Ailsa had finished the preparations for the Immortal Grade Realm Heart long ago. The Godhead of a Sky God that had been on the verge of crossing the final barrier into the True Sky God Realm was more than enough of a catalyst.
Ryu found himself sitting in meditation, shirtless. A complex jade-green formation was drawn around him and Ailsa sat to his back, her palm resting on his spine. A pulsing power began to emanate, surging across the Moon World.
An Immortal Grade Realm Heart would only be a minor boost to his battle strength from Ryu's understanding of things. Its main function would only be allowing his cultivation speed through the Immortal Realms to skyrocket, but Ryu had no plans of improving his cultivation any time soon. As such, it could be said that the only reason Ryu was wasting time doing this was so that he could maximize his chances in all aspects.
However, what truly happened was far beyond Ryu's expectations in every way, shape and fashion.
The moment Ryu felt a crack in his heart and his Realm Heart shattered its glass ceiling, evolving to an all new level, it was as though the flood gates had been opened.
Ryu's Inheritances, which had all constantly progressed, only to regress back down to the Ruler Realm time and time again suddenly surged upward. All of Ryu's accumulated understanding stacked and flourished, rising up so quickly and forcefully that the Essence that fell for their comprehension almost overwhelmed the formation Ailsa had laid to help the breakthrough in the first place.
Ryu and Ailsa alike sat in a daze, but that seemed to just be the start.
At that moment, Ryu's Northern Heavenly Wind also flourished, rising past the mortal grades and skyrocketing into the Immortal Grades before finally halting at its very peak. It swallowed up all the volatile Essence as though it couldn't get enough. By the end of it all, Ryu found himself accidentally floating in the air, almost as though he had become as light as a feather that could be blown away at any time.
When it all finally settled down, Ryu frowned.
He had been trying to understand what was wrong with his Inheritances all this time, only for them to suddenly step through the threshold they had no ability to cross before and reach the Dominion Realms in a single step.
If Ryu said he wasn't shocked, he would be lying. Was it really his Realm Heart that had been holding him back this entire time? No, that didn't make any sense. Realm Hearts were supposed to be a booster, not a gate keeper. So what the hell was going on?
"I think I finally understand…"
Ailsa's soft voice immediately caught Ryu's attention.
"… Think about what it took to reach this point. Sure, it was a series of coincidences, but they all stacked up due to a decision your <Intuition> had made. Maybe from the very beginning, things were designed to be in this way.
"The only way for you to awaken to the true abilities of your Chaotic Silk Meridians was by skipping the Spiritual Severing Realm. However, that wasn't the only hurdle you had to climb. Remember, I advised you to not reconnect with your Spiritual Foundation too soon or else the tempering your meridians were receiving from the Chaos Plane would weaken and you'd lose the special characteristics you had gained, thus making it all meaningless. You would have lost the benefits of the Spiritual Severing Realm without gaining the massive boost that came with Chaos Qi."
The moment Ailsa said this words, Ryu's eyes lit up with understanding, but he didn't interrupt her.
"When you think about it, there's no way for any normal person to meet those requirements. In order to strengthen your connection with the Chaos Plane, you had to cultivate. But, in order to allow that connection to happen, you couldn't have a Spiritual Foundation.
"Those two things can't possibly coincide with one another. Cultivation can't happen without a Spiritual Foundation, that's one of the most basic truths of the Martial World. Unless… Unless you somehow stumble upon a Realm Heart."
Ryu nodded slowly, the pieces slowly coming together.
"The Realm Heart was never just an accessory to your cultivation, it was a main cog in the wheel that made you so powerful. It's no wonder that your Inheritances have been stagnant, then. The rules that you're working within and the parameters of your cultivation is far different from anyone else.
"Tell me how you feel right now. Have the restrictions on your cultivation ban loosened somewhat?"
"Mm.." Ryu nodded. "… My Intuition tells me that I've taken a strong step in the right direction, but it isn't quite yet time for me to start cultivating again."
"If I'm correct, this is likely a combination of two things. The first are the variables of your Chaotic Silk Meridians. There are definitely other complex steps that you should be taking that aren't immediately obvious, steps your Intuition might be trying to guide you through.
"The second variable is that of a cultivation method. From your run-in with the two Hidden Blade Sect members, it seems that your meridians are highly sought after. That likely means that someone or some entity has already long since figured out how this works. In that case, there's a very high likelihood that there exists a completed cultivation method you'll have to find so that you won't have to continue relying on luck like this.
"It makes sense that everything has stalled at the Path Extinction Realm and that it's only now that your Inheritances have recovered. The Path Extinction Realm is inherently a Realm reliant on comprehension and putting them through trials.
"If I'm correct, you likely won't be able to break past the Dominion Realms until you manage to accumulate enough to evolve your Realm Heart into the Cosmic Grades. However, the benefits will be just as great as this. The continuous comprehension and recomprehension has helped you refine your Inheritances to a level I've never seen or even read about before..
"Also, I believe that you should pay keen attention to your Realm Heart from now on. I have a feeling that it's meant to grow an evolve along with you. The changes to it might soon display itself to be different from usual Realm Hearts…"
"I see…"
Ryu spoke slowly, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. After a light exhale he stood.
"Let's go. We don't have time to waste."
"Where to?"
"The Death Shrine." Ryu responded, his gaze turning cold before suddenly softening. "But to enter the Shrine Plane now would be tricky. I'll have to go to the Rebirth Shrine first… And say goodbye to my Grandma Tatsuya…."