“Such a thing happened now? What are they playing at, exactly?”

In a world disconnected from Osiris, a voice sounded. Its owner was a man of plain appearance. There didn’t seem to be anything particularly amazing about him. But, the longer one gazed upon him, the closer one would be drawn in. It felt as though the energies of the world were at peace in his surroundings.

Had Ryu been there, his Ethereal Tapestry would have seen a still lake of colors, as solid as a painting and as beautiful as the most gorgeous artistic conceptions.

He rose from his meditation, his Spiritual Sense sweeping outward. If one was too weak, it would feel no different from a breeze. But, if one was of a certain level, it would feel as though a Giant of epic proportions was gazing down at you.

There was no doubt that this man wasn’t as weak as a Divine Vessel Realm entity. In fact, even a Path Extinction Realm expert would be dwarfed beneath his presence. He could only be described as a mountain.

“The gathering of materials for the Ice Devil’s Legacy World was just a few years away from completion, it can’t be that someone wants a piece of the pie now?”

Only those Martial Gods and their partners were aware of just how truly special this Ice Devil Legacy World was. Whether or not the Shrine Plane could come under their full control or not would be entirely reliant on this. It was such an important matter, in fact, that they even went so far as to recruit geniuses from the lower Immortal Planes. If that didn’t prove just how important this matter was, then nothing would.

The man mused to himself, his steps even and unhurried. Eventually, after he rounded his own small garden, he seemed to have come to a decision.

With a flip of his palm, a crystal ball of some sort appeared and he relayed several orders before going back to his place of meditation, the mountainous aura around him fading with the closing of his eyes.

Even with all of that said, of these things were the most shocking parts about this man.

If Ryu had been there, the first thing he would have noticed wouldn’t have been the towering aura, nor would it have been the inconceivable cultivation, nor would it had even been the still palette of colors around him.

It would be the white hair and silver eyes of the Zu Clan.

**

“What is this about a new weapon?” Ryu finally got around to asking this question.

In truth, Ryu was more used to being stared at like this versus not. After all, his face was well known on the Shrine Plane during his first life and his wife was a femme fatale as well. If it wasn’t for her lower cultivation, Elena would have been among the top rated beauties of the Shrine Plane without fail.

A little attention was meaningless to him. So, he easily ignored the eyes around them.

“Hm…” Ailsa glanced at the wares lining the streets.

Most people in Lower Quadrants had to scrape by to afford their living in Osiris. So, such street vending in these lower levels was quite common.

Because of the way Osiris was created, there was a great burden on the mind. Though Ryu felt as though his mind had been alleviated, that extra benefit he gained waned considerably after he began to control his body. As a result, whatever boost being in Osiris gave to the mind became a net negative when controlling one’s body was taken into account.

As a result, most couldn’t stay in Osiris for longer than a few days. The only way to extend one’s time without damaging one’s mind was to use Spiritual Crystals. Unfortunately, though, Spiritual Crystals were incredibly expensive. Even the lowest denomination could only be afforded with Immortal Qi Stones.

A single Lower Spiritual Crystal could extend one’s stay in a Lower Quadrant by 10 days. But, it could only extend stay in a Middle Quadrant by 1 day. The price only became greater and greater the higher one climbed within Osiris.

At the same time, though, despite the expenses involved in remaining in this place, the rewards were too great to pass up. Even if one ignored all of the resources, simply staying and living in this world could explosively increase one’s combat power and had a subtle effect on purifying one’s Mental Realm.

The higher one climbed, the more exaggerated these benefits would become.

Beyond this, if one could rent high-class hotel or training rooms, there would be an added bonus to these effects. And, even beyond that, if one could afford to buy a home in Osiris, these benefits would reach a whole other level.

Unfortunately for the players selling there wares on the road, though, it was unlikely that they would be able to make much to begin with. The sad truth was that much of them were probably members of Teams and had to pay a cut of their earnings. They were essentially fueling the lifestyles of their leaders. And, if they couldn’t meet certain quotas, they would be kicked out.

As for why talents great enough to enter Osiris to begin with would fall to such a level… That would easily be explained by the death penalty for dying in Osiris and the benefits for killing another here…

In the end, everything always came back to benefits.

“… I think that you should abandon the Tatsuya Saintly Weapons. At least, you should abandon them as presently constructed.”

Ryu’s footsteps paused.

If Ailsa had said such a thing when they first met, he would likely respond coldly and abrasively. The Tatsuya Saintly Weapons might have been created by his great grandfather – a man Ryu didn’t have many if any fond feelings for – but it was passed down to him by his grandfather and his father, two men Ryu deeply cherished his relationships with.

His father, Titus Tatsuya, a man who was stoic but loved deeper than anyone else. He was the backbone of their small family, a man who understood responsibility and cared for him unconditionally.

His grandfather, Saint Tatsuya. He was a man of few words and hardly communicated his emotions. Truthfully, his wife and Ryu’s grandmother, Merula Tatsuya, had become his mouthpiece a long time ago.

Both of these men saw Ryu as the bearer of their legacies. Though they never blamed him for it, he could see the hurt in their eyes when he failed to awaken that day on his Seventh Birthday.

To Ryu, the Tatsuya Saintly Weapons had little to do with power to him and everything to do with carrying on the Tatsuya name as was his duty. Now that he had the strength to do so, he had every intention of making them proud.

For Ailsa to ask this of him… Wasn’t it too much?