The Ice Queen's blades tore through everything in sight. No, it couldn't be described in this way at all. It rather felt like a touch of death had gently kissed the figures of those in its path. Just the presence of the ice blades alone froze everything within their domain. The air, space, and even qi halted, frosting over beneath an undeniable strength.
There was no doubt about it, the Ice Queen was the embodiment of all that was cold. They had no tangible figures, no tangible lifespan, it was even difficult to tell if they had the will normal living things did. They only lived to eliminate all that was heat.
When things were placed into this sort of frame, it was easy to see how the Demon Kings played roles maybe even more important than the Ancestral Beasts themselves. Unusable energy and Heat Death was a problem all worlds faced. However, it was the Ice Queens who could slow this process, settling down unusable qi until it could be reined under control once more.
While it was obvious that such a cycle couldn't continue indefinitely, what was clear enough was the fact that as important as a representation of Life, Death or Rebirth, or any other enigmatic concept ruled by Ancestral Beasts, there were other fundamental tenets of existence that weren't under the rulership of their Race.
Ryu had never had such in depth thoughts before. But, the more he delved into the world of his Dao, not to mention benefited from the strengthening of his Pupils, the more of the world he understood. In addition, thanks to the Origin Flame, things he had learned long ago clicked into place one after another, forming a cohesive understanding of the Heavens themselves.
A battle of epic proportions erupted in the sky. Ailsa watched on with great focus, her cherry lips mumbling intelligible words and her pupils flickering back and forth. It was clear that she was commanding the Ice Queen, even living vicariously through it. She felt a thrill that she hadn't in a ver long time.
The invulnerability of the Ice Queen evened out the battlefield, making the Martial Gods and the Griffins quite helpless to do much other than to defend.
Ryu smiled as he looked toward Ailsa's side profile. She seemed to be having the time of her life. Her battle style was actually quite poor, and it was clear that her battle sense was severely lacking in comparison to Ryu's, but just seeing her like this made his feel quite gratified. If this was what she wanted to do, why would he ever hold her back?
Of course, as a husband, he would prefer to have his wife protected to his back. But, there was no way that he would stop her from following her own wants and dreams.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The Ice Queen fluttered through the air. Several holes riddled her body, but she moved unfettered. With every delicate swipe of her hand, another ice blade would form, jetting outward and freezing everything in its path.
The more time she spent in existence, the more the temperature seemed to plummet. The Griffins and Martial Gods found it harder and harder to control atmospheric qi, resulting in their own battle prowess slowly becoming weaker over time.
'What an amazing application of Ice Qi.' Ryu's gaze glowed.
His Ice Phoenix Bloodline didn't take this path at all. In fact, it followed a completely different path entirely, focusing on both defense and Life. However, the Ice Queen focused on area of effect control and attacks. Ice wasn't known for having these latter two abilities, and yet the Ice Queen was clearly incredibly adept at this, it resulted in a broadening of Ryu's horizons.
'How fascinating…'
Ryu found this extraordinarily interesting because right now, his Dao, at least when applied to Blacksmithing, was tailored toward finding the best path for use of an Ore. In this situation, the analogous example would be Ice with Defense. Ice was well known to be an Element perfect for forming Defenses and it was because of this that it melded so well with Ryu's <Immortal Sakura> technique, even the Ice Phoenix Heavenly Patterns had a multiplicative effect with it.
However, did Ryu dare to say that the path of the Ice Queen was wrong? Seeing it battle now, who would have the courage to say such a thing? Plus, understanding the Heavens was only one part of Ryu's Dao. The other part was surpassing the Heavens. To fuse both a comprehension of what is to forge a path toward what could be. That was what he wanted his Dao to be.
Ryu's aura shifted once again, his Dao blossoming.
Ailsa and Yaana had already become numb to this. Ryu seemed to make a significant breakthrough once every few hours at this point. If they got shocked every time, they wouldn't have the emotions to spare for anything else. But, Ryza was different. She almost fell out of the skies, her sensitivity as a Sky God nearly shaking her out of her wits entirely.
To Ryu, though, this was only to be expected. Before he unsealed his Pupils completely, he had the awareness of an Immortal Ring Realm expert. Then, due to a sweeping hint of fortune, he suddenly gained himself the ability to see through things even Sky Gods could not. He had a better pair of eyes right now than any other Sky God in the whole of Sacrum.
,m His fast improvement was inevitable. The subtleties he could see through were on a whole different level.
Right now, though, this wasn't what Ryu was thinking about. Rather, he was organizing his new thoughts and adjusting his future path.
'Understanding the main path of an element is important. But, the main path isn't all I should focus on. Anything taken to an extremity has the potential to be powerful. In addition, the world is formed of balance, wherever one extreme is present, there will always be the other extreme. Extreme Yin gives birth to Extreme Yang and the vice versa is also true.
'If you take one matter down its logical path, toward what could be considered its extreme… Who's to say that there isn't another extreme lying in wait along an opposing path?
'And isn't that what I'm seeing right here? Who would think that Ice could be used to form such potent and powerful attacks, and yet that's exactly what this Ice Queen is doing. Its strength is a completely different extreme than the one I'm used to, and yet, it's flourishing!'
BANG!
A Martial God fell from the skies, his leg and arm cracking and falling like shards of ice as the rest of his body was frozen completely over.
'There's something odd here.' Ryu's gaze narrowed. 'Those two Griffins that ran away aren't here. Does that mean there's another group of Griffins somewhere? Who else would they report to?'
Ryu had been waiting for the pursuit of Little Gem, somewhat eager to get into another battle to test his blade once more. But, unfortunately, nothing came.
Now that Ryu thought about it, no one about the Eleventh Order had ever appeared for the Griffins. If things were like that, it likely meant that there was another more monstrous group elsewhere.
Though Ryu's gaze flickered, he didn't worry much about this. Very soon, no one would be able to step onto this world without his permission.
As though to reassure the world that Ryu never spoke lies, the dome of white that had covered the Awoken Moon Sect suddenly began to glow with a fiercer light before a subtle crack began to rise across its surface. And then…
BANG!
Motes of light and shards of glass imploded in all directions. And, what was left beneath astonished all those that laid eyes on it.
The Awoken Moon Sect was already a beautiful wonderland. But, now, it was like a paradise carved into being by an Ice Goddess herself. The building were formed together with delicate sky blue Phoenix patterns, the shingling of roofs were carved Phoenix feathers, and a majestic sort of aura towered over the establishment, washing over everything with peace and prosperity.
However… These were just the most superficial changes. What no one could take their eyes off of was the delicately sculpted moon that now hung in the skies above their head. It portrayed a beauty that was beyond words and a calm scenery that plucked at the heart.
The Awoken Moon portion of the Awoken Moon Sect's name wasn't just an empty title. Unfortunately, after years of being suppressed and being on the run from the enemies of the Ice Phoenix Clan, maybe even the current elders of the Sect had no idea where their moniker truly originated from.
Now, though, after being given the ring by the current Sect Matriarch, and allowing it to awaken thanks to the treasures left behind by his grandmother, Ryu could finally allow them to remember just why it was this was the Moon World and why they of all Sects was chosen to lead it.