Ryu sat in silent meditation, unworried about the things going on in the outside world. His heart felt light and he also believed that he had come to understand something quite profound.
He didn't know anything about this so-called "Bow God", but what he did know was that he felt something special when he allowed the essence of his weapon to freely flow between his Dao and himself, becoming the center point of his thoughts.
It wasn't just the Bow he could have this feeling with.
His palm flipped over and a knife appeared. In that moment, even without opening his eyes, he exuded a keen and almost delicate sort of sharpness. There was a subtle suddenness to him even though he hadn't moved a single inch, as though he could go from sitting to an unconsciously explosive speed in nothing more than the blink of an eye.
His fingers flickered and in place of the knife a saber appeared. His aura became tyrannical and unmatched, like a towering wave ready to split a land in two.
Ryu kept switching between weapons but the enigmatic air never faded. It felt as though he could touch whatever weapon he wanted and the effect would be just the same.
He finally understood just what kind of prowess his Dao had. He had always had supreme confidence, but he hadn't realized until now just what kind of treasure his Dao was truly… until this moment.
Great Swordstaffs? Bows? Spears? Glaives? Halberds? He didn't have to actually choose between any one of them at all. If even the Heavens themselves were forced to open themselves up for his viewing pleasure, then why would individual weapons that could only be considered a small part of them not be as well?
Ryu was always restrained by his weapons because the ones he chose often rarely had techniques specifically designed for them. This was especially so when it came to the Great Swordstaff which was a weapon that almost never appeared.
But now, he didn't have to be so restrained at all.
Of course, this didn't mean that Ryu would abandon the Great Swordstaff. In fact, this was precisely the opposite of what he wanted to do.
The Great Swordstaff was unique in that it embodied both polearm weapons and non-polearm weapons. In fact, in Ryu's estimation, the only ones of the nine core weapons that he couldn't imitate with the Great Swordstaff were the bow, the short sword and the knife. As for all the others, he was fairly certain that he could without issue.
In such a case, why would Ryu force himself to choose? This would be his path of the Great Swordstaff. Rather than trying to forge something entirely new, he would fuse them all into one, snatching the hidden truths from weapon's masters that came before him and taking it all for himself.
The best part was that Ryu didn't have to bother wasting his time on learning each of these weapons individually. So long as his Dao improved, so too would they improve.
Now, he only needed two things. The first was a new pair of Great Swordstaffs and the second were techniques capable of taking advantage of this strength of his. He was starting to feel that just two Dao Charm techniques weren't nearly enough. His comprehension was far too high, why would he waste his talents like this?
In addition, learning these Dao Charm techniques was also a method of training his Dao. The closer to perfection he bought it, the stronger it would become. Step by step, he would push himself to the very pinnacle.
While others would struggle with just one, he would suffocate them to death with as many as he could get his hands on. And when it came to such techniques appropriate for his level, or in other words, the Heaven Grade, the Frost Clan simply had far too many.
Despite his arrogant thoughts, Ryu still didn't bite off too much. Instead, he chose one Heaven Grade Dao Charm technique for each of his chosen weapons.
The first he picked was a Sword Technique known as [Magnetic Blade].
It was designed to be a soft type technique which pulled in the attack of an attack. It made a target feel as though their blade was being guided toward a certain direction and like they couldn't attack exactly how they wanted to.
The second was a staff technique known as [Buddha's Stance].
It was another defensive type technique, but it was precisely designed to absorb the attacks of an enemy and channel it back. It could build momentum and reflect back strikes, multiplying the effects over a long, drawn out battle.
The third he chose was a spear technique known as [Rising Tempest].
This technique was known to stack not power, but speed. While the strength of the technique remained relatively the same, the more adept you were at this technique, the more your strikes would increase in speed.
Of course, speed always translated to strength. This meant that for the technique to maintain about the same power meant that the strikes were actually becoming weaker. It was a matter of trading one kind of strength for another.
Still, the one thing that was impossible to defend against was unmatched speed. Unmatched power could be run away from… unmatched speed could not.
The fourth he chose was a glaive technique known as [Rending Stars].
It was a violent, straight forward, and mighty technique that cleaved everything in its wake. It only had a single doctrine and that was to sever all things.
The fifth he chose was a saber technique known as [Rising Crimson].
This technique was very much like [Rending Stars] but its function was different. It worked not to just rend all things, but to force them into collapse, absorbing all the qi in its path and increasing its strength with every meter of space it passed through.
It would ravage everything in its path.