Ryu's eyes slowly opened, his body still slightly shivering.
'I'm alive?'
As much as Ryu wanted to believe that he would always survive, this time… He was truly stunned. The only thing he could think in those final moments that at least he had managed to give Ailsa a chance to survive. But the result was far outside of his expectations.
'How?'
Ryu frowned. Nothing in this world happened by coincidence and he didn't believe that he was so lucky either. That cold qi… Ryu was certain that even a Dao Pedestal Realm existence would have been helpless against it, let alone himself. This was especially so since he didn't managed to keep his mind clear and alert.
Ryu was shocked when he tried to sense the changes to his body.
He had grown stronger again. Much stronger. But he had no idea why something like this would happen.
The most shocking part was that when he lost consciousness, his avatar in Osiris had finally been unable to hold on and died. Yet, there was no change to his soul at all. In fact, even his soul seemed to be much stronger.
'My Wind Inheritance entered the Rule Realm. My Ice Flame, Rebirth Flame, and Rage Flame all entered the Monarch Realm. Even my Spiritual Sea seems firmer and more organized than it once did in the past as though my Mental Realm talent increased.'
Maybe the oddest part about all of this was one particular matter: Essence.
The improvement of just his Great Swordstaffs into the Monarch Realm had given Ryu access to a wealth of Essence that shot him into the Connecting Heaven Realm. In that state, he was even able to battle the absolute geniuses of the Immortal Ring Realm, something he took far more seriously than being able to battle weak Path Extinction Realm experts.
Yet, Ryu had three Inheritances reach exactly that level, but there was no change to his cultivation at all.
Of course, he felt tens of times more powerful than he had in the past, hundreds of times even. However, his body was still hadn't moved toward the peak of the Vessel Tempering Realm and his Qi Realm was still stuck at the Lower Connecting Heaven Realm.
Where had all the Essence gone?
It was at that moment that Ryu noticed the behemoth within his Spiritual Sea.
Tendrils of fluffy white spread out in all directions, rooting itself in the seabed of Ryu's Mental Realm and spreading out across the whole space.
Sometimes it flickered like a white flame, and at others, it seemed to breathe like a life of its own, filling Ryu's Mental Realm with a peaceful, pulsing light. There wasn't even the slightest hint of danger coming from it, it felt no different from an amiable elder relaxing in its junior's home.
'This… white flame?'
Ryu's mind seemed to work even faster than before, making him realize that even his Origin Flame had improved. He recognized this white flame almost immediately.
'The Phoenix Sky God's Spiritual Foundation… It was covered in this flame!'
Ryu have been eagerly anticipating the Path Extinction, Dao Pedestal and Cosmic Seed Realms. These Realms were where the true strength of one's Spiritual Foundation would begin to shine. He had always thought that he would need to wait for much longer before the secret of this white flame was revealed, but he had never expected for things to actually be like this.
Unfortunately, Ryu's pleasant surprise didn't last for long because he soon realized he had no control over this flame whatsoever. To make matters worse, he had no idea if all these improvements were because of this flame, or if the improvement of the flame was a result of whatever occurred while he was unconscious.
Ryu shook his head. None of this mattered right now.
With a thought, Ryu entered the crystalline jade, only to find Ailsa still hovering in the air. Even to this moment, she seemed to show no signs of waking up.
Ryu didn't dare to casually fuse with her again to find out what could possibly be wrong. However, he could vaguely feel that Ailsa's state was nothing like his own. He had been on the brink of death, but Ailsa looked like she was just taking an afternoon nap. Her eyelashes even fluttered from time to time as though she was either having a dream or just might wake up at any time.
With a frown, Ryu took a deep breath.
He looked toward the Zu Clan castle. Resolving himself, he walked in and headed straight for the library.
The sudden change caught the Zu Ancestors off guard. These days, they pretty much spent day after day waiting for their deaths. Knowing how powerful Ailsa was, they realized that there was simply no chance for them.
By this point, their strength had deteriorated over trillions of years and they couldn't even stand up to her. It was obvious to them that their years of planning had been foiled by a little brat.
Without the core Zu Clan inheritance, their descendants on the outside would find it almost impossible to complete the last leg of their plans. At best, they could only wallow in mediocrity as they watched the world flip on its head.
Day by day, they felt their minds slipping from them. Without a singular purpose or a hope to aspire to, their mental states degraded faster and faster. This was especially so for Flora who had been the youngest of them and carried the weakest mental fortitude.
However, none of them had ever expected for Ryu to suddenly appear all alone without Ailsa being anywhere in sight. Was this their chance?
Unfortunately, they didn't even get the chance to breed new hope before Flora suddenly shrieked.
"You! You! You!"
The three remaining Zu Ancestors thought that Flora was having a manic episode, having finally completely lost her mind. But, what she said next shook them to their core.
"How did you enter the Chaotic Birth Realm of my [Divine Chaotic Annihiliation]!?"
Her shrill voice echoed through the overwise quiet library.