Madeleine and Dyon sat atop a massive Celestial Deer formation that galloped along the ocean water, leaving behind slight ripples.
“So why do you think I’ve been stuck at the 7th level of musical will?” Madeleine asked curiously.
She had left behind the sweat pants and T shirt much to Dyon’s dismay, instead opting for her usual casual purple qing pao. Her hair was up, wearing the defensive hairpin Dyon had given her, still oblivious to the fact it was a transcendent treasure. She had even forced Dyon to wear his jeans and open blue dress shirt look.
Dyon looked at the girl who sat on his lap holding a lyre with an adorable focused expression on her face, feeling his heart in his throat for what seemed like the millionth time, “you really are too beautiful,” Dyon muttered.
Madeleine playfully hit Dyon, smiling, “focus, you pervert.”
Dyon shook his head, “right. If I’m going to be honest, the fact you’ve even reached that level considering the state your heart has been in over the years, is nothing short of a testament to your unbelievable talent, your sharp ear, and, quite frankly, a miracle.”
Madeleine looked at Dyon’s side profile as he stared out into the ocean.
“The will of music isn’t about just completely understanding the instrument in your hands and playing the right notes. It’s about resonating with the environment you’re playing in. It’s about encroaching on the emotions of the people and things listening to you. And, maybe most important, it’s about having a tranquil heart or an understanding of whatever turmoil that heart is in. Without the best understanding of yourself, it’s hard to reach the purest form of the will of music. It’s possible to jump over these hurdles at this stage, and you would definitely reach the peak level of musical will purely off of your talent. But, the barrier to musical intent would be exponentially harder.”
Madeleine nodded, looking down at the lyre in her hands. Closing her eyes, she listened to the gentle taps the Celestial Deer left in the water. She listened to Dyon’s gentle heart beat and felt the heat coming from his body. All of a sudden, she seemed to understand something. Her hair fluttered gently in its bun and her breathing quietened to almost resonate with the world around her.
Dyon looked on at this scene with a smile. He was afraid she wouldn’t notice his phrasing, but it seemed like he worried too much. How could a genius like Madeleine not realize that understanding your environment and the “things” listening to you meant that you’re not only playing for yourself and the things that live, but, when lilies sway in appreciation and blossoms twirl in the wind, and the air shimmers with life, can they not also listen to you play?
Madeleine’s hand raised to her lyre strings. With a wave of his hand, without Madeleine noticing, Dyon removed the concealment formation on the transcendent lyre.
A beautiful melody began to ring out. The steps of the Celestial Deer began to not only leave ripples, but also a pulsing light with its each step. Dyon felt his understanding of the world increase under Madeleine’s efforts.
‘this must be why Delia enjoys training with Madeleine so much… To be able to induce the best in others, my Madeleine is truly a pure soul.’
After hours, Madeleine finally stopped playing, beads of sweat falling down her brow. But, despite her fatigue, she had an excited look on her face.
“I did it!” Madeleine kissed Dyon on the cheek, “it’s all thanks to you,” she said with a smile that outshone the sun that hung high in the sky.
Dyon shook head, pulling her in close, “the only thing that was stopping you from reaching this step was the pain in your heart and the burdens you carried. With your level of comprehension, how could you not reach this step without me?”
Madeleine smiled.
Dyon glanced at the lyre, “look, I think it wants to acknowledge you as its master,” Dyon said with a knowing look.
Madeleine gasped. She was well aware that only master level and above treasures had their own wills and could thus acknowledge masters. Wasn’t this lyre just at the peak of practitioner level?
The lyre glowed in Madeleine’s hands, vibrating gently.
Madeleine pouted, “you’ve been tricking me?”
Dyon laughed, “I couldn’t be certain that you’d have a way back to the Sapientia main branch, so I wanted to conceal it for a bit until I was strong enough to make sure you wouldn’t come to any harm. But, when I came to stop that farce, I noticed a faint killing intent when elder Kami mentioned signing a marriage contract in blood. That level of aura couldn’t come from a simple old lady, especially to the extent of nearly hiding it from an innate aurora, so, I made some guesses. I’m still surprised that even when I called out to her, I couldn’t see through her disguise until she removed it…”
Madeleine nodded.
