Ryu was about to begin concocting a new pill, but he chose to take a pause instead, watching as Jeneless and Koris made their way forward. It was very clear and obvious that the Radiant Star Sect had no ability to stop these two from acting as they pleased, even to the point where they simply strolled up to Ryu's residence like this.
In fact, if Ryu had been inside, he had no doubt that they would have forced themselves in regardless. They didn't seem to have such qualms.
Ryu was quite used to dealing with people like this. Jeneless might have come here after he made her, but that didn't mean that she would be happy about it. In fact, the fact she buried her rage and came here likely meant that she was going to try to find a way to pressure him and return it a hundredfold.
Jeneless swept a glance over the region, lingering far longer on Selheira, who sat by Ryu's side, than anyone else. Though her eyes narrowed, she didn't say anything to the mysterious veiled woman and simply turned to Ryu.
"Don't allow my presence to stop you. Since you dare to concoct out in the open, I presume you also don't care about having one more observer, correct?"
Ryu rested an elbow on his thigh, propping his jaw up with a fist as he stared at Jeneless. He didn't seem to be in any hurry to start, nor did he seem put off by the gaze of someone so powerful.
"Instead of playing games, why don't you tell me what you want?"
Ryu's bluntness caught Jeneless off guard. In her mind, Ryu would want to stall for as long as possible and take her up on her offer.
In truth, Jeneless, while 90% certain that Ryu was relying on a treasure, wasn't quite yet 100%. The reason for that was because Ryu was too casual. Even if Ryu was too immature to know how to hide his secrets and bide his time, was he also stupid enough to concoct out in the open like this knowing that he could be exposed at any moment?
Jeneless wanted to check personally if there were any tricks that Ryu was playing. She didn't trust these dregs of the First Heaven to have eyes as sharp as herself. But she also hadn't expected Ryu to not even entertain her.
She had heard from Koris how arrogant this young man was, but she didn't expect that he would still dare to be like this when she was standing right here.
Koris' temper flared and he almost exploded. But when he remembered that Selheira was still there, he managed to restrain himself, remembering what had happened last time. He still had no idea how his attack had been so unceremoniously dismissed without the slightest hint of effort.
He was certain that if Selheira wasn't there, he could slap Ryu to death with a single palm. Of course, what he didn't know was that Ryu might not be able to defeat him, but him believing that a single palm was more than enough was nothing short of a pipe dream.
In fact, if he tried to push Ryu too far, Ryu had some methods that could make him suffer greatly. Ryu would rather be exposed than humiliated, and once he was exposed, his fury would know no bounds. He didn't have much sympathy or patience for people insistent on pushing him into a corner.
Jeneless opened her mouth to speak, but was surprisingly interrupted by Selheira.
"You are Jeneless of the Frost Cap Mountain, correct? If my information is correct, you should be one of the overseers for the coming selection. According to the rules, it is inappropriate for an overseer to see a contestant ahead of the coming date, isn't that correct?"
Jeneless froze, his gaze flickering with confusion and then a bit of irritation.
"Do you really take me for a fool? An Immortal Ring Realm expert participating in such a competition? Do you take me for a dog you can just shoo away?"
Jeneless was surprised by her own words. She didn't know why she felt so agitated when meeting Selheira's gaze. She didn't even feel her soul hurting any longer, she only felt that this woman was extremely soothing for some reason, but that only made her more annoyed.
"Not all Immortal Ring Realm experts are created equal," Selheira replied just as gently.
Jeneless pursed her lips and nodded her head before she released a chuckle.
"Okay, alright." Her laugh became slightly more unhinged, but just barely managed to remain within the boundaries of elegance. "Then I, Jeneless Revardan, choose to tag Ryu Tatsuya as my Chosen. Should he not appear on the day of the competition, I reserve the right to slaughter him as I deem fit. I assume that you have no qualms about this?"
Rather than responding, Selheira looked toward Ryu. But, Ryu himself hadn't budged an inch, it was as though he hadn't taken it all very seriously at all. Selheira might have spoken for him, but she was very much correct, he had every intention of participating, he was already very close to having the necessary strength.
Well, "necessary" was relative. Ryu could already compete, but just competing wasn't his style.
The skies above thundered and Jeneless' head snapped upward. She suddenly frowned, looking back toward Ryu himself. Did his name already weigh so heavily in the First Heaven? Something felt off.
Seeing that she wasn't going to get a response from Ryu, Jeneless sneered and turned to leave. There was nothing more to say here.
This plan was actually even better than her original one. Since she had laid claim to Ryu, she had every moral right to step in as she pleased. If Ryu dared not to show up, then dealing with him would be easy. If he actually did dare to show up, then the moment he lost, dealing with him would be even easier.
When the two were gone, Selheira spoke.
"I'm sorry for speaking on your behalf."
"You spoke the truth and got rid of an annoying pest for me, I don't see the issue."
Selheira smiled. "You don't strike me as a person who is so understanding."
"Usually not," Ryu spoke as he began to concoct his next pill. "Only my family would be able to get away with that most of the time. My temper isn't the best."
"Your family?"
"My parents, my grandparents, and my wives," Ryu replied.
Selheira smiled. "That's rare. You sound like you are very close with them, that usually doesn't happen. Close families in this kind of world don't happen very often…"
There was a hint of melancholy in Selheira's voice that made it quite clear that this was something she longed for but couldn't have. One couldn't choose your family, unfortunately, and if there was one thing that Ryu was blessed to have in this world other than his talent, it was definitely that.
Her plight reminded Ryu of Ailsa. Even until the end, he hadn't seen an appearance of the Faerie King and his so-called father-in-law. With such a large commotion taking place, Ryu didn't believe for a moment that the Faerie King was unaware.
But, once again, the Faeries had chosen to remain unmoving and neutral. They simply weren't a people under a leadership that he could respect.
Ryu finished off another pill and stored it away before using the rest of the ingredients to season his Embryonic Cauldron further.
"Then you'll just have to make your own family."
Ryu met Selheira's gaze and there didn't seem to be any devious intentions behind his unfocused silvery eyes.
After a moment, Ryu rose to his feet, his thoughts still swarming about. Thoughts of how to increase his body's strength were still at the forefront of his mind. In fact, even when Jeneless had been here, most of these thoughts had been occupied by it.
"Let's go to a place. I'll give you 70% of the rewards so long as I can borrow your strength and you allow me first choice of the items."
Selheira's brows raised. She already had quite the understanding of Ryu and this wasn't normally something that he would say either. But in the end, she nodded.
In truth, she wasn't very interested in this 70%, but she knew that if she rejected it, Ryu wouldn't bother going anymore.
Several hours later, thanks to the speed of the snow owl, the two made it back to a familiar mountain range.
It took several more hours for Ryu to find the true entrance, but once he did, Selheira's curiosity was piqued.
"A Ruin? It seems to be a Perfect Grade Ruin at that. I didn't know you had such skills as a Ruin Master."
It was clear that Ryu hadn't known where the entrance was until they got here, yet it only took him a few hours to find. Selheira was maybe more shocked about this than even Ryu's skill in alchemy. But that was because…
"I didn't expect that you would also be a Ruin Master, this will make things much easier," Ryu replied.
Selheira's brows jumped before the gentle smile returned to her face.
Ryu was actually so sharp.