Ryu's veins bulged across his forehead, but his demeanor was calm and unhurried. He was confident, and his mind was more than strong enough now to manage it all. In terms of comprehension, for him, the Heaven and Earth characters were the easiest, because they were the true core of his Dao. However, logistically, they required the most qi and demanded the most of his control.
While he was condensing the Earth Character, he realized that if he followed through with it alone, forming the Heaven Character afterward would be impossible. It was akin to trying to insert a new rope into an already completed and complex knot. It wasn't possible to bind them perfectly unless the first knot was undone, but if the analogy was taken to reality, undoing the knot would mean destroying his already created Cosmic Seeds. That was unacceptable.
The only solution was to form the final and most perfect knot right at the start, and that meant laying out all of the ropes ahead of time... simply put, he needed to complete his Heaven and Earth Character Cosmic Seeds simultaneously, all four.
This placed a great deal of pressure on his body. His Meridians were able to take it easily, but that didn't mean the rest of his flesh could. And, because he hadn't expected this to happen, he had used all of his Embryonic Qi already.
Luckily, his body was already at the standard of the World Sea Realm, but it seemed that this alone wouldn't be enough.
Ryu, though, simply continued to endure. So long as his Meridians didn't rupture, something that was probably quite impossible for him, it didn't matter what happened to the rest of his body.
His skin began to crack, as did his bones. Though, the latter was a bit odd. His bones seemed to have two layers, or rather, three. One was like a glass casing, the second was also something like a glass casing, but it was far denser and a tinge darker, while the final was an endless depth of grey fog. It was the first and thinnest layer of glass that cracked, but the underside seemed to be perfectly fine. Unfortunately, that didn't magically stop the pain.
That said... if there was one thing he could endure, it was pain. In fact, there was a broad smile on his face.
He could feel it. He could step into the World Sea Realm in a single bound. His base would be powerful and sturdy, he could already sense the doorway before him. This was the stage of his grandparents, people he looked up to like an insurmountable mountain laid out before him. However, even as he looked toward it, his body continued to break down.
Ryu's eyes slowly opened, a sharpness within. It seemed that things wouldn't work out well if he continued like this. Even so, the grin on his face only became deeper.
'Alright, let's see then.'
"Senior Aika." Ryu suddenly called out.
Aika was startled, not expecting to be called out like this. "Yes?"
"I need a dense pool of energy, the more you have, the better."
"Huh?"
At that moment, Ryu suddenly appeared in the skies, cross legged. Before Aika could understand what was happening, his body exploded into a bloody mist.
"Ah!" Aika nearly shrieked. "This, this, THIS IDIOT!"
Aika immediately flipped a palm, a stream of qi forming out from her spatial ring. Like a trickle of stars forming a road in the skies, they converged around Ryu, condensing and pressing down onto the ball of bloody mist.
The clouds of blood were so thick that no one noticed the black soul sitting within, nor the nine golden lights that formed the core of it all.
Aika was practically perspiring bullets. Nervousness, she was actually feeling nervous. She never felt this way even for herself. Nothing ever fazed her. But this idiot was actually completing a Life Destruction and a breakthrough into the World Sea Realm at the same time, just what was he thinking?
Although she thought this, she knew that Ryu likely didn't have a choice. His body couldn't withstand the influx of qi. Unless he completed this Life Destruction, he would implode.
But just what kind of Life Destruction was this? How could it require so much qi?
Though it was called a Life Destruction and sounded grand and imposing, it was ultimately just the equivalent of the World Sea Realm, an irrelevant and quite frankly trash Realm in Aika's eyes. But this amount of energy usage was absolutely ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as Ryu forming 16 Cosmic Seeds.
Although the quality of Cosmic Seeds was far more important than the quantity, 16 was absolutely ridiculous, especially since they were all so absolutely perfect.
And now this Life Destruction was taking up as much energy as she felt someone might need to enter the Sky God Realm, just what was going on? How was it so strong?
What she didn't know was that Ryu's body was already the equivalent of nine normal Life Destructions. While he was completing his "first" now, in reality it was akin to doubling that number, making it the equivalent of nine Life Destructions. This was already beyond the normal limits of a peak Body Realm expert on the verge of entering the Sky God Realm.
For all intents of purposes, it was probably as close to the Half-Step Sky God Realm one could get without actually entering it!
At that moment, a roar shook the skies and the blood mist condensed in one, violent, vacuum-like surge.
Ryu appeared with shimmering skin, naked and proud in the skies. He looked as though he had been carved of gems, his blood pulsing through his veins.
The last of the qi rushed into him, his 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th Cosmic Seeds solidifying all at once.
BOOM!
The cry of a White Phoenix rushed into the skies, Ryu's Spiritual Foundation cracking and then suddenly shattering into countless pieces.
His aura soared, and then rose again.
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