850 Fourth Wave
At this moment, four figures were gathered together in a room.
One was a fairly lanky boy who was still somehow almost 7 feet tall, yet had a vibrating vitality around him that made his seemingly disproportionate size very pleasing to the eye. He was currently avidly reading a book of plants as though it was the most interesting thing in the world, and he was sometimes wave his hand around, causing an illusory plant to appear in the air before disappearing and giving way to the next image.
Sitting beside this young man was an otherworldly beauty the likes of which only Dyon’s wives could match up to. She had full features and beautiful olive skin, and although her eyes were currently closed in meditation, anyone who saw them open would feel as though they elevated to a new heavenly plane.
Opposite these two were two young children.
One was a little girl as pretty as a fairy. She had to large, sparkling eyes that looked like they were carved from pink diamonds, along with long, flowing pink-silver hair that reached the back of her knees.
The other was a little boy who had a dark edge to him, yet whenever he looked at the three people around him, he would inexplicably flip a switch and show a tender and loving gaze. Clearly he cared deeply for the three individuals around him, but he seemed to be missing a few dearly as well.
These four were obviously Eli, Delia, Lyla and Zaire, four individuals Dyon was very close with.
Over the past 2 years, they had remained within the Epistemic Tower because it wasn’t safe for them to go out. Although Delia and Eli wanted to help with Dyon’s plans, Eli was constantly in danger of getting kidnapped, so this was the safest place for him. In addition, Delia wasn’t willing to leave him alone, so she stayed.
As for Lyla and Zaire, they were still much too young, as such, they remained as well. However, it would soon be Zaire’s tenth birthday, so things were about to change. In truth, he was actually only turning four years old, but in human years, he would be ten because he had purposely calculated the time he spent in his beast for so he would always be exactly one year older than Lyla so they could grow up together.
Suddenly, a voice filled their minds. “Are you ready, Little Zaire?”
Zaire’s little head nodded with a maturity far beyond his years. He always tried to emulate his Big Brother, so Zaire matured just as quickly as Dyon was forced to.
“Little Lyla, you’ll go with him. Dyon found a place quite suited to you, so you two will be able to watch out for each other.”
Lyla’s sadness was replaced by a clear excitement. She hadn’t been looking forward to leaving Zaire’s side because she couldn’t stand the idea of losing two big brothers, but it seemed that she didn’t have to now.
If others knew where Lyla and Zaire were headed, they would be shocked. But, it was the only place Dyon would ever send Zaire to… The second ranked quadrant… a place he was eager to return to for the sake of his late father’s name: The Drago-Qilin Lands. As for how Little Lyla would find a place in such a savage quadrant… That was a story for another time.
**
Dyon silently watched the two metallic rhinos approach. He wondered when a martial beast capable of giving him pressure would appear, because if things continued like this, his Presence would never break through to the Emperor level.
What Dyon didn’t know was that in these times, even King level Presence was hard to come by, let alone a Peak King Level Presence like his.
The truth of the matter was that Presence could only be slowly cultivated over thousands of years. It was just that taking Luna’s virginity gave an unprecedented short cut to Dyon. And, as far as Dyon knew, Luna might have been the only woman in existence capable of boosting a martial art in that way. It could even be said that the benefits for taking Luna’s virginity far outweighed that of any other woman Dyon had come across.
Presence simply referred to the ability of a person to intimidate another. The closer one’s Presence was to another, the less affect your Presence would have.
Presence was split into two main classes. The first class was known as the noble class, while the second was known as the ruler class.
The Noble class contained four tiers, including Viscount, Earl, Marquis and Duke. There was also a fifth tier, known as the Barony rank, but its effects were so negligible that the Epistemic Tower didn’t have a trial of its ranking.
The lowest Baron ranking was often one simply borne of confidence and aura. It was the type of Presence that let commoners understand that you were of high birth. It was only effective on exceedingly weak-willed individuals who didn’t have many aspirations in life. Even a commoner who wanted to make something of themselves later in life would be able to ignore the Presence of a Baron.
Where Presence starts becoming legitimate was when it crossed over into the Viscount ranks.
No longer being the lowest of nobles, Viscounts had the ability to exert pressure onto most. However, like other noble class rankings, it was completely ineffective against those who were stronger than you given that that individual had intelligence.
For example, a Viscount would be able to easily apply a faint intimidation against Earth martial beasts because their intelligence was only marginally better than common beasts. This would be the case even if the Earth martial beast was stronger than the Viscount.
However, against a Heaven level beast, this intimidation would be useless. Because Heaven martial beasts were approaching human level intellect, they wouldn’t be scared off by minor intimidation tactics if they were stronger than the opponent before them. They would be intelligent enough to separate the individual’s potential with their current strength, and act accordingly.
This was consistently the truth for Viscounts, Earls, and Marquis, while Dukes were in a pseudo class of their own, embodying some of the benefits of being a King while not truly being one.
This said, if one assumed that Presence was only simple intimidation, you would be mistaken. After all, against intelligent creatures like humans, what good would intimidation do you if they were well aware that they were stronger than you were?
In that vein, Presence was also capable of dampening the battle prowess of an opponent, especially in a case where a weaker Presence tries to foolishly use their small abilities in the face of one with a vastly greater Presence.
In addition, Presence was capable of cultivating a firm Dao Heart. This made the road of cultivation smoother and also made the attacks on Will during tribulations far easier to withstand.
p-A- n-d-A-n-0-v-e-1、(c)om When martial warriors realized this, and noticed how difficult it was to cultivate, many counter measures were created, although very few were as effective as the true form of Presence.
The most effective counter measure would be the reverse scales of a high-level dragon. This was because Dragon Souls were among the very few things in the universe capable of matching up against Presence.
That said, those who use these methods try their best to hide it, lest they feel the rage of the second ranked quadrant in full force. However, the number of Dragon reverse scales on the black market couldn’t be hidden. The effects of Presence were just far too devastating for powerful Empires to leave themselves and their young without protection.
More powerful families, though, relied on more extravagant methods. This was because while a relatively weak quadrant might be ignored by the Drago-Qilin lands, they definitely would not be. So, for the sake of their pride, and their safety, they could only use other methods.
One such method was Lightning Stones bathed in heavenly tribulation lightning. The one entity Presence had no effect on was the Heavens themselves. As such, materials like Lightning Stones of the highest grade, capable of holding a sliver of tribulation lightning, was enough to cut through all Presence and even provide a heavy backlash.
However, this method was usually only reserved for the Legatees of the top 20 quadrants. This was because the price of such a method was truly out of this world. Even Dyon, with all his wealth, would be completely cleared out buying just one such stone. And that was a Dyon who held all the remaining wealth of BOTH the Elvin Empire and the Daiyu Empire.
Truth be told, the Daiyu was only a minor clan in the Drago-Qilin lands considering they only had bronze Dragon Souls at birth, and the Elvin Empire had to give a vast majority of their wealth to the Ragnors in exchange for safe passage to Dyon’s universe, but it was still a vast amount of wealth regardless.
Dyon’s massive heavy sword fell eight more times, eliminating the fourth wave of rhinos in an instant once again and accepting the motes of light that flew toward him.