“you probably didn’t notice, but because of your beauty, the hairpin has long since accepted you as its master. And now that you’ve proven your talent to the lyre, it too has,” Dyon said with a gentle smile that hid nothing of the pride he felt in his woman.
Madeleine gentle touched the hair pin, “this is a master level treasure too? You treat me well,” Madeleine said with a grin.
“Of course, of course. But, how could I only give you a measly master level treasure? These are transcendent level treasures. Nothing but the best for you, I promise.”
Madeleine’s eyes widened, but she just shook her head in acceptance, ‘he really does nothing by half measures.’
“But, you should conceal them again, Dyon. Even the Sapientia clan only has a few transcendent treasures. In fact, even when I was a genius to them to be married off at their leisure, I had never seen them. If I suddenly arrive with 2, especially with how you revealed that you’re the Celestial Deer Sect’s successor, you’ll definitely be hunted down even more fervently,” Madeleine said with a trace of worry.
Dyon sighed, “I’ll be a laughing stock for only being able to give my woman a half-step master level treasure, but, I’ll listen to you. I’d prefer if you worried less.”
Madeleine nodded in satisfaction as Dyon waved his hands, leaning her head to Dyon’s neck and looking out to the slowly approaching land.
“Since you’ve shown me the entertainment of the human world, I can’t let you look down on the martial world too much, now can I?”
“Oh? Can you beat Lord of the Rings though?”
Madeleine had a mysterious smile on her face, “if we were powerful enough, I’d bring you to a volcano even more powerful than they described in it. Unfortunately, it’s in the Demon Fire God Clan’s territory and I’ve only been there once when my master brought me. We also have real dragons in the Qilin-Drago Lands! And real elves in the Elvin Forest! And no orcs! How could we lose?”
Dyon smiled wryly, ‘it is a bit hard to beat them I guess.’
Thinking of dragons and qilins though, Dyon brought out Little Black so he could enjoy the view.
“Oh, what size is your spatial ring?” Dyon asked Madeleine.
“It’s not too bad. It’s about 27 meters cubed.”
Dyon waved his hands, “store your things in your hairpin instead. I forgot to tell you that it doubles as a storage device.”
“Oh?” Madeleine clapped her hands in excitement. The storage of a transcendent level treasure was no joke. After putting away her lyre, Little Black immediately jumped into her arms.
“So, what are these entertaining things you’re going to take me to do?”
“There are illusory formation games, fantastic restaurants, magic performances. You can even enter dream worlds to live out a few years in just a few moments. There are a lot of Sapientia family run auctions. There are also a lot of tournaments to watch. All over the continent, there are Chaos Arenas run by the Cavositos God Clan. They enjoy battles so much that they try to find the strongest warriors to pit against the younger generation in their main clan arena. It’s a lot like those sports games you mentioned from the human world. Everyone has their favorites and fighters also have organizations that sponsor them, kind of like teams. If you work your way up, you can fight in higher level arenas. If you win three fights against their Cavositos clan members, whether in a row, or after many losses, then you automatically have the choice of either joining their clan as a respected member, or a prize of equivalent value.
But, probably the most entertaining thing is probably the Ancient Games. There is a total of 3. No one knows the names of them and the rules have long since been forgotten. However, the formations and materials used to play those games from so many years ago still exist. Also, there’s something very odd about these games. Once someone decides to embark on a journey of learning the rules through play, an ancient array formation appears as a mental block, disallowing you from discussing the rules you’ve figured out!”
Dyon was intrigued, “wait, so why are games no one knows how to play so entertaining?”
