1274 More Questions
Ryu was, indeed, in a bit of a predicament. Infinity Mist was an extremely unique existence to begin with, in any other situation, he wouldn't even be capable of creating a void bubble tough enough to withstand a material on this level. Infinity Mist was, luckily, a unique item that was able to solidify space as opposed to destroying it, but it was exactly that... unique.
Another powerful item on this level would only destroy. In fact, items of this caliber warping space and laws around themselves wasn't uncommon in the slightest, it was expected. Just take the lower extremities of this ocean as an example. Further down, there was a great heat that Ryu couldn't even approach. He shouldn't have even been able to feel the heat through the void bubble he was in, but the fact he could meant that the items below were already bending and twisting space.
This was the reason why Ryu wasn't invincible within the void. So long as he was around a Sky God who could sense him and was strong enough to warp space, a single attack in his direction would mean death. Although he could use his Nine Pillars to make it sturdier, he would never be able to make them sturdy enough to the point that he could defend against a Sky God.
This was all to say that the current Ryu likely didn't have a chance at ever forming another such Chaos Seed without either thorough planning or years of effort in increasing his strength, there really wasn't another option.
There was always a tradeoff to be had with such great talent, though, so Ryu reached a state of peace quite quickly. This was simply how his life had gone up until now.
He hadn't really thought about it before, but his Spiritual Foundation was over 20 times larger than anyone else's, how could it take the same amount of effort to break it free from its solid state and give himself access to its flow of energy? The more difficult it was to accomplish something, the more rewarding the end result was.
Plus, Ryu had not just one Spiritual Foundation, but two. He would use the White Phoenix Spiritual Foundation to lay down Cosmic Seeds of his own comprehension, and he would use the Beyond Perfect Extreme Spiritual Foundation to gather these amazing treasures.
The only real problem he faced, aside from the difficulty, of course, was the issue of where to gather these treasures. He was less worried about how many he would need only because Ryu didn't want to reach just the bare minimum to begin with. If he could reach perfection, then he would do so. It was useless to worry about how many times he would need to do this.
There was a certain feedback loop between the size and stature of one's Spiritual Foundation and the number of Cosmic Seeds one would need to form to reach the World Sea Realm.
Of course, the larger and more talented one's Spiritual Foundation was, the more Cosmic Seeds one would need, but there was also a range to take into consideration. If one reached the minimum range, it could be possible to force the issue using one's own control of one's Cosmic Seeds to finish the rest of the breakage, while the so-called "perfect breakthrough" would be to allow one's Cosmic Seeds to grow to the point the breakage happened naturally and smoothly.
Back in Sacrum, most would only be able to form one Cosmic Seed and would simply pour everything they had into it until it reached perfection. For many, this was enough to shatter their Spiritual Foundation. But Ryu wasn't actually sure of the standard of the True Martial World. He hadn't expected to cultivate to the barrier of the Cosmic Seed Realm so quickly in the first place, so his research on the matter was limited.
That said, he believed that he had already reached perfection in one Cosmic Seed just now with the Infinity Mist, but what was interesting was the fact he still felt that he was in the Dao Pedestal Realm, as though this breakthrough wasn't enough. Or, it was possible that only the changes to his White Phoenix Spiritual Foundation would be registered in the first place.
"Little woman, tell me about Cosmic Seeds, what do you know about them?"
As Ryu spoke, he began to leisurely make his way toward the inheritance. Since he had completed everything he needed to complete here, it was time to go back. But, he wouldn't mind breaking into the Cosmic Seed Realm first.
The void here couldn't distort his senses, so his comprehension was perfect. even more perfect than most others. As a result of this, the barrier of the Infinity Mist toward the secrets of the Ninth Heaven was also useless against him. So, he had no problem cultivating in this place.
The Favor Alchemy Sky God, though, took a long time to answer. That was because she was still in shock.
She didn't know what was happening outside clearly at first, and that was because she had felt that it was useless to even check. After all, with the influence of the Infinity Mist around, her Spiritual Sense was useless.
