Ryu took deep breaths, spread out like a starfish. He hadn't thought that as difficult as <Roaring Sky Serpent> had been, that <Whispering Petals> would be even more difficult.
Because he actually had to move to comprehend the profundities of this Dao Charm technique, he had lost count of the number of times his legs had broken.
Truthfully, he didn't have to move. It was just that after the first crack, he felt that there was something beautiful about it that compelled him to move.
Luckily, after reaching Initial Success, the leg breaking didn't happen unless Ryu wanted it to. And, of course he only "wanted it" when he pushed past the current 1% circulation he could use with the technique.
If others saw his training method, they could only conclude that he was a masochist. But, his masochistic tendencies had definitely worked.
Ryu had reached Small Success in both <Thirteen Soaring Azures> and <Roaring Sky Serpent>, and he had reached Initial Success in <Whispering Petals>. Now, they would at least be usable in battle.
Ryu flipped himself upward, finding his way to the wall and pressing a button. Soon, a Sky God beauty appeared with a polite smile on her face and her hands clasped before her womb. She looked like a modern-day saint, but the change in her eyes when she saw Ryu's state was anything but saint-like.
"Yes, young master. Is there anything you need?"
This was the first time Ryu had called for service in the almost three months he had spent here. Yet, she had responded without the slightest pause. It was clear that these servants were very professional, albeit a little too promiscuous.
Then again, the Sky God beauty could hardly be blamed. After all, anyone who could join Violet VIP was someone more than worth such effort. Who knew, maybe if she was lucky, she just might get pregnant. Even though carrying a bastard child wasn't glamorous, it was all a matter of perspective.
From her current lowly position, she would instantly rise to an all new height. Any man who could afford such a trip was worth her investment.
"How much longer until we land?" Ryu asked, ignoring the woman's forward attitude.
Steam practically rolled off of his body, his bare torso pumping with vitality.
"Just about a little over a day from now, young sir."
"In that case, bring me the entire food quota I've missed these last three months."
The Sky God beauty's expression changed. "A… Are you sure?"
"Mm." Ryu nodded.
The Sky God beauty had been trained to never ask the same question twice as that could easily annoy high profile clients, so she immediately scampered off to do as she was told.
By now, Ryu had gotten used to the idea of Sky Gods doing such menial tasks. If he was correct, there was likely a difference between this Sky God beauty, those Deacons, and the Sky Gods of the True Martial World.
Though the Sky God Beauty gave Ryu more pressure than the Sky Gods of Sacrum did, it wasn't by a large enough margin to constitute the difference between Sacrum and the True Martial World. Instead, it was a sort of in between state.
In all likelihood, it was either this Sky God beauty had come from a middle level world like Ryu and then benefited from staying in this environment for an extended period of time, or, she had come from a higher level world and was thus stronger as a result.
Either way, Ryu was certain that it wasn't the norm for Sky Gods to be servants on the True Martial World. Or, more accurately, it wasn't the norm for Sky Gods of the caliber of True Martial World standards to be servants.
This was likely only a role weaker Sky Gods were placed into, and it was a Fate that Ryu would have shared had he not stepped into this world early enough.
Seeing these scenes around him, he was even more determined to not allow such a thing to happen to him.
Soon, the Sky God beauty returned with several spatial rings. With a speed appropriate for her cultivation, she quickly cleaned Ryu's living quarters and began to set up his meal. Then, she stood to the side silently, not disturbing him as he sat.
The table was long, but it was far too short to fit everything. So the Sky God beauty had no choice but to wait to the side like this, ready to swap things as needed.
In truth, this was also her method of saving Ryu some face. This amount of food was designed to stuff even someone at a higher cultivation in a single day. But, Ryu had made her bring over food for 90 days!
Even for a talent like Ryu, eating so much food was too tall of a task. So, the woman planned on pretending like this was all the food there was after Ryu couldn't eat anymore. Like that, she would be able to help Ryu.
But, when Ryu really started to eat, her eyes couldn't help but widen.
Her first thought was that she had never seen anyone eat so quickly and elegantly at the same time. His skills were so refined that there was no doubt in her mind that he came from a very noble origin.
But, more importantly, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. These were all individuals of a Heaven Grade. Not the Heaven Grade of Sacrum, but rather the Heaven Grade the True Martial World. The two couldn't even be remotely compared.
Even she would have trouble biting into and chewing just the meat alone, but Ryu practically swallowed it all whole.
More shockingly, even if he could chew it, it would have left a heavy pit in his stomach. But, when the Sky God beauty glanced at Ryu's rippling torso, she didn't see even the slightest bulge. It was as though he had a blackhole in his gut.
As the Sky God beauty watched, her eyes lit up brighter and brighter.
Digestion was a huge component of a cultivator's strength and it was one of the easiest ways to differentiate talents from the untalented. The stronger your digestion, the more robust your qi circulation, and, most important, the stronger your Bloodlines.
To be able to swallow Heaven Grade food so quickly and without even the slightest frown on his face, the only explanation was that Ryu had at least a Heaven Grade Bloodline.
When the Sky God beauty thought to this point, her heart rolled in waves.
A Heaven Grade Bloodline! A real Heaven Grade Bloodline! She practically shivered in excitement.
If she had a son with a Heaven Grade Bloodline, she could lead her Clan out of her world and finally establish a foothold in the True Martial World!
If Ryu knew the thoughts of the woman, he would only look at her weirdly. Let alone Heaven Grade, he had four Ancestral Grade Bloodlines. Well… two. As for the third, he really wasn't sure what it was. It had potentially evolved into an Origin Grade Bloodline, he still had to learn more about it.
Still, Ryu didn't have the patience to focus on the woman at all. Every bite he took made him feel as though his shackles were being shrugged off his body.
He didn't quite know how to explain it, but this felt like the first time he was truly eating Heaven Grade food. It was like the true benefits had been sealed from him previously and were only making their presences known now.
Every bite he took made his Bloodlines awaken just a little bit more. He even felt like if he continued, he might begin to awaken a flood of Bloodline Talents.
What Ryu didn't know was that in the True Martial World, they didn't experience Bloodline Talent Awakenings, at least not in the same way.
Aside from a few exceptionally rare Talents, when someone was born with a Bloodline, all of its Talents were awoken all at once. Something like awakening Talents one by one only happened in smaller worlds.
However, those from smaller worlds also had to be very cautious with bringing over their Bloodlines to the True Martial World because much like Ryu would have gotten his meridians snatched if he was any weaker, one could imagine what would happen if others learned of his Bloodlines as well!
Luckily, Ryu had a plan for this. Or, more accurately, Sarriel had a plan she had shared with him.
'I see… So the gap is actually so large. Right now, my Bloodlines are like engines without the proper fuel. So long as I eat enough Heaven Grade foods, I should be able to unshackle my Bloodlines to the Heaven Grade. But, right now, they're probably only about as strong as high level Common Grade Bloodlines in the True Martial World.
'It's no wonder my body cultivation was so weak against those Hidden Blade Sect members.'
Ryu remembered being confused when he fought those two. His cultivation had been in the Path Extinction Realm, just like them. But, his body cultivation had been the equivalent of a Cosmic Seed Realm expert, so how was it that he hadn't crushed them far easier than he had?
Now, he had his answer. His body was being shackled by weakness. He would have to shrug all of these chains off before he finally took another step in his Body Cultivation.
'It seems I need more food.'
…
Soon, over the horizon, the outline of the True Martial World entered view.