The Zu Elders looked toward the elder who spoke with incredulous gazes. Clans always placed benefits over everything else, but this truth was always hidden beneath a veneer of politeness. However, this elder didn't seem to care for such things at all.
"We don't have the luxury of playing up a fa?ade of good heartedness. Our Zu Clan has fallen generation after generation, from a mighty people, to scattering cockroaches, to a point where we can finally lift our heads again.
"Second Grade Elder was our hope to return to this Realm's highest peak once more, but he's failed due to unknown reasons. Now, a promising youth has fallen as well.
"You all know as well as I that Elder Delonte is not as talented as he's shown in the past few decades. However, we have all refrained from prying into his secrets from him for various reasons… Namely because we are not in a state where we can afford to have internal strife within our Clan."
The elders shook their heads at their First Grand Elder's shamelessness.
The first part of his words were true. Many years ago, Mental Realm Masters were taboo. Due to the actions of a few, they were ostracized from society and forced to hide. As a result, not everyone aware of the secrets of the Tatsuya Clan's fall were angry. Some, like this very Zu Clan, were very happy, believing the Tatsuya Clan got what they deserved.
However, the second part was nonsense. Why was it that a member of a Clan of great standing in the Inner Ring was denigrated to the point of becoming a mere adventurer and mercenary? It was precisely because their First Grand Elder pushed him into a corner, forcing him to leave the Clan.
They were a Half-Step Sixth Order Clan, yet one of their Elders was an adventurer, how embarrassing was that?
This Order grade might seem just a single step above the Fifth Order, but don't be fooled. The difference between the Zu Clan and the Awoken Moon Sect was akin to Heaven and Earth. The only way to gain the 'Half-Step' moniker was by having an expert an entire Order above, but lacking the necessary number of, of Order experts.
Simply put, the Zu Clan had a Seventh Order expert – a mighty Immortal Ring Realm Ancestor – but just didn't have enough Connecting Heaven Realm experts to meet the requisite ten minimum requirement!
This strength was enough to rank them within the top five powers of the Inner Ring. Yet, once again, one of their elders was an adventurer…
Decades ago, the oddity in Delonte's cultivation speed was exposed. Back then, it hadn't been obvious enough to warrant a feverish attempt by them, but the First Grand Elder still elected to hold a 'disciple choosing competition'.
As expected, Delonte won though he shouldn't have, which led to a fiendish round of questioning from the First Grand Elder. Luckily for Delonte, he was clever and quickly left the Clan, becoming an adventurer soon after.
Many years later, the Zu Clan, hearing of his exploits, conferred him the title of Elder, hoping he would come back. But, it had already been over a decade since then and not even Delonte's shadow had re-entered their Clan lands. There was only one person to blame for all of this.
Pretending not to see the weird gazes, the First Grand Elder continued.
"Ancestor and Patriarch Zu are laying the foundation for our Clan to enter the Core Region within the next few thousand years, but this will be impossible without becoming a true Sixth Order Clan first. Finding Delonte's treasure is of utmost importance. I propose we mobilize our Clan's resources and find out the truth behind these matters… No one is qualified to stop us."
With his word being the highest authority remaining in the Clan, the First Grand Elder's 'suggestion' became law. Soon, the Zu Clan began to mobilize their resources, upturning every stone.
Unfortunately for the remaining Clans of the Inner Ring, the Zu Clan's influence was too strong. Even the remaining four Clans matching them in strength didn't dare to act rashly. Everyone knew how dangerous Mental Realm Masters were… They were the last enemy anyone wanted to make.
Plus, under the guise of investigating the death of an Elder, the Zu Clan had the moral high ground.
**
Ryu quickly grasped the essence of the Four Star cultivation technique, [Gravestone Hymn]. Since he cultivated neutral qi, it didn't clash with his current cultivation at all. In addition, once the Grave Qi was stored within his first Qi Pulse, it would no longer affect his subsequent qi comprehensions as well.
According to Ailsa, it was also possible to abolish qi he had comprehended, but this came with a price. Any cultivation breakthroughs or progression he made with this qi would also be abolished. So, Ryu had to be selective with how he used Grave Qi.
He didn't expect to continuously rely on a mere Heaven Grade Qi from a Four Star technique. With the Ruin Matrix, he would be able to take his time and find Ruins which would likely store better death qi cultivation techniques.
With all of this in mind, Ryu didn't use the Grave Qi he began to accumulate to push his realm forward. Instead, he sent it directly to his Qi Pulse, slowly gathering it into a revolving orb separate from his remaining cultivation. This way, he could abolish it any time without worry.
In order to measure his progress, Ryu gauged his accumulated Grave Qi by how many Death Seals it could form. Specifically, how many Fifth Order Death Seals it could form.
After about three days, he had reached one unit. After a week, he reached three. Ryu chose to stop after this. He calculated that the limit his Qi Pulse could hold was about a hundred. This translated to one if the unit was for Six Order Death Seals.
Ryu currently had twelve Fifth Order corpses, but no Sixth Order ones, so this didn't matter much for now. Still, he only planned to form two corpse puppets, one with Amarice, and the other with Delonte, both of whom were Peak Divine Vessel Realm experts before their death. This would lead to a qualitative increase in his comprehensive strength… If he could learn to control them, that is.
After forming his first Death Seal, Ryu's struggles truly began.
First, when he tried to imprint the Seal with a stamp from his Spiritual Qi, he shattered it due to the fact his Mental Realm now had a lightning character. By the time he learned to separate the lightning from his Spiritual Qi, he found out that controlling a corpse wasn't anywhere near as easy as he first thought…