Balaur was stunned for a moment before he slowly shook his head, a smile spreading across his face and rustling his thick, white beard. He didn't know why he had ever expected to hear a different answer than this one.
There was nothing in life worth getting if it was too easy. At least, that was what people said.
Ryu wasn't sure if he believed this entirely. It sounded like a saying that meant well but was actually terrible when put into practice. However, when it came to reaching that mountain top, he couldn't agree with it anymore.
With how fast Ryu was progressing, he felt it wouldn't even be more than a few centuries before he was untouchable… But then what? He felt that existence would be quite hollow and meaningless if he reached that mountain top too quickly.
He knew himself well. He would be immensely unsatisfied. The only saving grace would be that he would have his wives by his side, but as another saying went… It was lonely at the top.
Though it was in a lesser vein, Ryu already felt somewhat lonely now. There were no individuals his age that could match up to even a single one of his fingers. Lu'card was probably the closest, but just as quickly as Ryu had found him, he had already surpassed him by leaps and bounds. It was almost as though the Heavens didn't want him to have any opponents.
There was something satisfying about putting old bastards in their place, but at the same time, Ryu somewhat wanted a rival. Maybe it was because he suddenly remembered a friend he had had in his youth, or maybe it was triggered by Sarriel, or maybe it was a combination of both, but Ryu somewhat felt that it would be nice to have someone to push and grow with him, even if he already had immense self-motivation.
Of course, by now, that 'friend' of his was already an old bastard, even if he was somehow alive, while Sarriel, though she had technically experienced about the same number of years of life as he had if he factored in both of his lives, she too was much older than he was.
That said, Ryu had a feeling that when he next saw Sarriel, this matter would be so simple.
Regardless, Ryu meant the words he had spoken. The skies in this place truly were too low.
Balaur took a deep breath. "Then, Little Ryu. I'll have to ask you to look out for our Zu Clan. We tried our best, but we were still a bit too late. We wouldn't be able to complete the formation of our bodies in time to help."
"Not necessarily."
Balaur blinked. "What do you mean by that?"
The reason Balaur was sighing like this was because the timeline seemed to have been pushed up. Of course, he had no idea that this was in large part due to Ryu.
Because Ryu unwound Faith like he had, the Ancestral Beasts no longer had to bide their time and wait for the perfect opportunity to flip the situation. With things like this, all the Faith of Sacrum was up for grabs, so how could they continue to lean back and do nothing?
That said…
"I happened to come into some wealth. If it's combined with what I'm sure your Zu Clan has already gathered, it wouldn't be impossible to reconstruct your bodies. As for the rest, it would be up to you."
Even now, Ryu was certain that the Immortal Sakura Faction he had met in the Mercenary Guild was related to the Zu Clan. Whatever that event they had been preparing for, it was likely they managed to get their hands on it and Ryu wouldn't be surprised if this item was greatly important to the rebirth of the Zu Ancestors.
In that case, Ryu wouldn't be surprised if the Zu Clan that remained had already accumulated a lot of the materials needed. He would end up just be filling in what remained.
"Little Ryu…"
"It's not a big deal." Ryu shrugged. "I could never use all of those resources myself anyway. I'm just one person."
Balaur shook his head. "You don't understand yet just how much it takes to progress a single inch in the Sky God Realm. When it comes to nurturing your Godhood and filling it with vitality, you're essentially being tasked with giving birth to a whole new world. The resources you need are astronomical."
"Isn't it just based on comprehension?" Ryu asked.
In truth, he only had a vague understanding of the Sky God Realm, but he had just always assumed certain things.
"The Sky God Realm is indeed heavily reliant on comprehension, but the issue is that comprehension is very… slow. I… Forget it, since you're progressing so fast, there's no need to hold this back from you. If you were a normal boy, I might say that learning these things would only be a detriment to you, but since things are like this, I'll explain.
"When one becomes a Sky God, they build the foundation of their Godhood on their comprehension, but after that comes a long process of gathering and compressing energy through the use of your Godhood.
"The higher your comprehension, the purer this energy. But, simultaneously, this also equates to a higher degree of difficulty. The higher grade your Godhood, the more qi you'll need to compress to satisfy and give it form. There is always an equivalent exchange for everything in existence, including the highest realm there is.
"This is where your resources and what you have at your finger tips becomes invaluable. There are many Sky Gods who die because their comprehension has run out or run amok, leading to the end of their lifespans. But, even more sadly, there are Sky Gods who have comprehension that have far surpassed their current level, and unfortunately…
"There simply isn't enough qi in this world for them all."