Ryu shot forward, his speed leaving faint afterimages in his wake. Although he didn't use his great swordstaffs to fly, he couldn't be considered slow in the slightest. He simply preferred to maintain the flexibility of staying on his feet.
Little Silk sat silently on his shoulder, her aura becoming more and more restrained.
It didn't take long for Ryu to notice this at all. He could communicate with Little Silk, at least not in the usual way humans would. The only beasts that Ryu had ever known to speak were the Ancestral Beasts of Sacrum, but he had yet to meet such a creature in the True Martial World.
Regardless, even without a clear line of communication, he could feel Little Silk's emotions and intentions. He had only traveled a few dozen kilometers into the core region, but her demeanor had completely changed, from one of excitement to one of restraint.
Ryu came to a stop, standing atop a thick layer of slow and yet not leaving even the slightest footprint behind.
His senses spread out, become sharper and sharper. He wanted to understand exactly what was making Little Silk react like this, because from what he understood, Little Silk was confused as well. In fact, if it wasn't for Little Silk's connection with Ryu, she might have been aimlessly flapping about by now.
'This has to be some sort of technique or formation method. From what it seems like, it's being used to dull the edge of the beasts in the surrounding, but it's also so subtle that I can't pick up on it. In that case, maybe it's not a formation but rather a scent? Or a special qi?'
Ryu felt that this made the most sense. There was nothing special about the smell of the air currently, but that didn't mean there was nothing there. The number of odorless poisons were too many to name in a single sitting, and the number of poisons that were non-lethal and could fly under the radar like this were too numerous.
Ryu could only sigh. His Spiritual Sense wasn't quite high level enough to pick up on such small and minute details. If he had his Heavenly Pupils [Ephemeral Tapestry] would expose this poison immediately, but right now he could only speculate.
After a moment, though, Ryu grinned.
This region was blanketed with something that seemed to lull beasts into a restrained state. In that case, wasn't this absolutely perfect for him? Defeating these beasts would only be easier now.
Ryu's steps flashed and his body flickered and vanished, his speed becoming even faster. He looked no different from a line of blue in the vast whiteness.
'There.'
After several more minutes of running at high speed, Ryu found his first Eleventh Order beast. It was a large lizard creature with gorgeous violet-white scales. However, as beautiful as its scales were, its actual appearance was ugly.
It had an enormous jaw, short forelegs and enormous hind legs. It looked like a dinosaur, especially when it opened its large jaw to yawn and revealed the row of rotting flesh lodged in its sharp teeth.
Such a creature was definitely a top class predator. However, this top class predator, which should have been hunting to satiate its enormous appetite, was actually just lazily lying in its den. It wasn't sleeping as its eyes were open, but its eyelids drooped as though it might fall into a deep sleep any time now.
And yet, that time never came. It hovered in an apathetic state between sleep and wakefulness. Ryu could tell that it was in no position to protect itself, causing his lips to curl.
Ryu pulled his grandfather's bow from his back, his aura shifting.
By this point, with the sharp senses of an Eleventh Order Sovereign Grade would have already sensed the danger. If Ryu wanted to avoid this detection before he released his arrow, he would have to be at least 10 or so kilometers away. But if he released an arrow from so far away, although he had more than enough strength to cover this distance, the beast would likewise be able to react in time.
Right now, though, Ryu was just half a kilometer away. At this distance, someone who didn't detect him and dodge ahead of time could only face death so long as their strength was beneath the Sovereign Grade Sky God Realm.
Ryu released his arrow with an exhale. The lizard beast only had time to open its eyes from a half closed position, but that only allowed Ryu's attack to skewer its skull all the better. It couldn't even cry out in horror before its life began to fade away.
With a step, Ryu crossed the half kilometer distance, appearing next to the corpse. It looked as though nothing at all had happened. If it wasn't for the blood slowly seeping out from the lizard beast's eye, it would have been difficult to tell that it was doing anything other than taking a nap.
"Your turn, Little Silk."
Little Silk was still feeling a bit languid, but there was nothing much Ryu could do about this. Seeing that the little one didn't have any energy to absorb such a behemoth, he tapped the corpse of the lizard beast and allowed it into the golden moon world. It seemed that Little Silk's breakthrough would have to wait until after they left this place.
After allowing Little Silk into the ring to rest as well, Ryu's figure flashed. He would allow Little Silk to absorb the beast carcasses that he gathered once she had recovered. But for now, he would focus on accumulating as many as he could.
With the beasts all in a languid state, it was much harder for Ryu to find them, but that trouble was mitigated by the ease with which he was able to crush them all. He rarely needed more than just a single arrow.
The days ticked by, and after another three, Ryu believed he finally found the source of this odd phenomena.
His gaze narrowed as he shrouded his body in Void Spiritual Sense.