Headmaster Leopold's heart seized. He immediately realized his mistake. If Ryu hadn't known who he was from the very beginning, would he have been able to goad him into anger so quickly? Even further, would Ryu be so confident that he wouldn't kill him? The answer to both were resounding no's.
Ryu knew that Leopold had disappointing disciples only because he knew who Leopold was. Ryu also knew that Leopold wouldn't strike hard enough to kill him because he already guessed that Leopold had some insight into the fact he had a pair of Heavenly Pupils due to the battle against the Ice Eyed Bear. He even knew something as seemingly useless as Leopold's dominant hand. Had Leopold not been so cocky, Ryu wouldn't have been bold enough to gamble with his life in such a way!
'Dammit!' Leopold's foot struck the ground as he surged toward the Immortal Path. 'It doesn't matter, do you think the Immortal Path is a joke? Even I must take it seriously!'
What Leopold was worried about wasn't that Ryu had a trap waiting for him, but rather that Ryu would immediately die after entering the Path. Unfortunately for him, he was wrong, very wrong.
Leopold grunted as he stepped into the orb of light. The Immortal Path blinded him for an instant before its beauty was revealed to him.
The best words to describe the Immortal Path were 'Staircase to Heaven'. A Path of golden stairs seemed to rise to infinity. They weren't very wide, maybe only about two meters across, leaving a seemingly endless abyss below them. That said, this abyss was a gentle white light with a slight golden hue instead of an unknown void of black.
Still, the Path didn't allow one to fall off of it. There were only two options. To reach the top, or be crushed under the pressure and die without a corpse. There was no going back.
Leopold almost fell to his knees the moment he landed upon the first step. The Immortal Path didn't test your strength, it tested your potential. As an old man who had already maxed out his limit, his only chance at greater heights was the legacy in Ryu's hands. So, how could the Path treat him well? Still, though strength wasn't the main focus of the Path, it still allowed some leeway, giving Leopold the opportunity to rely on his cultivation to struggle upward and stand tall. However, what he saw was a sight he'd never forget in his entire life.
Ryu sat above him. His legs were in no condition to help him stand, and he seemed like an arrow at the end of its flight. But, he still firmly held onto a black long bow, pulling the string with all his remaining might.
A blazing golden flame lit around Ryu. It only took a moment for the experienced Leopold to understand that these golden flames weren't true flames, but rather the rapid coalescing of Essence!
Leopold's mind trembled. The densest cores of Essence in existence were without a doubt the Immortal Paths. It wasn't just that it was abundant in its atmosphere, but rather that its entire space was constructed with Essence! Even the stairs beneath their feet!
Headmaster Leopold's eyes shifted from the raging arrow still forming to land on Ryu's right hand. The Glove of Order had morphed again, shedding its black exterior to come alight with a golden blaze. It surged up Ryu's arm once more, covering the whole of his shoulder in a brilliant sheen.
This time, the gorgeous armor didn't stop at his wrist but shot up to his forearm. Even as Ryu's arm trembled, the power of the arrow grew stronger and stronger.
Leopold felt fear. He wanted to run. He realized at this moment that he was no longer the hunter in this situation. The moment he allowed Ryu to enter the Immortal Path, it was over. He couldn't even summon his strength because every fiber of his being was being used to stand.
"Please, please. Don't kill me." Leopold trembled. "Here, here. Take it." He pulled his spatial ring out and threw it at Ryu. "I swear I won't move from this place until you complete the Path. You'll be teleported to a random place and I'd never dare to come find you after that."
By the time Leopold realized that this overwhelming fear wasn't just due to worry for his life, but also because of Ryu's piercing gaze, it was already too late. Ryu didn't even hesitate to let the arrow loose. He didn't have any remorse for a man who didn't hesitate to wipe out an entire Sect of people.
As for why Leopold did this, Ryu had no idea. Maybe he wanted to agitate things. Or, maybe he was pissed off that the elders of the Natural Order Sect didn't have what he was looking for.
By the time the blinding light the arrow emitted faded, Ryu realized that Leopold's body was nowhere to be seen. At that moment, he understood what happened. Leopold couldn't control his cowardice in the end, so he attempted to retreat. Unfortunately, on the Immortal Path, you could only go forward. The moment he failed to control himself, the Path killed him.
'How foolish.' Ryu sneered. His original plan was just to force Leopold to take a step back. He didn't have any illusions of killing a Connecting Heaven Realm expert, even with the help of the excessive Essence floating around him. But, who would have known that Leopold would lack backbone to this extent.
Suddenly, a resounding crack entered Ryu's ears. Looking down at his bow, he sighed as it crumbled to dust. He felt it was unfortunate, but exchanging this bow for his life was worth it.
The bluing of Ryu's lips retreated. The gold of his Glove of Order surged into his body, stabilizing his condition. Soon, he fell into a deep sleep as his glove receded to its inconspicuous black color.
Months ticked by. No one would ever expect that someone would ever dare to sleep on the Immortal Path. It was precisely this reason why Ryu knew it was the safest. What were the odds that someone would attempt this trial and find him? Incredibly low considering the level of the Higher Mortal Plane. As for those descending, they had a completely different process, so they wouldn't cross Ryu's path.
Essence slowly nourished Ryu's body. The Immortal Path, much like any other trial, was also an opportunity to push past your own limits. Unfortunately, considering Ryu's talent, the path was limited in its ability to help him. This was why it didn't even bother to pressure him. However, there was one thing it could do for Ryu besides supplementing his healing.
Unlike his Body and Qi Realm talent, Ryu's Mental Realm talent was lacking. The Immortal Path couldn't fix this, but it could reward him for the struggle his mind had undergone.
Every time the Immortal Sakura petals shattered, Ryu's mind withstood terrible impacts. If one were to peer into his Mental Realm now, one would find a disturbing dark space, filled with cracks. It seemed as though its thirty-meter-wide space might collapse at any moment. Once this happened, Ryu would die without a doubt.
Luckily, this was when the Essence made its presence known. Not only was Ryu's Mental Realm slowly healing, it was also steadily growing, inch by inch.