Madeleine smiled, “the thing is, even without knowing the rules, you can still play and can still watch people play. Although no one can talk about the rules, there are still a few basic rules that even a child could figure out. But, only true geniuses can delve into a more complex understanding and therefore win more consistently. But, even they often lose. How could you win every time if all the rules aren’t known to you? In those arenas, the Elves have dominated for a long time. I’m sure if you ever meet them, you’ll figure out why. Or, maybe if you ever see the games, you could make some guesses. Unfortunately, the city we’re coming to now doesn’t have an Ancient Games Arena. But! There are a lot of other things to do,” Madeleine said with a smile.
“Wow… Ancient Games that even till now can force billions of people to be unable to speak of the rules…”
“Impressed?” Madeleine asked with a grin.
Dyon lightly pinched Madeleine’s nose, “don’t get too cocky. I have more of the human world you haven’t seen yet. Plus, isn’t the thing that’s most entertaining to you from the human world?” Dyon said with a wide grin.
Madeleine blushed, “pervert. Look, we’re almost at the gates, let’s go!”
**
Dyon and Madeleine walked hand in hand under the night sky. Although the city itself was relatively small compared to others, as Madeleine pointed out many times as she still argued the side of the martial world, it was quite ridiculously large and bustling.
The roads were wide and diligently made with hexagonal tiles. Vendors filled the sides, often calling out to attract the attention of customers. Buildings as tall as Focus Academies outer pillars were as frequent as the tiny packed stores were.
After spending the whole day here with Madeleine, Dyon was pleasantly surprised that no one bothered them, ‘it’s either this city is quite morally upstanding, or they know Madeleine’s identity and don’t dare to offend her.’
Madeleine skipped ahead a bit, pointing towards the tallest building at the center of the city, “that’s our last stop for today. It’s the reason why this is called Wine City, and also the reason why this city is so active even though its near the edge of the continent.”
Dyon allowed himself to be pulled along as he ignored the jealous faces around him.
“It’s called Heaven’s Wine. They actually have the best wine within thousands of kilometers. An expert of the Saint Stage is actually said to be the founder, although no one has ever seen him or her. As for why they decided to come to such a weak place, I’ve heard that they just liked the ocean view,” Madeleine said with a smile as they reached the door.
“We’ll only be able to enter the first of 4 levels because we don’t have any cultivation currently. But, it’s still good wine. I’ve been to the 3rd level with my dad before too, it’s quite good.”
“Oh? Are the floors restricted based on cultivation?”
“Yea, there are 4 sets of 10 floors each to accommodate the people from around the continent. You can enter the first 10 with no cultivation, but to enter the last level, you need to be essence gathering.”
Just as they were about to enter, a voice came from behind them.
“Oh, so it’s Lady Madeleine. It’s been a long time since you’ve been here.”
Turning around, they found a well dressed young man followed by another young man and a beautiful girl.
Madeleine smiled, causing the 2 young men to feel their hearts constrict. The beautiful girl’s expression darkened, but she said nothing.
“So, it’s the young master, it has indeed been a long time.”
“We’ve known each other for so long Lady Madeleine, there’s no need to be so formal. You can call me big brother Iacchus. I think about you often, but as you know, my master doesn’t allow me to go out very often. I’m always either managing Heaven’s Wine or cultivating.
Pardon me, I’ve spoken too much. I’m actually here with a couple friends of mine to receive some esteemed guests. Since it’s a special occasion, I wouldn’t mind escorting you to the top floor. It’s usually reserved for peak essence gathering experts, but I of course have a way around this. Since I helped them, how could I not help you?”
Dyon who had been standing quietly beside Madeleine raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He had long since gotten rid of his dress shirt and was dressed in a simple White T shirt and blue jeans. This naturally caused the young people to completely ignore his existence. Although he doubted the dress shirt would have made much of a difference.
“That won’t be necessary,” Madeleine said politely, “I’m sure you have important matters to attend to.”
“It’s really no trouble at all. I’m sure none of them would object the company of such an esteemed lady.”
Madeleine was going to respond when Dyon’s voice rang out, “don’t mind her, of course we’ll follow you up,” Dyon said with a smile.
Madeleine gave an odd glance towards Dyon, but instead said nothing.
