Book 8: Chapter 212: Devour (2)

Ever since his birth, Dyon had had an air of arrogance. It was one his mother never bothered with, loving him regardless, but it was something his father had tried to wring out of him more times than he cared to remember.Of course, Dyon’s father wasn’t an abusive man. He was strict and stoic, but Dyon wasn’t an immature child who couldn’t see his father’s love for him. In fact, he was quite fascinated by the way his father’s mind worked because he greatly admired him.However, Dyon’s father, General Sacharro, was a military man. Dyon’s level of arrogance was intolerable on the battlefield. A man who couldn’t lower his head when it was necessary was a detriment to the men around him, especially when this arrogance was related to insubordination.Still, even seeing this flaw early on, General Sacharro failed to change his son.Normally, parents wouldn’t be able to see the failings of their children until it was too late. But, General Sacharro saw this side of his son early on, but was unable to change anything.What was the difference between then and now? The difference was that Dyon respected his father. But these nameless Dragons? The same ones who dared to test him, the same ones that tried to mold his thoughts into their own? Their actions completely infuriated him.It could only be described as an irrational anger. Maybe even Dyon didn’t understand where it stemmed from.Was it what he suffered at the hands of Aritzia that caused this? Was it the pressure on his shoulders? Was it the fact his dao heart was still empty? Maybe it was the fact he still hadn’t resolved his feelings surrounding his chaos flames…Whatever it was, a single man could only endure so much.Dyon’s idea of moving on was laughable if you truly thought about it. He lost his dao heart under the assault of his comprehension of chaos, yet he just seemed to move on and forget about it.For a moment, his heart was sustained by the hopes and dreams of individuals he himself said he looked down upon. Then, he shattered that newly formed dao heart willingly, all for the sake of seeking a new path he had next to no idea about.If his arrogance was as infallible as he believed, then why had the reality of Chaos affected him at all? If it was so undefeatable, so untouchable, why did he rely on the will of people he disparaged in his own heart?He shattered that dao heart, the very dao heart that stood among the very top nine, for what? To seek out a new, better path? Then why was it that he hadn’t even tried to meditate on that new path since then? It had been almost 4 years now since he learned of this mysterious ‘new path’ from his manifestation. Why had he made no progress?He lashed out in frustration, in an irrational rage. For once, he lashed out not because he truly believed the words he was hearing were wrong, but because he didn’t have a better answer.If he let go of his arrogance, what exactly did he have left? If he couldn’t trick himself into believing he was undefeatable, that he was untouchable, would he be able to accomplish anything?The issue was that Dyon himself didn’t believe his arrogance was a simple trick of the mind. It was ingrained so deeply that sometimes he felt like a different person entirely. As though his personality was preset long before he was even born.A massive wave of raging soul qi swept over Calming Lake.In his rage, Dyon had suddenly accomplished something so very few in history had ever done… He reached the One with Self realm with a divine grade technique.Devour. Devour everything.Dyon’s crushing divine sense descended upon beautiful pink lakes, rivers and clouds. It filled them with a darkness that had no place in this world.It was such a fierce contrast that the Mystical Realm shook. A place spanning millions of miles shook under the rage of a single man.[Devour]. It was one of the very first techniques Dyon ever learned. Back then, he knew so little about the martial world that he had no idea one wasn’t supposed to be able to use divine grade techniques until they entered the dao realm.How could that Dyon know just how heaven defying his soul was? To be capable of doing something so inconceivable despite barely being within the practitioner realm?[Devour] had nine stages split into three acts. Each step forward was a massive leap forward, but Dyon hardly paid attention to it. The soul was too fragile to use [Devour] wantonly, so often times, Dyon ignored it.However, as time passed, Dyon’s soul talent shined fiercely. Even when he wasn’t thinking about it, he would suddenly comprehend small bits of it. Before he knew it, he had reached the ninth stage.It was lamentable. If he had reached the ninth stage when Head Void was attacking, he wouldn’t have needed to activate his tribulation. The moment Head Void opened up his mind, the battle would have been over. But, that was all Dyon thought of it…But suddenly, this day, in his absolute rage, he wanted to devour everything in sight. He wanted to tear down everything that dared make him feel this irrational anger, this anger that even he himself was ashamed of feeling.It was then Heaven’s Blessing descended.The roars of the enraged Ancestor Dragons were completely drowned out by Dyon’s own. He only wanted to Devour more.