For the first time in half a year, Ryu stood. Various popping noises erupted from his body as he stood to his full height of just over two meters tall. In the past years, even he hadn't realized until now just how much he had grown.
If it wasn't for the fact his garments and skin were an absolute bloody and impurity filled mess, Ryu would have likely realized that his height wasn't the only change he experienced. But, unfortunately, there was no place to take a bath on the Immortal Plane.
Finally, Ryu took a step forward, walking with an air of arrogance and confidence. In that moment, he suddenly stopped and roared at the top of his lungs. He had done it. He had survived. A deep, almost bestial part of him was throbbing. That experience of being forced into a corner and surviving against all odds… He had never felt it before during his sheltered life on the Shrine Plane. This was it, this was what he had been missing all of his life.
'Show me what you have in store for me, Pedestal Plane. You can't lose out to a Mortal Plane, right?' Ryu looked at the portal before him with a fiery battle intent twinkling in his silver eyes. It seemed it was a bit to difficult to ignore the Tatsuya blood that ran through his veins.
**
Valor City. When Ryu appeared on the Pedestal Plane, he was sent to an area free of danger and most other humans. He believed this to be in thanks to Shrine Mountain once more. From Ryu's understanding, it had a habit of teleporting those who survived its trial to the weakest areas of the Plane. This was in order to give those who ascended a chance to adapt instead of being snuffed out by a power they were in no position to handle.
Still, Ryu didn't spend much time in the wilderness. Aside from cleaning himself in a nearby lake and making a pair of leg garments from an unfortunate beast, he directly headed toward one of the most popular centers of power in the Outer Ring.
Thanks to Granny Miriam's help, Ryu had a memory jade with a map of a large part of the Outer Ring, though it was mostly empty toward the center. Ryu wasn't worried at all about attracting attention here because his plans for the Pedestal Plane would thrust him into the spotlight soon enough anyway.
Valor City, a territory Ryu was currently approaching the gate of, was one of the nine major cities of the Outer Ring. It was a center of power which was shared by three Sects. Three so-called Fifth Order Sects.
A Sect's ranking was decided by the same system as the categorization of beasts, partially. A Fifth Order beast was the equivalent of a Divine Vessel Realm expert, but a Fifth Order Sect, in order to earn this title, must have ten Divine Vessel Realm experts and at least one Ancestor of the Connecting Heaven Realm. This logic continues for all rankings. One must have ten experts the equivalent of the Order they're assigned, plus at least one expert a single Order above.
One can see here just how large the difference between the Outer Ring and the Higher Mortal Plane was. In reality, the Sects of the Higher Mortal Plane wouldn't even be considered of the Fourth Order. They simply didn't have that many Spiritual Severing Realm experts. They'd be considered Half Step Fourth Order Sects. Only the former Heavenly Body Sect was a true Fourth Order Sect. That said, considering the difference in quality of expert between the Planes, even the Heavenly Body Sect wouldn't be a match for a mere Third Order Sect found here.
Of course, aside from the three Fifth Order Sects that controlled Valor City, there were many more subordinate Sects who had a small say as well. Just from this, one could see just how large the Outer Ring was. It had taken Ryu half a month of his top speed to reach the nearest Major City.
As Ryu was about to cross the large open gates and into a large city, he was suddenly halted.
"Halt! Those with identification must identify themselves at the city gates. Those without must register themselves for a fee of ten silver!"
Ryu had expected this much. Such a large city would definitely have its own rules and laws. From what he was aware of, the Mayor of Valor City was a Divine Vessel Realm expert himself, making his influence equivalent to the elders of the three Ruling Sects. So, he had dignity of his own.
Just as one guard stepped toward Ryu, another suddenly pulled him back, causing the first to be spun into a cycle of confusion.
"What are you doing?" The first guard who spoke to Ryu asked.
"Are you a fool? These rules only apply to those below the Qi Refinement Realm. Plus, look at his age and the fact he's already a Higher Qi Refinement Expert. He clearly just came from the wilderness but has no supplies in hand, but look at the ring on his finger. I'm saving you, yet you dare talk back to me. Apologize and hope that he forgives you." The second guard snarled in a low voice.
The first guard became flustered. He had just tried to extort ten silver from a genius? He had seen Ryu's bare chest and beast skin skirt and immediately made assumptions.
"Ah, young master, please forgive me …" As the first guard was about to go into a spiel about how he had a wife and kids to take of, Ryu, who hadn't even paused his steps had already stepped into the city, eyes closed and hair as blemishless as freshly fallen snow blowing.
The first guard sighed a breath of relief. It seemed this young master couldn't be bothered to deal with him. That was good. Definitely good.
If others saw how flustered the usually arrogant Valor Guards had become at the sight of Ryu, they would have been astonished. The truth of the matter was that the rules of the city were based on age, not just cultivation realm. Ryu didn't even look nineteen years old yet, yet his cultivation was so grand. If he had been a middle-aged Qi Refinement expert, the first guard would have been right to stop him. But, to those as lowly as mere gate guards, offending those with potential was the worst sin.
Was Ryu really a Higher Qi Refinement Expert? Of course not. But, before he even completed his first Revolution, his qi was as pure as someone who had completed two, likely thanks to his Ice Jade Crystal Body. Now that he had officially completed one, plus considering the fact he was stacking the qi accumulation abilities of three Six Star Qi Techniques, his level of qi purity and quantity made those around him sense a Higher Qi Refinement Expert.
Sensing the cultivation of an individual wasn't an exact science. It was usually based on intuition and experience, and Ryu was too unconventional for those things to work as they should.
Ryu's appearance caught the eyes of many as he walked into the city, but he had no intention of staying on its outskirts. He would head directly into the Circle of Elites, the very core of Valor City!