However, when Ryu's breakthrough began, she felt something shift within her, a familiar sort of aura that sent a jolt of electricity down her spine. She hurriedly sent her senses out, only to find that the influence of the Infinity Mist had practically entirely disappeared, not only that but Ryu was just leisurely swallowing up the Infinity Mist.
She didn't even say a word back then. She found that now, for some reason, matters of life and death left her unfazed. It was probably because she had already given up on life, so she felt detached, watching on from the outside as though she was nothing more than a third party observer.
Even now, though, she was still in shock by what she had seen, so when Ryu asked the question, it was only several seconds later that she registered wnat was even happening.
"I... Right... Cosmic Seed, they're..."
Ryu shook his head. "I don't need to know what they are, I need to know what the standards of the Cosmic Seeds of the True Martial World, how many do I need to form, etc."
Cosmic Seeds were just the physical manifestation of one's maturing inheritances. They weren't one's Dao, but rather its branches, its various roots. Whatever derivatives of one's Dao there were could be added to one's Spiritual Foundation as Cosmic Seeds which would then grow and shatter one's Spiritual Foundation into a World Sea. Following this, they would then begin to build the foundation of your Godhood.
Ryu, for example, had built his Dao with eight prongs each for a total of sixteen. There was Wind, Water, Mountain, Earth, Thunder, Fire, Life and Heaven, then there were Heaven and Chaos aspects of both, forming the total. Of course, these were his Eight Trigram Diagrams.
Ryu already believed that forming these 16 would be the perfect number of Cosmic Seeds for his White Phoenix Spiritual Foundation, but in the end he couldn't help but hesitate. That was because... 16 was a bit of an odd number.
Nine was known as the Immature Extreme, but the number Eight had its own significance. It was the number of balance, this was why the eight trigram diagram held so much weight. In fact, the number eight was the reason why Nine was so special in the first place, it was the act of taking a step beyond it that made Nine an Extreme in the first place.
To have two Sets of Eight, one for Heaven and another for Chaos, if Ryu had to coin a term for it, would probably be the "Beyond Perfect Balance", a state he felt was just right.
The trouble with this, though, was that he didn't know how true this was, this was his own speculation and he could end up with a Spiritual Foundation with a shaky foundation.
What if it would be better to fuse his 16 planned Cosmic Seeds into Eight? It would be far more difficult, but it would be worth it in the long run, but wasn't his Dao a fusion of the two to begin with? If there was anyone that could do it, it was him.
"Ah... Right," The Favor Alchemy Sky God shook her head, trying to focus. "It depends on your Spiritual Foundation and the grade of your Dao.
"It's hard to pin down much, honestly. That's because even a perfect Cosmic Seed might help to enter the World Sea Realm smoothly, but it might hinder you in the future because it doesn't correspond well enough with the Godhood you want to create.
"Ultimately, it's less useful to look at your Spiritual Foundation or the quantity of Cosmic Seeds, and decide instead what's best for the Godhood you want to form in the future. The Cosmic Seed Realm is probably the most crucial step you'll take before the Half-Step Sky God Realm, but it's also extremely difficult because it's hard to see that far ahead.
"What I can say is that if you want to succeed in maintaining your Founding Dao, you'll need a Godhood that can sustain its power. And the only way you can have a Godhood that can hold its power is by forming flawless Cosmic Seeds.
"These Cosmic Seeds not only have to be perfect individually, but also perfect as one. This is why the quantity matters less, that's because they'll all form a single World Tree in the end.
"At the very least, your Cosmic Seeds must attain a Deity Grade if you want to succeed."
Cosmic Seeds followed the same grading structure as Mortal Endowments. Heir Grade, Impose Grade, Rule Grade, Small Realm, Dominion, Divinity and finally Deity.
Even so, the Favor Alchemy Sky God's words, rather than clearing the course before Ryu, left him with more questions. He could only fall into his thoughts.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