Book 6: Chapter 411: Partners (2)
After spending a few hours with his Master and Granny Celest, Dyon turned to leave. But, before he could, he was stopped by some unexpected visitors.Beforehand, Dyon had been within the territory of the Celestial Deer. Their homes in the Mystical World were simple, but elegant. Due to the late arrival of the Celestial Turtle and Ape clans, some rearrangement of the 18th tier was necessary, but each clan still had thousands of acres to themselves and never encroached on each other’s lands.So, as expected, Dyon was never bothered when he set foot into the Celestial Deer Clan and often teleported directly in and out of it without bothering to explore other areas. However, today he had planned on plucking some spiritual fruits for the road and maybe taking some celestial meat along with him, only for him to walk out to find nine kneeling figures.Dyon blinked before looking to Granny Celest and his master who were seeing him out. “How long have they been here?…”Esmeralda turned her nose up, clearly discontent with how these nine had treated her disciple. “Almost five months now. Even before you entered the gate.”‘Five months?’ Dyon was inwardly surprised. It wasn’t that he ignored them, he legitimately had no idea that they were here.Although that length of time was nothing to martial warriors of their caliber, it still showed a level of sincerity that impressed Dyon at least to some extent. After all, they had no idea when Dyon would allow them to stand.However, Dyon had already that even if they did exactly what they were doing now, they’d never have a place in his kingdom.There was a reason he waited until the last moment to reveal the twins. With his intelligence, how could he not know how the Celestial Beasts would react to the reappearance of the supposedly extinct celestial hamsters? It would have ended this conflict before it even began.That said, would that have truly changed their temperaments? Even if they bowed their heads to Dyon, what about when Dyon was gone? Would they rebel against the next human head just because of their own innate biases?He didn’t want people like this following him. Dyon wasn’t naïve enough to believe that everyone he accepted would be good natured, but he sure as hell wouldn’t knowingly accept anyone with a black heart.The worst thing you could do in life was abandon an ally. There were plenty of terrible things in the world, but little could match betrayal of loyalty. Yet, this was exactly what these beasts were responsible for.People had died. Wives lost their husbands. Daughters lost their fathers. Dreams and aspirations were torn apart. And yet these three family heads had only been worried about their own petty survival.Could this even count as survival anyway? Hiding away in this beautiful Mystical World may seem great, but it was nothing but a prison.Dyon looked up from the kneeling celestial beasts to find many watching this scene from afar.Some were still in their beast forms, others were in their human forms. But, they all seemed to be quite confused. It wasn’t everyday you saw dao formation experts kneeling.It wasn’t a surprise that Dyon could see resentment aimed toward him among them. Without knowing the whole story, no one would think that their own family heads were in the wrong.“There’s no need for you all to kneel here.” Dyon said emotionlessly. “The length of time won’t change anything, I’ve already made my stance clear. You can go about your lives, and I’ll go about mine.”Dyon took a step forward, disappearing and appearing to their backs. But, before he could flash forward a second time, a voice called out that made him pause.“Thank you for saving my life!”Dyon looked back to find them all still kneeling. Obviously, the one who had spoken out was Head Tudo.Those celestial beasts watching in the distance were stunned to hear these words.“You’re welcome.” Dyon turned to leave once more but more words seemed eager to stop him.“We don’t kneel here in hopes you’ll forgive us, but that you’ll take pity on the younger generation. We’ll pay for our sins and even die if that’s what you see fit, but they shouldn’t pay for our mistakes.” Elder Tudo added, her forehead still marred with dark soil.Before Dyon could respond, three attendants flew forward from the crowds in the distance, each holding a young celestial beast in their arms.One bare chested young man held an adorable white tiger cub in his arms that looked more like a kitten than the vicious beast of slaughter he’d grow to be.Another young man, wearing white scholarly robes and a heavy turtle shell on his back came forward with a young turtle covered in a beautiful black shell, lined with intricate patterns. However, when its small head poked out, its skin and partial scales were entirely white even as its large black eyes blinked with curiosity as it looked toward Dyon.The last was a young lady. However, unlike her fellow attendants, the young celestial beast with her hung from her back, wrapping its small arms around her neck. The child ape was covered in pristine white fur and peaked over the attendant’s should with an adorable, naïve curiosity.In the end, the three of them stopped before Dyon, presenting these youths to him.“These three have the densest bloodline of their generation and have the potential to become worthy of titles in the future. Please take them as your partners.” Head Tudo’s voice trembled as she begged sincerely.