Emperor's Reckoning

It was a large room, bigger than Sylviana's private chamber. The walls were painted full white with a piece of art adorned on the ceiling. One large chandelier brightened the place as the fire on each candle stood still. The air blew calmly from the large window as the black sky showed its jewelry. Both its curtains danced slowly almost in accordance with the young man's breathing on the king-sized bed.

Lyon was unconscious on top of the bed before his eyebrows twitched slightly. His body was covered by the thick blanket under the bed curtain before he slowly opened his eyes. His vision was a bit blur before he got his focus back.

Lifting half of his body up, he placed his hand on his forehead. After slicking back his hair he saw that there was no one inside the room but himself. A table, two chairs, a teacup, two cups, and a human-sized mirror were the only things that accompanied him.

"Hmm, did I pass out?"

He definitely recalled the event from before, but right at the last moment, his memory blurred. He decided not to think about it before sitting on the side of the bed.

"Hmm, yes, of course, I expected this would happen."

Getting up from the bed, he took on a short walk to the large window. The wind fluttered his hair as he enjoyed the beautiful view of the cities and the stars.

(I wonder how the tournament ended, who won, or is there even any winner).

Lyon smiled wryly at his own thought before slightly shaking his head. All that question didn't need an answer right now.

"I wonder where is my grandfather."

The more he thought about it, the more bizarre the reality was. At first, he was skeptical if all of this was true but the more he spent the time in this new world, the more it became apparent that he did live before.

"To think that I would kill without batting an eye, playing the zither, dare to defy the authorities, yet still stay true to myself."

"I wonder what kind of life did I live in."

"Is it grandeur, is it beautiful, is it... worth it?"

"Heck, what am I talking about! Of course, it was worth it, I mean holy fuck I got three wives! And one of them is already a beautiful devil with a tail!"

With a smile on his face, he put his head down before facing the stars above. He put his hand in the air before the reflection of the ring flashed him by.

Looking at the ring, his smile turned into a smirk.

"I guess it's a good time to do it."

Lyon turned back and walked to an empty space inside the room before sitting down and crossed his leg.

"Am I going to break through to the next realm, butt naked! Fuck yeah, I will!"

He closed his eyes as his mind immediately entered the epiphany state within the seconds he willed it to. He had entered the ultimate state of cultivation in a blink of an eye while normally other cultivators would need special requirements such as the environment and the condition of their heart must be in prime.

A whisk of pure mana started to encircle his entire body from his ring before it got denser and denser. It wasn't long before his entire figure was encapsulated by it.

(Divine Realm a realm in which the mortal started to shred themselves from mortality. Ha, that much I already know, that's not hard).

However, nothing changed. He didn't breakthrough yet.

(Hmm, what am I missing here).

"Ah, of course."

"Divine doesn't mean immortality, it means after death! That's why the mortals, the cultivators had to divide them by low level, medium level, and high level of Divine Realm, they didn't understand life and death completely. They have to know what they are willing to die for! But willing is not enough! So they have to literally die to understand death! So basically they got no choices since they only understand one of the two keys."

Lyon with his closed eyes, let out a smirk.

The mana that surrounding him suddenly moved like a torrent as they were all absorbed into his body. Possessing three channels of absorbing the mana, he got triple the speed of a normal cultivator and his cultivation rose superbly.

The mirrors suddenly cracked before blasting away to pieces as the floor started to quake. The thick teacup and its two children both cracked before falling off the table before the ceiling collapsed.

-------------------

Meanwhile, Karina, Shen, Ryona, and the others were in the dining room below, albeit Shen was only showing his figure to a selected few.

Suddenly a ding sound was heard before everyone's focus turned to the ringer.

"Hello, everyone I hope you all enjoy this banquet as an apology to the regrettable event that happened three days ago."

"Once again, as the representatives of Treas family, I, Sophia Treas Alrude, ask for your humble forgiveness."

The beautiful lady took a bow before she noticed a ripple on her wine.

Ryona and Karina furrowed their eyebrows as they noticed the same thing.

Suddenly the quake rose to a dangerous level in a second as chandeliers drop one by one. The ceiling slowly collapsed before the walls did the same.

"My Grandson!" Shen immediately flew towards the exit only to see Luna already doing the same thing. Ryona, Jugen, Karina, and the members of the Nostria team immediately followed suit.

(Please be safe, please be safe!) thought Luna as she ran through the stairs, through the halls before finally reaching the cracked double door. Without any second thought, the young woman kicked it open and both her and the true dragon immediately went in.

Her heart sank as she saw the condition of the room. The window and the ceiling were no more. The bed was inside a pile of rubble. Her knees went weak before it slammed the floor.

She stared to the horizon as she muttered, "Please don't go... please take me with you..."

Just as soon as her tears started to build up.

"Hah so that's how it feels to fly, freaking Kyoko enjoying herself in the air, now I can fly and flirt with her hahaha!"

Lyon suddenly entered her line of sight albeit only the backside of his.

Suddenly his head was hit by a piece of rubble before he raised his eyebrows.

"Hmm? Hey who threw that piece of-"

His eyes opened wide as he saw Luna already in mid-air, leaping toward him. Lyon immediately caught her before her arms wrapped around his neck.

Her face was buried in his bare chest before the bright moon let out it's blessing toward the couple.

"Luna, what's-"

Before he could finish his word, the young woman shut his lips with hers.