Ryu didn't know what to do with himself. A bubbling up of excitement grasped his heart and his love of Herbology almost blossomed forth in full force.
This tree… It was entirely designed to break rules and shatter convention. How had he not seen it before?!
It was difficult to describe in just a few words the kind of importance such a thing had. The closest thing Ryu had ever seen in his life were Crown Herbs and the special abilities they gained along with being as rare as they were.
Crown Herbs were known for their ability to break the status quo and provide impossible effects that would be otherwise impossible for cultivators to benefit from.
The Heavens were always fair. If an infant could suddenly swallow an Ancestral Grade and be graced with the strength of a World Sea Realm expert instantly, this would spit in the face of what it meant to cultivate.
The Heavens provided resources, but only those who had put in a certain amount of effort could benefit from them. Only cultivators could ingest Common Grade Spiritual Herbs without dying, only by stepping into the Qi Refinement and Spiritual Severing Realms could you safely ingest Black Grade Spiritual Herbs, and the pattern went forward and onward.
These were hard and faceted rules that couldn't be changed. Until you had an Origin Grade treasure like Ryu's that could surpass such limits and allow the easy absorption of Spiritual Herbs of all grades. And, much like how Origin Grade techniques could be used by anyone of any level, so too could this be said for Origin Grade Spiritual Herbs in that they could be ingested by anyone.
However, the Origin Grade was already a specially reserved title, one that represented the Sky God Realm. For a level that described breaking free of the Heavens and forming your own rules, it made sense that said level would have such otherworldly abilities.
Still, there was one other exception… Crown Spiritual Herbs.
Being the King of their respective Grades, Crown Herbs had the strength of a tier beyond but allowed those of a lesser tier to ingest them. If a mortal or an Awakening Realm cultivator found a Common Grade Crown Herb, they would be able to ingest it without worry of imploding, same with a Spiritual Severing Realm expert and a Crown Black Grade Herb…
The difference would be that such Crown Herb would have the equivalent strength of the Grade above them!
As far as Ryu knew, this was the only example of Spiritual Herbs breaking the rules they had set, and this made perfect sense. If it was so easy to break a rule, it wouldn't be much of a rule at all, now would it? But, what fascinated Ryu about this tree was that… It seemed to have the property of breaking rules as well. The difference was that its rule breaking was a fundamental foundation rather than just a convenient feature.
Ryu really didn't know how to describe it outside of those words: rule breaking. It functioned in ways that didn't make sense and accomplished things that were even beyond…
'A tree with this sort of structure born and raised on the Real Plane would have a very set pattern. It would fall into a very certain family structure, further beneath a sub-family and sub-species structure, so on and so forth.
'If I had never seen such a tree before and I had to decide what its ability was, I'd be able to do it.
'This sort of tree doesn't really have any natural predators aside from very small creatures and it might have a symbiotic relationship with slightly larger creatures like birds or the occasional cat beast that was fond of having their snacks high up in some branches.
'As such, like most trees, this one would have longevity, it would have a strength to its bark and trunk, it wouldn't have to adapt to any environments that were too harsh other than being able to burrow into qi rich soil which tend to be much tougher.
'The normal, benign route for such a tree like this to take would be like any number of Common Grade Trees you could find in a dense forest filled to the brim. Its body would be strong, its roots would be tough but likely not dig too deep in the soil, and that would limit its height overall.
'To a higher level cultivator, it would be useless. However, to an Awakening Realm or Pulse Opening Realm youth, it would be great for tempering bodies through a normal striking routine and if cut down, it could make the body of a rigid polearm.
'All in all, this is probably the simplest deduction to make. There's no complex layers, no twists, no turns. This should just be a solid tree with no changes at all. It should snap, not bed. And yet…'
Ryu's palm, which still rested on the tree trunk, suddenly pressed forward.
Right then, a tree that should have been as rigid as steel began to bow backward.
Ryu went slowly, knowing that with his strength, if he really wanted to, snapping the tree like a twig would be as easy as breathing. But, as he took his time, the tree bent more and more. Eventually, Ryu even took a step forward, walking alongside the tree as he continued to bend it.
Soon, the tree managed to make it to parallel with Ryu's waist without showing any signs of whining or groaning. Of course, this was in one part due to how slowly Ryu had taken things. But, the fact that it could accomplish a feat like this at all was enough to leave many in shock and awe.
BANG!
Ryu suddenly let go, causing the tree to snap back and overcorrect itself, smashing against the ground on the opposing side before coming back.
It whipped back and forth wildly, Ryu's gaze only growing brighter and brighter.
This tree… Broke all the rules.