Iacchus started, finally throwing a glance in Dyon’s direction, “who are you to interrupt our conversation? Haven’t you understood that attendants should remain silent? I’m not entirely sure why Lady Madeleine would use a man as a servant, or why he’d have such a lack of etiquette, but please learn you place next time.”
Madeleine’s face darkened, but Dyon’s face kept his composed smile.
“Haha, you misunderstand. I simply meant we don’t need your help to reach the top floor. By follow you up I only meant that we’ll be going to the same place anyway,” Dyon said in a carefree way, waving his hand.
Iacchus face changed to a look of sheer disdain but he didn’t get a chance to respond as snickers came from behind him.
“HAHAHAHAHA, I never thought I’d meet someone so stupid. Do you have any idea what this place is? To think a kid with no cultivation like you would think of going to the top floor without help. Someone help me, I can’t breathe,” the boy following Iacchus couldn’t help himself as he hunched over in laughter.
Dyon sighed, “idiots… idiots everywhere… Well, two idiots, one refined young man, and 2 beautiful girls,” Dyon said with a smile.
Madeleine looked over at Dyon with a ‘really?’ look, but only got a grin in response.
The girl, hearing what Dyon said, replied with a harrumph.
The expression on the boys face froze, and Iacchus’ look of disdain turned to anger.
“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE! We are disciples just recently accepted to the wind blade sect and this is the young master of Heaven’s Wine! Did you think I wouldn’t attack you just because you’re with Lady Sapientia?!”
Iacchus ignored the young man’s outburst, “you have 3 seconds to kowtow and apologize, or else I’ll be forced to take action against you personally.”
Dyon’s grin widened, “what? Is what I said wrong? How could you two be anything other than idiots? You stand here fawning over a beautiful woman while insulting her fiancé? Those are some interesting tactics you have there,” Dyon couldn’t help but laugh.
Iacchus froze. Even the girl who was pretending this had nothing to do with her looked up in interest.
“F-fiancé?” Iacchus couldn’t believe what he had just heard, he looked over to Madeleine and his heart sunk as he saw that she had no intentions of refuting Dyon.
Dyon waved his hands in dismissal, pretending to be a magnanimous person, “forget it, forget it. You had no way of knowing I was such a lucky individual. I can allow it to slide this time.”
Iacchus’ expression darkened, “what right do you have to marry Madeleine! You’re nothing but trash!”
Dyon hunched over, laughing hard and wiping tears from his eyes, “I’ve never heard of anyone more pathetic than you. Here, here, I feel bad. So, I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourself.”
Iacchus who was about to attack in frustration and anguish paused.
“You said I couldn’t climb to the top myself right, so how about we have a little bet?”
Iacchus took deep breaths trying to calm himself. He had pined for Madeleine everyday, and she suddenly appeared with another man claiming to be her fiance? How could he accept this? But, Dyon was giving him an opportunity to embarrass him, so he had to take it. How could a boy with no cultivation reach the top floor? Iacchus smirked.
“if you can’t reach the top floor, you can never see Madeleine again. If you reach the top floor, you can eat and drink for free at every Heaven’s Wine on the continent.”
Madeleine had burning anger on her face. She couldn’t believe this was a person she had once considered a friend.
“That’s ridiculous. You’re equating me being with one of the best women in existence to your shitty establishment? If I win, you’ll castrate yourself and get out of my sight.”
“ABSOLUTELY NOT!”
Dyon seemed unperturbed by Iacchus’ response, “you disgust me. To actually think that I would bet with the happiness of my woman. Do you think her feelings are something you can toy with?”
Suddenly the expression of the 3 young people changed as they felt a suffocating pressure engulf them. A devilish killing intent caused them to sweat profusely.
“What’s going to happen is that I’ll reach the top. Then you’ll give me whatever I need to never have to spend a dime here for the rest of my life. And just to make you feel even worse about when I do it, I’ll let you know that had I lost, I would have given you a peak grandmaster level weapon.”
Madeleine was smiling brightly. It seemed she would never have any grievances as long as she was with Dyon.
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…”
“But…”
“Don’t worry. Considering 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.