1120 TWANG!
Ryu's gaze flashed. The spiritual Qi condensed attack was fast, almost too fast. It sank into his forehead without much resistance.
In the distance, Aantha's expression become incomparably ugly.
In the True Martial World, Mental Realm Masters were on a completely different level. Even so, they were incomparably rare and there were only small pockets of them even in the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Heavens.
The ones that did exist were extraordinarily dangerous. Even high class geniuses who could be considered to be at the pinnacle wouldn't casually offend such existences. This was why despite all the commotion around, no one had stepped within even a single branch of this soul inheritance. In fact, they were arrogant to the point that they didn't even pay attention to what was around them either, completely ignoring Ryu's earlier battle.
These individuals were placed further back by the Dao Lord because their overall talent was lacking. But their soul talent was so exceptionally high, and in such a rare niche at that, that they were among the most dangerous individuals here if not the most dangerous.
When others saw Ryu overestimating himself like this, they were rendered entirely speechless. Even their elder sibling or senior brothers and sisters wouldn't be so casual in encountering such individuals, at least not without some sort of Mental Realm protection treasure, but those were simply far too rare.
However, in the next moment, everything seemed to change. Ryu, whose next step should have faltered, continued forward as though he hadn't just been attacked. The soul strike of the Mental Realm Master genius was like a pebble falling into the vast ocean. Ryu didn't even have to put up any defense, his Spiritual Sense was so vast that any damage caused was like a drop in a raging river.
Before the Mental Realm Master could realize that he had made a mistake, Ryu's claw had descended.
Ryu's palm cast darkness over the Mental Realm Master's eyes, his claw lifting him up by squeezing the sides of his temples. Even with a slight squeeze, the skull of the Mental Realm Master had already fractured, causing him to cry out in pain and horror.
Another silence fell as Ryu frowned, shaking his head.
Although he had tanked that strike, he didn't feel good. No matter how strong you were, a papercut would still be annoying and it might even sting a bit depending on the situation. Ultimately, despite his soul strength, Ryu didn't have any solid manipulation methods and wasn't good enough to defend himself.
Even so, the slight damage to Ryu's soul was quickly healed with a slight inhale.
Ryu might lag behind the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Heavens in a lot of aspect, but when it came to Mental Realm Talent, only the geniuses of the Seventh, Eight and Ninth Heavens could possibly hold a candle to him.
To put this matter into perspective, these youths here, even despite being in the Path Extinction and Dao Pedestal Realms, were capable of matching the World Sea Realm geniuses of the lower Heavens.
Likewise for Ryu, even though his current Soul Realm was on part with these geniuses, being at the Soul Refinement Realm, the gap was so astronomical that it was almost child's play. The only unfortunate part was that Ryu's soul potential, due to the nature of his Perfect Blackbody Soul, was limited by his body's strength.
Other soul talents would give more direct benefits and were more directly applicable in battle. However, Ryu's Perfect Blackbody Soul's best ability was in its limitless growth potential. It was just that this limitless potential was ultimately limited by how much Ryu's body could handle.
So, unless Ryu found the Body Realm cultivation technique he was looking for, he would continue to be limited in this aspect.
It could be said that if not for this, even if there were a thousand of this Mental Realm Master genius, he wouldn't even cause Ryu to frown.
Luckily, while Ryu was limited in this aspect, his Spacetime Soul Nature more than made up for it, placing him more on par with those Seventh Heaven and higher geniuses at least in this aspect.
Ryu shook his head and suddenly realized that this man was still screaming.
''Annoying.''
Ryu's claw squeezed and punctured five bloody holes into the head of the screaming young man. Then, he reached forward and took the latter's spatial ring. There were probably a ton of useful things in there.
At that moment, the relief that Aantha was feeling turned cold once more.
Without hesitation, the remaining Mental Realm Masters all flipped their palms over, taking out their own protective treasures and escaping in all directions. They didn't even give the inheritance a second glance, if the strongest of them had been dealt with like that, the rest of them stood no chance.
''Ryu, you definitely cannot expose your identity now, definitely cannot!''
The words entered Ryu's ears. This time, there wasn't even the slightest hint of playfulness in Aantha's tone. However, seeing that Ryu ignored her again while casually tossing the corpse to the side, Aantha became slightly more anxious.
''You don't understand, Mental Realm Masters are too weak, so they're incredibly protective of their own, this is especially the case for those of them talented enough to be taken in as disciples. The one you just killed is Terran, his master is Saint Rinushka who has only taken three disciples in his life.''
''Saint Rinushka is a Perfect Sky God, but even Omniscient Sky Gods wouldn't casually offend him. In addition, Saint Rinushka's other two disciples are extremely powerful as well. One is in the World Sea Realm and the other entered the Fragmented Sky God Realm just recently.''
''The others will definitely tell them what happened here. Do not expose yourself no matter what.''
Ryu raised an eyebrow. A Perfect Sky God that Omniscient Sky Gods feared?
The gap between individual Sky Gods Realms was enormous. The Sky God Realm might as well have been a separation of mortal and God, quite literally.
Even now, Ryu had no chance in defeating even a Fragmented Sky God of the First Heaven, and that was despite the fact he could crush World Sea Realm geniuses of the Third Heaven with hardly much effort at all.
This was how huge the gap was.
For a perfect Sky God to be able to skip not just one Realm, but two....! That made little sense. There had to be some other secret going on here, something that others were missing. Theoretically, even if the Omniscient Sky God wasn't proficient in matters of the soul, just the passive evolution of their Mental Realm caused by two Sky God Realm breakthroughs should be enough to crush all those beneath them.
''Interesting.''
Ryu gave Aantha a faint nod, but he didn't seem too worried. His decision was still the same. He had no intention of revealing his identity, but if he couldn't collect enough Heavenly Favor without it, he would rather reveal himself entirely than wallow in mediocrity.
Seeing that she got a nod from Ryu, Aantha felt happy for some reason before she suddenly shook her head. This stinky brother-in-law was so cold that she almost smiled because of a mere nod, how could she account to herself if this was all the help she got?
''Shouldn't you help your sister-in-law out a bit in exchange for how nice she's been to you? Aantha pouted.
Ryu turned a faint glance over.
At first, Aantha thought that Ryu would ignore her again, but to her shock, a raging lightning flood dragon formed in Ryu's palm in an instant. It seemed countless times more lifelike than before, almost as though every time Ryu used it, his comprehension would jump forward another massive leap.
But Aantha pouted once again. They were too far away, how would a whip help?
It was then that Ryu shrugged off an inconspicuous bow that had always followed him. It was so low profile that many forgot that he even wore it at all, and it only became more difficult to make out after he put his mask on.
Ryu elevated two fingers from his grip, pointing forward. At that instant, the raging whip became docile, concentrating into a glistening blue steel, tri-pointed arrow tip. Those that watched this scene couldn't believe that a whip of over 20 meters long had suddenly become an object barely two inches long.
What level of lightning qi control and affinity did that take?! It was unfathomable!
Ryu brought his two fingers to his bow string, slowly pulling. Under the watchful gazes of those in the vicinity, the arrow tip gained a body, quickly formed by dancing lightning.
Ryu's aura changed and a suffocating presence descended.
Aantha's expression changed along with many others.
Bow God!
Ryu released his arrow with a sharp TWANG and the three women surrounding Aantha felt the scent of death.
Without hesitation, they brought out their protective measures. But Ryu had already lowered his bow and looked away, reaching for the soul inheritance.
