Chapter 1372 Fading
Unlike the Celestial Deer Corner, the Golden Flame Corner had hubs on both the celestial and dao floors while those hubs of the celestial deer corner were either already taken over, or left dormant. This key was the best way to take control of them. Plus, that didn't mention its use militarily.
Dyon was about to sigh a breath of relief when the key suddenly tried to fly away at blinding speeds. Madeleine's expression changed. How could she forget? The most powerful Clans and Sects placed contingency plans on their keys in case anything unexpected, like the death of the wielder, happened. The only reason that Dyon's key just floated up, waiting for anyone to take it, was precisely because he didn't have such a plan in place. It was no wonder Titus left the key in God Goldeen's spatial ring, he knew this would happen.
However, did they really expect that their contingency plan was enough? Dyon was a Planet Lord now, albeit only in power and not in comprehension, it was enough!
Dyon's hand reached out. Suddenly, an overwhelming Presence fell from the skies. No, it wasn't Presence, it was soul qi!
In that moment, thousands of small formations shattered, causing the key to fall harmlessly from the skies and onto Dyon's palm.
Madeleine blinked. "That easy?"
Dyon laughed, handing the key to Madeleine. The formations protecting this key were actually Magic Circles. However, they hadn't been properly maintained. In addition, the Magic Comprehension was of the Moon Lord grade at best. In the face of Dyon's Presence infused soul qi, it was nothing but a wet piece of paper.
"I guess it's time to see what that Lord Creator bastard left behind. The Heavens wouldn't allow him to form a Legacy World without using a true Legacy as its core…"
Plus, even though Dyon didn't say it, he knew that Orcus' most valuable treasures, the ones he definitely couldn't bear to see taken away, were in this third phase castle. After this, Dyon and Madeleine could take their time in scoping out the remainder of the world and then they could take it away. This way, Dyon's Empire would have 3 Mystical Worlds as long as he could find a way to stabilize this world from fading away.
**
"You can let me down." Madeleine said teasingly. She was no longer sick, and she was also in a good mood after bonding with the key. So, she found it quite funny that Dyon was still holding her as though she was a newly wed bride.
"Never." Dyon grinned, leaping through the doors of the third phase castle to enter a familiar sea of blue flames. This time, however, he hardly felt any heat. It was as though he was standing in a cool breeze.
In reality, when Dyon's soul broke through, he felt his innate flames vibrate uncontrollably. In that moment, had it not been for his actions, his half-step dao would have become a full-fledged dao. However, Dyon didn't believe that this was the appropriate time to take such a large leap forward. Just because one has an opportunity to grasp at power, doesn't mean they should. This was especially so for Dyon, a person whose tragic flaw could be considered his fiendish pursuit of strength.
Simply put, something didn't sit right with Dyon about his innate flames. The fact they worked almost like the instant comprehension of the Battle God was just one of the reasons Dyon was so off put by them, other than the darkness of his Chaos Flames, that is.
If Dyon had to put his feelings into words, it was similar to the difference between fusing with the Sovereign Flames after entering the celestial realm and before. One gave you a power boost that was beyond imaging – currently, Dyon felt as though he could shatter a world with a single step. However, for the other, it wasn't nearly so exaggerated.
This wasn't to say that one wouldn't benefit from the Sovereign Flame after the saint realm, because you would. The problem was that the benefits would be greatly diminished. While Dyon's Presence perfectly fused in all facets, someone who fused after entering the celestial realm would only be able to choose a very limited path.
For example, if Madeleine had been the one to fuse with the Sovereign Flame, she would only be able to choose one of the three paths. She could either decide to fuse it with her body, her soul or her qi. And, even in that case, the fusion wouldn't be perfect, but rather partial. In addition, the fusion wouldn't be able to sustain God Presence. So, even if Madeleine somehow broke into that realm sometime in the future, she would only be able to use a portion of the strength that would be possible.
Of course, there was a reason all of this was important now. As the owner of the Sovereign Flame, Dyon was able to produce 'Sovereign Sparks'. These sparks are often the form of the Sovereign Flame that appeared in auctions.
Dyon could produce one spark per year if he relied solely on the Sovereign Flame itself. Or, he could use the Sovereign Flames' [Subdue] ability to convert unique flames into sparks that served the same purpose.
Although the Sovereign Flame had no offensive, defensive, or secondary profession abilities, it had two overwhelming strengths. The first was one Dyon experienced: the perfect fusion of Presence. And the second was [Subdue]. In the Sovereign Flame's Presence, scaling directly to its owner's Presence, it was possible to make any flame it came in contact with bow down. This ability also came with the auxiliary skill of detecting unique flames and understanding their abilities perfectly.
The applications of such an ability were endless. The first and obvious use was to be able to subdue a great number of unique flames. Fire was invaluable in many of the best formations within the [Dao of Array Alchemy] and this obviously didn't mention their offensive power.
This aside, [Subdue] could also convert other flames into the Sovereign Flames' own power. Dyon could trade 100 saint flames or 1000 essence flames for a single Sovereign Spark. It was also possible to trade 10 celestial flames or 1 dao flame for the same result.
If Dyon gave these sparks to his family, friends and subordinates, their strengths would experience a qualitative change. In fact, the application Dyon was most interested in was combining sparks with the Martial Saint pills.
Dyon had the faint sense that his meridians had shattered the barrier of the first grade and entered the true deity grade. Obviously, this was the effect of his perfect fusion. If the Sovereign Flame could affect his body, how could his meridians be the exception?
In truth, Dyon didn't care much about this change. Because he had his inner world, the increased size of his meridians was negligible. This change was only important insofar as it increased his cultivation speed and enlightened him on another potential use for Sparks.
If one chose to apply their Spark to their meridians and took the Martial Saint pill at the same time, they wouldn't have to be incapacitated for years like Madeleine was. They could immediately open three new meridians – assuming that they were already of the 9th Order, of course.
The last important point was that if one fused with a Spark before the celestial realm, although you would still be restricted to only one path, the fusion of Presence would be perfect and without flaw!
The only unfortunate part was that a single individual could only fuse with a single spark, but this was already good enough!
Madeleine's giggling awoke Dyon from his thoughts. "Your eyes were shining so bright that I thought you might blind me."
Dyon smiled, covering his wife's cherry lips with his own. His mood only got better.
**
When Dyon awoke from his dream of creating an undefeatable army with Sparks, he realized why he didn't feel the heat of these blue flames. It wasn't that he had grown so outrageously powerful, but an ability of the Sovereign Flame. Due to its [Subdue] ability, he had grown practically immune to flames, scaling directly to his level of Presence.
As things stood now, Presence was still fundamentally a martial art, rooted in the human body. This meant that the strength of his Presence was rooted in the strength of his body. It should technically be possible to ignore any celestial flame.