In truth, the real reason he hadn’t was because Ailsa kept mentioning that there should be a fifth. But, even until this point, Ryu had never laid eyes on this supposed fifth Ancestor or even caught a faint wisp of them. It wasn’t even certain if this person was still alive at least.
Without a word to the Ancestor, Ryu began to comb through the books within the library. He had always known that this place was quite extensive. With how ancient the Zu Clan was, they most definitely had a whole host of knowledge that Ryu had never seen before.
At that moment, Ryu was hoping that he could find something about Ailsa’s seal here.
By now, Ryu had already realized that Ailsa was in fact aware of this seal’s existence. As such, he also knew that it was a special technique of the Cultus Clan. But, according to what he knew from Ailsa’s memories, the effect of the seal grew more powerful – exponentially so, even — the longer it was active.
The problem, then, was obvious. According to what Ailsa knew, she shouldn’t have slipped into a coma. But, very obviously, she had this time. Clearly something had gone wrong but Ryu didn’t have enough knowledge to understand exactly what it was. Without a choice, he had to come here.
As for the danger the Ancestors provided? He didn’t have the mind to care about it right now. In thanks to Flora’s technique, as long as he didn’t get too close, he at least had a small chance of protecting himself.
Ryu poured through book after book, tearing his way through several deep theorization compendiums on seals.
The main difference between seals and formations was in their philosophy. The latter sought to harmonize with the energies of the Heavens to produce a sort of fantastical result. Seals, however, were the opposite. They disrupted the energies of the Heavens in order to disrupt a sort of fantastical result.
There were malicious seals that acted more like curses. There were defensive seals that were often used in battle. There were nurturing seals, preventative seals, even some rare offensive seals.
The scope and range was just as endless as formations themselves. But, as far as Ryu saw it, formations and seals were just two sides of the same coin. He had such a deep understanding of one that grasping the other felt like breathing to him. In fact, Ryu felt that he somehow understood seals even more than he did formations.
Without even testing it, Ryu knew. If he drew seals with his Chaos Qi, their potency would be beyond anything anyone had ever seen.
…
The Zu Ancestors watched Ryu flip through tome after tome, their minds growing numb. The knowledge in those books were so densely packed that they knew it should have been impossible for anyone to go through them so quickly. If they hadn’t known better, they would have thought that Ryu had come here purely to mess with them and show off.
But, this child who could hardly be bothered to show respect to them even as four Sky Gods… Was he ever the type of person to do this? They knew deep in their hearts that Ryu was absorbing all of this information like a sponge.
Ryu put down the last book, his brows furrowed into a tight crease.
Even after all his reading, he only managed to boil it all down to a single point: whatever was happening now had little to do with the seal itself and everything to do with whatever talent of Ailsa’s it had been suppressing. More accurately, whatever backlash or unexpected symptom wouldn’t be coming from the seal, but rather from Ailsa’s talent itself.
The seal functioned as a suppressant. But, it wasn’t a perfect one. Rather, it was designed to stir up the latent potential of one’s talent and force it to fight back. Unfortunately, with the seal being anchored by your body itself, it was impossible for your talent to destroy it without believing that it was destroying itself.
This led to a game of tug of war where one’s talent continuously advanced and retreated. This back and forth and these ebbs and flows resulted in one’s talent being purified and gradually being caused to mature.
From Ryu’s understanding, a few hundred to a couple thousand years was optimal for this seal for multiple reasons.
Firstly, there was a limit to everyone’s talent. Even with the seal, it couldn’t be caused to grow indefinitely unless you were an extraordinary genius to begin with. In the latter case, your talent would have such great potential that having the seal would be more efficient than gradually improving your talent on your own.
However, the second reason was what made it unfeasible to do so even in the latter case. The longer the seal was active, the deeper it would be engraved into your body. If not for Ryu’s [Death Acupoint] and the fact he could fuse with Ailsa as one, the seal may have never been undone successfully.
To make matters worse, there would soon be diminishing returns. Or, rather, the opposite depending on your perspective.
Eventually, the growth of the talent would far outstrip the growth of its vessel, resulting in a situation where the talent was too much to handle for the host body!
It was then that Ryu came to a chilling conclusion. Had Ailsa not been a Faerie, and had her talent not been soul related…. Undoing the seal after so long would have killed her.
The unique characteristic of Faeries was that they didn’t need a strong vessel to contain their souls. Unlike humans who needed a strong enough body to house a strong soul, Faeries didn’t have this problem and could grow their souls indefinitely regardless of their Qi or Body Realm Cultivation.
Had Ailsa been a human, the ballooning of her soul would have completely destroyed her body. Unless she had an Origin Grade treasure like the Immortal Jades the Zu Ancestors used to maintain their forms, she would be finished.
Luckily, Ailsa was a Faerie. As a result, her body simply ballooned in size.
And, even more luckily, Ailsa’s pair of meridians were only of the Sovereign Grade, or else who knows if they would have caused problems of their own.
Ryu felt good that he understood this now, but it all still left him at a loss. He didn’t understand what Ailsa’s talent was even now and he didn’t dare to investigate it again for fear of falling into another coma.
He wasn’t afraid for himself. But, if he fell into another one, there would be no one left to protect his body. If he was unsafe, that also meant that Ailsa would be unsafe. That wasn’t something that he could afford to allow.
Ryu took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
’I know all of the important things. Firstly, I know Ailsa is a Lower Spiritual Ascension Realm expert. Second, I know that her talent is related to the soul. Thirdly, I know that it has an extreme yin characteristic. Fourthly, I know that she’s fallen into a coma to acclimate herself to this. Fifth, she’s a Faerie.’
Taking all of these things into account, Ryu shot through a store of his memories. What he wanted was simple.
He needed a soul nurturing herb that functioned well for Faeries and also wouldn’t agitate a soul with yin characteristics. Lastly, it had to be a Spiritual Herb capable of being of benefit to a Soul Ascension Realm expert.
’There are a few possible answers but I can’t risk Ailsa on anything less than the best. I need the Higher Mystical Grade Night Shade Dew.’
When Ryu came to this conclusion, he put the final tome away and turned to leave the library.
If others knew that a Connecting Heaven Realm expert was thinking of laying hands on such an herb, who knew how they would react? Even Ailsa’s bank in Osiris didn’t have enough funds to so casually by such an herb.
Of course, this wasn’t because the Cultus Clan couldn’t afford it, but rather because they had never really put much effort into Osiris to begin with. It had always been a casual endeavor on their part.
But, Ryu didn’t care. If he needed to rely on his woman’s money to save her, what kind of man would he be?
He simply had to enter Osiris again. Their trade market would definitely be the best way to find such a high level herb. Even if he had to risk running into more Cultus Clan nephews, he would do it.
Just as Ryu was about to leave the library, though, a voice suddenly called out to him. Maybe it was because of the almost pleading tone within it, but despite his poor mood, Ryu actually came to a stop and turned his head back.
”Please hold on a minute Ryu.” Eska called out.