Ryu casual glance in the distance didn't carry any fluctuation in expression. However, the instant his senses locked on to Ancestor Basteel's aura, abrupt changes began to occur around the wizened man.
A chilly frost whipped into action, carrying along with it countless falling blossom petals.
Ancestor Basteel instantly felt that his path forward was obstructed. A deep chill assaulted his bones as he tried to pierce his way through, but he suddenly found the resistance of each of these seemingly insignificant snow petals was akin to a Half-Step Immortal Ring Realm expert.
This matter wasn't without consequence to Ryu. Every shattered petal was yet another blow to his Mental Realm. However, he managed to slow Ancestor Basteel down to less than a tenth of his original speed. At the same time, the pace as which he was burning through that strand of Cosmic Qi had accelerated once more.
Without bothering with those matters any longer, Ryu's gaze locked on to First Grand Elder Zu.
'Before, I couldn't interrupt his breakthrough… But now…'
Little Rock, feeling Ryu's emotions, didn't hesitate to flash forward at his greatest speed.
First Grand Elder Zu's eyes widened. He had thought that Ryu was intelligent enough to know that interrupting his breakthrough was impossible, so he had slightly lowered his guard. By the time he came to terms with Ryu's ridiculous Spiritual Sense range, a gorgeous silver feather plated bird was already less than a hundred meters from him.
Steeling his resolve, Youkai sneered. 'Do you think I'm so easy to deal with?!'
"[Vortex Arrow]!"
Youkai was confident. Even in the middle of his breakthrough, casting Visualization was incomparably easy. In fact, of the three main paths, battling while undergoing a Mental Realm breakthrough was the easiest!
However, he could have never anticipated what happened next.
Ryu tossed his halberd into the air, allowing it to suspend before him under the influence of his [Demonic Strings].
His daggers flew into his hands, their bodies vibrating mightily as he poured Spiritual Qi into their depths.
It was then the change occurred. From a beautiful blue crystalline, the daggers suddenly transformed.
A sinister red aura pulsed outward as their Spiritual Qi density grew.
Youkai's expression changed, but it was already too late. Ryu's arms whipped forward violently, slashing both across his body as two beams of Spiritual Qi only exposed through Spiritual Sense invisibly cut through the air.
Travelling through the Ethereal Realm, these sharp blades of Spiritual Qi were simply too fast. In less than the blink of an eye, they appeared before Youkai's barely formed Visualizations, rending them apart!
A pain roar escaped Youkai's lips. Others couldn't truly see what was happening, but he knew the truth…
Those two Spiritual Qi blades had entered his Mental Realm!
Youkai's Mental Realm was nowhere near as systematic or beautiful as Ryu's. In its skies, various Visualizations existed, but there was no order to them. He had comprehended dozens of Visualizations, each of which were floating around his slowly forming Soul… But none of it seemed to matter anymore.
Ryu was so stunned that he completely forgot to finish off Youkai for a moment.
In that brief instant of time, the Cosmic Qi his [Divine Chaotic Annihilation] was sapped away in an instant. Not just it, but it took with it the Immortal Qi and even a large portion of Ryu's own Spiritual Qi reserves.
By the time Ryu snapped out of it, his Immortal Sakura fizzled out of existence, no longer having the support it needed to sustain itself.
Realizing the drastic change in the situation, Ryu knew he had to run. Without the Cosmic Qi's support, there was no way her could hold off Ancestor Basteel. It may have caused him a tremendous amount of pain, but it was a large part of the reason he had survived to now as well.
Ryu turned his gaze toward Youkai, looking to finish him off, but what he found astounded him even more. The latter… was actually already dead!
Youkai collapsed from the skies, his gaze completely void.
Without hesitation, Ryu's [Demonic Strings] whipped outward. Why not claim himself two more Half-Step Immortal Ring corpses?
An instant later, Little Rock was enveloped in a sheen of light green. Melding with Ryu's Wind Inheritance, his speed more than doubled. If he could marginally measure up to weaker Immortal Ring experts in speed before, now, he firmly surpassed them!
With a single flap, he was already over a kilometer away. Those experts who were meant to block Ryu's way stood frozen in time, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Just as Ryu disappeared over the horizon, violent coughing suddenly sounded from Mortal Qi Mountain, snapping the dazed experts out of their stupor, only two find two figures stumbling out from where Ryu exited.
No… It was more accurate to say that it was one figure and one corpse…
Fuoco had survived, but Twelfth Elder Ember had died!
"WHERE IS HE?!" Fuoco's maddened roar shook the skies, but the mortal enemy that made his eyes boil with blood was nowhere to be seen.
It was then that Ancestor Basteel appeared on the horizon. However, the latter was clearly aware that Ryu was long gone. Or rather… They thought he was… The reality was very different, though.
Ryu had reappeared in the skies even above the air space they stood in, his brows lightly furrowing. He had decided to come back to make sure that Fuoco and that elder wouldn't exit. After all, he had exposed his Heavenly Pupils to them.
But, who knew their lives would be so tenacious? Well… Fuoco's was, anyway.
According to Ryu's estimates, it was simply impossible even for an Immortal Ring expert to survive that torrent of qi. Yet, they had taken its point blank assault and one of them actually managed to survive?
The only explanation was a top tier defensive treasure. That and the fact this Twelfth Elder most definitely risked his life for the sake of Fuoco.
There shouldn't have been any blood relation between them. Plus, Fuoco wasn't among the absolute elite disciples of the Ember Clan either. Yet, the old man had still taken action to protect him. This alone was worthy of respect.
'I should kill him…' Ryu's eyes flashed. But in the end, he shook his head.
This Fuoco was well aware that Ryu had the ability to disappear and appear as he pleased. He wasn't a fool, he would definitely take precautions against this. With his background, seeking shelter from one of the Inner Ring Ancestors was as easy as breathing.
The current Ryu was too tired and spent, not to mention the fact his body was currently riddled with hidden injuries. He had spent practically the entirety of the last year on edge, he needed to give his body time to recuperate. These debts would be settled soon enough…
Having made a decision, Ryu urged Little Rock to turn and leave.
It was fine. He didn't plan on hiding his Heavenly Pupils for his whole life anyway. If he couldn't deal with this small bit of adversity, he wasn't worthy of saving his family.
'The things that are my, Ryu Tatsuya's, aren't so easy to take.'