them without dying But, if it was just pain, Dyon would do anything for strength.

As the shattered daos slowly inscribed themselves into Dyon's soul tome and the Tree of Life and Death bloomed in the skies, prepared to replenish Dyon's body, Dyon couldn't help but muse about something that would become of utmost importance in the future

He could help but wonder 'Why do daos look so much like arrays?...'