357 Goal 1

Just like that, two months flew by. Ri spent every day diligently cultivating by Dyon. In fact, her progress was so frightening that the little attention Dyon could spare in watching her was spent in surprise.

Unfortunately, the eve of the tournament came and Dyon still had not moved an inch.

The good news was that the red crystals has receded drastically, no longer coating Dyon's eyes and much of his organs, but, Dyon couldn't rest for even a single moment. The more of the technique he erased, the harder it seemed to fight. He hadn't slept in two months, instead spending every waking moment in endless amounts of pain and strife.

He felt better about the situation, though, knowing that Ri was by his side. And, he had benefited from this experience in ways only he knew… For now.

"Should I really go?" Ri looked at Dyon who had closed his eyes long ago. She knew that Dyon wanted her to go to the world tournament, and she also knew that her participation was highly important for the Elvin Kingdom's prestige as well, but she was torn.

Things like revenge and prestige could wait, but Dyon only had one life. If something happened while Ri was gone, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself.

That said, Ri knew she wasn't thinking rationally. There were three thousand demon generals here. And a thousand of them were saints! How could she protect Dyon more than they could? But, a lot of the time, love wasn't rational.

However, before Ri could think of backing out, Dyon's neck strained to nod and he grunted as loudly as he could.

Seeing Dyon struggle like this, tears threatened to spill out of Ri's eyes for what seemed like the millionth time. But, she accepted it. "Okay, Okay. Stop moving. I'll go. I'll go."

Although Ri didn't say it, there was something else she was worrying about. Dyon and Connery Sapientia had a scheduled a match for the closing of the first day of the world tournament. But, it was clear that whatever Dyon was doing, just wasn't enough to be ready by the end of tomorrow. How would Connery react when Dyon doesn't show up?

Ri clenched her small fist and sighed. 'There's nothing much we can do…'

Leaning forward, Ri planted a soft kiss of Dyon's lips before going back to training. She wanted to be in optimal condition for tomorrow.

A few faces floated in her mind. Those would be her target enemies and they would pay.

**

"The path of the absolute is unforgiving. If you've stepped onto this path, there's little you'll have else in life.

Friendship won't feel the same. Love won't feel the same. Family… Won't feel the same." Patia-Neva spoke faintly as he guided Delia again and again through a cultivation path.

They both sat in a snow storm of epic proportions, and yet Patia-Neva's voice seemed to easily cut through it was.

This was a mountain peak that few had ever been on. In fact, it was a mountain peak that wasn't found on Earth… Instead, it was found on an asteroid in a place known as the ice belt.

This was a ring of asteroids found in the solar system that housed Planet Naiad – the former home of the Patia-Neva Royal God Clan that had now been replaced by the Clyte Royal God Clan.

In the past, when their universe had reigned supreme over all others in this quadrant, the ice belt was known as the ultimate place to learn ice will. This wasn't just because of its environment. The ice belt was a house to a copious amount of ice abyssal cores making it highly efficient to learn ice will here.

However, over time, this had become a long-forgotten place. It wasn't until Patia-Neva rediscovered it and used it to propel himself toward becoming the expert he was today that it began to be used again.

The truth was that as a formerly highly noted universe, their home housed numerously inactive abyssal core sites. The problem was that since those places had once been restricted and kept secret by powerful clans, once those clans died out due to the wars, the smaller clans didn't have the necessary knowledge to find those sacred places. In fact, even if they had the location, very few would survive the harsh realities of it.

If Patia-Neva wasn't there to shield Delia from not only much of the will given off by the ridiculous number of abyssal cores, but to also protect her from the harsh realities of space, she would have died. It was impossible to survive in space without the cultivation of a saint or if you didn't have devices to protect yourself. In fact, Patia-Neva himself almost died the first time he came here despite having already been a saint.

Back in Patia-Neva's younger years, he had always been curious. The Patia-Neva clan had a weird affinity. They held dual blood lines for both nature wills and ice wills. These seemed completely opposing and odd to be found in one lineage.

However, overtime, Patia-Neva came to learn that while their nature wills were natural and stemmed from birth, their ice wills had a semblance of artificiality to them which cause Patia-Neva to wonder… Why?

Afterwards, he hypothesized that there must be a strong source of ice will nearby that was giving them this boost and that since the Patia-Neva were amongst the oldest clans of Planet Naiad, they showed the most drastic effects of this strong source of ice will.

Unfortunately, Patia-Neva couldn't have been more right. But, his path toward protecting his secret had led to the destruction of his clan, the separation of his family and years of pain he could only blame himself for.

And yet, he still did it… Because it wasn't just about protecting himself.

That day, when he first stepped foot on the asteroid, he met the only woman he had ever loved other than Delia's mother. Unfortunately, she had already promised herself to another man, never giving Patia-Neva a chance.

If it wasn't for her, Patia-Neva would have died without even knowing how it had happened. That day, he gained not only a fresh look on life, but also friends he would continue to protect to this day.

That woman's name was Kawa Acacia, Ri's mother.