Maybe something had changed within him, but Ryu actually took his time to clean himself. Hours ticked by before he was finally willing to exit the large bathhouse. It seemed the several months of discomfort had weighed on him more heavily than he originally believed. It was only now that he was truly relaxed.
‘Ah, there’s my handsome Little Ryu.’ Ailsa fluttered around Ryu in her Faerie form like a little butterfly, her happiness seemingly far too exaggerated for the occasion.
Ryu actually smiled lightly, but didn’t pursue the topic. He instead calmly wiped himself and put on his usual set of black robes. Of course, these were woven by a Spiritual Seamstress, so they could withstand a battle between Connecting Heaven Realm experts.
“The prayer mat is an intriguing treasure, it seems to have a faint consciousness of its own. I feel like it’s been trying to tell me its name all of this time, but it’s faintly out of my reach.”
‘A name?’ Ailsa’s brows arched in astonishment.
Names held a lot of power in the martial world. Many of Ryu’s own treasures didn’t even have a real one. Even his Origin Grade incubator was merely known by him as the Incubator, for example. And his cloak was simply known as the Cloak.
For an item to gain a name, it had to accomplish something significant.
Of course, there were also objects like Ryu’s Glove of Order that were given names simply because lower tier Planes didn’t understand the significance of a Title. As a result, it was ironically so that many Mortal Plane treasures had names, while very few Immortal Plane treasures did.
Still, Ryu faintly believed that maybe the Glove of Order gaining a name wasn’t simply due to ignorance. It seemed quite special even among his horde of amazing treasures.
Simply put, the fact this prayer mat had a name it tried to speak to Ryu meant it was far more amazing that either Ryu or Ailsa previously believed.
Though this was a mystery, Ryu chose to decisively not think of these matters anymore. Wasting time positing theories without enough clues was foolish. He had much more important things to do.
“Ailsa… I think it’s about time.”
Understanding what her Life Partner was referring to, Ailsa grinned mysteriously. It seemed she was anticipating it as well.
**
With the Zu Palace’s second floor, the very same expansive library that had filled even Ryu with awe still stood. However, in the past couple of years, the atmosphere had grown steadily colder.
If the four Zu Ancestors thought that something was wrong after their descendants didn’t come to pay respects to them a few days after the crystalline jade was completed, they were completely certain of it by now.
In what seemed like a blink of an eye, it had already been more than three years since they first met Ryu, yet they hadn’t seen him since. But, what was more infuriating was that they could very clearly feel a presence frequently entering and exiting the crystalline jade as he pleased. If they didn’t know what was going on by now, they would be unworthy of the Sky God Title. Not only had Ryu managed to escape their machinations, but he was also freely using the resources of their Clan with impunity.
They thought that all of their work had failed. Countless trillions of years, numerous wasted Eras, all for this very plan. Yet, it had been spoiled at the hands of a teenage boy.
They weren’t fools. They knew that Ryu would never enter this library again until he had the strength to deal with them. And, they had no ability to leave because of the special technique used to manifest the jades they were using to sustain their lives into the Ethereal Plane.
However, on this day, something baffling occurred. The boy they thought wouldn’t dare to appear before them again actually made his way to the second floor and creaked the large double doors open.
In that instant, Flora’s petite body erupted into a fit of uproarious laughter.
“Didn’t I tell you?! He’s just a little boy! How could he hold back his curiosity for so long!? Since you’ve come here boy, don’t think of leaving again!”
This version of Flora was far different from the charming, teasing Flora Ryu had met before. It seemed the anguish at having failed at the final step was enough to push her over the edge, revealing her true venomous side, the very side of her that wouldn’t have hesitated to steal all of Ryu’s talent.
“Hmph. I’d like to see which of you dares to lay a hand on my Little Ryu.”
The expressions of the four Ancestors changed.
Their judgement had been completely impaired. They hadn’t even noticed that Ryu had entered with another individual. Plus, the lane leading to the center of the library was several hundred meters long, though Flora spoke in agitation, the distance between the two parties was still relatively large.
Morvar, the quiet and cold male of the four Ancestors, bitterly smiled. As Ryu and Ailsa slowly came into view, he became certain that they had truly lost this time.
Was it normal for a Sky God of Flora’s stature to lose her composure like this? Of course not. Ryu’s Great Grandfather had learned of his sudden rebirth and even that he could now cultivate with a False Spiritual Foundation, yet all he reacted with was a raised eyebrow.
If something wasn’t very wrong, even with her naturally venomous personality, there was no way Flora would lose her cool like this.
“It seems you four have paid a significant price to live so long.” Ailsa said coldly, carrying an air of majesty that seemed absent when she was with Ryu alone. “However, this is what you deserve for daring to lay a hand on my Life Partner.”
Morvar remained silent. Of the four of them, Flora had been the youngest, so she had less time to fortify her mind and build her will power. There was of course a price to pay for maintaining one’s consciousness for so long, and she was likely to be the first among them to pay for it…
Eska, the Immortal Sakura Sky God, looked toward Ryu with a shocked expression. She immediately realized that he was already on the verge of comprehending her technique’s third stage.
“You…” However how could her shock be more than Flora’s? “… You comprehended my [Divine Chaotic Annihilation] to the [Divine Chaotic Pestle] stage?!”
Ryu swept a cold glance over the Sky God. “Is there anything difficult about such an accomplishment?”
Suddenly, the cold Morvar began to laugh as well.
“I see, we’ve been played by you from the very beginning. It seems we’ve underestimated these Mysteries of Heaven and Earth Pupils. Maybe in your Era, it’s long since found a place in the top ten, most likely top three.” A deep sigh resounded through the library. “To think my Zu Clan would have such a day…”