Ryu tried to take control of the white flame as he had in the past. But, once again, it didn't seem eager to listen to him. It continued to float at the bottom of his Spiritual Sea as though a fluffy ball of cotton.
It looked completely harmless. There wasn't an ounce of danger coming from it at all and it even allowed Ryu to probe it endlessly without the slightest hint of fighting back. But, whenever he tried to take that final step and grasp it as his own, it didn't react the slightest bit.
A part of Ryu felt as though this flame wasn't real. Though it had an effect on its surroundings, it wasn't tangible. It was almost like chasing a mirage in the middle of the desert that kept being just a single step away from you. It was like the flame wanted Ryu to feel as though he was delirious.
The only time this flame had ever taken action was when Ryu's soul was about to be severely damaged. But, Ryu was obviously completely unaware of this. Though he had his own guesses, it was impossible for him to be certain. The result was what he saw here… being completely at a loss and not understanding what direction he could take thing in.
'Is it just Primordial Chaos Death Qi?'
Ryu began to slowly experiment, trying to remain as cautious as possible. But, it seemed as though the world loved playing jokes on him.
The moment Ryu tried to allow Primordial Chaos Lightning into his Spiritual Sea, he felt his life flash before his eyes.
It was just a tiny, impossibly small amount. Yet, it threatened to rampage throughout his Mental Realm and turn him into a half-dead fool. If it wasn't for the fact it was indeed a small amount, and he had been prepared to send it back to his miniature dantian almost immediately, he really would have died.
Ryu took deep breaths, a cold sweat matting his forehead. Out of all the nonsense he had been through – being chased by Leopold, escaping a Path Extinction realm bastard who was trying to kill him, facing off against his two little nephews – this was still the closest he had ever been to death, and it was done by his own hands.
Calming himself, Ryu analyzed the situation once again. After a moment, he was his usual self again.
'There are two possibilities. The first is that the white flame is sentient and chose not to act this time to teach me a lesson for trying to test it. The second, and more likely case, is that this flame only has a rulership against energies related to death. Or, at the very least, death energies is one of the domains it controls…'
Once Ryu's heart rate was back to normal, he found this to be acceptable.
He was certain that this white flame was the very same flame that covered his Spiritual Foundation. This meant that it was a gift given to him in exchange for passing the Phoenix Sky God's trial. He wasn't sure if he was the first to succeed, but he was definitely one of the very few because Ryu had no records of such a thing.
If this was a gift from the Phoenix Sky God, it made sense that it would have a domain over death. After all, Titles and Names were exceptionally important. The fact the Phoenix Sky God didn't specify which of the Phoenix Clans he represented could only mean one thing: he represented them all. Whether it was the Ice, Fire, or Dark Phoenix Clans, he was an overlord who existed above all three.
What did this functionally mean? It meant that when it came to matters of life, death and reincarnation, the Phoenix Sky God claimed to have dominion over them all. This was what this seemingly 'simple' Title represented.
When Ryu reached this point in his thoughts, he took a deep breath.
'So this is why it's so docile…? But is that really possible…?'
Ryu found this exceptionally hard to accept, and for good reason.
Primordial Qi was considered to be the apex of energies just beneath Essence and Chaos Qi. It was meant to be the King of their respective niches, there should be nothing above it.
But now, this white flame made such an energy feel fear? How could this even be possible?
Ryu would argue that Primordial Chaos Death Qi was even more powerful than Primordial Death Qi. Yet, even despite all of this, the white flame made it feel… fear?
At this moment, Ryu realized that he functionally knew nothing about this Phoenix Sky God. Though he subconsciously thought of this person as a 'He', he wasn't even certain if this Phoenix Sky God was a man or a woman at all.
Now that Ryu thought about it, all the cobbled together stories and folk tales he had used to piece together the Phoenix Sky God's life back during his first life, were they even correct?
This person hid themselves so deeply. They were so famous, so well known, so well spoken of… Yet no one knew the true details of their life?
By every metric, this didn't make sense. When someone was so great, a certain Fate would be attached to every mention of their name. So long as they reached a certain point, those sensitive enough to it, especially those like Ryu, would be able to see what facts about their lives were true or false simply by sensing Fate.
Yet… even now, Ryu was completely unable to do this, even after undoing so many seals.
Back then, Ryu had been desperate. His [Intuition] was screaming at him, both telling him that his Clan's time was running out and that he wouldn't be able to help them unless he took this leap… So, he had never really considered the kind of legacy he was accepting.
Most Sky Gods passed down their Legacies so that they'd be remembered, so that one day when they reincarnated, they would have gathered up a great amount of Karma to live a peaceful life. Even if in this life, they didn't become Sky Gods again, it would still be worth it.
But… Why did Ryu feel that the Phoenix Sky Gods intentions weren't so simple… or so pure?