"Why are you up so late, Little Nunu?" The old General lightly knocked on his granddaughter's door. He had noticed that the lights in Yaana's room had yet to go out, but the moon was already high in the sky.
The past few months had been exceptionally peaceful. The Garis Clan was finally free, the old General's bedridden daughter, Selena, had finally awoken from her coma, and the Garis Clan had gained a stable, well respected foothold in the Opes Kingdom. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that these were the happiest days of the Garis Clan.
"Where do you think Ryu is right now, grandpa?" Yaana asked lightly.
The old General sighed from the other side of the door. It could be said that these would have been his happiest days had his granddaughter not been acting like this recently. He shouldn't be surprised that this was all about a boy. Yaana was already almost nineteen, she was around that age.
"Little Nunu, I know it's hard, but grandpa doesn't believe it's possible for you to see Ryu again in this lifetime. You two simply live in two different worlds. Soon, he'll be stepping upon the path of Immortals."
Yaana's eyes glistened with unshed tears. Her grandfather's words were harsh, but they were the truth. Yaana's cultivation had always been poor. It wasn't that she didn't try, but rather that she was no good at it. Even after almost twelve years, trying for at least six to eight hours a day, she was at the mere Second Awakening Realm.
"You're right grandpa…" Yaana said lightly. "… I don't have to get married anymore, right?"
"This…" In all honesty, the old General had planned to play matchmaker between Yaana and the First Opes Prince. He didn't plan on forcing it, but he already knew that Kalmin had taken a liking to his little granddaughter. Maybe feelings would develop between them in time.
But, they had gone through all of this trouble so that the Garis Clan could finally be free. With such a request coming from his granddaughter, how could he ignore it? That would make him sub-human.
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, Little Nunu." The old General finally replied seriously. "But, don't hold yourself back from your own happiness either."
"Mm, Yaana understands grandpa."
The light footsteps of the old General walking away were the only sounds the permeated the villa as Yaana looked into the skies. Since her and Ryu weren't meant to be in this life, she'd silently accept her fate.
In truth, Yaana continued to try, everyday, without pause. In fact, she doubled her efforts, often spending more than half a day cultivating. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be until she was thirty that she finally reached the Third Awakening Realm… And not until fifty that she reached the Fourth.
Some things simply weren't meant to be. Yaana would become an older woman. Though it would pain her when her grandfather passed away, she found happiness in other ways. She became the warm-hearted Saintess of Opes Kingdom and a most loved Cousin Aunt of Jedrek's children. Her name would be passed on through generations of Opes Kingdom citizens, much like Granny Miriam's was.
However, she would often think back to that cold, handsome young man with a head of long white hair. His valiant figure would warm her bed at night and soothe her erratic thoughts. And… she would always wonder just why the sky was so bland that night.
**
Maybe there truly was some small Line of Fate tying Yaana and Ryu because her feeling of discomfort was directly tied with the fading of Ryu's life force.
However, Ryu had too many things to fight for. Even as his life was slipping away from him, his eyes shone with a maddened light, the very same feeling of recklessness that forced him into taking on four Rites simultaneously. Since he was meant to die here, why not go all out?!
Suddenly Ryu's eyes flashed, 'The Incubator can be used in this way as well?! Come then!"
In Ryu's madness, he recklessly attempted to poor the reserves of Spiritual Qi from within the Spiritual Lake he formed at the center of his Incubator's independent world, fully expecting his Mental Realm to swell like balloon and burst. But, who would have known that the Incubator's ability to make volatile energies gentle would extend to this pool as well?!
It wasn't that Ryu was a fool. One might think that something seemingly so obvious shouldn't have escaped the notice of a supposed genius. However, this matter wasn't so intuitive as it seemed.
Ryu spent much of his life researching all sorts of topics to be the best Ruin Master he could be. In fact, the only reason he even learned the concepts of Feng Shui and Herbology were because they were incredibly useful in streamlining the Ruin raiding process.
This was all to say that Ryu intuitively understood many things about treasures even if he didn't have the ability to forge them himself. He had assumed that the Incubator's special nature was tied to its soil. This was likely why even though the Holy Wing Clan dared to take everything else out, they left the grass and the soil of the Incubator. By this logic, only things that could be properly planted within and receive nourishment from the soil could be privy to its abilities. However, the Spiritual Qi obviously didn't fall under this category.
It wasn't until now Ryu understood just how Heaven Defying his Incubator was. The secret wasn't hidden within the soil, but was rather in the construction of the Incubator itself! In fact, Ryu suspected that this treasure wasn't even meant to be used as an Incubator in the first place, this was likely why its herb growth accelerations abilities were so poor in comparison to the treasures available on the Shrine Plane!
Ryu laughed. He finally saw a ray of hope. If this gentle nature of the Incubator wasn't limited to just spiritual herbs that could be planted into its soil, then that meant there were other energies it could gently extract. For example, healing pills!
Ryu immediately took out dozens of bottles of pills he took from the Natural Order Sect. He hadn't used these during the Coronation Games because he was purposely testing his limit, but now he definitely needed them. These pills were of the Black Grade, and thus useful for Qi Refinement and Spiritual Severing Realm experts. With the Incubator's ability to extract energy, their uses would not only be gentle, but also far more effective than usual. In addition, Ryu wouldn't have to worry about their impurities!
With one portion of his mind, Ryu continuously replenished his Mental Realm of exhausted Spiritual Qi, with the other, he continuously funneled healing energies to his heart, continuously revitalizing his withering life force.
80% …. 79%.... The Seal was being slowly chipped away with each passing moment!