For Balaur, erasing a Heaven Grade formation without harming Ryu was as easy as breathing. His comprehension of the Mental Realm and how to maneuver around it couldn't have been deeper. And, if there was one thing he had been able to increase in these years stuck here, it was his control.
It didn't take much longer than a few minutes for him to succeed. However, the process that came afterward was much more involved.
Ryu needed to redraw the Formation. But, as simple as it was for him to comprehend a Heaven Grade formation, drawing one was a completely different animal. There was no way that he could succeed in a short time.
Morvar cleared his throat. "You know, if you used my Visualization, this would be much easier."
Balaur glared at Morvar, but the latter pretended not to notice. In the end, even Balaur had to agree that what Morvar said was true. Though it would still be difficult, it wouldn't take the several month it would have before, at the very least.
Learning Morvar's Visualization was a simple task. Of the four Ancestors, his could be said to be the simplest, though it also quickly scaled upward to become among the most complex.
As Balaur had said previously, Morvar's Visualization had no stages. Rather, its level was decided by the number of units you could produce. The more 'Formation Eyes' you could create and sustain, the more powerful the Visualization became.
Morvar's Visualization essentially allowed the quick deployment of Formations. Each Formation or Seal had what were called 'Formation Cores'. These Cores were the main components of a Formation and often needed an anchor of some sort, aside from just qi, to sustain and fuel them.
Usually, these Cores would be formed of Formation Flags, valuable Spiritual Herbs, or rare Spiritual Ores. Whatever the choice was would depend on the Formation in question and what its purpose was. This sort of profession could become very complicated very quickly.
Morvar's Formation Eyes, though, streamlined this process and made it much easier.
The Formation Eyes could rearrange themselves as they pleased and could also act as beacons for specific kinds of qi depending on the configuration, allowing for the easy deployment of temporary, but large scale formations.
The more powerful you were, the more Formation Eyes you could sustain, and the less 'temporary' these Formations became.
However, this was just the tip of the iceberg. It was also possible to use Morvar's Formation Eyes to create permanent Formations as well. Almost like a child tracing a drawing, the Formation Eyes could be deployed first to be subsequently filled in with a more permanent, long-lasting energy.
Ultimately, aside from acting as Formation Flags, Formation Eyes could also act as multiple formation drawing points. With a control of them, instead of starting the creation of a Formation from just a single point, one could draw from several points, leading to a product in much quicker fashion and allowing for 'speed deployment'.
All in all, for someone with the Origin Flame like Ryu, the ability to begin drawing a formation from multiple points was a great boon, especially since it was possible to sustain far more Formation Eyes within one's own Spiritual Sea as opposed to the outside world.
This essentially meant that drawing Formations within his own body was far easier and quicker than it would be if Ryu wanted to draw them in the real world.
This was good news as well, because according to Morvar, in order to create Heaven Grade Formations, one needed to form at least 100 Formation Eyes. This was 1 for Common Grade, 5 for Black Grade, 10 for Earth Grade, and then there was a sudden massive leap upward.
Unfortunately, the current Ryu could only project 40 or so Formation Eyes into the outside world. Though he would be able to form quite a powerful Earth Grade Formation with this, it wasn't nearly enough to form a Heaven Grade Formation in the real world.
Luckily, within his Spiritual Sea, he was able to Visualize far more than just this. In fact, he could form more than ten times that amount!
Morvar couldn't help but stare at Ryu with an incredulous expression. Being able to project 40 Formation Eyes should have been impossible for Ryu. He couldn't wrap his head around what was happening. There were even a lot of people who had broken into the Soul Birth Realm that couldn't' form that many.
Even though it was less than Morvar at that stage of his life, it should have been far beyond Ryu with his poor talent. He couldn't explain it.
Ryu, though, was no longer focused on this matter. He was already deploying his Formation Eyes within his Spiritual Sea.
It took Ryu no more than an hour to finish the outline of the Formation. He felt that even right now, he could summon a Skeleton Warrior using it. However, he needed it permanently etched.
'The more powerful and potent the Death Qi you use, the better the result would be…'
Ryu turned his senses toward that dangerous, swirling mass of death within his Miniature Dantian. He had half a mind to not do this at all.
