Ryu nodded. This did, indeed, make the most sense. As he had said before, going forward in time wasn't a problem for powerful cultivators who were willing to give up an equivalent exchange of resources. In fact, it was also possible to slow time down to a crawl as well. What was impossible was going back in time. The paradoxes involved were impossible to resolve.
This was all to say that Ailsa's words were easily acceptable. If there was anything to raise an eyebrow about, it was that the universe was still in its infancy when the Fey were around, as were their cultivation methods. To deduce a formation capable of sending Sarriel so far into the future was an impressive feat beyond measure considering their poor foundations at the time.
But, as soon as Ryu had this thought, he grew skeptical. If they really were so primitive, where had Sarriel's technique come from? And, was it even right to think of them as primitive to begin with?
Sure, it was the case that the cultivation system as known now was actually created by humans while Fey and Ancestral Beasts used more crude and unrefined methods to raise their strength. But, was that the truth, or was it an image painted by the eventual victors?
History could easy become warped, this was something Ryu was well aware of as an Origin Grade Ruin Master. There were actually many falsehoods that he had stumbled across, even things that had destroyed the Karma of extraordinarily powerful individuals of the past, and yet as many as he found, he knew that there were many more to come.
Unfortunately, much like in even the mortal world, perception was reality and the truth didn't matter much in the grand scheme of things. All that mattered was that enough people believed it to be true.
Ryu took in a breath that was slightly sharper than usual, his gaze narrowing. This thought… Was an interesting conundrum from his Dao. For the first time in a while, rather than taking a step forward, he paused.
It was a fascinating thought. His Dao was split into comprehending the Heavens and then forging the Heavens. This was what it meant to Divide Judgment and subsequently Divide Karma. But, what about the influence of others? What if enough people believed something that was wrong? Or, could it be that the Heavens themselves was just the amalgamation of the opinions of the many?
Something about that conclusion felt wrong. It seemed he would have to consider this a lot more.
"Is that all?" Ryu asked, suddenly realizing that Sarriel had suddenly stopped speaking.
Though he had gone through a lot of thoughts just now, with his cultivation and the strength of his soul, not to mention a passive boost from his pupils and the Origin Flame, his thinking and processing speed wasn't on a level more even far above his cultivation level could compare to.
"What else could there possibly be?" Sarriel asked.
Ryu smiled, but it was decidedly cold. It seemed that getting information out of this woman would be like pulling teeth.
"Everything. I could very well ask you about each and every thing, but I don't think you want me to do that. If you're smart about it, you can avoid the questions and even manage to keep some secrets for yourself. If not, then I'll just have to ask very intimate questions of you an it may not be up to your discretion what to and what to not keep a secret at that point."
Sarriel rolled her eyes. This man always knew exactly what to say to piss her off.
"Before my Clan realized we had lost the war thanks to a certain set of useless descendants, we had already delved into a lot of research. The Faeries didn't need the resources of the Real Plane, but we most definitely did. However, we also realized that too many Races were reliant on it at the same time. Even if we won the war, what was left wouldn't be enough to sustain us through the generations.
"For all intents and purposes, my Fey race is made up of humanoids. The way we see and interact with the world is fundamentally different from the way beasts do. We invested far more into research than those dumb animals.
"In the end, we ended up finding the Chaos Plane long before anyone else."
Ryu frowned slightly. That didn't make any sense. If the Fey found the Chaos Plane, their resources should be on a completely different level. There was simply no way they would have lost the war for Heaven's favor. However, Sarriel's next words explained this all too well.
"Unfortunately, the Chaos Plane isn't a free lunch. It's counter to everything we know and the dangers found on its lands put to shame even the Nether Plane. Just breathing in that place is toxic and it only become more so the higher your cultivation level. Chaos Qi is the antithesis of life itself."
Ryu raised an eyebrow. Is that so? Why is it that he never felt that way, then? It seemed like he had quite the advantage.
"My Clan was now stuck in a position where we had a wealth of resources only we had access to, and yet none of us could touch them. Well, maybe this was an exaggeration. We could… It was just that the price to do so was much too heavy.
"So, we began to invest in methods that could counter Chaos Qi and the only answers we came up with was Essence. As a result, we could only use the exceptionally crude method of sending in those undergoing a breakthrough process into the Chaos Plane… This placed a great burden on the younger generation but we were happy to do whatever we could to help the Clan, even if it was a pitiful amount."
Ryu's gaze narrowed. He could imagine young Fey breaking into the Impose Realm for the first time and being forced to use the Essence that should have helped to boost their cultivation instead of helping the Clan accumulate resources. It was easy to see how such a system could be abused because it was very unlikely that the child that helped would get a larger share of the resources brought back beneath their power.
Still, nothing could have prepared Ryu for what Sarriel would say next.
"However, even with all our precaution, we were still wrong about what the Chaos Plane represented. None of us could have imagined that it was actually the frontline of a battle between the Heavens and the rest of Existence."
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