Ryu looked at Old Wan indifferently. A Hegemonic Dao was never his limit, it was just an artificial cap placed on him by those higher Heaven Clans.
It had to be remembered that in Sacrum, forming a Dao before the Sky God Realm was practically unheard of, so much so that it wasn't even one of their pillars of cultivation. A Dao had just been a vague idea in Ryu's mind, one that he only barely decided to act upon after a few days of tinkering in the Armament Guild. Not long after that, he perfected in the middle of battle. He hadn't even known what level his Dao was at if he hadn't met those two disciples of the Hidden Blade Sect.
If those of the True Martial World knew how Ryu had formed his Dao, their level of shock currently would be countless times higher.
Ryu had casually formed a Dominion Grade Dao initially. After a small while of closed door cultivation and some pain, followed by some casual meditation during the start of the Radiant Star Sect's disciple accepting trial, he had improved it to the Hegemonic Dao Grade. If it wasn't for being struck by lightning and nearly dying, he would have long since formed an Ancient Dao. As far as Ryu was concerned, reaching the Realm of a Founding Dao wouldn't have been difficult even without his Realm Heart was only a matter of time and not being suppressed by others.
Comprehension had always been Ryu's strongest point, much greater than any one of his individual talents. He didn't find any of this to be impressive at all.
Selheira smiled. "Senior Wan, it seems that Ryu can defeat you even if you added more tiers to Domain now!"
Old Wan's brows jumped. He had been trying to forget that shame, to think this little girl would bring that up, and here he thought Selheira was far too docile and mature to involve herself in such childish teasing.
Old Wan shook his head before slowly calming and taking a seat.
Someone who could form a Peak Ancient Dao was on a completely different level. Someone with just a Lower Ancient Dao only had a less than 1% chance of maintaining the Ancient Dao, but someone with a Peak Ancient Dao had a 10% chance!
However, this wasn't what Old Wan was focused on at all. He knew the odds of Ryu maintaining an Ancient Dao while crossing into the Sky God Realm was minimal. What he was really focused on was just how much higher the odds of maintaining a Hegemonic Dao while entering the Sky God Realm was when an Ancient Dao was formed.
With a Peak Ancient Dao, Ryu had at least a 50% chance of maintaining a Hegemonic Dao. This was a complete game changer. An immortal with a Hegemonic Dao and a Sky God with a Hegemonic Dao were two entirely different concepts. If Ryu could become a Sky God with a Hegemonic Dao, setting aside his other talents, this alone would be enough to place him at least in league with the powerhouses of the Seventh Heaven. At that point, Ryu would become more than just a stepping stone of the Radiant Star Sect to return to its former glory, he would become far more like an integral part.
Of course, if Ryu knew what Old Wan's thoughts were, he would be disdainful of them. This wasn't even remotely his goal.
That said, judging by Old Wan's demeanor, Ryu could make a few guesses, and this was precisely why he hadn't said anything about his Perfect Blackbody, his Chaotic Silk Meridians or his Spiritual Foundation.
Old Wan seemed to be the nicest of the three Sky Gods between him, Samson and Aika, but he was actually the most scheming, Ryu had no ability to see through his thoughts. In addition, while Ryu could defeat him in a game of limited Domain, Ryu stood no chance against his scheming when there were no restrictions... which is exactly what the real world could be considered as.
On the other hand, while Aika seemed to be the most unruly and arrogant of them all, she was actually the only one of the three that Ryu actually believed in and trusted. But because she had such a deep relationship with Old Wan, Ryu couldn't casually tell her things either.
On the surface, it looked as though Aika had Old Wan by the balls, but Ryu felt that anyone would be naïve to take this at face value.
Despite her personality, Aika had been reined in by Old Wan for such a long period of time that she entered her twilight years. If not for her sudden breakthrough, Aika might have very well died of old age without ever returning to the Fourth Heaven, let alone the Seventh, and she could definitely forget about the Eighth.
Given how unruly Aika was, no normal individual could rein her in, even if said person was supposedly stronger than her.
At the same time, while Old Wan said he hadn't checked Ryu's talents, Ryu didn't believe him at all.
He had played Old Wan in a game of Domain before, this wasn't a man who left any stone unturned, and this wasn't a man who would use a piece without knowing exactly all of weaknesses and strengths.
As Ryu saw it, Old Wan saw the return of the Radiant Star Sect to the First Heaven as a reset in a game of Domain. He was shuffling pieces around, ready and prepared to slowly press forward until his enemies were suffocated to the point they could no longer retaliate.
