Ryu's mind wasn't on any of this, though, he was entirely enraptured by the profundity of Elder Aika's earlier strike. If he was correct, she didn't need to display such might earlier, it was only because of her sudden inspired breakthrough that she had used such a top level application of her Dao.
Just then, the metal palm split in two but the Fragmented Sky God was riddled with nine holes… It didn't seem to make sense. If there were nine attacks, then why wouldn't the metal palm also gain nine holes?
It seemed that there was a simple answer. After all, even Qi Refinement Realm experts could control their streams of energy perfectly. Maybe she just split a blade attack into nine.
But what would be the purpose of that? Especially when the nine holes essentially split the man down in half as well. After all, every single one of the lines had gone down a straight vertical line.
It was then that it hit Ryu. Now that he thought about it, Elder Aika hadn't swept her cane out either, she had pierced it forward.
That meant that somehow, a straight line pierce, had become a vertical slice, that then became nine individual holes. The profundity was on a level that Ryu found difficult even to wrap his head around.
This wasn't a simple application of qi, it was a use of qi that sat within realms Ryu couldn't even fathom.
He couldn't help but think of an experiment. When one shot out a stream of particles toward two slits, one would expect to receive two streams back on the other side. This was what should happen if particles always acted like particles.
But what truly happened was that one would receive a wave pattern on the other side with a distribution based on probability, something that made no intuitive sense. This was a mystery of the universe and Existence that Sacrum simply didn't have a solid answer for.
However, Elder Aika seemed to have grasped a Dao where she could easily and freely make use of these principles. She could pierce out with a single stream, casually change it into an arc, and then reform it into a single or even multiple streams as she pleased.
Her level of insights and control over qi was at a level that far surpassed the lower Sky God levels.
Until now, Ryu had been certain that Elder Aika had been at the Fragmented Sky God level. But now… Now he wasn't so sure.
It only confirmed his suspicions further when, upon her breakthrough, her back straightened, her wrinkles smoothed out, and her greying hairs began to slowly fade. However, this final process, Elder Aika seemed to stop it of her volition. Even as she once more became a city toppling beauty and her skin regained its soft, suppleness, she kept her cane and her greying hairs.
In the end, she was still a great deal shorter than Selheira and Ryu, barely coming up to their shoulders, but she looked like she had become a 21 year old woman once again. If it wasn't because she had kept those silver strands of hair in her deep black locks, one wouldn't even be able to reconcile the two images.
Why was it that Elder Aika's youth had reaffirmed to Ryu that she couldn't be a Fragmented Sky God?
Well, one would only age to the extent Elder Aika had when they were quickly approaching the end of their lifespan. A genius capable of understanding the profundities of qi to such an extreme and even applying it into their Dao like she had wouldn't be stifled by a mere False Sky God bottleneck for so long.
Realizing this, Ryu could only conclude that Elder Aika was far above the Fragmented Sky God Realm.
It was just a conjecture, and he couldn't pinpoint her true cultivation because he had too little experience with the True Martial World Sky God Realms, but he was certain of at least this.
The question was… why was someone so powerful on the First Heaven?
Ryu's gaze narrowed. It seemed that he was very correct to come to the Radiant Star Sect.
Originally, he came because he felt that there was a secret behind why Galemar, a genius of the Two Star Galemar Clan, would choose to come to a True One Star Sect instead of just training with his Clan. And it seemed that he was very correct, there was a secret here.
Elder Aika chuckled. "What is it, Little Ryu? Has this old woman become too beautiful for you to look away?"
Elder Aika's chortling broke the silence, but despite her joking tone, she truly was too beautiful. She was the kind of beauty that should probably choose to wear a veil like Selheira had so as to avoid being constantly harassed. But Elder Aika had been growing old for so long, how could she have the time to care to wear a veil?
This breakthrough had truly been an unexpected boon. She had expected to slowly die at her current level, but she never expected that she would gain some benefit from a little Immortal Ring Realm practitioner's Dao breakthrough.
Elder Aika sent a small glance toward Ryu's forehead covered in a headband and seemed to have made a guess at something. But she didn't say anything about it at all.
To her surprise, though, Ryu nodded.
"You are indeed very beautiful."
Elder Aika was stunned speechless. She took Ryu for the cold, stoic type. But it seemed that he had some passion in his heart as well. Or, at the very least, he was the type who couldn't be bothered to lie about his intentions.
Ryu liked cold and arrogant women, and Elder Aika definitely wasn't like that. However, usually, cold and arrogant women also tended to be older women as well, so Ryu had a fondness for women much older too.
The charm the teasing elder had was undeniable. She had slight oriental features and large silvery eyes. Although her body was quite petite, it was well proportioned and shone through even her very loose robes. And those strands of silver hair gave her a charm most couldn't match.
Elder Aika's personality didn't suit him, but he wouldn't mind praising her beauty a bit.
To others, though, an Immortal Ring Realm expert "flirting" with a Sky God was so unheard of that they didn't even know what to say. Wasn't this child a bit too bold?
Selheira covered her mouth and released a light and gentle giggle. Usually, her laughs were fake, but this time, she couldn't help but reveal a real one. Ryu was truly an interesting character to her.
"However," Ryu continued, "I'm much more interested in your attack just now. It was too profound for me to understand."
Elder Aika's brows rose. She was surprised that Ryu had noticed anything at all. Most wouldn't even give that attack of hers a second look.
Now, she was even more certain that Ryu had an extremely powerful Dao. She was somewhat curious to see him use it…
"This Dao of mine… It's based on a core technique of the Radiant Star Sect," Elder Aika laughed boisterously after a moment, "perform well and this old lady will give you a copy."
Ryu's gaze flickered. It seemed that he was right about this Radiant Star Sect having quite some secrets.
Others might not understand the hidden meaning of these words, but how could he not? Elder Aika seemed to be implying that the techniques of their Sect went far beyond the Fragmented or even False Sky God levels.
Ryu exhaled. He hadn't been very interested in the techniques of the Radiant Star Sect… Until now.
At that moment, a mighty aura descended from the Hidden Blade Sect island. It was no doubt their False Sky God, an existence that was the very reason the Hidden Blade Sect could be a Two Star Sect at all.
However, before they could do anything, the large floating island they all hovered around began to glow.
One after another, large scale teleportation arrays began to appear in the skies and groups of individuals appeared one by one, each with more profound auras than the last.
From above, it looked as though a complex and enormous magic circle was being formed piece by piece.