1284 Let Alone
Ryu stood in silence, his white robes fluttering in the wind.
The last week had passed with great speed, almost as though it was the blink of an eye. One would have thought that for the likes of Ryu, such time would have passed by exceptionally slowly, especially since this was a day he would be putting his life on the line, but he was just as relaxed now as he had been back then.
His hands clasped behind his back and his two Great Swordstaffs floated gently without a touch in the same position they had always been in. They reflected a black and white light, appearing to be a different sort of beauty depending on how one gazed upon them, and at which angles one did so. It wasn't the kind of treasure one would ever guess to have been crafted by a youngster like Ryu even though it was only at the Sovereign Grade.
None of his enemies were there yet despite the fact the Sect's walls were lined with people, but Ryu didn't seem to react to this at all.
It probably made sense that the others would be dissatisfied. In their eyes, Ryu was only a Dao Pedestal Realm expert, the fact that their positions were delayed for an entire week, was quite unacceptable to them. However, they could only delay this matter for so long. Since Aika had made the final decision, what choice did they have but to comply?
Soon, three persons came crashing down from above, landing heavily on the ground below. Brianus' pillar dove into the ground, hiding half of its entire length instantly, and yet it was still several heads taller than the young man. Bruiser's steel knuckles shimmered beneath the high sun. As for Robion, he was the only one among them who managed to land gently, the sharpness of his facial characteristics carving through the wind.
In this past week, Ryu hadn't asked anything about these three. Quite frankly, he didn't care enough to know. He didn't even know what their names were.
That said, they had learned everything there was to know about him. They knew he came from a small world. They knew that his performance in the Incomplete Heavenly Path was the reason that the Sect had managed to enter the Fourth Heaven. They also knew that he already had several wives, and yet he actually dared to participate in this matter.
Although it couldn't be uttered that these three had never had females in their lives, they had in fact had many, they hadn't taken any of them as their true women. Marrying so young with their level of talent was quite rare, and it was obvious that Ryu had likely only done so because of the customs of his small world.
Even with all of this said, they didn't look down on Ryu for these things. Of course, that wasn't because they were magnanimous or big hearted, nor was it because they deemed themselves to be good people. It was rather because of Aika and the existence of her influence.
If this Ryu was a normal person, why would Aika set out a special event for him in this way?
They didn't believe for a moment that Aika had special feelings for Ryu, or else she would have just named him previously instead of making them go through all of this. But what could be said is that she had special enough consideration for his talent to allow this sort of exception.
"I knew that there was something off about this," Bruiser suddenly said, looking Ryu up and down. "You're already in the Nine Life Revolutions Realm, you are indeed at our level."
Reading another's cultivation had never been an exact science, and it was even more complicated in the True Martial World with the myriad of matters to take into consideration. It took one who was either exceptional in matters of the senses, or was intimately familiar with the method of cultivation their target was using, to see through such matters.
Making it to the Nine Life Revolutions Realm, especially before entering the World Sea Realm first, was an exceptional feat.
There were many disciplines that believed the body to be the foundation of all things. It housed both the soul and the Meridians, without a strong enough body, housing powerful iterations of either was impossible. This was also why those with greater talent tended to likewise had more powerful bodies just by default.
Having a stronger Body Realm than Qi Realm or Mental Realm was actually seen to be as quite desirable, it was just that it was very difficult to achieve.
While it seemed that the Body Realm had no requirements for cultivation, this was only true at its lower Realms. While it was still acceptable if Ryu had been in the Blood Refinement Realm, the idea that he was already in the Nine Life Revolutions Realm meant that he had completed a Life Destruction.
Doing so required an intimate familiarity with one's body. This was beyond one's flesh and bones, it even required a deep comprehension of one's martial way. This was because in order to keep yourself together while experiencing such pain, one required an exceptional Dao Heart. On top of this, to complete a Life Destruction, one would have to sever connection to their soul and Spiritual Foundations and the like as well. The only way to re- establish such connections was to have intimate familiarity with them.
A World Sea Realm expert would have already formed their Cosmic Seeds and grown them to maturity, they would have the most optimal understanding of themselves.
For Ryu to do this before even stepping into the Cosmic Seed Realm first was absolutely astonishing and it was a feat that couldn't be looked down upon.
Ryu didn't say anything although he had very clearly heard Bruiser's words. However, Bruiser seemed to have already understood this, after all, he had heard about Ryu's personality from others. This wasn't a man fond of socializing or speaking with strangers.
So, after he had spoken, he had already sneered. "Even so, the completion of just a single Life Destruction paired with Peak Dao Pedestal Realm Qi Realm cultivation isn't nearly enough for even one of us, let alone three of us."
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