Ailsa smiled and watched as the glowing lights slowly collected around Ryu.
A Realm Heart had a hard to describe form. It was more accurate to say that it had no form at all. It wasn’t until it became a Protector Spirit that it would decide on the image it would have in its life. For now, it was nothing but a massive mass of energy. However, this was a very special energy. It wasn’t one that carried the opportunity to increase cultivation, but rather held something more enigmatic that was hard to explain.
The Realm Heart was essentially a special lifeform. In fact, it was a lifeform that all other lifeforms are birthed from. Some time countless epochs ago, some unknown Realm Heart allowed the birth of the first human. Even before that, one allowed the birth of the first Phoenix and the first Dragon, and so on…
Of course, this Mortal Realm Heart had no ability to birth such creatures. Those True Realms that could give birth to novel species were incredibly rare even among Cosmic Realm Hearts that evolved into Protector Spirits.
This aside, simply absorbing this energy would be a foolish waste of this Realm Heart. Namely because Ryu couldn’t cultivate, he would only damage the Realm Heart by doing such a thing.
‘Don’t absorb the energy Ryu. Instead, allow it into your body to slowly take form. Under normal circumstances, this sort of energy can allow your cultivation to rise exponentially without drawbacks, however, even if you hadn’t lost your connection to your dantian, I would never allow you to use it that way…
‘… Yes, just like that…
‘A Realm Heart has far more value when allowed to maintain its original state. The first and most important benefit to you is that it will allow you cultivate and breakthrough realms even without your dantian!’
Ryu trembled. If it hadn’t been for the fact he was in Breath of World, his attempt would have collapsed.
‘Remember, a Realm Heart is in essence a peace of the Heavens. If one takes root in your body, you wouldn’t need a Spiritual Foundation to cultivate, you can use it as a proxy instead.
‘Still, there are a few drawbacks. Firstly, since it’s only a Mortal Realm Heart, you can only cultivate Mortal Realm Stages. Meaning, your ceiling will still be the Half-Step Immortal Ring Realm unless you reconnect with your dantian.
‘Secondly, you won’t be able to connect your meridians to it. Because of that, your qi will constantly leak outward which will both make your qi harder to control and lowering your stamina.
‘Thirdly, any special abilities your meridians may have had will be lost until you reconnect with your dantian. Luckily, your meridians are most known for their sturdiness and lightness, so you won’t lose out much. So this applies less to you than it would to others… But I don’t believe your Chaotic Silk Meridians are so simple. The difficulty in ascending Realms isn’t there without reason or cause.’
Ryu understood what Ailsa meant. Even if it seemed he wasn’t losing out much to this third drawback, there may be many hidden things he was unaware of. For Ailsa, who always seemed so knowledgeable, to actually know so little about his meridians spoke volumes to the kinds of secrets it might have…
‘Where there’s bad news, there’s also good news too.
‘Your control of Essence will reach an unprecedented level. So, when it comes time for your to reclaim your dantian, completing your subsequent Severings won’t be as stressful.’
Ryu sighed a slight breath of relief. It wasn’t lost on him that he still needed to complete several more Severings before he could enter the Divine Vessel Realm. If he lost control of Essence every time he attempted a Severing and ended up in a half-dead state like he had just two months ago, it would be too much.
‘Still, since it’s a Mortal Realm Heart, this control will still be limited.
‘The Heir and Impose Realms are considering mortal level comprehension Realms. So, you’ll be able to freely control the Essence you call down from within these two Realms. Once you enter the Rule Realm and become a Ruler, this control will begin to lessen. When you enter the Small Realm State and become a Monarch, that extra control may just become useless.
‘And, since this is a Mortal Realm Heart, although you can comprehend other Inheritances to the Impose Realm, you cannot enter the Rule Realm relying on it since the Rule Realm is considered Immortal level comprehension. At least this means that you can comprehend your Northern Wind Inheritance to the Impose Realm now. Since you can control Mortal level Essence freely now, you don’t need to wait for a comprehension breakthrough to form powerful Qi Blades, so you won’t need to hold back.
‘However, there is no need to be depressed about these matters. What you truly need to control Essence for is your Severings. Those other matters are so far off into the future that they won’t impact you now.’
Ryu felt a slight headache coming along. Every benefit seemed to have such heavy restrictions. Was this really a once in a lifetime treasure? It sounded more like a con to him.
This restriction didn’t seem too bad on the surface, but everything Ailsa spoke of essentially made his Realm Heart useless after entering the Immortal Realms. But, Ryu’s greatest enemies were within the Cosmic Realms… This sad reality almost made him want to throw away this so-called treasure entirely.
Ailsa smiled, seeing through Ryu’s thoughts.
‘Things are obviously not this simple, or else it wouldn’t be such an outstanding treasure.
‘One benefit is the nurturing of Origin Grade and Unique Grade Treasures. The birth of a Realm Heart is usually accompanied by the manifestation of countless Treasures… Not all of the world’s creations are forged by human hands. The disciplines of Blacksmithing or Alchemy or even Formation Mastery were all learned from observing the Heavens.
‘I wouldn’t be surprised if the Treasure that Zu Clan Elder stumbled upon was born due to the influence of this infant Realm Heart.’
Ryu felt his heartbeat with a fiercer thump. Slowly but surely, the veins are arteries of his heart valves slowly turned a golden hue…
‘The instant you fuse with the Realm Heart, it will begin nourishing your Northern Heavenly Wind and your Origin Flame. In addition, the Incubator and Glove of Order will gain lesser, but still tangible benefits, as though being re-refined by the Heavens themselves.
‘The Realm Heart will be able to nourish your Heavenly Wind and Origin Flame to 1% completion.’