Two pillars of white light. One pillar of crimson light. And, finally, one pillar of golden light to shatter them all.
Ryu practically felt as though his body was sheering apart at the seams. Although he had felt similar type of pain going through his previous Rites and even while opening his Body Realm Pulses, this was on a level he had never experienced before.
The very same Ryu who, as a mortal, didn't make a sound even while being tortured by a spike-filled beast tendon whip, couldn't help but roar toward the skies in agony.
His Spiritual Foundation doubled in size, then quadrupled. The dantian it resided it shattered apart completely, trying its best to reconstruct itself but failing miserably as Ryu called upon Rite after Rite. Suffering through a single one of the Named Rites was already a matter of life and death, but to face all four at once was nothing short of suicidal!
However, even with how intelligent Ryu was, he still did this foolish thing. When he was improving his Body Realm, Ryu suddenly came to understand something. Without a Body Realm Cultivation technique, opening his Body Pulses would have minimal effect.
The truth of the matter was that even after opening four Body Pulses, the strength he gained was disappointing. Although he was certain that there didn't exist a Pulse Opening Expert who was his match on this Mortal Plane, this wasn't enough to undergo these final Rites as someone with an Ancestral Great Circle. Plus, these weren't the opponents he was aiming for!
It was after realizing this that Ryu understood biding his time would no longer give him any benefits. If he wanted to defy the heavens, he had to firmly take this step forward without a single ounce of regret or hesitation!
The white flames of Ryu's Spiritual Foundation surged forward. In that moment, his body was overwhelmed by an unknown, previously dormant flame. It responded to Ryu's defiance, nurturing his mind to keep him lucid. Although these flames did nothing to ease the pain Ryu was feeling, it stabilized his crumbling Mental Realm, allowing Ryu's will to maintain his consciousness to shine through.
An instant later, the Origin Flame seemed to react in kind. It sensed the Essence of Origin that descended from the golden pillar and suddenly fidgeted with excitement. At first, it had been forced into dormancy by the oppressive Heavenly Laws, however the mysterious white flames had shaken it awake. It was just an Embryo, if it hadn't been for this help, it was impossible for it to go against the Will of the Heavens.
As though its task was accomplished, the white flames retreated to Ryu's dantian, silently surging along with his ever-growing Spiritual Foundation.
The Origin Flame excitedly gobbled up the Essence of Origin, refining it and sending it toward Ryu. What was once a tyrannical and unbridled aura instantly became incomparably soothing.
Impurities were forced out of Ryu's body in droves. They rolled off of him and the stone he sat upon, sinking to the green grass below and turning it a disgusting sheen of brown and black.
Ryu's meridians expanded once more. Although this would make completing the Qi Refinement realm far more difficult, the amount of qi he could hold was easily five times the amount of a normal cultivator. If he made proper use of the Qi Refinement realm's Revolutions, this would only increase!
This wasn't even the greatest benefit of Ryu's recklessness. Because the Origin Flame had refined so much of the incredibly rare Essence of Origin, it matured slightly. Although it was still far from exiting its Embryonic stage, it was at least twice as effective as it was before. Essentially, the progress Ryu had made in his basic stances in two months, could now be done in just one!
There was another hidden benefit as well. The treasures located on Ryu's body responded favorably to this Essence of Origin. This was especially so for the Incubator fused with his Heavenly Pupils considering it was an Origin Grade treasure itself. Although the benefits weren't obvious to Ryu now, it had improved from a Lower Origin Grade treasure to a Middle Origin Grade treasure! Its ability to foster beasts and grow spiritual plants had sky-rocketed to an entirely new level.
As for the other treasures on Ryu's body, their improvement wasn't so exaggerated. Aside from his twin daggers that flashed a red light before fading back to their normal blue sheen, there weren't any other changes. That said… The meridians of his Heavenly Pupils pulsated with happiness. Formerly sealed pathways broke open as they began to slowly evolve.
Days later, Ryu awoke in his own filth. It took him almost half a day alone to scrub them from his body. However, what was left was a body that shone like a silver blade.
After inspecting himself, Ryu noticed that the chaotic state his blood entered when he forcibly took on the Rite of Origin had inadvertently caused the final two Body Pulses located in his spine to open. In just three months, Ryu had completed all of his Rites and opened all of his Body Realm Pulses. However, this speed was normal for a genius of Ryu's caliber. For those born on the Shrine Plane, this was about their same speed as well. The largest difference was that they would still be seven years old when they reached this step while Ryu was already fourteen. He couldn't relax.
Nevertheless, Ryu wasn't entirely humble either. Those geniuses he referred to would have, at most, completed their eleventh Rite. Even his father and mother only completed their twelfth. Ryu had grounds to be proud of himself.
Of course, this was only because the talent of his mother and father was such that completing the thirteenth Rite was unnecessary. It was for this same reason that they only expected Ryu to complete up to his eleventh. Still, Ryu couldn't help but smile lightly. It seemed that ever since he awakened, his perpetual coldness was being chipped away at.
With a thought, the wooden shaft of a seven-foot-long halberd appeared in Ryu's hands.
His movements started slow and forceful before becoming quick and overbearing. The 'SHIIING' sound of an illusory light flickered into and out of existence, but Ryu had slipped into such a profound state that he didn't seem to notice.
In that moment, Ryu's body glowed with a gentle light. He seemed to become larger than life before blending into still shining skies above. Ryu had stepped into the Breath of Heaven meditation state.
The sparks of light became fiercer. Space around Ryu shivered and rippled, resulting from the faint image of an Emperor appearing to his back.
"HA!" Ryu lungs expanded, his arms swinging downward forcefully as the sound of a shattering barrier resounded. He had finally breached the Small Success realm.