At this moment, Ryu was thankful for the Ice Silk that covered his body. If it wasn't for it, his heaving lungs and screaming muscles would be even worse off without their cooling effect. Unfortunately, the challenge had just taken a major leap forward. Despite defeating numerous Eighth Order Ancestors to this point, the first Spiritual Severing Realm Ancestor had appeared.
Their bodies blurred, whether it was Ryu or the Valkyrie, their speeds reached past the realm of mortals. But… Despite matching her speed, Ryu had no way to match her strength.
There was no suspense, Ryu was sent flying back. Despite shifting his spear's shaft just enough to block a fatal blow, he didn't have the right to stand before the Valkyrie any longer.
Ryu didn't crash as expected. The wind caressed his body, gently slowing his descent to the ground.
'I'm faster. My eyes can easily read her movements. But I don't have the strength.' Ryu's calm exterior cracked, a slight frown coloring his features.
This was only to be expected. Ryu hadn't even comprehended a Black Grade technique before, his entire repertoire was made up of Common Grade techniques. As for his attacks, they were even worse off. The [Basic Stances] weren't even categorized as Common Grade. They were an entry set of simple moves used to set a foundation for children who had yet to awaken.
Without a high-grade technique, Ryu had no way of efficiently using his dense qi. He could only allow his qi to flow on instinct. Unfortunately, the Silver Thirsting Ore that made up his blade was eager to suck him completely dry.
Ryu's frown disappeared like the wind, his calm countenance reemerging. Hadn't Ailsa told him to drain himself of his normal qi so that he could begin to comprehend his cool qi? It seemed he didn't have much of a choice any longer.
The Valkyrie watched with an interested expression on her face as the spears in Ryu's hand began to sing, thrumming with thick qi.
"You aren't a Spear Heir… But the sharpness of your technique says different." The Valkyrie tilted her head in confusion.
Ryu's skill with the spear was too high to not be a Spear Heir, but he wasn't using spear qi. Instead, he was using normal qi. Why was that? It confused her.
How could she know that Ryu's skill in dual wielding wasn't as high as his single wielding style? He still wasn't capable of evoking his spear's Birthed Phenomena with only a single arm.
"… It's probably because you've picked such a silly path." The Valkyrie decided indifferently. "Either way, I have no intention of losing to a Lower Qi Refinement Realm pup."
The Valkyrie's spear thrummed to life, overshadowing Ryu's momentum in an essence. This was the true difference between a spear filled with normal qi and one blessed by spear qi.
Their figures blurred once more.
It didn't take long for the elders to realize that Ryu's use of qi was excessive. He was using brute strength to match a Spiritual Severing Realm expert, but there was no way that Qi Refinement could…
"His qi is incredibly dense for him to last so long… But it can't continue like this." The elders frowned. They knew that the Eighth Order Ancestor had yet to go all out. In fact, the Ancestors to now had yet to use their Sect's Core Teachings.
Of course, there was a reason for this. The Core Teachings of a Ninth Order Sect weren't something an eighteen-year-old could comprehend. They would be of the Earth Grade at the absolute worse, while the minimum requirement to use such a high-grade technique was to be of the Divine Vessel Realm.
However… That didn't mean a Spiritual Severing Realm genius would find it impossible to replicate the techniques at least in part. Especially one who had comprehended a Birthed Phenomena.
As though to answer the worries the of the elders, the Valkyrie's spearmanship sharpened, her attacks layering. A single spear qi strand became two, then three. Her attacking speed spiked so suddenly that Ryu's already sharp disadvantage became worse in an instant.
He could see the attacks plainly. The Valkyrie was almost moving in slow motion before his eyes. In fact, his body was able to easily keep up as well. The Wind of Natural Order truly lived up to its name. However, his strikes had no power behind them. They were batted away with such ease that his opponent seemed to be toying with him.
Soon, the situation took a turn for the worst. Ryu's ridiculous stores of qi began to dwindle quickly. The abyssal vortexes within his meridian nodes spun quickly, gathering more qi toward itself. But, the Silver Thirsting Ore was insatiable, devouring more than Ryu could output.
The thrumming of his spear weakened considerably. Soon, the aching in his arms began more pronounced even as his bones began to take the brunt of the pressure. If it wasn't for the fact Ryu had learned to disperse the impact using his Northern Heavenly Wind, his bones would have fractured by now.
"It's time to end this." The Valkyrie's eyes sharpened. "The Throne of the Awoken Moon Sect cannot be claimed by a person like you. [White Serpent's Dance: Lurking Shadow]."
In that moment, it felt as though the Valkyrie had disappeared. It was like a looming pair of scarlet red eyes trained on Ryu, treating him like prey to be prowled. All that remained was the tip of a pure white spear, condensed with such a high concentration of energy that the air itself trembled.
Ryu was spent. His qi had his rock bottom. He found it difficult to communicate with his Heavenly Wind with his Focus Qi so drained, and the weakness of his Mental Realm had made his dual wielding become sloppy once more.
But this was exactly what he wanted. With everything else in his body flushed out, all that remained was a familiar pulsing within his pupils.
'So this is what you wanted to show me?...'
The world before Ryu had completely changed. Instead of a Valkyrie and a spear, he saw bundles of black, grey and white strings. It almost felt as though he could reach forward and tug them at will. Ryu felt a voice singing deep within his mind… No, it was an instinct. Telling him exactly what these lines were…
'Lines of Fate… Karmic Strings… If it's like this… You're not match for me… [White Serpent's Dance: Lurking Shadow].'