Ryu sped back into the Radiant Star Sect, stepping off his great swordstaff with an indifferent expression.
To his back, the war was still raging, but he no longer felt that it had anything to do with him. He had already fought the strongest enemy he could find. There were probably others of the Metal Work Sect, but none of them were currently present and he couldn't be bothered to wait.
If he stayed on the battlefield, he would only be ruining the point of this exercise to begin with, and that was to squeeze out the potential of the youths of this Sect.
Old Wan's original intention was to rebuild the Radiant Star Sect from the ground up. In order to do so, he had to slowly build up their destiny. As such, he drastically lowered the standards to the level of a normal True One Star Sect. This was why their disciples, and even their Inheritor Disciples, were so weak.
Likewise, Old Wan modified the inheritances and techniques of the Sect to fit with their current station as well. Although Elder Aika was enraged by Galemar gaining access to their techniques, the truth of the matter was that it could hardly be considered to be a big deal. After all, it could only be considered to be a small segment of the real technique and didn't have a fraction of the true strength.
Unfortunately for Old Wan, Aika didn't have such patience. The only reason she had gone with his plan was because he had the highest cultivation of them all. Now that she had caught up, she didn't feel any qualms about snatching the position of head from him.
Old Wan seemed to understand this as well, so he didn't even bother to fight against Aika and simply allowed her to do as she pleased. Though, by this point, he didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. Unfortunately for the disciples of the Radiant Star Sect, they ended up caught in the middle of it all and could now only fight for their lives.
If these disciples wanted to benefit from the rise of the Radiant Star Sect, they would have to break out of their cocoons.
Ultimately, even the best disciples of the Sect were mere Earth Grade talents. However, talent wasn't the end all be all. The Heavens had a path for everyone, it was just that the path of some was narrower and more treacherous for some.
The only goal these disciples had to have was to reach the limit of their potential. All of the best of them should aim to become Earth Class geniuses first and foremost. Once or if they succeeded, they could try to break past those limits.
Talent could be improved, Fate could be grasped, destinies could be changed, it was all about how much they were willing to give and if luck would be on their side or not.
Ryu, as someone born to Sacrum, was destined to be capped by the limitations of his world. He could be considered to have great luck of his own, having the framework for exceptional talent. But by now, Ryu's scope and understanding of things had already increased to the point he knew that in the whole of the True Martial World, he couldn't be considered to be a pinnacle talent.
In the First Heaven, the pinnacle level talents were Earth Grade. In the Second, pinnacle level talents were of the Heaven Grade. In the Third Heaven, the pinnacle level talent were already at the Sovereign Grade. Above that, there was only the Ancestral Grade and above left.
From what Ryu understood, there was a huge gap between the Third and Fourth Heaven, to the point where there was a trial to pass into it. This was the so-called Heavenly Path that everyone was talking about.
Coming to this sort of understanding, when one stepped foot on the Fourth Heaven, the greatest geniuses were likely already at the Ancestral Grade and maybe even beyond.
In Sacrum, the Grade above the Ancestral Grade was known as the Origin Grade. It was a legendary talent level that only really existed in the vague abstract and it was only used when a talent surpassed the Ancestral Grade by a large enough margin that it no longer made sense to mark it there.
In the True Martial World, it was also considered to be the Origin Grade, but it was divided into Nine Grades.
There was very little information about these Nine Grades, but it likely followed a pattern of the Sky God Realm's nomenclature.
Regardless, it was well beyond Ryu.
After reading through the records the Frost Clan had left behind, Ryu had a deeper understanding of his talents and where exactly they sat.
First there were his Bloodlines. In Sacrum, they could be considered to be in the Origin Grade, at least his Dragon and Qilin Bloodlines, anyway. As for his odd fused Phoenix Bloodline, he wasn't entirely sure where it sat even now.
In the True Martial World they weren't so simple to pin down. This was because there were huge gaps between Fire Dragons and their Lineages. The same was true of Qilins as a result.
The weakest of Fire Dragons and Lightning Qilins were, indeed, of the Ancestral Grade. However, the strongest of them had entered the Origin Grade. This Grade was dependent on the number and quality of talents created.
Beast bloodlines were unique in that they weren't fixed. Even the weakest of Dragons had the chance to rise to the pinnacle because of the secrets their Bloodline held. This was known as "Returning to Origin".
This was actually something that Ryu had experienced himself by tempering himself with Mortal Qi. This allowed him to squeeze out much more potential from his Bloodlines.
But the harsh truth was that this was just the first step. If Ryu's calculations were correct, his Dragon and Qilin Bloodlines were currently just barely in the First Origin Grade. And, of course, he still needed to unshackle it to that level.