Youkai's expression changed.
All of the qi in the surrounding area had been swarming toward him, but in an instant, the roles had completely reversed. It should have taken him just three more seconds before his breakthrough was complete, but suddenly, his estimated time left began to steadily creep upward.
'He… He can't be breaking into the Soul Birth Realm as well?'
Suddenly Youkai began to laugh. Though it still ached his heart to have ruined his future, if Ryu destroyed his in exchange, it was worth it, so very worth it.
No matter how talented he was, how could he compare to a Throne? Yet he had caused such a genius to fall into ruin? How could he not be ecstatic?
However, he soon realized that something was wrong. Though qi was surging toward Ryu, it wasn't undergoing any qualitative changes.
One of the reasons it was taking Youkai so long to breakthrough was because the Mortal Qi in this environment was so rich. By the time he converted it to Spiritual Qi Fumes, and then converted it to Spiritual Qi Liquid, the volume lost was substantial.
But, it seemed that Ryu was converting this Spiritual Qi in its denser liquid form at all! It was then that a stunning realization came over Youkai.
'It can't be that this is just… Normal cultivation for him…?'
He couldn't think of any other explanations. The thick disdain in Ryu's eyes flashed in his mind again and again, resounding like a clear slap to the face. It made him feel so stifled that he nearly vomited and suffered backlash from his own breakthrough.
Ryu, however, couldn't be bothered with Youkai's thoughts. The reason he was so calm was precisely because he knew that the moment his true cultivation began, it was drastically affect the latter.
To now, Ryu had yet to cultivate within the Soul Endowment Realm. However, his Spiritual Sense's range was already double that of a genius.
According to Ailsa, an absolute genius would have a range of one kilometer at the peak of the Spiritual Entrance Realm. Upon breaking through to the Spiritual Endowment Realm, their range would increase to ten kilometers.
Upon breaking through, Ryu's range actually decreased by a factor of ten, falling from two hundred kilometers to just twenty. This was why he wasn't satisfied. He knew that upon breaking into the Soul Birth Realm, his Spiritual Sea would likely shrink by the same factor, if not an even greater factor. If he wanted to make up for this, he had to break past these limits by obscene margins.
The perfection of the Spiritual Entrance Realm was theoretically one kilometer. But, the perfection of the Spiritual Endowment Realm was one hundred kilometers!
Just what was the impact of using Immortal Qi to enhance Mortal Grade cultivation? The only answer was something astonishing…
Ryu's Immortal Sakura violently expanded. The clouds above began to crackle with lightning, striking downward toward the gorgeous tree, but its defenses were far too sturdy. Ryu barely heard the strikes landing, let alone being impacted by them.
Thirty kilometers… Forty kilometers… One hundred kilometers… Two hundred kilometers…
Ailsa watched this scene with furrowed brow. 'I was prepared for his Focus Qi to begin running thin by now… Why is it that it hasn't…?'
Ryu had done too much to now. He layer seven Impose Barriers, was Visualizing [Immortal Sakura] at its greatest size, all while he was fervently grinding away at that small wisp of Cosmic Qi. None of this even mentioned the Focus Qi that would have been necessary to see through the profundity of the second stage Tribulation Array.
'Just how…' Ailsa pupils constricted, her senses focusing in on an inconspicuous prayer mat lying in Ryu's inner space…
Three hundred kilometers… Four hundred kilometers….
Youkai felt despair the likes of which he had never experienced before. Absolute geniuses were the only ones who could touch the hundred kilometer mark within the Soul Endowment Realm. Only once in a generation geniuses could even have a faint hope of surpassing that mark. Only once in an Era geniuses might approach just two hundred kilometers… So why was it that this Ryu had already double that?!
It could only be said that [Tribulation Nine Clouds] was truly a heaven defying technique. Maybe only it could exchange perseverance and perception for talent.
The scene within Ryu's Mental Realm had turned chaotic.
Three foundational Tribulation Arrays arranged themselves in an inverted cone, protecting the bottom roots of his ice plated Immortal Sakura. Above them, a fourth Tribulation Array was formed, violently sending out streaks of lightning that bombarded the barriers of Ryu's Mental Realm, pushing them outward with impunity.
Though Ryu's expression on the outside was incomparably calm, the pain he was experience was unlike many of those watching on had ever experienced.
Ryu could only thank his breakthrough in [Immortal Sakura] for his Mental Realm not collapsing. Currently, his Immortal Sakura was at the very cusp of being able to withstand an attack from an Immortal Ring expert, thus, it was just barely able to stabilize the violent growth of his Mental Realm due to the lightning affinity Immortal Qi.
It was then Ryu realized the key to overcoming his Mental Realm's weakness. It was the Immortal Sakura! As long as he progressed in it, his Mental Realm would be sturdy enough to withstand these violent changed.
Six hundred kilometers… Eight hundred kilometers… One thousand kilometers!
Finally, Ryu could sense the Cosmic Qi being consumed at a decent pace. However, the shocking part was that even while maintaining [Immortal Sakura] with such an obscene range, Ryu calculated that it would still take another ten minutes before this small wisp of Cosmic Qi was consumed!
The violent upsurge in Ryu's Mental Realm finally began to slow. His eyes opened with a piercing flash that seemed to cut across the void, slicing into Youkai's glabella.
Ryu stood, his grip tightening around his halberd. Even though Youkai had shaking violently under his presence, Ryu had long stopped looking at him, instead gazing toward the distance.
Though his range was now a thousand kilometers, outside an immediate radius of about a few hundred meters, the things Ryu could sense began to blur. There was nothing he could do about this, the quality of Spiritual Sense at the mere Spiritual Endowment Realm was too low, this was why he preferred [Third Perspective].
Unfortunately, though [Third Perspective] had improved after he broke to the eight seal, its range was still only about forty to fifty kilometers. It wasn't much use for what he was looking at now… Though it would be very soon would be…
Ryu's Spiritual Sense couldn't see any details at this distance, but what it could see were notable auras. Of which, there was a massive rage fueled train shuttling its way here and it was already less than five hundred kilometers away, a matter of minutes for an expert of that caliber.
Who could it be if not Ancestor Basteel?