"Let me tell you, the Soul Ascension Realm is divided into three Realms. The first is equivalent to the Cosmic Seed Realm, the second is equivalent to the World Sea Realm, and the final is equivalent to the Sky God Realm!
"The Soul Quintessence Realm is a legendary state only spoken of in Ruins and ancient texts that are inexplicably older than existence itself.
"As the years passed and more and more found it impossible to enter this Realm, some shameless cultivators renamed the third stage of Soul Ascension, dubbing themselves as having reached Soul Quintessence."
Ryu suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. It wasn't that the Zu Ancestors tried to trick him at all… Wasn't it he himself that made that assumption? It wasn't as though he had asked them for their cultivations directly.
The truth was that his Heavenly Pupils saw through their cultivations with ease. It was just that he also thought that the third stage of Soul Ascension was actually the Soul Quintessence Realm!
Ailsa smiled at Ryu's thoughts but decided not to expose him.
"In reality, I am at the very peak of the first stage, while they have entered the third stage. Simply put, even if I was no match for them while they were alive, I am more than qualified to observe the secrets of their Visualization statues."
"So you mean to…"
"Mhm. You will use me as a proxy to observe their Visualizations. Because this place exists on the Ethereal Plane, our connection is much more solid… How good would it have been if your true body could enter…"
Ailsa sighed. If Ryu could have attempted to breakthrough in his Qi Realm here, how could that Essence qi have ever broken free of his control? Ailsa would have never allowed that if she had access to her full strength.
In the end, she shook her head. There was no point in crying over this now.
"… I will only observe for you, but you will have to rely on your Heavenly Pupils to see through their mysteries. I'll filter the complexities out just like that Eska did for you."
Ryu nodded firmly, a wealth of confidence swelling in his chest.
"I want to begin with the Immortal Sakura." Ryu said firmly.
"Good choice." Ailsa said approvingly. "Rushing to accumulate a lot of techniques won't do you any good. Slowly mastering a few is the best path."
Ryu's eyes glowed as his mind spun.
The true power of the Immortal Sakura was that it could incorporate various comprehensions of the Natural Order into its strength. Essentially, even if two people cultivated the same [Immortal Sakura] at once, it was very possible for them to end up with two drastically different results.
For example, because of his cultivating [Tribulation Nine Clouds], Ryu's Immortal Sakura had already fused with lightning. However, its effects were minimal. Reason being that he had yet to comprehend a true Lightning Inheritance, it was simply the residual lightning from the formations he had drawn in his Mental Realm the provided those effects.
But, Ryu had a much better idea now. And this time, the incorporation should provide a devastating boost to its strength!
The Ice Phoenix was known for its defensive prowess. To confirm this truth, one only needs to look toward the fact Ryu's own mother, Himari, managed to seal a large portion of the Shrine Place! Even almost a billion years later, the seal continued to remain untouched! This was the power of the Ice Phoenix!
So, what kind of devastating effects would such astonishing defensive prowess bring when combined with the ultimate defensive Mental Realm technique in the [Immortal Sakura]? Ryu felt a keen anticipation in finding out.
But first, he had to raise his comprehension to a realm where it was worthy of his Ice Flame.
The Immortal Sakura had seven levels of separation, denoted by the color of its petals. The Translucent Stage, the White Stage, the Cherry Stage, the Red Stage, the Violet Stage, the Purple-Gold Stage, and finally, the Gold Stage.
Each of these degrees of separation actually perfectly aligned with the various Mental Realms.
The Translucent Stage was appropriate for the Spiritual Entrance Realm which ranged from the Awakening Realm to the Half-Step Divine Vessel Realm in strength if converted to the Qi Realm.
The White Stage, Ryu's current stage, was appropriate for his current Spiritual Endowment Stage. This ranged from the Divine Vessel Realm to the Half-Step Immortal Ring Realm in strength when converted.
The next Cherry Stage was appropriate for the Soul Birth Realm, equivalent to the Immortal Ring Realm.
The next was the Red Stage was equivalent to the Soul Refinement Realm, the equivalent to the Path Extinction Realm and Dao Pedestal Realm of Qi Realm cultivation.
Finally, the final three stages were equivalent to the Cosmic Seed, World Sea, and Sky God Realms!
However, this was only base strength. If the Immortal Sakura was fused with powerful Natural Order comprehensions, it was possible for it to transcend the strength of its stage.
Currently, Ryu was at the very beginning of the White Stage. So while he could hold off attacks from the lower Divine Vessel Realms for a while, it was impossible to block even Peak Divine Vessel Realm strength, let alone Connecting Heaven Realm strength.
His first task was to raise his comprehension of the White Stage to the absolute limit! Once that was completed, he would fuse his Ice Flame comprehension into its Visualization!
[Author's Note: I hope I avoid confusion with this note. Comprehending Natural Orders is different from comprehending techniques (which include Visualizations). It's impossible for Ryu to comprehend Natural Orders since he's lost the connection to his Spiritual Foundation. However, comprehending techniques only relies on himself, not the Heavens. As for Natural Orders he's already comprehended, they stay intact.
[Yes, technically, Ryu's inheritances are within his blood. But do remember that Ryu can only slowly access these inheritances by increasing his strength. He obviously can't do so if he can't cultivate. In fact, if not for the Origin Flame, none of them would have awoken yet.]
Ryu already had speed rivalling that of a Connecting Heaven Realm expert relying on his Northern Heavenly Wind. What if he also gained defense rivalling them as well?!
If his body hadn't been so severely injured back then, he could have directly run away from those three geniuses without an issue. And now that he was fully healed, he would go all out.
There wasn't any magical time slowing effect in the crystalline jade, but Ryu had long since realized that thinking speed was far faster than taking action with one's body. Effectively this meant that the stronger Ryu's Mental Realm, the 'slower' time would move within the crystalline jade.
As things stood now, he already thought ten times faster than a normal individual, thus effectively 'slowing' down time by ten times here. In one day, Ryu could make the progress of ten. He would take full advantage of this!
"I'm ready. Let's do it."