Ryu didn't have much time to lament his problems. In order to kill Kioshi, he had essentially placed himself less than a meter from Yasuo.

Having calculated this already, Ryu coordinated with Little Rock artfully.

The silver feathered Lightning Hawk flapped its wings, explosively moving backward. The torrent of air caused by its wide wings swept across the battlefield with the momentum of hurricane force winds.

Ryu's body became no different from a feather fluttering in the skies, circulating Fragrant Breeze to launch his body in a beautiful arc. By the time Yasuo reacted, Ryu was already over fifty meters away.

"Kioshi!

" Yasuo mournful roar caused even Host Minn to cower, his inner ear bursting into a rain of blood.

Yasuo knew that he could have stopped this from happening. If only he had been just a little more careful, just a little more prudent…

He had completely underestimated Ryu. As a Mental Realm Master of the Soul Birth Realm, he could cast multiple Visualizations at once. Just because he was Visualizing Six Trigram Shell didn't mean he couldn't have cast another.

But, when he noticed Kioshi casting Flow Wave, he hadn't bothered. The two had worked together for many years, they battled as one about as well as one could hope for. So, Yasuo had a deep trust in Kioshi and his abilities. Never did he think that Flow Wave would actually fail, so he had been preparing an attacking Visualization for the moment Ryu faced the backlash of his interrupted cast.

Unfortunately, reality was cruel. Kioshi failed to interrupt Ryu, and the attack he had been preparing completely missed its mark due to the fact that Ryu was no longer where he thought he'd be!

To make matters worse, Little Rock had already prepared to retreat, so the hidden attack missed him as well.

Ryu grit his teeth as Essence stormed into his body.

There was yet another problem he hadn't considered. Essence and his Chaotic Qi were existences on the same level. However, they were equal and opposite.

Ryu had never experienced pain accepting Essence's baptism… Until now.

Ailsa's jaw set. '… I'm definitely correct. I've done all of the calculations. The Essence called down by breaking into the Ruler Realm is more powerful than the Chaotic Qi Little Ryu has right now, making it harder to balance. However, his Ice Jade Crystal Body has evolved to the Immortal Realms thanks to the absorbing the Realm Heart…'

Ailsa would never recklessly play with Ryu's life. She knew long ago that Ryu could rely on the Origin Flame to enter the Ruler Realm, but hadn't allowed him to do so precisely because of the Chaotic Qi variable. She still wasn't absolutely certain how his body would react to having both qis appear at once.

As such, over the last year, she had been diligently calculating and recalculating everything. After accounting for everything, she believed that Ryu could handle it.

Ryu's skin began to glow a bright light. No, it wasn't his skin… It was his bones!

Like a crystalline sculpture carved of ice, his bones radiated with pure majesty.

Ryu knew that his Ice Jade Crystal Body would only truly begin to display its strength once he entered the Immortal Realms. After gaining an Immortal Body, he had been preparing for its changes, but nothing came immediately.

Yet, suddenly, today, he underwent two massive changes at once.

First, it catalyzed the mutation in his Heavenly Pupils, creating Ephemeral Tapestry. And now, it was grabbing a hold of Ryu's Essence and evolving itself!

The Essence Ryu was calling down was simply too powerful. Having only opened one Body Vessel, his strength was capped at fifty million jin. In addition, since he had broken through with his Rage Flames and Rebirth Flame, the Essence was tailored for his Fire Dragon and Fire Phoenix Bloodlines.

Ryu had calculated the limits long before. His Fire Dragon Bloodline had seventeen million jin of strength to provide for the first Body Vessel, while his Fire Phoenix Bloodline had eight million. This was enough added strength to put him on part with any Lower Immortal Ring Expert.

The trouble was that this Essence had far more energy to provide than just this. But who knew that his Ice Jade Crystal Body would swallow it all!

Suddenly, what Ryu felt was a disaster took a complete turn. As his Ice Jade Crystal Body greedily swallowed Essence, its four facets of strength improved by leaps and bounds… Friend of Beasts… Healing… Godly Qi Cultivation Talent and… Absolute Balance!

The wounds of Ryu's body rapidly closed. At the same time, the qi he had found nearly impossible to control just a moment ago suddenly became docile little children, bouncing around him as though waiting for his approval.

In a flash, the war going on his body completely subsided. His Essence and Chaotic Qi completely stopped battling one another, listening to the soothing vibrations of his Bone Structure and becoming calm.

Ryu's strength blossomed, reaching over twenty-five million jin in a single bound. Maybe the only unfortunate part was that his Lightning Qilin Bloodline which had been stirred to action due to his Rage Flames just minutes ago died down completely as though subdued.

Ryu was almost as shocked as Host Minn and Yasuo. Although his visage was just as expressionless as ever, he couldn't help but send a glance toward the gorgeous little Faerie sitting on his shoulder, his gaze blazing with emotion.

This wasn't luck, nor was it a fortuitous turn of events. Ryu was intelligent enough to see that this was planned every step of the way by Ailsa. She knew how to help him breakthrough the Impose Realm long ago, she derived how his body would react, and in the end, perfectly laid a flawless path out for him.

In that moment, the slow progress he thought he had made in the last year was completely erased. It was only now he understood that this slow progress wasn't by error, but rather by design.

Cultus Faeries… It seemed this Princess of the Cultus Clan was far more capable that even Ryu knew.

Ailsa proudly swung her long, slender legs, a smile that could collapse worlds playing her plump red lips.