Peace and serenity that is what the inside of the castle holds to Zeus. First, it is a place that made his Soul feel pure. It is not often that demons get that peaceful feeling. Lilith, Zeus, and the Demon God have all found that peace with Rex. Since Zeus has to train an army, he cannot always enjoy the peace that Rex has given him.
Second, he is also trying to learn what the inside holds. As peaceful as it is, Zeus is learning how to harness his Lightning Qi better. He was not watching over Mara because he did not have to. Plus the training grounds would become too crowded with him there as well.
For Mara, the inside was too confusing. Each room becoming different each time she stepped into it. It was like watching an old horror movie and always entering through the same door but the outcomes were different. Each door had the lion head that is used to knock on the door.
If one looked extremely closer to each lion head. Everyone of them had a single difference that was not visible unless noticed by looking at them.
One might have a eyeball or none or it might have four between the two eyes. The teeth would also be different between the canine teeth.
Not knowing to look at those or not noticing the slight heaviness of the door. The rooms would become maze that would cause even most people to fear the unknown inside.
She almost broke down. There was no way for her to know what exactly was going to happen to her. Yet, she found solace in the fact that she was at least going crazy here instead of when her mother and fake dad were being slaughtered.
"I managed then and should be able to manage now." She thought.
The sound of thunder roared like anger through the castle. Part of it being that Strom God was trying to calm himself, the other part was to ensure that Mara did not lose her head here. She had almost reached where she needed to.
"I'll try this door."
When she opened it, a vast plain filled with training dummies appeared before her.
"Greetings, I will call you a bitch until you can take care of the these at the level of Zeus."
This plain looking dummy said with eyes full of disdain. Yet, Mara was unsure of rather to speak or grab a weapon.
"No reply. It seems like some people either enjoy being called bitches and hoes. Or you have the mindset to train and train harder than most people."
Mara already left to grab an axe. She had never wielded one nor trained with one. Yet, this wooden axe would become her first step into talking with the dummy.
"I have never wielded an axe. Show me." Mara said handing him the axe.
The dummy was dumbfounded. How could a woman ask to train with an axe while not being a body cultivator?
"Why is it important to train with an axe? Swords and Spears are better. Daggers are forbidden to mastered by the Nine Realms, yet people enjoy the silence of their deaths by them. Bows and arrows are nice but are mainly for those who cannot cultivate but still have a good life."
"I wish to master them all. Even if my father rejects me after a month, I will have a solid way forward in my training."
The dummy handed her a special key.
"That key will always open the area to this training ground. No matter the place nor the time. When you need to become better, train. When you find fault with yourself, train. When you believe you are the strongest, train. When you are almost dead, train. Train until you can no longer train because either you are dead or unable to command your body to do so."
Mara took those words and engraved them into her Soul. She would fight herself to train until she could no longer train. If someone told her no, she would find a way for yes.
"You are indeed a marvelous woman. I pray that you find yourself either a good master or Soul Mate. If you cannot find one, crush your opponents until none can look you in the eye for rejecting you." The dummy declared.
"Sir dummy, what is your name that I am call you?"
The dummy opened his chest compartment and a solid gold box was placed in front of her.
"When you can defeat these hooligans. This golden box shall become yours and whoever you seek. We will always be ready to show our might."
What only Deathholder and a couple other people knew was that the palace used to have majestic guards. Those guards equally could become a Big Family Name Holder in the Fifth Realm. Yet, all they did was train and guard the palace.
It got to the point where no one dared to go inside without almost dying at the hands of the guards. Even so, seeing glimpses of the inside would invoke great enlightenment and force people to rethink their beliefs.
As they guarded the temple, they could not fend for themselves without becoming these dummies in the process. Thousands upon thousands of cultivators, beasts, demons, and the terrain itself changed with just one swing of one of these guards trying to protect the palace and their comrades.
Yet, one by one they all changed into the dummies. They continued to beat cultivators and demons without the use of their Qi. Just their natural talent remaining was good enough to beat the highly recommended people.
So when all fighting stopped. No one dared to even go to the palace anymore. The dummies tried to fight one another. Nothing could be done about it. So they naturally lost their talent but the fire still burns within them to protect the palace. Whoever they seek to become it's promised throne caretaker.