Months ticked by, but not only did Ryu not speak a single word, he didn't move a single inch. He sat without a care in the world, diligently cultivating day after day.
Technically speaking, the seals City Lord Loom placed on him would slow his cultivation down tremendously. At first, Ryu wanted to leave them so that this City Lord wouldn't be aware of his true abilities, but the massive awakening of his Fire Dragon bloodline shattered this thought. Because it was so overbearing, all foreign energies in his body were shattered. This also meant that the lingering injuries from Edwin had also finally been dealt with.
Luckily, the City Lord only casually placed seals on him and wasn't a Seal Master. As a result, his restrictions weren't connected to him, so he was unaware that Ryu had already broken free of them.
Ryu could have long since left the prison, but he chose to stay. First, he was curious about what this City Lord needed from him. Second, he had a feeling he would soon be able to extort this City Lord. And finally, the insult of several months ago wasn't one he was willing to swallow. Before he left, he would make sure this Loom Clan felt his wrath.
Though his body was in a cell, Ryu's mind was in a completely different world.
The space was massive, as endless as the skies. Countless silver pillars stretched upward, their feet covered by beautiful white clouds. However, despite its beauty, this place was one Ryu had died countless times in.
The third floor of the crystalline jade was the Floor of Natural Order and it truly did not disappoint Ryu.
This place was the Wind Gate. After Ryu reached the Impose Realm of his Tatsuya Saintly Weapons, he had been eager to do so with his Northern Heavenly Wind. But, the last few months reminded him just why it took him so long to comprehend it to the Inheritor Realm in the first place.
Because he had the bloodline of three flying beasts, though Ryu didn't have the strongest wind affinity, it shouldn't be terrible either. Yet, it felt like reaching the Impose Realm was an impossible task.
According to Ailsa, this was because he only had the embryo of the Northern Wind. If he wanted the barrier to weaken, he would likely have to find superior winds to feed it. If he could find another embryo of the Four Directional Winds, he could decide whether to keep them both, or to directly allow his Northern Heavenly Wind to swallow it and become whole.
Unfortunately, even a Shrine Plane Clan like the Wind Shrine Clan treated this embryo like an impossible to find treasure, so Ryu would have to settle for the lesser option.
Ryu remembered that his mother had fused her dual wielding style with the Eastern Wind – Wind of Sharpness – embryo. Over time, she managed to make it whole by swallowing lesser winds, so it wasn't completely impossible.
Ryu's body lightly leapt from silver pillar to silver pillar. Though the skies seemed calm, the truth was that vicious winds were flying about constantly. Yet, not only did his clothes hardly flap, his hair was deathly still. It was as though one's eyes were purposely lying to them.
But, the next instant proved the truth. Beads of sweat fell from Ryu's brow. The moment his concentration collapsed, a wind force seemed to come from nowhere, shredding his body into droplets of blood.
A moment later, he appeared outside the gates, slightly pale faced. He glared at the gates before sighing. He was still too far away.
The Wind Gate changed depending on the path you were following. The Northern Heavenly Wind was known as the Wind of Natural Order because only it grasped the true essence of wind. So, Ryu's trial was to be one with the wind.
Winds upon the pillars increased slowly from hundreds of kilometers an hour, to hundreds of thousands and beyond. To now, Ryu could only reach the two thousand or so kilometer speed. Normally, this wouldn't be enough to kill him as someone with a Divine Vessel Realm body, but the trial purposely made him fragile.
If others heard that Ryu was unsatisfied, they might very well go all out with him. Reason being…
Ryu looked down on his palm, only to find an overbearing flame dancing about. It seemed to breathe along with him, as though it was another limb.
After awakening his Fire Dragon bloodline to the limits of the Pulse Tempering Realm of body cultivation, Ryu almost had no choice but to comprehend these flames. In fact, he hadn't done so consciously, but unconsciously. This flame was his Rage Flame, the very flame that made Fire Dragons the overlords of eras past.
In this world, there were thirty-three flames of each grade.? Ryu's Rage Flame was one of the thirty-three Ancestral Grade flames, so it only made sense it was so overbearing. It fed off emotions… Not just the emotions of its wielder, but also the emotions of its wielder's enemies. It was able to gather the wrathful energy of a battlefield and strengthen itself for a period of time.
If that was all, maybe it would be fine. But, after awakening his Rage Flame, just three months later, Ryu entered the Impose Realm. This second rush of Essence spilled over into his Fire Phoenix bloodline, causing it to reach the limits of the of the Pulse Tempering Realm as well. And…
Ryu's second palm opened, revealing a second flame. While the Rage Flame was a deep red to the point of almost being black, this flame was a gentle red-gold. It was the Ancestral Grade Rebirth Flames, it was also known as the Nirvana Flame by some.
This flame allowed Ryu to be immune to Ancestral Grade flames of the same Realm. As for lower grade flames, they were even more unable to harm him. For example, a Sovereign Grade flame, which was a step lower, would have to be of the Monarch Realm to harm him. As for Common Grade flames, they could forget it.
Of course, this was only the simplest ability of the Nirvana Flames. However, Ryu had comprehended his Fire Dao deeply enough to awaken its other abilities. In all likelihood, he wouldn't until he formed his Divinity like his father had.
Still, these alone were just two of the changes he experienced in this near half-year. After reaching Divine Vessel equivalent strength with his body, his Ice Jade Body began to exhibit some of its true abilities. In fact, it was this change that was the greatest reason why Ryu's injuries had healed so quickly…
Before Ryu could think any further, he felt Ailsa urging him to wake. Someone was finally coming to see him after all these months.