Ryu's killing spree went completely unchecked as the pulse of qi and pillar of light began to appear more and more frequently around him.
He stood on the back of the jaguar beast without a care, rushing through the forest and killing anyone he came across.
"Little Ryu is a bit too murderous," Elder Aika said with a slight sigh.
In truth, if she didn't have such a good impression of Ryu to begin with and this was the first side of him she had seen, their relationship would have definitely begun with a poor start.
Killing in this competition couldn't be helped, but there wasn't a flicker of hesitation in Ryu's eyes. It was clear at a glance that such things didn't faze him in the slightest. He wasn't exactly a demonic cultivator, but he didn't lose sleep at night due to his killing, nor did he even give it a second of consideration before he did so.
This was just the way Ryu was. When he took action, he never had a shred of regret. It took quite a lot for him to feel such an emotion and he could only name two times in his entire life that he had experienced such a feeling.
Regret wasn't something he allowed himself to feel.
"His Dao Heart is very firm," Selheira said lightly.
Elder Aika nodded in agreement.
Killing people that were weaker than you wasn't exactly a feat of a strong Dao Heart. However, the method by which Ryu was doing so separated him.
Selheira had seen Ryu interact with those far stronger than himself, and his demeanor was just the same as it always was. He didn't shift the way he viewed the world based on the circumstances he was in or the oppression he was facing.
Due to this, he could kill without blinking an eye. But he could also face his own death without blinking either.
"A Dao Heart as strong as this, though, especially when formed so early on and under a lack of true life experiences can be a double edged sword," Elder Aika said.
Selheira remained silent. She knew very well that this was true.
Those who formed such Dao Hearts so early on in cultivation couldn't be said to have gone through any true trials and tribulations. It wasn't a matter of suffering, but rather of suffering over long and extended periods of time. Someone that was as young as Ryu and hadn't experienced the vicissitudes of life could only build such a strong Dao Heart on one thing: pride and arrogance.
Dao Hearts built on such a thing were incredibly strong, but they were also incredibly brittle when pushed past a certain point. They lacked flexibility and didn't do well under true stress.
As such, Dao Hearts like this were often ticking timebombs. It was only a matter of time before they collapsed, shattering your Dao along with it.
Although neither Aika nor Selheira wasn't to say it in so many words, they both knew that it was true. So they fell into silence, watching on without a word for a long while.
"Someone is coming," Selheira suddenly said.
…
Ryu rushed through the forest, his hand still a blur. However, just then, his expression flickered.
A strong ray shot over, piercing right for his jaguar's head.
Ryu raised an eyebrow. The timing of this attack was quite good and it happened to come from an individual that was nearer the edge of his Spiritual Sense so he hadn't paid much attention to them originally.
'A member of the Iunae family… No, not just a member, it's him.'
Ryu's gaze turned cold. He had wanted to pay this Galemar back for forcing him to skydive through 10 kilometers for a long while. It seemed that he would get his chance today.
He lightly tapped the back of the jaguar with a foot. The seemingly soft action caused him to flip through the air with tremendous speed, dodging out of the way of the ray of silver light even as it ran through the forehead of his tamed beast.
Ryu could have saved it, but he didn't bother to waste his energy on that. Instead, as he flipped through the air, he had already pulled back his bowstring, his expression the picture of calm.
[Thirteen Soaring Azures: Singe]
A silver-blue arrow formed at Ryu's behest, but wrapped around it was a flickering azure light that condensed into a beautiful ray of light the moment he released it.
Heat waves billowed through the air, warping the wind and distorting one's vision.
The spectators shot up.
Dao Charm technique!
Varnon, who hardly ever showed an expression, had his brows shoot up. Others saw a Dao Charm technique being used at Initial Success, but he saw a perfect fusion of Fire and Lightning.
His heartbeat quickened.
They were called the Thunder Blaze Sect for a reason. They contained both lightning cultivators and fire cultivators. However, their strongest legacy, one very rarely taught to anyone, was one that combined the two!
Galemar's expression changed. He hadn't expected Ryu to directly abandon his beast for the sake of attacking him. It didn't seem worth it or smart.
Of course, he hadn't seen how easy it was for Ryu to tame this Earth Grade beast. In his opinion, it must have taken Ryu several hours and he wouldn't be willing to give it up easily. He had planned to use this against Ryu to launch a sneak attack and then pin him into a corner. As always, he was scheming.
But who could have expected that Ryu didn't give a damn about the beast at all?!
Ryu's arrow appeared before him in the blink of an eye. Galemar, who had been preparing another attack technique, felt the scorching heat begin to eat away at the silver light that covered his face, and priming to rip a hole through his forehead.
Galemar released a low shout, adjusting his attack technique slightly and concentrating it into a finer beam.
His finger struck outward with an otherworldly momentum, piercing against the tip of Ryu's arrow and shattering it into pieces.
He was prepared to launch a follow-up assault, but he quickly found the skies covered by dozens of arrows, each and every one of them powered by an Initial Success Dao Charm technique.
The spectators sat in complete silence.
A Dao Charm technique was supposed to be a final trump card, the last thing one pulled out in a battle of life and death. One wouldn't casually display it unless they had no choice.
When Ryu immediately brought it out, they had assumed that it was because he took Galemar as a very fierce opponent to face, something that made sense considering the fact that Galemar was most definitely top five in strength among those participating…
But who could have expected that rather than a final trump card, Ryu would be capable of using it as casually as almost any other attack?
Singe arrows turned the forest into a blazing inferno of dancing azure flames…
And Galemar was stuck in the middle of it all.
"Die," Ryu said coldly.
[Roaring Sky Serpent].