Ryu looked down at Ailsa for a moment, his gaze bouncing between her crimson eyes as though he was looking and searching for something.
The longer he remained silent, the more flustered Ailsa seemed to become. She had no idea where to put her hands or where she should be looking, even her heart seemed like it might beat out of her chest any moment now.
Ryu knew there were a lot of sides to Ailsa. There was the mischievous big sister side, there was the overly sensitive sexual side, there was the arrogant and proud side, and there was finally a hidden stubborn side that she didn't show often but Ryu had always known was there.
If she wasn't so stubborn, any other woman with her level of pride would have left his side a long time ago. There was no way, especially after how rude he had been to her when they first met, that she would still be his partner to this day. It was only because she had set her mind on a goal and was determined to prove her elder brother correct that she insisted on remaining with him even to this day.
Ryu had naively believed back then that he could treat her however he wanted and she would have no choice but to stay. Or, rather, he simply hadn't cared whether he was correct in this assumption or not. With his views of the world back then, with or without Ailsa, he would be able to reach his goals. If it meant being tied down in other ways, he would have preferred not to deal with her at all.
However, over the time the two had been together, Ailsa had already become an inseparable part of his life. In fact, if it wasn't for her, there were many things that he wouldn't have been able to accomplish. And, most importantly, he would have still been stuck in the very same mindset he had been all those years ago, wallowing in the same self-grief, and trudging through the same heavy anger aimed at nothing.
The breath that Ailsa breathed into his life was far beyond what she knew. Or, more accurately, she was simply underestimating herself.
If Ryu hadn't had such a change in character, how could he have ever completed his Dao? Could the him who had just left the Tor Kingdom behind ever think of relying on the Heavens for anything? He would have been more apt to create a Dao based on destroying everything in sight. Maybe that Dao would have been powerful in its own right, but could it ever match up to Dividing Heaven?
The answer was no.
The fundamental change in himself was the foundation to Ryu's current strength. All of his abrupt increases in qi, all of his large leaps in bodily strength, all of his evolutions experienced through the Mental Realm, couldn't add up to even a single percent of the value his Dao gave him, a Dao that was only showing its usefulness more and more with every passing day.
Ryu sighed. "When'd you become so soft?"
Ailsa's pupils dilated and trembled.
Between husband and wife, an exchange of words was wholly unnecessary. Ailsa could see through Ryu's thought process quite clearly and understood exactly how he felt about all of this. There was no need to say a thing, but Ryu still poked at her with a light jab.
Ailsa's lip trembled and her eyes threatened to flood with tears.
Ryu looked over toward Yaana with a smile.
"See this? Your big sister is actually just a crybab—oof!"
Ryu took a palm to the chest, finding himself flying into the distance. As he flew, he alternated between coughing up a lung and laughing uproariously. All the while, Little Gem, who was still in his arms, giggled happily, enjoying flying through the sky so fast.
"Don't listen to him, Little Yaana. He grows worse and worse everyday." Ailsa spoke through gritted teeth, wiping her teary eyes with a forearm.
Yaana giggled, her smile lighting up the surroundings as she took Ailsa arm into her own.
Ailsa smiled lightly through her tears. Though those emotions weren't gone, she did still feel a lot better. Maybe she had been a bit too emotional.
"It's okay!" Ryu called out from afar. "You're allowed to be emotional with a sturdy pillar like me here."
"I'm going to kill him, don't hold me back Little Yaana."
The laughter of Yaana and Little Gem played the background to Ryu's faux shouts of pain and Ailsa's pounding fists.
…
Little Rock shot through the air, his beautiful silver feathered body reflecting rainbow lights beneath the high sunlight.
Ryu reclined, his head resting on Ailsa's lap as he twirled his first forge in his hands. Every pass he made, he seemed to gain more skill with it.
