There was a simple solution that Ryu had missed. He had used his Dao before the refinement and fusion process, but shouldn't he use it during? This would solve all of these issues without him even having to take the steps that were mentioned. He could simply adapt to all these changes on the fly.
This was probably Ryu's largest oversight.
However, Ryu still didn't start right away. In fact, the first thing he did was crush his 92% pill and drop it into his 99% potion. Then, as though they weren't worth much at all, he began to pour the mixture into his cauldron.
The seasoning process was usually done with herbs. One would crush and apply them, smoothing it out into a paste and adding it to the inner surface of the cauldron. But like a blessed nouveau riche, Ryu was actually using a 99% potion and 92% pill instead!
In fact, one after another, Ryu repeated this process again and again for each of the nine pills that he had chosen. One after another, without fail, each was at 99%.
By the time he finished with the ninth pill, the inside of his cauldron was glowing with life and vitality. It was just a faint sheen, but compared to the dull black almost cast iron-like visage it had had before, this was akin to night and day.
During this process, Ryu knew that he could push past 99%, but he didn't allow his ego to get the best of him this time. If he seasons this cauldron with Runed potions and pills from the very beginning, it just might implode. Then, he would have to start all over again.
Now, however, it was ready.
There was no happiness or shock on Ryu's face. As far as he was concerned, this was just to be expected. He was an Immortal Ring Realm expert concocting Common Grade pills, it was more embarrassing than anything else that he hadn't immediately succeeded in finishing a Runed pill.
Of course, this wasn't how it worked. There were alchemy masters who were long since in the Sky God Realm that had never concocted a single Runed pill in their life. Even if they went back down to the Common Grade and tried, they would still fail, though their results might be five or so percentage points better.
If you couldn't succeed within your Realm, you would likely never succeed. This was a simple truth all alchemists knew, and Ryu knew it as well. It was just that…
He held himself to a far higher standard than others held themselves to.
Ryu was ready to start the next step even after a long day. Common Grade pills simply couldn't leave a dent in his stamina. But he hesitated before he acted.
He obviously couldn't withstand the tribulation from this place. But he also didn't dare to casually use his pill flame and potion waters outside. His pill flame relied on a combination of Ancestral Grade flames along with the unranked white flame. And, his potion water was the life's work of a Perfect Sky God.
He needed to use both pill and potion treasures to step into the combined path of both, a leap he planned to make right now. So it would be impossible to hide either.
If he had a higher tier cauldron, he could easily hide them both inside without an issue. But…
Ryu's gaze flashed. There was another possibility. He could simply fuse his Void Spiritual Sense with his flames and Yin Water, making it impossible to tell what it was even if they laid eyes on it. In addition, doing this would multiply his control over both manifolds, it was an absolute win-win.
Ryu tested it out and found that the solution was viable. He had never had great soul talent in his life, but in recent times, he was finding that it was only getting more and more useful to him. The fact he hadn't had such a thing in the past was almost a tragedy.
'Let's go all in, then.'
…
Ryu stepped out of his abode, causing a commotion for those who were still paying attention to his actions and what he would do. But he completely ignored them and took a leap upward, landing atop the rock structure of the abode.
When those still lingering in the surroundings saw the swath of Spiritual Herbs, they were shocked for a moment, and then suddenly confused about why Ryu would have so many Common Grade Spiritual Herbs.
He was concocting Common Grade pills? For what purpose, exactly?
However, Ryu had already begun, the ingredients for nine pills at once flying into his cauldron before the lid snapped closed.
The cauldron began to glow a fiery red and a docile blue until both colors fused and became a vibrant violet.
A suffocating pressure manifested from Ryu. It was a Dao the likes of which those here had never felt before, a Dao that made their knees weak and their bodies shiver. But for the life of them, they couldn't pinpoint its strength. In fact, even if Ryu hadn't used his Void Spiritual Sense, such a Dao was already beyond those of the First Heaven to calculate. There was a reason why those two Working Disciples of the Hidden Blade Sect had thought he had a Fragmented Dao at first, something only a Fragmented Sky God could have.
Time ticked by and Ryu's aura only seemed to grow stronger. The commotion he caused was not small, even disrupting the qi flow much higher into the mountain.
At that moment, the skies began to rumble, causing a ripple of shock to course through the hearts of those present. Those in the distance who had wanted to approach suddenly froze, beginning to back away instead.
A tribulation?
They could already feel the might of the First Heaven weighing down.
Ryu's lip curled. Oh? Are you angry? Get angrier.
"Take Form and Conquer the World!"
BOOM!
Within the cauldron, nine streams of energy and liquids hovered. Ryu could either choose to form them individually or take the final step right here and now, and attempt to combine them.
Without hesitation, Ryu chose the latter.
The moment he acted, a bolt of tribulation lightning descended, its speed face and its intention menacing.
However, Ryu only removed a single hand from his cauldron, his eyes glowing with a green light as he pierced upward.
Dividing Tribulation.
Under the shocked gazes of all those present, Ryu shattered the bolt of tribulation as though it was nothing more than rotten wood.
Sparks of lightning fell down and Ryu easily took control of them all, feeding them into his cauldron.
Test his concoctions? Were these First Heavens even worthy?
It could just sit sight in a rage and provide his creation with the energy it needed to shatter the 99% barrier.