Iacchus couldn’t control himself as he nodded his head. But, an overwhelming sense of jealousy flooded him as he watched Madeleine grab Dyon’s arm as he walked towards the entrance. Whispers began to flood Iacchus’ ears as they walked in.
“Isn’t that the young master? Why is he so pale?”
“Wow, who is that beautiful lady? Why is she with that guy?”
“They must be a couple.”
“Oh look, they’re walking to the elevator that goes directly to the 10th floor, it seems like they might want to go to the second level.”
“But, they have no cultivation…”
“Plus, how could they afford it?”
“Maybe they’re friends of the young master.”
“Maybe.”
Iacchus clenched his fists.
“Don’t worry Young Master Vinum, he’ll embarrass himself really soon. Without the protection badge your master gave you, how could a kid with no cultivation climb the tower,” The Wind Blade sect disciple was clenching his teeth as he watched Madeleine smile and laugh with Dyon.
Soon, they reached the entrance to the 11th floor. There were no guards, there was simply stairs. But, Dyon’s eyes gleamed with gold as though he could see everything. Leaning down, he spoke to Madeleine.
“With your hair piece, this array formation will be nothing to you. It will protect you even to the top floor,” Dyon said with a smile.
Although defensive treasures were powered by a user’s cultivation, something like the passive pressure of an essence gathering experts was nothing for a transcendent treasure. That being said, the outcome would be very different if it was an essence gathering expert who actively attacked.
Dyon and Madeleine began to slowly walk towards the stairs.
“Lady Sapientia! Wait!” Iacchus called out.
“Oh? Weren’t you calling me Madeleine earlier on? What changed?”
Iacchus’ face froze, but he grit his teeth and continue, “Let this fool die alone, I can’t stand to see you hurt yourself like this for an ant.”
Madeleine’s face iced over, “Keep insulting my fiancé and I’ll cut all relations to you. I trust him far more than I trust you.”
Iacchus felt his heart tearing apart. He wanted to step forward and grab her to stop this foolishness, but a sharp sword qi made him freeze.
“You can talk about me all you want. You can even attack me if you want. But, don’t think of touching my woman. Stay in your place.”
Not bothering to look back, Dyon took Madeleine’s hand and walked forward. His eyes were shining gold and his body began emitting faint mists of aurora flames.
As for Madeleine, a soft sheen of light fluttered around her, deflecting the pressure entirely.
“Young master… that, that defensive treasure… it can do the same thing your badge can do?”
Iacchus stared at Madeleine, wide eyed. The badge his master gave him was no joke, but even it wouldn’t deflect the pressure so easily. But, what was going on with Dyon shook him even more. His face twitched.
“I tried to use a pressure formation against an array alchemist? My master would scold me to no end.”
The young girl and man looked over at Iacchus with odd expressions.
“Array alchemist?… and so young?… I thought they were already nearly extinct,” Muttered the beautiful girl.
“Not just that… he has an innate aurora… this task is all too easy for him,” Iacchus said through gritted teeth.
“How could that be possible… but wait, even if he was an array alchemist, how could he deal with an array strong enough to hold a peak level essence gathering expert back? You still won’t lose young master.”
“You all may know nothing about formations, but I do. I am a part of a formations guild in a city not far from here. Although many in the guild look down on array alchemy as outdated, my master has always called those men and women bitter fools who couldn’t awaken their own auroras to a powerful enough extent to reach any measure of success in array alchemy.
“Without a powerful aurora, your ability to learn and do is severely diminished. So, how could you then focus on what seems like 2 entirely separate and complex professions at once? The comprehension abilities of those with auroras with higher percentages of awakening and even more so for those with innate auroras is off the charts,” Iacchus’ fists clenched.
“The truth is that these formations are low level. The only reason they can hold Essence Gathering experts back at the top floors is because of a cheat my master used. Because his formation mastery wasn’t high at the time he made the restaurant, he decided to substitute the complexity of the formation with raw cultivation instead.
“But, that also means these relatively simple formations mean nothing to array alchemists. He must have noticed this outside, which is why he was so confident…”
The Wind Blade sect disciples finally came to an understanding. If it was a true high level formation, it could be possible that Dyon wouldn’t have high enough attainments to manipulate it and divert the pressure from himself. But, since a trick was used, manipulating the energy used to make the formation was as easy as breathing for him.
Iacchus grit his teeth, “We’ll have to be respectful to him from now on. If my master found out I almost killed a true array alchemist, he would disown me…”
He felt as though he was swallowing a mouthful of needles saying these words. But, it was the truth. He was among the worst of his master’s disciples to begin with and was lucky to have been accepted, he couldn’t afford to be seen in a poor light.
“But…”
“Don’t worry. With his arrogance, he will definitely clash with anyone who offends Madeleine. And considering who the guests are on the top floor, and how beautiful Madeleine is, how could there not be conflicts?” An evil smile appeared on Iacchus’ face.
The wind blade disciple suddenly understood and smirk, “You can have your fun for now… but, those God Clan disciples aren’t as easy to deal with as us.”
The beautiful girl remained silent as they all made their way to the top.