Ryu closed his eyes, taking deep breaths. He had just pulled himself out from an abyss of perpetual rage, and yet here he was again, peering down from the ledge. He wondered if this was just a function of the martial world. Maybe it was impossible to be happy and carefree.
At that moment, he seemed to see Ailsa's face. The roll of her eyes, the teasing expression in her gaze... When he had first met her he thought that they were far too different to be Life Partners, but wasn't her usual baseline how he acted now? They were practically a match made in heaven, their banter could probably make even a Dao God cough up blood in rage...
At least when they worked together, that was. When she was reprimanding him instead, those words were just as grating and annoying, a taste of his own medicine. He knew exactly what she would say in this situation. Though, he didn't know if that was because he had been traumatized, or if that was because he knew that wife of his so well...
She would probably call him a fool, probably say that he had far too much to live for, that he was too lucky to be steeped in dissatisfaction and rage all the time. Of course, that speech would probably be less effective in the True Martial World where he had had to work so hard to reach this stage, but it likely would have been true nonetheless.
There were always many less fortunate than him, and even more who had no ability to decide even the next step they would take on in life.
Ryu exhaled a breath and his eyes opened, sharp, and yet still softened. He took a step and vanished, landing in a field of gold and silver. As far as the eye could see, Gold and Silver Veined Spirit Seeking Lilies lay.
Ryu took a seat and stared out toward this beautiful scene, his mind quite blank. Even he didn't know how long he spent there, but did it matter much? With the time dilation he had spent in this place, it was probably the case that even months would feel like seconds to the outside world. It was just a shame that he couldn't enter this place with his body and he only could with a portion of his soul.
Suddenly, he sunk into Breath of Earth, and then Breath of Heaven, and then Breath of World. He hadn't experienced this sort of depth of meditation in years, and it was even more exaggerated with the amplification of the Origin Flame.
And yet, he wasn't thinking of anything, he wasn't trying to meditate on anything, and the state seemed to be entirely wasted... or so it seemed.
Under its presence, he reached a state of peace he never had. It was ironically a feeling that he couldn't even quite bask in because he had forgotten all things. But an unknown period of time later, when he opened his eyes once more and all of that feeling seemed to rush him at once.
He could suddenly feel his Dao far more clearly than he ever had in the past, and his Dao Heart felt polished and shimmering, a radiant blue-silver coming from his skin and circulating around his body.
In truth, Ryu didn't know what level his Dao was at. He didn't know its exact grade, whether it was a Lower Founding Dao or a Peak Founding Dao, or even if Founding Daos had such distinction in the first place. He also didn't know how close he was to maturing it, or if his Dao had actually regressed.
It also didn't help that not long after he had formed this Dao, his Dao Heart had been injured, leaving him in a situation where he couldn't even use it, let alone meditate upon it to understand it. But now... he felt that he could finally grasp what it is that he had... at least in part.
His Daos level remained elusive, he couldn't quite see its exact level, it seemed to fluctuate.
It was an odd feeling, watching his Dao strengthen and weaken, but this didn't confuse him. Rather, he felt that he had come to a certain understanding instead.
The reason lay in his Heavenly Pupils.
There was something odd that had happened after he stepped foot into the True Martial World. He had made the decision to fuse his Dao and Inheritances into one so he could progress them together. He had also done this as a measure to help along his Dao as well.
Asce had spoken all those words about how hard it would be for Ryu to breakthrough, but what he hadn't known was that there was a function of Ryu's eight trigram diagrams that he had yet to use because he hadn't needed to yet...
While his Dao could raise his Inheritances, the opposite was possible as well. If he ever reached a bottleneck, he could focus on his much easier Inheritances and use them to elucidate his Dao. At the same time, because his Dao was separated into four pieces he was also capable of comprehending them each individually to help elevate the others.
This was all well and great, but he had never really considered why this was possible. He had been quite ignorant to how things worked before, so he hadn't really picked up on the oddities but there were a few.
Was it even possible for others to do as he did?
There was a simpler explanation for that, and that was maybe that his Dao was just unique. It was designed to understand all things, so it was also compatible with all things. The eight trigram diagram was uniquely suited to it. In fact, this was the reason Ryu had even tried to do such a thing to begin with.
That could be somewhat explained. But...
Why did the eight trigram diagram appear in his eyes when his Dao activated? This was something no one else experienced and it seemed to be entirely distinctive to him.
Now that he was sitting here, the answer seemed obvious. From the very beginning, it was his eyes that had allowed it. It was his eyes that had allowed everything.
Right at this moment, his eyes were in a state of hyper evolution. He had consumed far too many Black-Veined Spirit Seeking Lilies, and then he had forced himself to use [Heaven Gate] to accelerate his growth through trillions of years. Right after that, he had "died" and experienced a rebirth, using up his rebirths in a single go. And yet, his eyes still hadn't unsealed themselves yet.
While in that state of hyper evolution, he had formed the eight trigram diagrams within his Spiritual Sea as that was the only place it made sense to put them. But once again... the eyes were the window to the soul.
He had unknowingly activated his eyes in a way they had never been before, and his Dao and his eyes became inseparable.
But there was a very good reason for this as well. His eyes saw through the mystery of all things, and so did his Dao. Just the same way the eight trigram diagram was perfect for his Dao, it was likewise perfect for his eyes. They seamlessly matched one another.
With all of this laid out, the reason why his Dao was in such a situation made perfect sense. His Dao and his eyes had reached about the same level now, but one of them was sealed away while the other was flourishing. The reason why he couldn't tell the exact level of his Dao was because his eyes were adding a large variable to the output of his Dao.
But this was also an excellent thing as well.
Every cultivator hoped that their paths would align. The greatest variables to a cultivator's path were the talents they would be born with and how they would fuse them toward a single intent.
But now, one step after another, Ryu seemed to be finding that seamless, singular journey for himself. His eyes, maybe the greatest variable in his life other than his Chaotic Silk Meridians and the Phoenix Sky God's Spiritual Foundation, had already merged into him in a way he hadn't even been quite aware of until now.n)(o--V/(e-)l-)b/)1(-n
In fact, it may very well be possible that once his eyes awakened, it would not only carry the nature of his Dao, but also that of his Soul Nature. One step after another, they would come together to create a new Heavenly Pupil never before seen.
And that just left one matter... Just how close to maturity was his Dao?
Even compared to the first, this was the most puzzling to Ryu, and it maybe explained why his Dao's level also fluctuated so much...
His Dao was just a step away from the Sky God Realm. Or, most accurately, the Second Cosmic Grade. In fact, it might even be more precise than that to say that it was already a half step within.
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