"… The Staff Stage, the Outline Stage, the Skeleton Stage, the Vein Stage and finally the Wheel Stage."
It wasn't only Ryu's face which became weird after hearing these names, but even the Ancestors looked toward Balaur as though he was losing them a serious amount of face. If it wasn't for the fact they knew for sure that he was one of them, they might really expect that an imposter had snuck in just to make them all lose face.
Unfortunately, the matter only became worse after Balaur explained every stage. It made one feel as though he had created such a powerful technique only to let a toddler name it all for him.
It had to be remembered that names carried power in the world of cultivation. For Balaur to name his things so casually then pass it on to the later generation like this… it was as though he wanted his descendants to remember him by spitting up blood whenever they used his Visualization.
It was such a shame because at least Elemental War God was a decent name. It was like Balaur used all his thinking power on that, then didn't have any left for the rest of it.
"The main ability of my Visualization is in the use of the Elements, obviously. In my opinion, most use the elements far too crudely, especially us humans. In my eyes, only the Faeries are somewhat decent at it, but even then they're lacking in many respects.
"The Staff stage of my [Elemental War God] allows you to summon forth an Elemental Staff. This staff makes the use of the elements much more fluid even without the need for Inheritances."
Happily chatting, the burly Balaur waved his palm, causing what looked like an ancient staff to appear and hover before him.
The staff was quite short, being only about a meter long. But, it had a large bulbous head of oddly shaped bark covered in what looked like patches of moss. If Ryu didn't know better, he would have thought that Balaur just picked this up from a nearby forest.
With a thought, all sorts of swirling colors manifested around Balaur.
"This staff allows you to tap into pure Elemental energy just like a Faerie would. Rather than relying on an Inheritance to call down Essence to then summon an Element, you can bypass this step entirely."
Different bulbs of light formed around the staff. Different shades of fire, swirling blades of green wind, arcs of violet, blue and golden lightning. It all looked quite fantastical.
"Much like Eska's [Immortal Sakura], my [Elemental War God] Visualization can also be specially tailored to a person as well. Though you can summon any Element with my Visualization even without comprehending an Inheritance, it is also possible to fuse an Inheritance comprehension with my Visualization to make it several times more powerful… For example…"
Balaur's aura changed. A strong surge of Essence descended from the skies. In the blink of an eye, his ancient looking staff had suddenly become covered in scales of diamond, shattering the wood beneath to leave behind nothing but a shimmering crystal staff that was now a meter and a half long.
"This is my favorite iteration, it perfectly fuses a Crystal Inheritance I stumbled upon as a youth.
"Plus… It allows me to bash in my opponent's head with just a few swings." Balaur grinned.
At that moment, several shimmering lights coalesced around the staff, forming thin knives of crystal that made Ryu's eyes narrow. They looked simple and danced about almost like fluttering butterflies, but Ryu knew that just a single one could end his life before he was even aware.
Balaur, however, didn't seem to have any intention of doing this as he continued to show off.
"The second stage is the Outline Stage." Balaur smiled and continued. "This stage allows you to apply a thin skin of Elemental energy onto your body. Depending on your preference, you can do with this stage as you please. Some of my descendants chose to leave a barely perceptible second layer of skin on themselves, some chose to form valiant battle armor, and some chose to fashion robes of Elemental energy.
"Regardless of what you choose, the ability you gain is the same.
"The first ability is a boost in defense. This defense is especially good against Elemental attacks and Spiritual Qi attacks. But… Since you have Eska's [Immortal Sakura] to protect you physically and Flora's [Divine Chaotic Annihilation] to protect your mind, this won't be very useful to you. Though, it could always act like an unexpected line of defense.
"The second ability is a small Domain that functions similarly to a Monarch Barrier. It can also Synergize well with a Monarch barrier as well, allowing you to accumulate more pure Elemental energy more quickly."
