Ryu's figure flickered and vanished. In an instant, he appeared in an inconspicuous clearing within the forest. There didn't seem to be anything special about it even after a third or even fourth pass through of the senses. However, although he hadn't trained his Ruin Mastery specifically in countless years, Ryu's skills in this matter had never dulled.
Ryu stood in silence for a long while before he suddenly struck out with a pair of fingers, piercing a hole right through the trunk of a tree and pooling his qi into it.
If others had been watching, they would have seen the appearance of a beautiful scene. As Ryu's qi coursed through the tree's branches and roots, it became transparent, exuding a beautiful golden color. Even though the earth itself wasn't disturbed, it was still possible to see the flourishing of the roots from above, the golden patterns reflecting through the soil and almost turning the earth itself into a glass-like being much like the tree.
The roots of the tree connected to the roots in the surroundings, spreading the phenomenon. As more and more roots intertwined like filaments of delicate gold, a complex formation took root and the center of the clearing sunk down and an entrance appeared as a set of stairs of intertwining tree roots appeared.
Ryu took a step forward and disappeared down the staircase without the slightest hesitation. The moment he crossed the threshold, he felt about 10% of his Heavenly Favor vanish, making him realize that this was probably a normal-ish type Ruin if it could be entered so easily.
Ryu held up the spherical Matrix in one hand and raised his other palm to allow his great swordstaff to fly into it. The moment he reached the bottom of the stairs, he slashed downward, splitting a wooden puppet into two without giving it the chance to attack.
To Ryu's back, the entrance that had been there vanished, and before him three paths appeared.
The Matrix in Ryu's hand rotated just once and he chose a path, his great swordstaff whistling through the wind as he took down one threat after another. He didn't seem like he was in the middle of a dangerous ruin and looked far more like he was on a leisurely stroll.
Ryu's focus was unprecedented, not even taking the time to fully heal himself. By now, about half of his injuries had healed, but he pressed forward as though he was in tip top shape, not having even a single moment to waste.
In half an hour, Ryu made it to the end of the Ruin, facing off against its final test.
"You are not who I am looking for. Failed."
Ryu didn't respond. Instead, he tossed his great swordstaff into the air and unleashed a vicious kick on the butt of its polearm.
His blade streaked forward like an arrow leaving its string, whistling through the air and splitting even space itself in two.
In a brief instant it vanished, jumping an entire 300 meters in a single blink and appearing before the enormous chest of the wooden puppet. Before it could even react, the puppet found itself torn in two, wild, rampaging auras of space and hints of time tearing its insides into pieces.
"Who the hell are you to speak in such a way to me? The dead and gone have no right to decide my fate as even the living do not have a right."
Ryu reached out with his palm and his great swordstaff zipped back into his palm with a satisfying slapping sound. He didn't even gaze toward the enormous puppet again as he rotated the Matrix in his other palm, tapping at the air around it a few times before he nodded and stepped forward.
Ryu had known from the very beginning that this Ruin wasn't suited to him, he simply just didn't care.
This Ruin was one designed for one with Wood Qi affinity and a certain proclivity toward crafting puppets. Ryu neither had such an affinity, nor did he know anything about crafting puppets, but he had entered anyway.
While it was best to enter Ruins and inheritances that suited you to maximize your chances, when you had. Overwhelming strength, the "fit" didn't matter in the slightest. No one could stop him, not even powerhouses who had gained the acknowledgement of the Heavenly Path.
Ryu walked forward and found the rewards for this Ruin. There was a cultivation method of the False Grade and a puppet forging method. Without much thought, Ryu put them away and accepted the baptizing of Heavenly Favor. Not only did he regain the Heavenly Favor he had paid to enter, but he had also gained about an additional 20% from what he started with.
If he wanted to gain that much normally, he would need to kill at least 20 000 beasts, a feat that would have taken far longer than just half an hour. If he wanted to accomplish that within just half an hour, he would have to kill 11 Eleventh Order Heaven Grade Beasts a second. Although he could theoretically do this, it wasn't a matter of his ability, but rather a scarcity of beasts. Plus, the stamina drain was not worth it.
This path, however, worked perfectly.
This Ruin, to begin with, was a low class Ruin. It wasn't difficult at all. The only reason it took Ryu a half hour to begin with was because he spent most of his time walking. If he had run into a higher class Ruin, he might have taken much longer than this.
Ryu took a step forward and vanished into a portal, reappearing where he had been previously.
Surprisingly, there was still no one around. He knew that although the entrance had disappeared for him, the entrance was very much still open to outsiders.
After a few moments though, Ryu understood. Even when he sped up his descent through the Miasma, it still took him several hours to make his way through it. If others had lagged behind, it would definitely take them more than just a half hour to catch up. And, even if they did, it was uncertain if they'd have enough Heavenly Favor to enter or if they'd be willing to spend the Heavenly Favor necessary to enter the Ruin. After all, not everyone would willingly enter a Ruin they have no affinity with and those with wood qi affinity were relatively rare to begin with.
The entrance to the ruin slowly crumbled as Ryu walked away, his pace just as fast as always. He was clearly unsatisfied and wanted to quickly find the next. He wasn't competing against others, he was competing against himself.
…
Ryu stepped out from another Ruin, not casting a glance as it collapsed behind him. This one was related to the earth element, another element that Ryu had little affinity with, though he did have a unique perspective on it thanks to the eight trigram diagram.
This was already the fourth Ruin that Ryu had cleared and his Heavenly Favor was almost two and a half times larger than what he had entered with.
According to what Aika and the others had told him, the Ruins that could appear on the Heavenly Path weren't simple. They all had somewhat unique airs to them although they might not be the strongest. It could be said that they represented unique and rare paths that the Heavens didn't want to disappear completely.
For example, the first Ruin Ryu had entered was of wooden puppet making. This was very rare as it took advantage of the inherent life characteristics of wood qi to produce pseudo forms of life.
This most recent Ruin that Ryu had entered was created by an earth elemental cultivator who specialized in attacks, something even rarer that maybe wood elemental cultivators themselves as usually, earth elemental cultivators relied on their sturdiness and defenses to win battle.
Being selected by the Heavenly Path was like gaining a second chance at life, allowing these cultivators to pass on their teachings and gain Karma that would help them during reincarnation.
Inheritances, however, were different. In comparison to Ruins, they were far more valuable as they weren't just the product of rarity, but also the power of their original wielders. If one wanted to leave an Inheritance behind in the Heavenly Path, the bare minimum requirement was to have a name that could cause the skies to rumble in acknowledgement.
This, however, was exactly as stated: the bare minimum.
The second bar needed to be met is that said person must have had their name ranked in the top 100 of the Heavenly Path rankings some time in the past.
The second bar was the most important one and the height you reached on the list dictated how long the Heavenly Path would preserve your Inheritance for.
The greatest difference here, though, was that those who left Inheritances in the Heavenly Path weren't necessarily dead. In addition, while Ruins would always appear no matter what, someone who had left behind an Inheritance could decide when to allow theirs to appear and when not to depending on the time limit they had been given by the Heavens.
At a critical time, the boost in Karma gained would add to the cultivator's Heavenly Favor and maybe allow them a chance to break into a higher order Sky God realm!
For now, though, Ryu was entirely focused on finding and clearing Ruins. When the time came, even Inheritances would have to obediently bow down to him.
