Patriarch Three-Eye found Ryu's oppression weighing down on him from above, the words like resounded slaps to his face.
The formation Ryu had just deployed had the strength to expel Eleventh Order Ancestral Beasts and bar Sky Gods from ever entering. Such a powerful existence was enough to leave most in awe, but those that were intelligent would realize a very obvious problem.
If the Ice Phoenix Clan had such a powerful failsafe, why hadn't they used it in a time of crisis? It might make sense if the Ice Phoenix Clan was caught off guard in the beginning, resulting in severe damage. But, it couldn't be that even with all of its allied, that the Ice Phoenix Clan would have been in such a terrible situation that it couldn't possibly retreat when it wanted to?
Not only did the Ice Phoenix Clan not retreat, but even the Awoken Moon Sect fought doubt to its final man, losing so much of its strength that it fell from the ranks of a Ninth Order Sect all the way down to a Fifth Order Sect that could be so brazenly bullied by their former subordinates.
This was what true virtue, bravery and commitment was. For these people of the Three Pupil Eclipse Sect to dare speak to him about such matters, Ryu was so infuriated that he almost laughed.
"You call this world a cage, but is it the fault of my Phoenix Clan that you were born here? And, wouldn't a cage imply that you were never allowed to leave? But, when did my Ice Phoenix Clan ever place such restrictions on you?
"Whenever one of you reached the threshold of the Cosmic Seed Realm, you were allowed to come to the Shrine World. Is it the fault of my Ice Phoenix Clan that such a thing was extraordinarily rare for you? Is it the fault of my Ice Phoenix Clan that your Bloodlines were not strong enough, that your talent wasn't potent enough?
"What should we have done to make you all feel better? Should we have poured our resources into you for the sake of altruism? Is that what you wanted? Can you even call yourself a cultivator?!"
Ryu's voice was like a relentless sledgehammer.
"Now you've tucked your tail nicely between your legs, wagging your tongues and dripping saliva for a chance to suck up to invaders to a world you should see as your own, and yet you still have the gall to kneel before me, speaking as though you have some moral superiority in the matter."
Ryu's words held nothing but in painting a vivid picture, the kind that made Patriarch Three-Eye green with shame and horror. He had planned on dying with dignity and as a martyr, but it seemed that Ryu was intent on ripping the face of whatever façade he was putting up.
At that moment, Ryu suddenly stretched out a hand. Feeling a violent tug, Patriarch Three-Eye shot into the air, his throat landing in Ryu's palm as a violent sort of strength bore down on him. He felt all his blood freeze over, none able to ascend to his brain, making his head increase a size and his face turn blue and purple.
Ryu coldly looked down. "Come on, release your true cultivation. That's your trump card, right? This is the oh so gracious and precious present your Martial God owners gave you, right? Show it to me."
Patriarch Three-Eye grit his teeth, blood soaking through his gums and thick veins of bluish-green pulsing about his forehead. He wanted to roar, but the clamp of Ryu's hand was so devastating that he could even make a single sound.
Right then, something within him snapped. The overwhelming humiliation got to his head. Even a dog had their breaking point, a point where they would no longer care about anything else and fight back rabidly. As for whether they would be able to maintain such valiance after their minds cooled was a separate matter entirely, but at least for now, they would be as brave and menacing as any warrior in existence.
But… So what?
Patriarch Three-Eye's cultivation ripped through its restriction, barreling through the Dao Pedestal Realm and tearing into the Cosmic Seed Realm. However, even after the avalanche of qi wading into the surroundings like an ocean's flood… Nothing changed.
Just the same, Patriarch Three-Eye was still locked in place, his feet dangling from the air and his face still growing deeper and deeper shades of purple. After a certain point, it felt like his eyes might pop out of their sockets, the entirety of his body feeling as though it had been frozen in place.
At that moment, true fear filled the Patriarch's heart. From start to finish, Ryu didn't seem to have put in any effort. In fact, he hardly moved a single inch. He didn't use any more power, nor did he use any less. He nonchalantly stood in the air, his face expressionless.
"Is this all?"
The three words were like a fine drizzle of rain, the kind that preemptively struck before a large storm took over the skies, deep and dark clouds of black suffocating all natural light and beaconing forth a torrential onslaught the likes of which would only appear once a decade.
"You gave up so much because you thought you were in a cage. But, when you were finally free, even after being given almost a billion years, this is all you could accomplish? And yet, you have the audacity to say that it was my Ice Phoenix Clan that let you down?
"Where is your shame?"
Ryu looked down at Patriarch Three-Eye. He seemed indifferent to the latter's inability to breathe and his difficulty speaking. He simply didn't care what this man had to say.
"I'm excited." Ryu suddenly said, looking up into the skies with a happy expression hidden within his irises. "I'm excited to be seen as weak, to not be the best… Only like this will I have an opportunity to show scum like you that the difference between us lies intrinsically."
BANG!
Ryu lightly squeezed his hand, causing Patriarch Three-Eye's body to implode.