During the next month, Ryu did little else but train and cultivate, not that he usually had something else to do anyway. It was likely that his sudden disappearance had already shaken Melody, but due to his status as Throne, the Awoken Moon Sect upper echelon was very much aware that he was still alive.
Under normal circumstances, one might think that Ryu was escaping his duties as Throne, but in practice, only a foolish individual would think this. Firstly, the only 'resources' Ryu took from the Sect were techniques. Considering he didn't take their original copies, the Sect lost nothing. Secondly, in just a month, Ryu's name had spread across the whole of the Outer Ring, both because of his completion of six Fourth Order missions and his slap to the face of the cloaked figures.
Simply put, for what he took, he had more than repaid his fair share. Plus, it wasn't as though the title of Throne had a time limit. For as long as Ryu lived, the Faith he accumulated would benefit them. The only ones enraged by his sudden disappearance were those who had ill intentions.
With nothing to grasp upon, those who had sought for Ryu's death began to endlessly slander him, speaking of his foolishness and cowardly nature. In the end, the Faith Ryu had accumulated was impacted by an easily manipulated public opinion.
This much could only be expected… Ryu had hardly interacted with anyone during his stay. In addition, the ones controlling the narrative were figures who had been famous in the Outer Ring for a long time already. The most frustrating part was that it wasn't only those who wanted Ryu dead who participated, the Clans whose best interest didn't align with the Awoken Moon Sect rising up thanks to the backing of Ryu's Faith also participated.
With each subsequent tournament Ryu didn't attend, things only became worse. Maybe if it wasn't for Melody's abrupt spike in power, the Awoken Moon Sect's Faith would have been irreparably damaged.
As for the person in question, he had already crossed into the Inner Ring, the thoughts and feelings of such small figures next to irrelevant to him.
Ryu continued to cultivate much faster than even he expected. He had already opened his fourth miniature dantian, formed yet another 37 vortexes, and completed his tenth Revolution. With this, he officially stepped into the Higher Qi Refinement Realm.
To put this speed into context, on the Shrine Plane, the topmost geniuses on Ryu's wife's level would begin cultivating at seven years old. By eight years old, just one year later, they would enter the Qi Refinement Realm. And just two years later, at ten years old, they would become Spiritual Severing Experts.
Knowing this truth, it was no wonder Ryu didn't feel proud with his cultivation. But, this wasn't the poignant point here. In what amounted to just two months, Ryu had already entered the Higher Qi Refinement Realm. And the truth was, he hadn't spent every moment cultivation. In fact, he spent most of his time on Little Rock's back, sending his mind to the fourth floor of Zu Palace.
Ryu was cultivating almost ten times faster despite stacking three difficult Six Star technique atop of one another. The benefits of Great Ancestral Circle talent were nigh untouchable. If things continued this way, in just a few more years, he would catch up to those geniuses.
According to his understanding, those geniuses, despite reaching the Spiritual Severing Realm at ten years old, wouldn't enter the Divine Vessel Realm until they were twenty. Right now, Ryu was eighteen!
However, he didn't spend all of his time on speed. The reason those geniuses so suddenly slowed down was precisely because of how difficult clearing the stages of the Spiritual Severing Realm was. Ryu couldn't underestimate it just for the sake of his pride.
Suddenly, Ryu's eyes sharpened. "Right here, Little Rock."
A proud call left the beautiful Lightning Hawk's beak as it dove down from the skies. Seeing its speed, Ryu could only shake his head.
In order to practice his control over his Northern Heavenly Wind and deepen his understanding, Ryu had tried extending the range of domain to Little Rock. Essentially, he was trying to combine Little Rock's speed with the benefits of his Wind Inheritance. As for the results? They were shocking beyond belief. Even after becoming used to it, Ryu was still astonished.
Crossing from the Outer Ring into the Inner Ring without the help of teleportation formations would take a Connecting Heaven Realm expert half to a full year. Yet, after Little Rock entered the Fourth Order, they took just one month.
Of course, this was also because those human experts would have to wrap around beast territory so as not to attract those King Beasts, something Little Rock didn't have to do thanks to Ryu's cloak. But, even still, the matter was shocking.
"We're here?" Ailsa pouted. She was in her full form where even as a woman, she stood almost as tall as Ryu. She had been enjoying the secluded feeling of being by Ryu's side. Though Little Rock was here, the little guy was still immature despite his power, so she liked to take advantage of Ryu using her title as Big Sister. It was unfortunate that it was coming to an end.
Ryu nodded, ignoring the feeling of Ailsa enveloping his arm with her breasts. Ailsa was certain that she was becoming more and more tempting by the day, but it seemed that Ryu's increase in cultivation made his already strong willpower even stronger.
"This Ruin should be the resting place of Necromancer Hecate. Creating a Legacy World is incredibly difficult. One must have at least Cosmic Seed Realm cultivation because only it allows for deft enough control of Cosmic Qi to form a Small Realm with your life and will as the catalyst. For those who haven't reached such a great level, they prefer to construct Ruins where they can diligently map out trials for potential successors.
"Of course, there are also eccentrics who choose to form Ruins despite having the ability to form Legacy Worlds. Usually, those are people with very special secondary professions who believe their Legacy is best left in such a place. For example, master puppeteers who are very good at creating intricate mechanisms to be used for traps and such, or formation masters who want to test the intelligence of their inheritor."
Ailsa listened with bright eyes. Ryu rarely spoke so many words at once. It was nice to know he could be passionate about some things.
The trio quickly fell from the skies. Soon, the thick green landscape gained sharpness and detail as a lush forest appeared before them.
Ryu's eyes suddenly sharpened, quickly having Ailsa help Little Rock into the Incubator as she shrunk to her six-inch-tall size. It seemed after so long, Necromancer Hecate's Ruins had been found first.