Beads of sweat fell from Ryu's brow. Though his eyes had managed to recover after their breakthrough, using [Death Acupoint] for such a long time, even though the target wasn't moving, was continuously draining him.
However, to this point, it had already saved Ailsa's life many times. He most definitely couldn't afford to turn it off. Even if he danced between life and death, he had to continue.
The hours continued to tick by. And eventually, it became days.
As time passed, Ryu became more and more worried. Not only were Death Acupoints appearing more and more frequently. But, even now, Ailsa didn't seem to show any signs of waking. In fact, Ryu could tell she was falling into a deeper and deeper sleep.
Ryu's jaw clenched.
This was why he hadn't wanted to rush to undo this seal. With Ailsa's family background, such a seal wouldn't have been placed down casually. Though Ryu somewhat hoped it was done with malicious intent, because at least then, undoing it would always be a net good… The reality might be the opposite of what he believed.
If this seal was placed down by Ailsa's parents rather than some malicious third party, it definitely meant that they had their reasons. That would mean that it wouldn't necessarily be a good thing if Ryu did this.
Unfortunately, the moment the process began, Ryu had no choice but to see it through to the end. A partially undone seal was like a ticking timebomb. Ryu was forced into this future the instant Elena's Primordial Yin made contact with Ailsa.
There was no way that whoever laid this seal would think that Ailsa would not only lose her virginity, but also do so to a man who had a wife with a powerful enough Primordial Yin to cause such a thing. If her father knew this, and he really was the one to lay the seal, he'd probably drop everything and hunt Ryu down like his life depended on it.
'Why is it like this…'
Ryu was finding it difficult to keep a cool head. He could feel Ailsa's soul slipping into a deeper slumber, but nothing he tried seemed to bring her back.
'Could it be that this seal also has restraints on her soul? But…'
Ryu was at a loss.
Soul cultivation or Mental Realm cultivation was far more difficult than Qi Realm cultivation. If Ailsa had blockers on her soul and still managed to reach the Soul Ascension Realm at such a young age, Ryu truly didn't know what to say.
But, likewise, if he was actually undoing restraints on her soul right now, why was it falling into a deep sleep? Shouldn't it be the opposite?
Ryu felt as though his years of theorizing and knowledge had suddenly become useless. He tried to use his thoughts to distract himself from his teetering body, but all he found was more and more frustration.
What made it all worse was that the relief he thought he would feel after finding out his wife was alive wasn't as much of a relief as he thought it would be. Rather, he had only become more anxious as though the time he had left had been halved again.
The same way Elena could feel the vague emotions Ryu wanted to convey, so could he feel hers. Yet, not only had he felt that his connection to her was steadily growing weaker, he was certain that just before this began, he felt an emotion infinitesimally close to apathy before.
Ryu knew that it hadn't exactly been apathy. It was something more complex than that. But, the fact that Elena's emotions had been so close to such a thing after learning that he was truly alive made Ryu feel as though he was being eaten from the inside out.
Had it not been for Ailsa ending up in such a state, the moment he realized such a thing… He really didn't know what he would be doing.
A guilt gnawed at him.
900 million years. How much hardship had she gone through in this time? How many horrors? How much pain and suffering?
A fury blazed within Ryu's heart. His blood felt like scorching lava, travelling through his veins and pumping through his chest.
Ryu's stopped his hands, clenching his teeth hard. His emotions were becoming more and more difficult to control lately.
He looked up toward the ceiling of his Immortal Cave. He was better than this.
Ryu's Spiritual Sea began to churn, that Immortal Sakura that took root within it shimmering with crystalline ice particles.
Without hesitation, he sealed off his connection with Elena, trapping it within the Immortal Sakura Visualization and cutting it off from his immediate thoughts and feelings.
At this moment, being distracted by thoughts of Elena would only put Ailsa's life in more danger.
'Like I said that night. You, Elena Tatsuya, will forever be my, Ryu Tatsuya's wife. In life and in death, we walk together. In sadness and happiness, we feel together. In this reincarnation and the next, our souls will always be one.
'Those were my vows and I will abide by them. I'll rip anyone who stands in my way apart. Sit tight and wait. If you dare to piss me off like this again, I swear I'll shave a layer of skin off of your pert bottom with my palm when next I see you.'
A coldness suffused Ryu's eyes. He was a man. All this unsubstantiated rage and irrational emotion was nothing but a burden. He wouldn't allow himself to be ruled by them.
Ryu turned his attention back toward Ailsa, his gaze growing calmer and calmer. Every single one of his worries were thrown to the back of his mind, a state of absolute harmony coming over him.
This was the second time Ryu had entered such a state. The first time was when he was stuck in the Loom Clan's dungeon. But, once again, even he himself didn't seem to realize it. Instead, Ryu had slipped into Breath of Heaven.
His movements became quicker, yet somehow less hurried. Each was completed with an air of added confidence, an absolute understanding of himself.
As though a door had been opened, Ryu almost instantly grasped the truth of Ailsa's meridians.
A twin set of Sovereign Grade Meridians. The Nightfall Meridians and the Light Feather Meridians.
The Nightfall Meridians were a type of Darkness set of Meridians while the Light Feather Meridians were a type of Lightness. One catalyzed one's qi into a unique Sovereign Grade Qi known as Nightfall Qi while the latter catalyzed one's qi into a Sovereign Qi known as Light Feather Qi.
Nightfall Qi was especially known for its heaviness and offensive output. Light Feather Qi was known for its lightness and its speed output.
Alone, any child born with one of these two would be quite talented and even well received on the Shrine Plane. Even if they wouldn't be the peak most of the geniuses the Plane had to offer, they wouldn't be far off either.
But, Ryu had never heard of two such opposing meridians appearing in the same body. The potential synergy…
A faint memory laying dormant within Ryu's mind suddenly flashed to the forefront.
Ryu's pupils constricted. The odds of two such meridians appearing in one body was already astronomically low. But if he was correct, the kind of synergy they could display was most definitely on the level of an Ancestral Grade set of meridians.
But, all this time, Ailsa hadn't been using them properly at all, having no idea that this was the true state of her meridians.
The issue was, though, that this wasn't a reason to seal Ailsa. Even if the combination of these meridians was quite powerful and also very difficult to control, for a Cultus Faerie whose qi control was definitely on a level all to her own, it shouldn't be impossible for Ailsa. In fact, Ryu even felt that Ailsa's qi control was beyond his own.
Also, Sarriel had said that what was sealed was something of Extreme Yin. The perfect balance of Ailsa's meridians couldn't possibly be that. If anything, that would only make things make even less sense. This meant only one thing: Ryu had yet to run into whatever this hidden secret of Ailsa's was.
Ryu grew more and more focused, his actions becoming more deliberate and precise.
The number of Death Acupoints he ran into continued to grow. Without a choice, he had to continuously change his angle, moving to a new spot again and again.
The pressure seemed to make Ryu calmer and calmer. The rushing of his blood calmed.
He realized at that moment that he truly cared for Ailsa. It wasn't an emotion rooted in the fact they were Life Partners and this was maybe the first time he truly said as much in so many words, but this was his truth.
If she died right here and now, he understood that the grief that he felt would be no less than his losing any one of his family members.
There was no way he would allow her to die here.
Sentiments were great, but unfortunately… reality was cruel.
On the third week of his focused pursuit of freeing Ailsa, Ryu's hands came to a trembling stop.
Looking down at Ailsa's body, he realized that there wasn't a single place on her meridians left that wasn't surrounded by a Death Acupoint. If he tried to continue now, Ailsa would die by his hand and be gone forever.