A pillar of light broke through the 90 foot mark, approaching the 100 foot mark as though it had no intention of stopping before coming to an abrupt halt.
The young man standing beneath it had skin as dark as night and eyes as clear as stars. His irises looked as though a blue and golden nebula had crashed into one another before they could finally form his eyes. It was impossible to describe just how gorgeous the sight was.
The young man was neatly dressed and every hem of his clothing was perfect. He was handsome beyond words and had a magical air about him that made others feel like they could trust him with their lives.
This young man was completely unknown and was the first reason to cause the Inner Disciples in the skies to open their eyes in shock.
However, the second reason was right next to him.
There wasn't just a single pillar of light that surpassed the 90 foot mark, but there were two. In fact, this second one crossed the 100 foot mark.
This young man was just as if not faintly more handsome than the dark skinned young man. White hair flowed down his shoulders and back, a gorgeous butterfly fluttering on his shoulder.
However, as soon as this young man's pillar reached 100 feet, it was cut down by a third, falling to around 70 feet before stopping. Those that saw this scene couldn't help but watch with wide open eyes, they knew exactly what this meant.
This young man was three years older than he should be for his cultivation level. But, after seeing his talent, they easily ignored this, their eyes blazing.
Still, this didn't mean they didn't have questions. How was it that Ryu had such talent but his cultivation was so slow?
The best explanation was that his talent was concentrated in pillars that didn't necessarily accelerate cultivation speed, like Spiritual Foundation and Bone Structure. After all, not every Bone Structure was like Ryu's Ice Jade Crystal Body which allowed him to absorb qi through his skin.
In fact, depending on what your talents specialized in, it was possible that none of the four pillars would help you. The only exception was the Spiritual Foundation would always help with cultivation speed after reaching a certain level.
Of course, there was another explanation… And that was that Ryu was from a smaller world.
Considering the fact no one recognized him, this felt the most likely.
Linus cleared his throat after regaining his composure.
"Yes, right. The next stage will begin immediately. Those that've passed, you may continue up the mountain. You have three days to make it up the peak."
Several eyes were still focused on Ryu. Though it was only for a brief moment, his talent had definitely surpassed that of the dark skinned young man. Even the latter looked over curiously, an enigmatic smile spreading across his lips.
Ryu, however, had already begun to walk forward, entering the forest without a word.
With a flex of his ankle, he floated up to a tree branch and shot forward, his steps light and quick. His speed alone made the pupils of many constrict. Was this the kind of speed an Immortal Ring Realm expert should have?
Ryu's actions were like a BANG that sounded off in their minds, causing everyone to surge forward.
"Hey, what's your name." Nich came over to the dark skinned man and asked a question.
"Me?" The young man chuckled. "You can call me Starlight."
Starlight tapped his foot and shot forward as well.
Nich blinked. "What a weird name."
…
Ryu's steps came to a stop, his brow furrowing lightly. He had just realized that there was an odd maze formation here. The moment he entered, his orientation had been completely shifted. It was probably used to spread everyone out evenly to make it more difficult to work together.
He could only shake his head. He would have usually noticed such a thing before he even took a step into it, but it had actually taken him several seconds to even notice.
After understanding what was nagging at him, Ryu shot forward once again, his Spiritual Sense flourishing.
He restrained it to about 10 meters before stopping, focusing on absolute clarity.
The range of Ryu's Spiritual Sense was also greatly restrained in this world. Right now he was at the peak of the Soul Birth Realm, yet he only had a full range of about one kilometer. It was more than a little annoying, but Ryu could only accept it.
This was the new state of his being.
If others knew that he had such a powerful soul, though, they would be shocked. In the True Martial World, it was rare to have a kilometer wide range until you reached the Soul Ascension Realm, the first level of which was the Cosmic Seed Realm equivalent.
Ryu suddenly brandished his grandfather's bow, drawing its string and allowing the Glove of Order to thrum to life.
This time, he was ready and didn't lose his composure over the scrawniness of the arrow. He just took it on the chin and released.
The Glove of Order worked by using his comprehension and drawing on the Heavens to form an arrow. Clearly, Ryu's comprehensions were both lacking and it was more difficult to take things from these Heavens than it had been on Sacrum.
What Ryu didn't know was the fact that the Glove of Order could snatch things from the True Martial World at all was a shocking feat. In addition, the fact he could form an arrow at all was something he had to thank his meridians for!
If it wasn't for the fact that he had been forced to re-comprehend the Ruler Realm and beyond so many times, his comprehensions would have been nothing short of pathetic here, not nearly enough for the Glove of Order to do anything!
A Common Grade Beast was pierced right through the skull in the distance, allowing Ryu to shoot by without the slightest effort.