Ryu's gaze became brighter and his Da Heart seemed to have become multiples lighter.
Ryu had never been the type to inch forward his battle strength like this.
There was only one reason he had. For every one less talent he showed, there would be one less enemy he had. He was already an enemy of the Qilins before Starlight forced his Fire Dragon Bloodline out. His soul was already the target of greed for no other reason than the fact he existed. He had no doubt that the oddity of his Unbalance Mantra had caught the attention of more than just a few, and he couldn't have been more correct if even the Dao Sovereign himself reacted to it.
He had been holding onto a faint hope, a faint inkling that so long as he did his best to minimize the number who wanted his head, maybe he would be able to find a narrow path to survival. No matter what anyone said, one less monstrous Clan or Sect chasing after you wasn't just one less enemy, it was one less army after your head.
For once in his life, Ryu had tried to be smart about his actions.
And quite frankly, he hated it.
This wasn't what he had imagined fighting these geniuses would feel like. He had alwaws imaoined himself putting his heart and soul into everv battle Even if he lost and survived by the skin of his teeth, he would go back, heal, and come back even stronger until the day he died or finally reached that mountain peak.
That was what he wanted more than anything else, but this so-called True Martial World seemed to want to deny him even such a simple wish at every turn. His talents couldn't even be considered to be anywhere near the best their geniuses had, and yet they didn't seem to need a reason to crush him.
Ryu found himself thinking about Sarriel's words a lot more often these days.
He had known back then that they had had logic to them, he just didn't like their sentiment, so much so that any attraction he had had for Sarriel vanished in the blink of an eye off the back of just a single statement.
But she wasn't wrong. It wasn't just about himself. He had a family, his wives were still sealed in his eyes, Elena needed his help, his mother was weak and frail currently, his father was nowhere to be seen, Sacrum was facing an existential crisis... There were too many things that needed him to live, to survive, to grovel before the rising sun in greeting of another day that he should be "thankful" for.
However, he then thought back to his talk with Patriarch Ember before he ended the latter's life.
Back then, Patriarch Ember had been indignant and jealous. He roared about Ryu's hypocrisy, saying that Ryu only dared to do the things he did because there was no one in Sacrum that could touch him in the realms of talent... no one that was on his level.
And in his final bout of fury, Patriarch Ember asked Ryu what he would have done if he was reborn with the talent of a commoner and given the choice between death and lower his head.
Ryu had sneered. The words flowing out from his mouth like clear river waters.
"If I had your pitiful amount of talent, my corpse would have already been hung out to dry and picked clean by passing birds.
"I would rather die than become like you."
Ryu laughed, his laughter rocking the Small Realms around him. Indeed, he would rather have his corpse hung out to dry than eek out another pitiful day of existence.
Who cared if he managed to survive another day? Even the Dao Sovereign almost died as a Dao Lord before he could reach his current level. In fact, the fact that he had set up another inheritance in the Complete Heavenly Path told Ryu that he was likely facing such an existential crisis again, that was why he was so obsessed with making sure that his Inheritance ended up in the right hands, even to the point of crushing the inheritance of another Dao Lord before it could fully ascend.
He had all that talent, all that backing, and even the very same peak tierMeridians that Ryu had, and yet he still couldn't make it.
Did this Dao Sovereign ever have to lower his head in his life? Did he ever have to eke out an existence? Did he ever have to hide his talents for fear that others might harm him?
Of course not!
And yet Ryu was expected to do so and somehow still manage to surpass him in the future?! How could that even be possible?!
Ryu's laughter became more uproarious and the quaking of the Small Realms only increased.
"In this life, I, Ryu Tatsuya, will do as I please! I will not accept any less, even on my deathbed. If you want my life, come and take it!"
BOOM!
Ryu's aura completely changed as the two eight trigram diagrams in his pupils converged.
At the same time, towering pillars of raging flames took form around him, their bases stabilizing the earth and their peaks holding up the skies.
The violet scales on Ryu's body trembled before becoming far thicker. Their colors faded for a moment before coming back fiercer and far brighter.
However, this time, rather than a royal violet color, they were entirely white, brimming with vitality.
The cry of an Emperor Phoenix shook the skies as a twin pair of white feathered wings spread out from Ryu's back. Within the depths of his now white eyes, three flames rot led around a fourth, one of Death, one of Rebirth, and the final of Life.
Heavenly Patterns of gold erupted around Ryu as all of his talents seemed to solidify into one. His strength and aura skyrocketed as the twin eight trigram diagrams finally converged into one.
BOOM!
The headband on Ryu's forehead was shredded to pieces beneath the pressure, and just as quickly, the brand that marked him was practically burnt away to ashes as the aura of his Dao rocketed upward.
Lower Hegemon.. Peak Hegemon... Lower Ancient... Middle Ancient... Higher Ancient...
Peak Ancient!