Toward that endeavor, in Old Wans' eyes, everyone was a pawn, even Aika who seemed to have gained the upper hand for now would be slowly reeled in at his own leisure.
Ryu had caught a glimpse of Old Wan's real personality when he challenged the latter to a game of Domain. He seemed like a docile man who was willing to allow life to come to him, but when he was challenged in something he took pride in, his true arrogance rose to the surface uncontrollably.
The only mistake Old Wan had made was not properly understanding Ryu's Dao, but there was simply nothing he could do about this. Just by function of what a Dao was, while an expert might be able to vaguely understand what it could do, understanding it to its very core was impossible, because then it would be your Dao and not the Dao of someone you were observing.
This was why Ryu's Dao was so special to begin with. When it came to understanding others, his ability was beyond even many Sky Gods.
Now that his Dao was at the Peak Ancient Dao and had entered the Cosmic Grades, he was even better at it than he had been before and he was even more sensitive to the changes in Old Wan.
Of course, none of this was to say that Old Wan was evil. All this meant was one simple thing.
If Old Wan could achieve a goal more valuable than the worth he placed on Ryu, he wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice the latter.
It was as simple as that, and Ryu understood that intimately.
So right now, Ryu operated under the assumption that Old Wan already knew all of his secrets. Or, more accurately, all of his secrets as they were the day he first stepped foot in the Radiant Star Sect.
At the same time, he was intent on operating under the assumption that he was ignorant to this as well.
As far as Ryu saw it, the moment he joined this Sect, he was already in a game of Domain. However, he had no hatred for the Radiant Star Sect. If it wasn't for Aika, he would have never cared much about this place to begin with. But since she had treated him so well, for as long as he was allowed to, he would help her to reach her goals.
Ryu stood to his feet, still holding onto Mae's hand.
"If that's all, then I'll go and rest now."
Ryu smiled lightly toward everyone and turned to leave.
"Hold on! Hold on!" Old Wan suddenly called out.
"Hm?" Ryu turned back.
"You're trying to pull the wool over our eyes, you mentioned everything but your Spiritual Foundation and your Meridians, what about those?"
Ryu smiled mysteriously. "I don't want to tell you."
Without another word, Ryu left.
Old Wan chuckled. "What a cheeky brat."
...
"Do you want to leave now?" Ryu asked Mae.
Mae shook her head no. She felt a bit guilty about her elder sister, but she really didn't want to leave so soon.
"Okay, come rest with me, then."
Mae blushed, seemingly taking a different meaning from Ryu's words than what he actually meant. Right now, Ryu was truly tired, he didn't have the energy to do anything else, and wasn't resting with a woman far better than any pillow?
Even with her misunderstanding, though, Mae nodded with a smile. Because of her sister she hadn't been able to experience that first night they had together in a long while and she couldn't stop thinking about it.
When she entered Ryu's Immortal Abode and realized he truly meant sleeping, she blushed even harder, feeling a hint ashamed.
It seemed that she had gone through a lifetime of blood rushes thanks to this man. She was usually not fazed by anything, but she seemed to become flustered every other moment with this man.
Even so, when they settled in, Mae couldn't help but smile, resting her ear on Ryu's chest. His heartbeat sounded as though it held a portal to a vast world, endless and vast. It felt almost like she was resting in the universe's womb.
"Ryu?" Mae called out.
"Hm?" Ryu was already drifting off and barely mumbled a response.
"Are your Spiritual Foundation and Meridians a big secret?"
"Not for you," Ryu mumbled. "I have two Spiritual Foundations, one is from a Sky God and the other is called the Beyond Perfect Extreme Spiritual Foundation. My Meridians are the Chaotic Silk Meridians..."
Mae's eyes widened, her heart nearly jumping out of her chest.
But when her head snapped up, Ryu had already drifted off to sleep.
Mae's breathing was extraordinarily heavy.
Shockingly enough, the first she muttered wasn't Chaotic Silk Meridians but rather...
"... Beyond Perfect Extreme... Beyond Perfect Extreme...."
Ryu had spoken these words so casually, but to Mae it felt like her entire world was spinning. This was a talent so shocking that even a Princess of the Fifth Heaven like her shouldnt' have been aware of it. If it wasn't for that...
It took a long time for Mae to calm down, and she only managed to do so while watching Ryu's sleeping figure.
Eventually, her heart returned to normal as she stared at Ryu's peaceful visage.
After a long while, she smiled and fell into his embrace as well.