Balaur lost himself in his explanations. He almost seemed eager for Ryu to learn his Visualization as quickly as possible. He too wanted to see just how far Ryu could go with it…
"The third stage is the Skeleton Stage. This stage is invisible to the eye and can integrate directly with your body. But, it's at this stage that most of my descendants reached a bottleneck. Without certain levels of bodily talent… It's basically impossible.
"This stage allows you to form the legendary Spirit Bodies usually exclusive to Ancient Beasts and Faeries. If you succeed in mastering this stage, you can break your body down into pure Elemental energy. This can be used to escape attacks and move faster.
"But, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Once you succeed in this, your Elemental affinities will skyrocket and your oneness with nature with also soar, boosting your chances of comprehending a Natural Enlightenment by several folds.
"Beyond this, you can passively absorb Elemental energy to strengthen and heal yourself, you'll be more sensitive to Elemental treasures, and you can even store energy in your very flesh and bones to be used as you see fit."
Ryu raised an eyebrow. "And, what if I already have a Spirit Body?"
Balaur choked on his on enthusiasm. "What did you just say?"
Rather than responding, Ryu stretched out a hand.
With a crackle, it disappeared into arcs of blue lightning only to quickly reform into his usual fair hand.
Balaur's eyes widened before he suddenly opened his mouth to roar.
"None of you bastards can fight me for him!"
The other Ancestors were stunned before they looked at Balaur like he was crazy.
Seemingly realizing that he had stepped out of line, Balaur coughed lightly and put on a refined appearance as though he had never had an outburst to begin with.
"This is perfect, this is beautiful, this is better than anything I ever thought I would get so long after I died."
Balaur almost wanted to shed real tears. And, in fact, he did. His so-called refined appearance didn't last long as sparkling tears fell down his cheeks. A soul shouldn't have been able to cry unless it was experiencing something truly beyond it, yet here it was happening now.
"… If you use a Spirit Body as a base to enter the Third Stage, I've theorized that it should be possible to form a Perfect Spirit Body.
"If you manage to breakthrough as you form your Soul for the Soul Birth Realm, you can form your Soul of the Elements. This will remake your soul and give it the very same invulnerability your body has.
"In addition, even if your soul should be injured, just like your body, it would be possible to heal it just as easily as absorbing more Elemental energy.
"If you accomplish this, your Spirit Body will be more malleable and easy to control because there will no longer be any disconnect between your soul and it!"
Ryu's pupils constricted when he heard this. If what Balaur was saying was true, this matter wasn't just as simple as this. He had gained great control over his Spirit Body after his six month long retreat, but even now it felt a bit stiff. He couldn't use it as fluidly in battle as he wanted even now. But, he had very quickly realized that he had reached the limit of he could do.
That was just one aspect of it all. Beyon that, with [Tribulation Nine Clouds], Ryu was already absorbing lightning into his soul. However, in order to do this, he needed to draw specific formations and was greatly limited in the results he could receive.
But, if his soul was made entirely of lightning, this would be a different matter entirely. He wouldn't need [Tribulation Nine Clouds] to improve his soul because he could take this opportunity to rebuilt his own soul from the ground up. At that point, whatever poor talent he had would be next to meaningless and Ryu's only weakness would be made up for in spades.
Ryu took a deep breath, his gaze locking onto Balaur. Seeing the tears and hope in the burly man's eyes, Ryu did something he never in his life thought he would do.
He took slow steps forward. From his location hundreds of meters away, he was completely safe from the Ancestors. With the Jades they were using to sustain their lives, they could only exhibit their strength within a small area. Yet, Ryu discarded all of this to step closer to all of them.
From start to finish, his eyes were completely locked onto Balaur as he entered the circle of the four Ancestors.
Then… Ryu fell to his knees and lowered his head to the ground.
"Disciple, Ryu Tatsuya, greets master."
Balaur was stunned, the tears falling from his eyes sparkling beneath his shock.
Then he began to laugh. He laughed so uproariously that the castle itself quaked.