Jenneless' words seemed to give them hope. They all looked toward Ryu with a fervent gaze, some even hoping that the carrot and stick approach might work. This was a compromise for them all to take, but the also couldn't look like they were begging too much. For one, they had their own pride. And second, if they were in too weak of a position, why would Ryu negotiate with them?
Even so, the more they thought about it, the more they realized the kind of precarious position Ryu was in. They were all geniuses, and they all had astounding levels of backing. The idea that someone else would target them to steal their targets never even crossed their minds because they were really only of seeing the world from their perspective.
It was only after Jenneless spoke that they began piecing things together.
Indeed, they didn't recognize Ryu and he was unlikely to be from a higher Heaven than their own considering his age and cultivation combination. And if Mae had had a husband, this was something that would have been announced given her stature. The fact it wasn't meant that the Dream Asura Race didn't even know about it yet. Plus, on top of that, the likelihood that they would protect a human was minimal.
eαglesnᴏνel Then they began to think about the talents that Ryu had displayed. Just setting aside everything else, just his beast Bloodlines was enough to have him chased to the ends of the earth, let alone the fact he now had a complete Dao Lord Inheritance, or so they thought.
No matter how calm and collected Ryu looked now, he must be under a world of pressure, the kind of pressure that could easily crush him at any moment.
And yet....
"You really think too highly of yourself."
Ryu's words didn't seem to be laced with fury or anger, he didn't seem to take Jenneless' threats seriously in the slightest.
"I, Ryu am a man who spit in the face of a Dao Sovereign. Do you that I would bend the knee to your schemes?"
Ryu had hardly finished speaking when he suddenly moved, his great swordstaff swinging down toward Jenneless' head with a fierce momentum.
Jenneless' piercing blue gaze turned malevolent. If Ryu wanted to fight, they could fight!
At the aura of a World Sea Realm expert exploded forth and the geniuses in the surroundings were taken aback. There was a World Sea Realm expert among them? Their hearts couldn't help but skip several beats.
BOOM!
An icy palm met Ryu's blade, a swirl of ice blue and radiant bronze qi swirling about in the surroundings. They took turns freezing and collapsing once another in a fierce confrontation.
Ryu was forced to take three steps back, but Jenneless took just a single one. However, even in taking just this singular step, she seemed stunned by the result. Ryu had actually made her retreat? This was an outright humiliation to her.
What the geniuses in the surroundings didn't realize was that Jenneless hadn't been among them because her talent matched theirs. Rather, it was a combination of talent and cultivation. From the beginning, the Heavenly Path was designed for World Sea Realm experts a step away from Sky Godhood. The reason that the upper Heavens had sent geniuses around the Path Extinction and Dao Pedestal Realm down was because their own World Sea Realm experts couldn't be bothered with the incomplete Heavenly Path and their efforts were entirely focused on snagging opportunities in the Fourth to Sixth Heavens.
Jenneless, however, was different. She was only considered a pinnacle genius of the Second Heaven. Even after having her body entirely reformed and restructured by that mysterious expert, it was only enough to be considered a quasi Fourth Heaven genius, beyond the likes of Enren and Theris, but nowhere near the likes of Mae and Vie.
However, the difference here was that her cultivation Realm was an entire two Realms beyond their own, almost three considering how close she was to the Sky God Realm already.
For Jenneless, these last moments before the Sky God Realm were her last chance to completely re-sculpt and reform her path forward. Entering the tower was far too important for her, but her mission and her existence were far too conspicuous, so she had had no choice but to keep a low profile until things very clearly refused to go her way.
Now that she had ended up in the situation, she felt both furious and helpless, but she forced herself to calm down. She remembered her task at hand.
She exhaled a breath and her gaze sharpened. Instantly, she stopped holding unleashing her Dao and her Divinity.
An oppressive cold rippled in the surroundings, savage in its presence, but malleable in its movements, pervading any and everything it came across.
Ryu's pupils constricted. The methods of a World Sea Realm expert were indeed great. He had gotten used to battling ones that were exceptionally weak, so used to it that he had forgotten that if the talent gap was closed, he was essentially fighting someone three Realms above him.
In his current state, Ryu couldn't summon his Small Realms even if he wanted to. But if he did, he had a very clear feeling that they would be suppressed by Jenneless Divinity.
Ryu in his stance and began more defensive, dodging out of the way of successive flying palms. What was it about today? He had such bad luck with palm experts.
However, as he had this thought, his eyes overlayed images of Jenneless pulling out a sword and piercing toward his thought.
Ryu reacted a step faster, seeing the causality ahead of time. But he felt that the cold around him was gripping him from all sides, as though someone was placing their cold hands on his skin. Every time he shivered, his speed slowed by another measure until the sword blade was before him and seemingly undodgeable.
