Though there were only three main divisions of qi in the martial world, the sub-levels hidden within were to the point of being infinite in quantity. What could be denoted as Mortal, Immortal, or Cosmic Qi was actually just a subgroup of energies that represented a certain quality. This was why Ryu was having a bit of an issue choosing his path. Without a master, he could only rely on his own intuition…
When choosing a Qi Technique, it was of the utmost importance to take into account one's meridians. Ryu was born with Chaotic Silk meridians, a substance known for being incredibly light, while simultaneously being the third strongest material in existence. An Ancestral Grade Meridian System like Ryu's gave him near infinite paths to chose from. It was no wonder he was struggling.
At the same time, one must also consider your affinities. Some types of Qi Techniques worked better for others simply due to special talents they might have. For example, those with high ice affinities should tend toward Yin Type Qi Techniques, while those with high fire affinities should tend toward Yang.
This was where Ryu ran into yet another issue. Due to his bloodlines, he had exceptionally high affinities for fire, ice and lightning.. At the same time, his Bone Structure was incredibly balanced despite being known as Ice Jade Crystal Body. Actually, the true name of Ryu's Bone Structure was lost in translation. As far as Ryu was aware, 'ice' in this context was actually meant to refer to purity, not cold. If it was simply about cold, Opes Kingdom's low temperatures would have never bothered Ryu at all.
Ryu flipped through techniques one by one. For now, he ignored the Body Realm cultivation techniques. He had to focus on healing himself first. Practicing body cultivation might have the opposite result.
[Rising Sun Qi]. Its speed was the quickest during early mornings. There was an additional speed boost to cultivation the closer to the sun one was, and also the hotter their environment was. Qi from this technique would raise affinity for Yang Type techniques and also facilitate comprehending Yang Type Natural Orders as well, especially fire related ones.
[Swift Yin Qi]. This cultivation technique was known for producing exceptionally light qi. It was great for agility type cultivators, and especially virgin women. Cultivation was quick within realms, but one suffered when crossing large barriers due to a struggle in building up momentum. Obviously, it was difficult to attack new realms when your qi was lighter than air.
[Tribulation Nine Clouds]. This technique intrigued Ryu despite the fact it was practically suicide. Tribulations in the martial world were incredibly rare, or, rather, Tribulation Clouds were. Cultivators themselves faced many internal Tribulations like the Awakening Realm's Rites, or the Spiritual Severing Realm's Severings, or the Path Extinction Realm's Extinctions. However, cultivators were rarely punished by Tribulation Clouds. Cultivation alone was punishment enough.
However, this didn't mean that Tribulation Clouds didn't exist. Still, they usually only appeared for the creation of heavenly weapons or pills. There were also special danger zones that had perpetual Tribulation Clouds hanging over them due to some mighty event that took place in the past. Ryu also believed he heard a rumor that it was necessary to survive a Nine Cloud Tribulation in order to become a Sky God and have your inheritance passed down by the Heavens.
This was all to say that to practice this [Tribulation Nine Clouds] Qi Technique was asking for death. If one stepped onto this path for Mortal Qi, you'd have to follow suit with Immortal and Cosmic Qi as well. It worked by converting lightning strikes into one's own qi. This gave a cultivator unprecedented explosive power and also tempered the body and mind simultaneously. This sort of technique would only be chosen by those who were lacking in talent and hoped to use near death experiences to improve their constitution. Obviously, Ryu had no need to do such a thing. In addition, having to rely on the incredibly rare Tribulation Cloud would only slow down his cultivation.
Ryu discarded it along with the rest, passing through without hesitation. It wasn't that he didn't realize that this technique was amazing, it was just that all of these techniques were amazing. Even the worst of them were Five Stars.
After a while, Ryu understood what he should be looking for. Thanks to his Ice Jade Crystal Body, Ryu didn't need to find techniques that focused on cultivation speed. The benefit of his Bone Structure would handle that for him. Instead, Ryu decided to make full use of his Chaotic Silk Meridians. Since they were the third hardest material in existence, why not push them to their absolute limit?
Ryu wanted a technique that focused on qi purity and density. He wanted something that compressed his qi past the limits a normal cultivator could withstand. Only this way would he be able to make the best use of his Chaotic Silk.
Ryu was well aware that the Revolutions of the Qi Refinement realm already served this purpose. However, he wanted to take it to the extreme. Although his Spiritual Foundation was far larger than an average cultivator, those of Ryu's cultivation realm could only make use of the Qi Fumes that emitted from it. These so-called Qi Fumes were a primer to Mortal Qi. It was incredibly light and was used up quickly. It was only because his Spiritual Foundation was so large and emitted excessive amounts of Qi Fumes that he was able to draw Qi Lines despite not being in the Qi Refinement Realm yet.
Simply put, Ryu wouldn't be able to tap into the true potential of his Spiritual Foundation until he entered the World Sea Realm. Such a matter was so far away that Ryu didn't even want to think about it. Eventually, Ryu found three techniques that met his requirements.
[Six Realm Opening]. This technique converted your Qi Pulses into miniature dantians. Though they wouldn't contain a Spiritual Foundation, they would contain an excess amount of qi that could be tapped into at will. Since Pulses were about two to three times larger than normal meridians, only they could withstand such a thing. But, this was only relative. Only reinforcement type Meridians like Ryu's could use this technique without crippling themselves.
[Abyssal Vortex Qi]. This technique was also incredibly masochistic. The body had numerous nodes known as meridians. This technique used those nodes as centers to form what its creator called 'Abyssal Vortexes'. These vortexes were incredibly concentrated cyclones of qi that rotated within every node. By taking this approach, one could hold several times more qi than usual.
[Revolutions Amplifier]. This final technique multiplied the effectiveness of Revolutions by several folds. Usually, doing this might result in premature ascension to the Spiritual Severing Realm, but this technique provided a systematic method of avoiding this issue. In Ryu's estimation, it was the most valuable of the three for this very reason alone.
It was difficult to choose. All of them were Six Stars and each had a complete set of Immortal and Cosmic Technique successors. So… Ryu had another maddening thought… What if he didn't choose?