Ryu realized that the situation was bad, and not just because of Jenneless. If he struggled with Jenneless, it was only a matter of time before everyone else realized that he wasn't able to bring out as much strength as he had beforeand chose to take advantage.
By now, he had replenished some of his Focus Qi, but it was only about 5% or so, and at that state, it still left him woozy. But it seemed that he didn't have a choice. So long as he didn't pass out and could stay on his feet, it would beenough.
The trouble was that it seemed that the lower his Focus Qi was to start, the less time it took to completely drain it.
30 seconds. 30 seconds and I have to kill her!
Ryu's aura changed and the pressure of a Sword God rippled from him. Almost instantly, his head threatened to split in two under a sudden migraine, but he ignored it, the pressure of his aura pressing down even fiercer.
At that moment, Jenneless' sword blade wavered and her sword qi was greatly suppressed.
CLANG!
Her sword glanced off the side of Ryu's neck as he pressed down with his great swordstaff. Jenneless, who hadn't expected her sword to be completely unable to tear through Ryu's throat, was caught completely off guard.
The great swordstaff's blade swung forth in a wide arc. Compared to the free flowing and reckless of before, his fighting style had suddenly become streamlined and controlled. Almost instantly, his wildly rippling qi was pulledunder his will and a dense bronze aura coated his every action, giving it an undisguisable heaviness that crushed the earth beneath him.
Jenneless just barely reached out a free palm across and perpendicular to her body to block the blade, but it wasn't enough. Her body was bent into a 'U' shape at her side hip, half of her body's bones being crushed in an instant as she was sent flying off to Ryu's right.
Ryu stepped through the air, vanishing into the void and appearing above Jenneless. With his current eyes, the distance he could cross through his Spacetime Soul Nature was on an entirely different level. His Soul Nature affinity was already exaggerated for his cultivation level, but now it was even more so.
Ryu swung down and Jenneless weakly attempted to block with her sword as her other arm had been practically crippled. However, what chance did this block of working?
The crowd winced as they watched Jenneless' arm crumple in real time. The disparity was so great that it was despairing.
Her body rebounded against the ground like a ragdoll, crumpling up like a once pristine sheet of aluminum gone to waste.
Ryu landed overtop of her, bending down and picking her up by her neck.
"You have one of those life saving treasures on you, don't you? You must really want me to crush your neck right now," Ryu looked into Jenneless' eyes. Right this moment, she looked more dead than alive. Once a beauty, she couldn't even match up to an old hag at this moment.
Ryu realized that he had overestimated this woman. Or maybe more accurately, he had underestimated just how much his inability to use Focus Qi was impeding his battle prowess. If he could exchange a splitting headache for this kind of prowess, it was very much worth it.
What was even better was that he was certain that this was just the tip of the iceberg. His Focus Qi was running on empty and every attempt to focus hurt, and yet he was able to display this kind of strength. He predicted that his strength was at least double if not more of what he had displayed just now.
"I have to find a way to increase my Focus Qi in the future, I can't let this happen again."
The Magus Sky God's inheritance and the Favor Alchemy Sky God inheritance were the most likely to be able to help in this regard. Though, Ryu believed that his greatest help would likely be his very own soul.
There was a reason the experts of Sacrum could get away with not cultivating their Mental Realms after the ban, and that was because the soul would naturally grow stronger along with the rest of your cultivation. Over the years, your soul and Focus Qi would naturally increase, allowing you to meditate and go into seclusion for longer and longer periods of time.
Although they weren't the exact same, the stronger the soul, the denser one's Focus Qi. Before he got the prayer mat, Ryu had actually been very poor in this regard and he could only make limited usage of his Heavenly Pupils without tiring out.
'Wait, doesn't this mean I have a shortcut to improving my Focus Qi?"
Replenishing Spiritual Qi wouldn't help with increasing Focus Qi, if it did, Ryu would have done it long ago. However, cultivating the soul and breaking through would. The trouble was that practically no one could do that, especially not in battle.
That was when Ryu suddenly realized something. He had neglected of the most fundamental abilities he had gained after fusing with his Perfect Blackbody Soul.
Ryu's gaze narrowed. After some thought, he unceremoniously stripped Jenneless of everything she was wearing, not that her naked body was anything to look at in her current state. She looked more like a beaten ragdoll than a beautiful young woman. Then, he took all of the spatial devices she had on her. He checked everywhere she might have one, even using his Void Spiritual Sense at the cost of another splitting headache to double and triple check.
When he was finished, he made a decision.
Ryu's soul bore down and ripped into Jenneless.
Jenneless, who had been completely unconscious, suddenly woke up and began to screech. Her cries echoed through the diamond city and made those in the surroundings tremble at the horror.
Ryu was careful and let the process continue for a few minutes, completely expressionless. But just when Jenneless was at the end of her rope and about to die, something deep within her triggered and Ryu was forced back as shevanished.
eaglesnovɐ1,сoМ This time, Ryu wasn't too surprised by this. In fact, he had done it on purpose.
He took a breath and exhaled. After absorbing a large portion of Jenneless' Spiritual Sea, his own had expanded and the borders of his soul shot by its original limit. He still had quite some more room to go as well because his body was so much more powerful now than it had been in the past.
Due to this, Ryu had hacked his way into gaining more Focus Qi. If he was at 5% before, he was now at over 15%, not because his Focus Qi had been replenished, but because he had gained more of it, an important distinction.
To the current Ryu, Jenneless was more useful alive. She was weak in talent, but for some reason that organization insisted on using her, he felt that there had to be a reason for this.
He could have scanned her memories using the Magus Sky God's inheritance, but he instead chose to leave a mark on her using his Void Spiritual Qi. While the former action could be detected, the latter could not.
Since they had gone through so much trouble with Jenneless, Ryu believed that they would continue to use her. That would be his opportunity to find out exactly what these people were scheming and why they were scheming it.
Plus, out of Jenneless' escape, he had regained enough Focus Qi that he no longer needed to fear anything in this Heavenly Path.
As he looked around at the geniuses that remained, whether it was Ranna, Zed, Mano, or even Akura who had managed to heal himself somewhat and make it up here, he could sense the hatred in all of their eyes.
Even so, he suddenly grinned wildly.
This sort of suppression in the face of opposition was exactly what he lived for. So what if you all were talented? So what if you all had powerful backers? He had dared to turn down the inheritance of a Dao Sovereign. Even now with his death seemingly imminent, he dared to scheme against an organization of the Ninth Heaven. What could possibly stop his steps?
As Ryu suffocated the forward path of the geniuses before him, his Heavenly Favor actually began to increase again... and then again...
This was the true Heavenly Favor... one gained by crushing your enemies.
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