Ryu walked through the Shrine Plane. Frost covered much of everything, but the chilling winds felt like nothing more than a refreshing breeze to him. Everything was comfortable and his expression gave nothing away.
This was the very first time Ryu was truly walking through the Shrine Plane alone. He had always had at least Nuri by his side. And, though technically Nuri and Ailsa were with him now in the Incubator, in practice he was alone. Any danger and any situation that had to be faced would be done by him and him alone.
It was quite surreal.
The Shrine Plane was among the most dangerous regions in Sacrum and that didn't even begin to describe the individual environments.
Due to the many spatial barriers, most of the Shrine Plane was wilderness and uncivilized. Only small pockets were controlled by cultivators while much of everything else was under the jurisdiction of nature and its beasts.
While the Ancestral Beasts had been gone for a very long time, the Shrine Plane had the highest concentration of Sovereign Grade beasts in the whole of Sacrum. And, some of these Sovereign Beast species had begun to evolve in a way that in the future, certain bloodlines might even begin to rival that of Ancestral Beasts.
This was the way of the world. Bringing a Bloodline back to its former peak was very difficult. However, evolving a Bloodline into something entirely new and just as powerful over many generations was much easier. Well, easy wasn't the appropriate term, but it had happened much more frequently than the reverse considering to the people of Sacrum, the reverse was impossible.
Take Nemesis, for instance. He was an example of the Wrath Knight Bloodline regressing to the point of becoming a mere Black Grade Bloodline. However, in just a single generation, an odd mutation allowed him to skyrocket past his immediate Ancestors and become something that had the potential to step beyond.
Of course, Nemesis wasn't the best comparison, this was because he was actually relying on one of the strongest Talents of the Wrath Knight to begin with. However, it still painted the kind of picture Ryu was thinking of as he strolled through the thick trees.
Ailsa seemed to have finally found a method of reverting a Bloodline back to its pinnacle, and Ryu had experienced it personally. It was thanks to this that he could now hear the wisdom of his Ancestors rushing through his veins.
However, there was no doubting that this ultimately wasn't the way of the world. Humans and Beasts wanted to do their best to preserve what it is they had, but the Heavens always wanted to evolve, to improve, to seek out what was better and new.
Ryu didn't know if this was intentional or if it was just the coincidence of nature. After all, not all improvements were better and it even seemed smarter to keep what you had once you had stumbled onto something powerful. But, maybe that was just him assigning his logic as a human onto the magnificence of Heaven.
Ever since Ryu had comprehended his Dao and had begun his balance his hatred and appreciation, his awe of the Heavens only seemed to grow. But, it was also that that made him all the more confident in his Dao. He was certain that there would be no Dao that could surpass his own, none greater and none more grandiose.
And yet… According to those two men, his Dao was merely at the pinnacle of the Dominion Realms and still a hair's breadth away from Hegemony. That meant that there were an entire three grades of Daos that trampled above his head.
This matter might have discouraged someone else, but for Ryu… It only fueled an insatiable desire. He really wanted to see and meet those Daos, to devour them and crush them beneath his feet. He wanted to see who was truly worthy of having Daos stronger than his own.
Ryu's steps suddenly came to a grinding halt.
The crunch of snow beneath his feet slowly faded into a soft and subtle echo. A dense pack of trees hung around him and everything felt quite eerily silent. The air smelt fresh and there was even a hint of sweetness to it, almost like newly formed paper or parchment.
There wasn't anything wrong with the atmosphere, it was even quite beautiful. And yet, Ryu didn't move.
He slowly stretched out a finger and tapped at the air. Almost instantly, his finger was torn open, the wound even leaving a thin line on his body before he managed to rapidly retreat.
Ryu's placid expression curled into a smile. The line was so thin that even he almost missed it. Just a single more step and his skull would have been split in two. Even that touch had almost severed his finger entirely, if he hadn't pulled back in time, he would have lost at least 20% the length of his pointer finger.
To swordsmen, their fingers were greatly important, especially their pointer finger. Severing a swordsman's arm wasn't the only way to cripple them, taking a finger or two was more than enough.
Ryu looked at his finger and its healing was almost agonizingly slow. The fact that it had cut his body despite its current level with such ease was one thing, but the fact that it could even slow his healing factor down to such an extreme was another shock unto itself.
'Interesting…'
Ryu flicked a finger. In that moment, a light of sword qi whistled forward.
CLANG!
The sword qi reflected outward, suddenly beginning to bounce and rebound across the forest before going off in a flashbang of light. In the next instant it was suddenly strikingly obvious that Ryu stood in the midst of a forest of threads, each capable of slicing him apart with just the slightest of touches. And, it only seemed to be closing around him faster and faster.
It seemed that he had fallen into a death trap, and yet his smile didn't fade.
"You're quite greedy, little one. But, you'll soon learn that you have to pay the consequences of your own actions. How about you come with me? If you survive this battle, I just might let you stay by my side?"
In a shocking move, Ryu suddenly punched out.