Ryu's bones and skin began to glow a comforting, shimmering light. In the next moment, his veins and arteries followed suit. Given the amount of light coming off of him, it should have been irritating to the eyes, but somehow, that couldn't have been farther from the truth.
One had to understand that although Ryu's Ice Jade Crystal Body was known as a Bone Structure, bones were inextricably linked to the circulatory system. There was no shortage of stories where geniuses were born with domineering bloodlines, but couldn't support its potential with their weak Bone Structure.
Why was it that Ryu could have four seemingly opposing bloodlines in a single body? It was precisely because his Bone Structure was known for its perfect balance. There was likely not a single other Bone Structure in existence that could accomplish what Ryu's had.
The moment his bones reacted, so too did his blood vessels. An instant later, a calming wave wafted from Ryu's body. Not only did it exude Essence, there was a natural, intoxicating aroma that stopped the ape in its tracks. It was as though it could fall asleep at any moment under the influence of Ryu's constitution.
Ryu's legs didn't pause for even a moment. He burst through the legs of the ape, slightly ducking to pass by with ease. He was well aware that such a state would last for long, so he didn't even bother to look back, he simply kept pushing himself.
Headmaster Leopold frowned. He wanted to release [Resonating Sense] once more, but he hesitated. More than half of his Spiritual Qi had gone up in smoke due to the technique after using it only twice. He had to be careful with his uses, or else wouldn't it be too much of a joke if he was too tired to deal with a mere Pulse Opening Realm youth?
By the time the ape awoke from its daze, Ryu was already gone. It only lasted from two or three seconds, but that was enough for Ryu to cover over a kilometer with ease. With the help of the dense trees, he was able to escape the ape's immediate notice.
Ryu spared another glance toward the Glove of Order. Before, it had shot up his arm and covered his shoulders. In addition, it had formed a gauntlet-like black armor from the tips of his fingers to his wrist. But, after that maneuver, it reverted back to its previous bland appearance.
'Just what kind of treasure is this…' Ryu mumbled to himself. A treasure capable of manipulating the highest form of energy, Essence, was definitely no normal treasure. In fact, Ryu didn't believe even the Shrine Plane had a treasure capable of doing such a thing. Well, it did, but it was limited to treasures like the Northern Heavenly Wind and the Origin Flame…
All Ryu understood about the Glove of Order was that it grew in strength based on his comprehension of the Natural Order. It only evolved so much after it absorbed his comprehension of Halberd, Glaive and Spear Qi. In addition, it had the ability to perfectly fuse your comprehensions into an arrow.
It might sound simple to say 'fuse', but it needed to be understood how practically impossible that was. Ryu had trouble just using two of the same weapons at once. He hadn't even considered the idea of using two different weapons at once, let alone three. Many cultivators could use two Natural Orders at the same time, but only a handful could perfectly fuse them to be used as one. Yet, the Glove of Order did it with absolute ease… What was the secret of the glove? How did its absorption of Essence correlate with its ability to fuse Natural Orders? Also, had it become much weaker after helping Ryu escape certain death?
At the very least, the last question had a resounding yes for its answer. Ryu faintly understood that unless his comprehension took another leap forward, the glove wouldn't react to him again. Luckily, he also faintly understood that this would affect his ability to form arrows. Ryu believed that this instinct was definitely tied to his Heavenly Pupils. Only it could provide him with such insight.
However, that weakening didn't come without benefits. Not only had Ryu escaped death, but his body was pumping with the purest energy in existence, even better than Spiritual Qi. His natural healing factor accelerated, and his Mental Realm was awashed with a calming qi that soothed its aching caused by the constant shattering the Immortal Sakura petals. Though Ryu's body was still in a terrible state, at the very least, he wasn't at death's door just yet. He had taken a single step back.
Ryu felt that his Bone Structure had slightly awakened to its true abilities. It was only a small creak in a large door, but there was definitely an improvement. Much like bloodlines, the true abilities of Bone Structures weren't meant to be tapped into until the Divine Vessel Realm. The fact Ryu had faintly touched upon something was completely unprecedented.
Unfortunately, Ryu didn't have much more time to think about it now. The natural fragrance he gave off continued, resulting the surrounding beasts completely ignoring his presence.
However, the same couldn't be said for Headmaster Leopold. When he crossed the territory of the blue furred ape, he was forced into a battle. For him, a Fifth Order Beast was below him in strength, but one had to remember that beasts were often stronger than their human counterparts. Though the ape was only the equivalent of a Divine Vessel Realm expert, it still took Leopold several minutes to kill it, giving Ryu valuable time.
History repeated itself. As they entered deeper and deeper into the forest, Leopold began to fight more and more battles, slowing him down further. Eventually, he began to take detours around beast territories by making use of his Spiritual Sense. He was a Mental Realm cultivator, his fighting prowess simply wasn't very high. Mental Realm cultivators were extraordinarily weak without strong Legacies backing them. And, Leopold's Legacy happened to be in Ryu's hands.
'That's it!' Ryu's cold, silver eyes with flashed with a ray of unconcealed excitement. He could see it, the Immortal Path. The Immortal Path on every Plane was the exact same. It was located at the base of a massive and majestic rock structure. Those on the lower planes had no idea what this endless rock was, but Ryu knew it all too well. It was none other than Shrine Mountain! That was right, Shrine Mountain was a structure that spanned all six, now likely seven Planes!
No one understood just how it worked. Sometimes, the mountain would appear on the edge of Planes just like it did on this Higher Mortal Plane, or, at other times, it would appear directly in the middle like it did for Ryu's Shrine Plane. Either way, no matter what, upon passing its test, one would be teleported to the furthest location from the mountain.
The Shrine Mountain appeared in the absolute center of the Immortal Planes, but always appeared on the edge of Mortal Planes. One Ryu completed the trial, he would be teleported to the very edge of the Pedestal Plane, something Granny Miriam called the Outer Ring. However, Ryu had no intention of doing that. He didn't want to be constantly looking over his shoulder for the day Headmaster Leopold would find him. No. This Immortal Path would be Leopold's death bed!
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