Despite the sudden commotion, there was an odd lack of a reaction from the cultivators in the surrounding area.
Brune of the Wallowing Wisp Sect who had fought Ryu to a standstill just a few years ago felt a shiver course through his body. Somehow Ryu had gone from being even with him to killing someone of his caliber in just a single strike.
The members of the Bewitching Chram and Dew Drop Sect clenched their jaws, suddenly realizing that this could very well be them.
The members of the Demonic Flame Sect, though, opened their eyes wide with shock. Not only had Ryu attacked, he had attacked decisively with intent to kill and had done so boldly in the face of them all. He didn't care for their faces not one bit, but what was even more shocking was the fact that even with all of them here… none of them seemed capable of reacting. Even their elders were a step slow.
This realization made them all shudder awake before fury set in. How long had it been since their prestige was infringed upon like this?
"We will enter first."
Despite the billowing rage rising like a tempest from his right, Ryu couldn't be bothered to care. Instead, he spoke these words simply and easily as he urged his great swordstaff forward, leading the members of the Radiant Star Sect forward.
Down below, Aika's lip was constantly twitching. She was caught between trying to be the elder she was meant to be and bursting out in the sort of laugh only a madman could match. Ryu's actions were truly far too much in her liking, so much so that she didn't believe that she could do better herself. It was too good, much too good.
In the end, she couldn't help herself and grinned.
"HALT!"
A booming voice sounded just as Ryu was about to enter the Heavenly Path, but he didn't even glance toward its direction, shuttling in without another word. However, just before he did vanish, his voice echoed.
"Feel free to come. However many appear is however many I'll kill. You can find me any time, my name is Ryu Tatsuya."
The skies rumbled and the eyes of several members within the Demonic Flame Sect widened. Unfortunately, Ryu's senses had already been cut off by the surging tide of qi around the Heavenly Path, he had no method of seeing their reaction to such a thing, nor did he care.
…
A stifling pressure threatened to squeeze Ryu to death. All around, there was nothing more than blinding lights of white and gold, making it impossible to see or feel anything around you. Somehow, it felt like one was both freefalling through the air, and simultaneously perfectly still. The dichotomy was enough to make one's head spin.
Without any signs of gravity, it was impossible to tell which was up and which way was down. At the same time, there was no footing, so it was very easy for one to enter a cycle of flailing about, making one look more foolish than maybe they ever had in their lifetime.
For the first time in a long while, though, Ryu was quite well informed. Before he had left, Aika, Old Wan and Samson had taught him a lot about this Heavenly Path and what he could expect. This portion here could just be considered to be the first trial.
The white gold around him was formless Essence. Since it hadn't been bestowed to him by the Heavens, it was impossible to absorb as Essence could only be controlled at the behest of the Heavens, or, if you happened to have a Cultus Faerie princess by your side, then you could control it as well.
Unfortunately, Ryu didn't have Ailsa by his side currently as she was still trapped within the inner world of his eyes. However, he did have certain advantages others did not in this regard because she was, of course, his wife.
Ryu had no ability to control Essence as perfectly as Ailsa did and doing so almost felt akin to trying to run in a pool of dense, heavy oil, but if he really focused, he could just barely do it.
This first trial was quite simple, really, it was a waiting game. The sensation of falling was real. Depending on your talent, you would either fall through this miasma of Essence either more slowly or with greater speed. Essentially, this density of Essence would either be accommodating to you or reject you outright.
Much like the Heavenly Path Ryu had taken from the Mortal Plane to the Pedestal Plane back in Sacrum, this worked similarly just by a different method. Though, the largest difference here was that Ryu felt absolutely no pressure back in Sacrum, but he could very well feel the pressure getting to him here although he could easily endure it.
It was just yet another reminder to Ryu that he couldn't be considered the pinnacle in this place, even for a mere Heavenly Path to the Fourth Heaven.
Still, Ryu had expected this and didn't panic.
According to his understanding, making it into the Heavenly Path more quickly had its own benefits. Depending on the ranking of who made it in first, second, etc, there would be an allocation of Heavenly Favor, the very same Heavenly Favor that Ryu received when he cultivated [Refinement Sutra].
Unlike the Heavenly Paths of Sacrum which were just stairs, the Heavenly Paths of the True Martial World were more like battle royales and Heavenly Favor was its currency. Heavenly Favor was the measuring stick that all those who entered would be weighted by and it would also decide how much freedom you had within the Heavenly Path.
The Heavenly Path could be considered its own world, almost like a 3.5 Heaven between Third and Fourth. Within this world, there were many fascinating opportunities, some of which were left by the Heavens, and others of which were left by cultivators.
If one wanted the best chance at maximizing their opportunities, then there was no doubt that accumulating as much Heavenly Favor as possible was necessary.
Ryu had already been the one to enter first, but his path through the Essence Miasma felt somewhat slow. It wasn't just a matter of his talent, but his cultivation was also lacking. You needed both in this situation and this fog seemed to be reminding him.
But that was fine. He would just cheat. Who asked him to have such an amazing wife?
Ryu found that his Chaotic Silk Meridians very much rejected Essence, which probably explained why he no longer got huge cultivation boosts from comprehending Inheritances anymore, at least not to his Qi Cultivation. But truthfully, he didn't very much care about this much anyway. Why should he when he had an entire plane's worth of Chaos Qi to tap into?
Ryu reached out to the Essence using Ailsa's Primordial Yin as a proxy. Rather than absorbing it, he simply moved it out of his way. As he did so, the sensation of falling got more and more prominent until it felt no different from rushing through the skies.
As he controlled the Essence and built up momentum, it took less and less effort and he began slicing through it all like butter, eventually even beginning to use the Essence to his back to push him forward even faster and break past terminal velocity.
BANG!
Ryu felt his body shudder, a barrier of light almost making him cough out a mouthful of blood as he crashed by it.
He swallowed it down, his gaze becoming fiercer as he moved ahead. He crashed into barrier after barrier, each one coming thicker and more overbearing than the last.
He assumed that all of these were the checkpoints that Aika and the others had spoken about. He was supposed to pass through them slowly, but with this more hands on, violent method, it was truly enough to injure him quite severely.
However, he didn't stop, pushing forward even faster. He wouldn't leave any of these matters up to chance.
He was certain that there were hidden characters ready to step into this miasma that would have far greater affinity with it than himself and he had no way of knowing how fast they would move. Aika had said herself that if she entered, she might not even have to pass through the miasma at all and would simply be teleported to the other side.
If this was the case, then he truly had no time to waste. If his raw talent and cultivation couldn't make up for his deficiencies, then he would just have to let masochism take their place.
BANG!
Ryu finally couldn't hold it in any longer and coughed up a large mouthful of blood, but this time, he could see it.
Ryu's gaze sharpened as he burst through the miasma, finding himself falling through the skies. However, before he could fall far, a large influx of Heavenly Favor rushed forward and wrapped around him, causing the cracks in his bones and the ruptures in his inner organs to dull down from a sharp pain.
As his descending speed slowed, Ryu quickly spread out his Spiritual Sense, narrowing his eyes when he realized that his range was much more limited than usual.
Lush greenery was what he saw first, but his attention was immediately snatched away by the dense population of beasts. There was seemingly nowhere to run and even less room to maneuver. Without his vision, Ryu couldn't even scan the region and decide a route to take.
In the end, he landed on the ground, surrounded by beasts from all sides.
