Leolar couldn't believe what he was seeing. This sort of Dao shouldn't appear in a middling world like this one. And, even if it did, it should have appeared on one of those ignorant bastards that dared to call themselves True Sky Gods when in reality, they were nothing more than pathetic caricatures of what they claimed to be.
However, the instant Ryu entered a battle stance, it felt as though his entire world view had been flipped on its head. His cockiness and confidence flew away, his expression turned serious and his heart began to thrum.
They had made a mistake. A huge mistake.
After a moment, though, Leolar calmed, sighing a breath of relief. He had almost gotten ahead of himself, he had been mistaken. This wasn't a Fragmented Dao, if it was, he would truly be finished. At least, it wasn't there yet. But, for such an existence to have such a Dao…
"No, it isn't a Fragmented Dao. It's still in the Nurturing Phase, but its pressure… I'm afraid that this is at least a Hegemonic Grade Dao, Senior Brother. This isn't a joke at all."
Leolar's Junior Brother, Ariad, also had a serious expression on his face. Although they hadn't been correct on their original assumption, their apprehension had hardly lessened at all. If anything, this actually made them all the more cautious. Their Hidden Blade Sect were known for their sensory abilities, when dealing with and designing such small and intricate mechanisms, not only did it require good senses to not mess up, it was also required of them to have enough skill to build such mechanisms in the first place.
For them to be fooled, it meant that even if Ryu didn't truly have a Fragmented Dao, it was highly likely that he would one day in the future. This meant that this young man, so long as he didn't die early, was practically guaranteed to become a Fragmented Sky God at the very least.
If Ryu heard such a thing, he would have scoffed at it. Fragmented Sky God? He didn't ever plan on stepping into such a realm, he planned on becoming a True Sky God at worst in a single bound. But, this was only because Ryu was ignorant of what the weight of these titles meant in the true Martial World.
To the section of Existence Leolar and Ariad had come from, a genius of Ryu's caliber was great enough to become the Inheritor of their Sect. They, as two middling Working Disciples, could only take this battle with the utmost seriousness.
In the Martial World, there were two separate categorizations of Dao. The first was its Grade and the second was its level. Compared to how casually these matters were dealt with in Sacrum, to wider Existence, everything was noted down to the finest detail. As important as the Natural Order was to cultivators, that was ultimately just a comprehension of what the Heavens provided. True Cultivators focused not on this, but on themselves. There was no greater foundational strength than one's Dao.
This was why the pair had completely disregarded whatever shabby cultivation methods Ryu must have been using up until now. If a Sect in their region found out about Ryu's existence, not to mention the fact he had Chaotic Silk Meridians, they would pour everything they had into rebuilding his foundation from the ground up for no other reason than his Dao and that alone. He could be a cripple otherwise for all they cared, they could fix that too.
A Dao's level was straight forward. This was the categorization of power it could output and inputs its could negate. It was often tied to certain cultivation levels, though by convention, having a Dao a step or two behind your current cultivation Realm was considered about average.
Daos beneath the Sky God Realms were all labeled as Nurturing Phase Daos. They were separated into Mortal Daos, Immortal Daos and finally, Cosmic Daos. Within these three categories, there were degrees of separation.
There were six levels of Mortal Dao, three levels of Immortal Dao, and there were two levels of Cosmic Dao. Each of these levels corresponded with a cultivation Realm.
The reason these were known as Nurturing Phase Daos was because their existence was known to not only explosively increase power, but they were also known to speed up cultivation to an extraordinary degree. A Dao of a certain level was like an immortal fertilizer, causing a spring of wealth and power to spring forth. This was especially obvious beneath the Sky God Realms, so it was obvious why this would be more important than what talent Ryu might have.
A powerful Dao or a sudden comprehension could make even a Common Grade Talent a monster.
Beyond the Cosmic Dao were the Sky God Realms, a level where the weight of Daos became more than just about nurturing and became foundational to strength. At this level, having a Dao beneath your level was impossible as it was a minimum requirement for your Cultivation Realm, however having one above your Realm also became as rare as phoenix feathers as well.
