[I think I missed a 50 golden ticket bonus chapter... I'm not entirely sure. If so, oops. If not, well you guys lucked out, lmao]
Ryu calmed his erratically beating heart. At this moment, he had no idea that Headmaster Leopold was careening toward him at a speed even Divine Vessel Realm experts would look up in awe at, nor did he know that Headmaster Leopold was responsible for the destruction of the Natural Order Sect. But, what he did know was that he was in incomparable danger. Even if he didn't know it was under Headmaster Leopold's threat specifically, he knew that someone was coming toward him at their fastest possible speed. This much was inevitable.
'What a good Zu Clan.' Ryu sneered. But it was pointed less toward the Zu Clan itself, and more toward himself. He had been too na?ve and too blinded by benefits. He should have known that the Zu Clan wouldn't so easily allow their treasures to fall into the hands of outsiders.
The moment the pieces fused together, they triggered a hidden Seal within. The Path of Sealing was an incredibly rare subbranch of Formation Masters. In fact, it had fallen well past its previous peak because of the banishment of Mental Realm Masters. Sealing could only be done by those with incredibly profound Mental Realms.
Ryu didn't need to think much to understand what kind of Seal had been placed on him. It was most definitely a tracking seal, and it was likely one with an incredibly long range or else why would the Zu Clan even bother to make it?
Calming himself, Ryu thought of the facts he knew now. First, he had a Seal on himself that allowed Zu Clan remnants to sense his location. Second, this Seal didn't seem to have any other function. One would assume that if it could directly take control of Ryu, it would have already done so. The fact it hadn't was likely because the Zu Clan knew it would be a very long time before the Seal was put to use, and thus the less complex it was, the more chances it had to succeed. That final deduction led to a third conclusion that gave Ryu some hope: this Seal was definitely much weaker than it had been in its inception.
However, Ryu didn't have any delusions that it would be easily dealt with. One had to remember that the four pieces of Crystalline Jade were all submerged beneath large pools of Spiritual Qi. What was the best nourishment for a Mental Realm technique? Was it not, in fact, Spiritual Qi?
'What do I do?' An eerie calm came over Ryu. Panicking would do him no good. At that moment, a cool qi seeped from Ryu's eyes to his mind before diffusing throughout his body. Unfortunately, Ryu was too focused on his train of thought to notice.
Ryu knew that his first priority should be getting rid of the seal, but was putting his efforts toward this goal worth it? Meaning, could he, at his weak cultivation realm, do anything about such a seal to begin with? And if he couldn't, then shouldn't his first priority be, instead, to run?
Ryu quickly ran through all of his options. Did he have the ability to get rid of the seal?
A swirl of spatial qi emitted from Ryu's eyes, swallowing up the crystalline jade into his Inner Realm. The Incubator had fused with Ryu's right eye, but his left eye was still connected to the Inner Realm all those with Heavenly Pupils were born with. Since they dared to play with his life like this, he would destroy their hopes and dreams.
If Ryu died, his Inner Realm would naturally be destroyed along with him and everything in it. This way, no matter what happened today, the Zu Clan would lose. Since when had he, Ryu Tatsuya, ever suffered a loss? If this would be the day, he'd take his enemy down with him.
Ryu racked his brain.
'Wait!' Ryu's eyes shone like burning torches in the dead of night.
His hands moved quickly, causing a small, imperceptible flash of light to emit from his spatial ring and resulting in a dagger appearing in his palm.
This dagger could only be described as a beautiful work of art. Its jagged edge was a gorgeous crystalline blue. Its spine was a deep, rich black that absorbed all the light that bounced along it. And, its handle had an elegant curl to it such that it fit perfectly into one's hand.
This dagger was none other than the Unique Grade treasure Ryu's Wife, Elena, had given him as a birthday present. She too didn't know the true extent of its abilities, but she did know one thing: It was an incredibly rare tool capable of attacking one's Mental Realm directly!
Ryu ripped his robe apart, revealing his perfectly sculpted chest. However, this time, it wasn't blemishless. Just center-left, what looked like a burning brand mark lay plastered upon it.
Taking the piece of torn fabric, Ryu firmly clenched his teeth around it. This mark was firmly etched above his heart, with each passing moment, it only dug deeper. If he waited any longer, he would have to destroy the whole of his heart before he could even think of getting it out.
Sweat matted his forehead, but he didn't any longer. His Spiritual Qi surged into the blade, causing its blue, crystalline edge to glow fiercely with excitement. And then, a maddened flicker swept through Ryu's eyes as he resolutely pierced downward.
Muffled cries left Ryu's lips, fighting their way through the fabric he held between them and filling the underground space. If anyone could see this scene, they would most definitely think that Ryu was insane. Piercing your own heart? And so deeply? For someone of Ryu's poor cultivation grade, the only path left was death! This didn't even mention the damage the blade was currently doing to his Mental Realm!
Ryu's consciousness seemed like it would fade at any moment. The pain was too severe. However, Ryu realized something incomparably frightening at that moment. The Seal had stopped boring into him any further, but it wasn't destroyed! At best, it was weakened by 20%. That may cut down its range, but considering how strong the signal was to begin it, what did that even count for?!
Headmaster Leopold's eyes narrowed when he sensed the seal suddenly weaken. He spurred on his greatest movement technique to its greatest height, causing his speed to shoot upward another 50%. He couldn't allow this person to disappear!
A bitter laugh escaped Ryu's lips. With his pitiful Mental Realm talent, how could his Spiritual Qi be enough to completely destroy such a seal even if it was weakened? Now he stood with a blade in his heart, his life force quickly dissipating, all while an unknown enemy was quickly approaching.
Maybe this was just the cycle of life. In the past two years, who knows how many countless innocents Ryu's plots killed, all for the revenge of a single Granny Miriam. Maybe the Universe was coming to collect now…
In Opes Kingdom, a magnificent villa's window displayed the image of a beautiful young Yaana, sighing to herself. Why was it that this night sky seemed so bland today?