Ryu felt as though an explosion had gone off in his dantian.
The Awakening Realm was extremely important. Completing the Rites allowed one to expand their Spiritual Foundation. The larger it was, the better. The next chance to improve one's Spiritual Foundation wouldn't come until the Do Pedestal Realm, a Realm that Ryu had completely blazed through and hadn't really gotten the chance to settle within.
A Spiritual Foundation's magnitude upon Awakening was a part of its potential, while the rest seemed to rely on the cultivator themselves. But there was another boon possible from one's Spiritual Foundation's potential, and that was the size of the World Sea Realm upon breaking through. This change in size would be a role of the original size...
A phantom would appear in the skies, mirroring the true size of one's Spiritual Foundation. In fact, the White Phoenix that appeared to Ryu's back was only a phantom as well as the true White Phoenix was still in a state of evolution, basking in much of its own power.
White Runes filled the skies, an enormous whirlpool forming and blotting out the skies. It was a suffocating sight, and it continued to expand to the point that even many Sky Gods couldn't seem to see the end of it at all.
All of this qi rushed into Ryu's body as though it was a bottomless pit. It was unimaginable how his Meridians could withstand this kind of strength, and yet he stood in the skies as though nothing at all was happening, allowing the qi to wash over him, to strengthen him, to perfect him.
It was a sight that many would never forget in their lifetimes, a sight that one would never expect to see from a World Sea Realm expert's breakthrough, and yet here it was, right before their eyes. And then, just when it seemed like it was over... it happened.
Those white flames, flowing like cotton and the wind, but very much unlike fire, appeared, wrapping around Ryu's body as though a beautiful thread of silk. Ryu's eyes became sharper and sharper, to the point that he thought the seals on his eyes would finally be lifted. But even though it didn't end up happening, it felt as though he could already peer down on the world, as though everything was already dancing on the palm of his hands.
Ryu clenched his fists, his veins pulsing with a radiant golden blood. Suddenly, Ryu froze.
"Little Ryu..."
That voice, he knew exactly who it was. Even if he was on the verge of death, even if he hadn't heard it in countless millions of cycles, it wouldn't matter, he would never forget it, Origin Flame or not. That was his Life Partner, his precious wife, Ailsa.
However, the words he heard next made him absolutely furious.
"... If you're hearing this, I'm happy. That means you've finally unsealed your eyes, or at least you've made enough progress that you've gained some of its abilities once again...
"... Yaana, Little Nemesis, Little Gem and Little Rock have been stuck in here for a very long time, we don't know when you'll wake up... we also don't know what happened, but for some reason, time has dilated a great deal here and so long has passed that I've forgotten to count. But however long it is, it's enough that I can feel my Lifespan coming to an end. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to see you again..."
BOOM!
Ryu was so enraged that the space around him shattered like broken glass. With his current mind, he immediately thought of a capacity reason. Wasn't this his fault?
After he had learned about the abilities of his Perfect Blackbody Soul, he had eventually decided to make use of it and swallow up the silver star. He had gained a great boon from that and it was arguable that his strongest current abilities were related to his Spacetime Soul Nature. The stronger he became, the more he realized that he hadn't even begun to tap into its greatest strength.
What he hadn't expected was for the absorption of the Silver Star to result in this, but he felt that it made sense. There was so much excess power, where could it have gone? His soul probably wasn't yet strong enough to deal with it, but his eyes... he felt that they had become indestructible, reaching the point where even if a high level Sky God wanted to burn him to ashes, all that would be left of his body were his Meridians and his eyes.
But his casual experimentation had caused the time between his eyes' world and the real world to dilate to the point that Ailsa and Yaana were forced to live a life in that enclosed space. He was so infuriated, and yet he didn't know where he could vent his frustration.
What he hadn't noticed was that Ailsa had yet to finish talking.
"... I took a risk. Sometime after the first long cycle of years, the situation within your eyes changed and I think the outside world began to impact it. The energy became so much richer and I was able to pass my days helping the three little ones to improve alongside Yaana. We at least had each other, and the expansion of your Heavenly Pupil World left us with some entertainment, at least.
"Soon, the outside world began to impact your world more and more and I was able to learn so much... Eventually, the hazard came... There were large fluctuations of space that began to come with the surge of your world's size. We had to be extremely careful, or we would lose our lives even before our old age could take us first...
"... But soon, the fluctuations became so large that they were unavoidable..."
Ryu's heart clenched.
"Luckily, it came with an opportunity... We don't know what's on the other side, but we have no choice but to go. I hope that I can see you again, your wife... your Life Partner... loves you very much..."
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