These Daos followed the naming convention of the Sky God Realms. Fragmented Daos, False Daos, True Daos, Perfect Daos, Transcended Daos, Omniscient Daos, Ordered Daos, Chaotic Daos and finally, Origin Daos.
But this was only the tip of the iceberg. Even two Daos of the same level weren't necessarily of the same strength. Daos that could be more powerful within level were somewhat more common, but those that could be more powerful across levels were a different monster entirely.
Common Daos. True Daos. Lineal Daos. Dynastic Daos. Sovereign Daos. Dominion Daos. Hegemonic Daos. Ancient Daos. And, finally, Founding Daos.
Each of these categories carried with it a powerful degree of separation. However, even a Lineal or Dynastic Dao couldn't just cross levels as it pleased. Even at that level, a Cosmic Dao would always be above an Immortal Dao. However… Once you entered the ranks of Dominion Daos, some of this understanding began to collapse… And upon entering the Hegemonic Dao ranks, the rules only seemed to collapse faster…
By now, the duo understood.
Ryu, despite being born in this backwater world, somehow had formed what seemed to be a Hegemonic Dao. Even if their assessment was off by a measure, it was a Dominion Dao at the weakest. It was simply hard for them to tell because they had never interacted with such a high grade Dao before. Even their Sect leaders, old monsters they had never personally laid eyes on, only had Lineal Daos.
Of course, whether Ryu's Dao could maintain this grade as he improved it was still unknown, but what was certain was that it was exceptionally high level right this very moment.
This meant that Ryu had, at worst, a Dominion Dao. And, from what they could tell, it was at the First Level of the Immortal Dao Grade.
It had to be remembered that having Daos of a lower grade than your cultivation level was common. Ryu had an Immortal Ring Realm Dao while at the Path Extinction Realm. But they still had Sixth Level Mortal Daos at the very same Realm.
To make matters worse, their Daos were Common Daos while Ryu's seemed to be leagues beyond. This… Was no joking matter.
If they also knew that to Ryu's people, Daos were a matter strictly left for Sky Gods and he hadn't purposely cultivated his own until he stumbled into its comprehension, who knew how they would react?
"Hegemonic Dao? That doesn't sound like the highest level."
Ryu's knife danced in his palms, spinning through his fingers before settling back down. He had just learned of the ranking system for Clans and Sects, so he knew well there were two levels above. And, it seemed that these two weren't even sure if he was that high, which meant to a real expert he might only have a Dominion Dao.
Ryu chuckled. "My Dao is considered so weak to your world? Now I really want to go."
"Weak?" The two men looked toward one another. Reflected in their eyes, it seems they both knew they had run into an ignorant madman. The combination was definitely lethal.
"I'm glad you two came to me. I didn't really have a reason to antagonize you, but I really don't like hidden weapons. This gives me just the excuse I needed, I have to thank you for that."
The serious expressions of their two Sect brothers flared with a hint of rage when they heard these words. No one in the Martial World would dare to say that.
"What did you just say?"
Ryu stretched his neck, tapping his foot. His body seemed to float for a moment before he vanished. When he reappeared, his knife had already appeared at Ariad's throat.
Ariad's eyes widened. Reacting quickly, he shot backward, just barely dodging. However…
A wisp of blood flowed down Ryu's blade, silently dripping to the ground.
"Huh. Someone in the Path Extinction Realm actually dodged my attack."
Ryu suddenly began to laugh beside himself. He hadn't felt like this in a long time, not since he survived at the hands of Leopold and reaped life from the jaws of death.
He wanted to understand, he needed to understand. Just how far he still had yet to climb.
He felt as though his veins had been injected with adrenaline and his heart beat wildly as his Dragon Soul finally erupted.
"Come on!"
Ryu vanished again, his blades dancing like intertwining snakes.