Ryu crossed his legs and sat in the skies in meditation, his focus deepening as much as it could without touching onto the bounds of a State of Meditation.
He didn't have much Focus Qi to work with left after entering his Empyrean State, so he would have to make do with this alone.
But… he had endless confidence in himself nonetheless as his aura began to regress step by step.
Time flowed around him, fusing with his Embryonic Qi.
'As expected.'
The reason why this was the perfect time to do this was because Ryu knew that this Tribulation was precisely what he needed to revert back to his previous state.
When one pleted a Tribulation, the Heavens would undergo a process of undoing your bottleneck for you. After all, the Heavens were the blockade ahead stopping you from stepping into the Royal Realms.
It was only by breaching this gate yourself and being bestowed the right by the Heavens that things would work out.
But Ryu was taking advantage of this bridge that the Heavens were building with his own Cultivation Realms to reverse everything. That was because this gateway could be used not just to sense the Lord Realm, but to also sense every Realm that came before.
As for why that was… it was obvious.
Every Cultivation Realm was built upon the previous one. While it was the case that cultivators conveniently separated them, the reality was that the Heavens didn't see such a separation at all.
The entire path of cultivation was exactly that, a single, long road…
Starting at Awakening.
Ryu's body reverted to that of a mortal. It was a familiar feeling of weakness, the kind that he had experienced for several hundreds of years. Even though he had now officially lived longer in his second life than he had his first, that was only if you counted the time he had spent locked in Rebirth.
Outside of that time, Ryu wasn't even 150 years old yet. Even with how much time he was spending moving through the cultivation realms, he was probably one of the youngest Lords in existence nonetheless.
Upon a successful Awakening, one would undergo Rites. These Rites would baptize one in the blessings of the Heavens, and this would ultimately decide the depths to which qi could flow through one's body.
This was the fundamental explanation of the Realm, and there were nine basic Rites one could achieve, as well as four more beyond that for a total of 13.
Ryu had, of course, finished all 13 Rites, including all the Named Rites.
The Rite of Limitations.
The Rite of Perseverance.
The Rite of Death.
The Rite of Origin.
The question was, then… what did it really mean to decide the depths to which qi could flow through your body? What were the Rites really?
Ryu's body pulsed and he pleted all nine of the first unnamed Rites in an instant.
There was a radiant glow that ran through him as the Blessings continued to pour down on him from above.
Obviously… the answer to the question was Control.
What was the Rite of Limitation?
CRACKLE.
The barrier shattered and a reddened aura began to circulate around Ryu.
It was none other than a breaking down of a barrier that existed between a cultivator and the world around them. It extended the limitations of one's self from the body alone, to the world.
What was the Rite of Perseverance?
It took that one-way bridge and made it a two-way bridge, forcefully expanding the capacity of the body so that it could not just municate with the world around to Control it, but likewise internalize some of that Control.
CRACKLE.
What was the Rite of Death?
It touched upon the truest limits of a person, pressing past just the limits of the body, but extending to the soul itself, touching upon the spark that was the core of one's Reincarnated Self.
CRACKLE.
What was the Rite of Origin?
It extended deeper yet. The Origin was one's very own Spiritual Foundation, the root of one's Awakening and the reason why one could cultivate in the first place. Only by extending one's Control to that point would one be able to touch upon their greatest strength.
Ryu's aura soared.
With this change alone, he felt like he could slaughter a Spiritual Severing Realm genius born in a world of this caliber with a mere thought. And that was without using his eyes.
Back in Sacrum, even with all of his talent, even a Qi Refinement Realm ant could crush him while he was in the Awakening Realm, let alone a Spiritual Severing Realm genius.
But this was the gap between a cultivation system built on control and one that wasn't.
Ryu's aura shifted as he broke through once more.
Pulse Opening Realm.
Many in Sacrum believed that this Realm only had four Pulses, but there were actually a total of six of them.
This Realm opened up the Meridian channel system, allowing one to begin using qi to more than just strengthen the body, but also give a path toward one day using qi-based techniques.
With this Realm pleted, most of one's Meridian Channels would be opened up.
However, what was neglected was connection with one's Spiritual Foundation.
TA. TA. TA. TA. TA. TA.
All six of Ryu's Heavenly Qi Pulses opened in a single go, resonating with one another.
And then, they began to hum along with his Rite of Origin.
The Rite of Origin passed on his Control to his Spiritual Foundation…
And now it was time for his Spiritual Foundation to pass on this Control to his Heavenly Qi Pulses.
Six golden points of light shone resplendently in Ryu's body as he triggered his advancement to the Qi Refinement Realm at the same time.
In the past, Ryu had relied heavily on three different cultivation methods at once to plete his Qi Refinement. His Meridians were made from the third strongest material in existence, so it felt like a shame to not push them to their absolute limits.
But right now… he had no need to rely on any cultivation method, especially not one from Sacrum.
With his Heavenly Qi Pulses resonating with the Heavens, and his control blooming.
He would use his Control to infuse the Heavenly Laws into his Mortal Qi itself, refining it to the absolute limit…
And then taking a step beyond.
By this point, Ryu felt that even an Immortal Ring Realm genius would fall to a single glance from him.
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