He had used Primordial Chaos Lightning during his battle with those two little nephews and he had almost destroyed himself. He had a feeling that this Primordial Chaos Death Qi would be even more violent.
However, Ryu knew that the moment he thought of it, he had already made his decision. A Lower Skeleton Warrior to a true Summoning Necromancer might be weak. But, to the current Ryu and even those within the city along with him, it was a powerful existence they had to go all out to defeat.
For Ryu, if he could produce this kind of strength and summon it to fight for him, the increase to his strength wouldn't be small.
The issue was that the stamina that would be needed to succeed was far too high. Even drawing an outline of the Formation would have taken him months had it not been for Morvar's Visualization. How much effort would he need to fill it with qi and activate it, then?
His only chance was if the Death Qi he used was so potent and so pure that the threshold he had to meet fell dramatically. Only then would it be possible to use these Skeleton Warriors in battle before he entered the Soul Birth Realm.
Despite the odd happenings around his soul recently, Ryu knew that he was greatly lacking in the Mental Realm. There were definitely geniuses who could summon Skeleton Warriors even without entering the Soul Birth Realm, but he was aware that he wasn't one of them. To match them in the trials he was sure were coming, he would definitely need to take some risks.
However… What Ryu could have never expected was that the moment he grit his teeth and began… Was for absolutely nothing to happen.
As though the gentlest, kindest energy in the world, the moment the Primordial Chaos Death Qi entered Ryu's Spiritual Sea, it followed his orders like an obedient puppy.
A struggle Ryu had planned to face for weeks if necessary became as easy as just thinking it.
'… What?'
At that moment, the Zu Ancestors felt a hint of fear while looking toward Ryu.
In soul form, hiding matters from others was exceptionally difficult. Even Ryu could see through Balaur, let alone the vice versa. So, how could Ryu hide the appearance of this sinister energy from them?
Yet, what shocked them was the fact that this energy was actually so obedient. The Zu Ancestors couldn't even fathom why this was.
Flora, though, looked toward Ryu with an expression that said she might start drooling any moment now. There was something in that energy that was greatly attractive to her… She wanted to take a bite…
Just when she was about to lose herself, Balaur crystal staff appeared and bonked her on the head.
"That's my disciple, not a meal, woman. Watch it."
Flora held both her dainty little hands to her forehead, clearly displeased. But, she still couldn't take her eyes off of Ryu.
"If you want, you have my blessing. But, if you devour him like all the other men before, don't blame me for being impolite." Balaur said. "My disciple does indeed need someone to vent with, his mind is still too cloudy."
Flora glared at Balaur.
"Flora."
A stern voice came from the side. It was actually Eska who had broken her silence to speak.
"You aren't allow to touch him." She said softly.
Balaur's eyes opened widen before he burst into a fit of laughter.
"Yes, yes. Fight over my disciple! He's great, I know!"
Eska didn't reply to these words, simply silently watching Ryu. She hadn't meant her words in that way, but she was too lazy to correct Balaur.
At that moment, Ryu opened his eyes, not even a few minutes later. His silver irises were clouded with a black fog for a moment before they clear up to their original brightness again.
Ryu rose and bowed to Balaur. "Thank you, master."
Balaur waved a hand, heartily laughing. "Feel free to come back whenever. We will continue to study the formation to see if there's anything we can find. Try to be more mindful of how much time is passing."
"Yes!"
Morvar almost pouted. 'Where's my thank you? I helped too…'
But, he had hardly finished his thought when Ryu had already disappeared.
It was then that Balaur's expression became a tinge more serious.
"Though I was joking before, it might be more serious this time. Are you willing, Eska?" Balaur looked toward his fellow Ancestor.
Eska had always been a beauty above mortal reproach… A dignified, untouchable goddess.
Still, she nodded without much reluctance.
"I have no experience in such matters, but if he only needs a woman to clear his mind, I can be that." She spoke as though she was directing someone other than herself to do such a thing. "It isn't much of a sacrifice. Given his character, this will only help our Zu Clan."