In his other hand, Ryu held an identical blade. But, this one was forged of a Black Grade metal known as Dancing Steel. It was as flexible as paper, but it was also among the sharpest and most durable of this Grade, at least within the top three.
One blade reflected a gorgeous violet and the other reflected a dancing silver light. Ryu suddenly tossed them into the air, swapping them between his hands and twisting them through his fingers with a deft skill.
At that moment, Ryu was absolutely carefree. Something about the fact he wasn't allowed to cultivate made his mind release a shackle he hadn't known had been there, as though something constantly hounding him from behind had finally stopped.
'Look at how easy this is. Maybe I really was a madman trying to dual wield polearms.' Ryu laughed to himself self-deprecatingly.
The soothing feeling of Ailsa's hands running through his hair calmed him just as much as the calm sound of Yaana's breathing did. The trio all sat in a comfortable silence, the loudest sound being the wind whistling about them. As for their destination, that was, of course, toward the densest region of qi, the Three Pupil Eclipse Sect.
"You want to fight?" Ryu suddenly asked Ailsa.
"Mm." Ailsa nodded.
"Then just fight." Ryu laughed.
"But it'll hinder your growth."
"Oh? Are you trying to say that you'll become my handicap? At least this arrogant you is better than crybaby Ailsa."
Ailsa rolled her eyes, digging her fingers into Ryu's temples.
"… I mean that if I can't give 100% of my focus to your battles, then I won't know how best to help you improve."
Ryu laughed at this. "Isn't there a simple solution to that? I have the Origin Flame. If you used my first hand experience of the battle wouldn't that fix the issue? In fact, it would probably be even more accurate than your own viewpoint."
Ailsa opened her mouth to rebuttal, but she suddenly realized that she didn't have one. How had she not thought of this? That was actually a perfect solution.
"See what happens when you're not being—"
"Call me a crybaby one more time and me and Little Yaana will leave you high and dry for the next decade." Ailsa's gaze flashed with a warning light.
Yaana, who had been innocent in this exchange, opened her mouth in shock before her gaze flickered with protest. Wasn't this punishing her too? What did she do?
Ailsa might have lived far longer than Yaana had, but Yaana had actually experienced ageing. The process made it feel like she had actually gone through more. While Ailsa was just fine as she had been in the prime of her youth the whole time, Yaana had to watch many of her friends marry and have families, she had also felt the weight of loneliness in the way Ailsa never had.
Abstinence for a decade? Especially after it had felt so good the first time? She didn't think she could survive that length of time. She would end up sneaking behind Ailsa's back and leaping on Ryu herself.
Ailsa's lip twitched when she saw Yaana's expression. What happened to sisterly solidarity? They were meant to be a united front to deal with this brute!
Ryu laughed. Hard. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed this hard. Maybe he hadn't even been seven years old yet.
"Okay, if I have to suffer for ten years, how about one more time for old time's sake?"
Ailsa squealed, immediately protected. Little Rock and Little Gem were still here!
'Hm?'
Ryu, who had already ended up on top of Ailsa, narrowed his gaze. He had forgotten how fast Little Rock was. Or, maybe he had just forgotten that the size of a world like this couldn't possibly compare to the Shrine World…
They were already here.
In the looming distance, the sounds of battle drifted over to Ryu's ears. With a single squint, his vision accelerated, cutting through thousands of miles and landing on a distant network of floating islands and mountains, completely embroiled in war. The ambience of snow and waterfalls of ice painted what should have been a beautiful seen, if it wasn't also for the countless corpses falling through the skies all the while.
However, it was something else that caught his attention.
Ryu's brows shot up. Among those islands, he was certain he recognized them. It was actually occupied by the Awoken Moon Sect. Somehow, they had found a place in the territory of the Three Pupil Eclipse Sect?
At that moment, Ryu's pupils constricted.
'Guiot?'
A young man Ryu recognized all too well stood in the midst of the battlefield, his spear roaring like a dragon as it reaped the life of one beast after another.