On one hand, Ryu sighed a breath of relief. If Ailsa had appeared in the castle in such a vulnerable state, he had no idea what those Zu Ancestors would do. He had no intention of trusting any one of them.
But on the other, he was at a loss.
This made things more difficult. Extremely difficult.
It was already going to be almost impossible for Ryu to control his energy through two different Planes of Existence. But now with this massive change in the size of Ailsa's body, he didn't even know if there was enough energy for him to do so.
Logically, Ailsa's change in size shouldn't make a difference. Since Ryu was undoing the seal on the outside, it shouldn't take more energy here.
But, different Planes worked by different laws. Also, Ryu wasn't na?ve enough to believe that this change in size was meaningless. If anything, it was a clue to Ailsa's true state.
In the Ethereal Plane, the soul was essentially the main body. The fact that Ailsa was so massive in the world meant that Ryu had been correct. The undoing of the seal was releasing more and more of Ailsa's soul potential.
As a result of this, there was a massive ballooning of Ailsa's energy. But, without her conscious to control it, it exhibited itself in such a large change in size.
In her current state, she could even dwarf some Primordial Beasts.
Ryu clenched his jaw. This wasn't even the main problem he was facing.
There was no way for his [Death Acupoint] to account for tens of kilometers at a time. He had barely reached the requirements for unlocking it, how could he possibly use it on such a scale?
His [Death Acupoint] was limited by several things. One was the strength of the opponent. The second was the number of changes occurring at a time and the number of variables he had to account for. This second factor could fluctuate due to anything from the speed of the enemy to the number of weapons they might wield which would cause different variations in their attack.
The third and last was the scope. This could be anything from the number of targets he was observing to the amount of land he had to account for.
The good news was that the larger Ailsa was, it was easier for Ryu to make sure that he didn't make any mistakes. In addition, since he was now dealing directly with her soul and could confirm that whatever was being locked away was indeed related to it, it should make things more straight forward.
The bad news, however, was that with her size, Ryu quite honestly didn't know what to do. Whether it be the energy requirements, his lack of control in this world, even down to the limitations of his [Death Acupoint]… It felt as though everything was bearing down on him from all sides.
Ryu closed his eyes.
In this world, he always felt that his connection to Ailsa was the closest. There was nothing barring them and it was almost as though their souls were one.
Ryu had thought that their intimacy had reached the deepest level there was. But, at this moment, he realized that he was wrong. Compared to how he felt on the Real Plane, this feeling was on a completely different level.
'There is a way…' Ryu said to himself silently.
Since he had found a solution for everything that came until now, he would continue to do so.
Ryu's eyes snapped open.
He suddenly remembered the feeling of controlling himself between two worlds. One had been Osiris and the other had been the Real Plane. It couldn't really be considered to be two different Planes as one was a Plane while the other was a figurative dream world, but Ryu felt like the concept was still similar.
Ryu rose into the air, his body steadily becoming less corporeal.
With a thought, he seemed to fuse into Ailsa, becoming one with her.
The fusion of the souls was something that any husband and wife could accomplish. But, to reach this state, it would require entering the Ethereal Plane.
If Ryu was correct, he could become Ailsa, sensing what she sensed and feeling what she felt. Ultimately, he would be able to move her qi as though it was his own.
If he did this without outside interference, it was likely that Ryu would easily lose himself, maybe even slipping into a coma right alongside Ailsa.
But, if he was able to use his main body as an anchor and maintain his lucidity, it would almost become like he was guiding the Primordial Yin within his own body, making the process far easier. In addition, it would also become easier to use Death Acupoint like this.
Whenever Ryu used [Death Acupoint] on himself, the stamina consumption was much less. If he took advantage of this, the size of Ailsa's body shouldn't be a problem.
Ryu felt a coldness grip at him the moment he fused with Ailsa's soul completely. A deep darkness latched onto him, pulling his soul down with it and trying to force into a slumber no less deep than Ailsa's.
In the outside world, Ryu bit his tongue hard. If it wasn't for the sturdiness of his body, he likely would have chopped it cleanly in half.
'Focus!'
Ryu's Spiritual Sea rolled as though a violent storm was passing by.
Without hesitation, Ryu brought out several petals of Silver Vein Spirit Seeking Lilies.
He crossed Breath of World, entering One with Self. The energies around him reached a high level of resonance, practically singing.
Ryu began to tear his way through what remained of Ailsa's seal. Step by step, as though a machine of efficiency, he poured his heart and soul into it.
The cold became worse and worse. But as though he didn't notice his blood freezing over, or his skin turning a deathly sheen of white, Ryu pressed forward.
5%... 4%... 3%... 2%...
Ailsa's body grew explosively in size, even to the point the boundaries of the crystalline jade world began to expand under her presence.
A foggy breath left Ryu's body as his frame trembled.
'One with Earth.'
1%... 0.7%... 0.4%... 0.1%...
Ryu roared, his body convulsing madly. By this point, as Ailsa's body continued to grow in size, his eyes had flooded over with blood.
With a final push, he shattered the last barrier.