Ryu found himself being slightly interested by what was happening.
A large number of Ruin Masters seed to have entered the Title Stele World in secret, adding to the already brewing chaos.
If Ryu was correct, this was either as a thod of pre-emptive preparation, or it was because the Ruin Master Guild already knew that he knew.
In fact, it was probably oddly a combination of both.
Ryu wasn't a fool. He knew that he wouldn't be able to hide such a thing, not when this was such an important part of the Ruin Master Guild's plans. But their preparation was beyond his expectations—or maybe it was that it had been purposely obscured from him.
'Interesting indeed. I can't blindly trust my feel for Fate. Against most people, it will work perfectly. But in the case I run into an opponent that has good control of Fate as well, even if it's inferior to mine, if they have enough of a systemic advantage, overcoming it would be difficult…'
In this case, the Ruin Master Guild was an entire organization while Ryu was just one person. In addition, setting aside just how much depth and trump cards they had, they had been planning this for much longer than Ryu had even been alive, even if you counted the ti it took him to be reborn both tis.
Luckily, Ryu had decided to co here. Not only had he gotten a slight wake-up call, he was also able to find out sothing quite interesting.
The smart thing to do was just to start hunting all of these Ruin Masters one after another, crushing them before they could clear any more Ruins.
But where was the fun in that?
Ruin Masters weren't known for their combat prowess. Of course, a few of them surely would be, but Ryu only had to continue forward to et the truest and most shocking geniuses there were. Why would he waste ti on small fry in hopes that one of them might be the man he was looking for?
Plus, just killing them, while that would deal the Ruin Master Guild a blow, it likely wouldn't be enough to truly make them suffer.
He had promised his wife that he would bring them to their knees, and for that, killing a few small fry wasn't enough… even if Ryu was probably the only Dao Lord in existence that would dare to label such geniuses as such.
'What to do… what to do… yes… that could work…'
Ryu flipped a part over and Selheira's spherical Matrix appeared.
It had been a long ti since Ryu cared to use a Matrix to clear Ruins. What better Matrix could there possibly be than his current eyes? They were even more shocking now than they had ever been in the past.
Of course, he didn't bring it out because he actually needed it now. In fact, the only reason this Matrix was still in his possession at all was because of sentintal value.
This had been given to him by his wife.
Even back then, Selheira had had so feelings toward Ryu, though only in a budding, fledgling sort of way that wouldn't grow furiously until many years later.
And right now… this first gift of his from his wife would actually beco a nice honey trap.
…
The mont Ryu took out the Matrix, frowns began to mar the faces of those on the outside looking in.
So had speculated that Ryu was a Ruin Master of so sort, but there was a vast difference between those that dedicated their lives to the profession and those that didn't like Ryu.
Ryu clearing the Ruins was so easy that everyone took the path of least resistance to explaining it. Obviously, he had brute-forced it.
Not every Ruin had to be cleared with skill. Ultimately, Ruins were crafted by cultivators, Sects, or Clans, and they were fallible.
If a Path Extinction Realm expert had a Ruin entered by a True Sky God, did it matter what restrictions it had?
Since the Ruins had appeared so early on, everyone had just assud that they were the relatively easy ones.
Of course, there was no such thing as "easy" in the Title Stele World. Instead, this referred to a matter of Ryu's strength.
Nightly wasn't a Dao God either, but she was still confident enough to try and enter the Ruin herself before Ryu actually went in first.
With the strength Ryu displayed, he had every right to be ahead of the young Devas princess in their hearts.
But this…
Why was he pulling out a matrix? He couldn't actually be trying to be a Ruin Master, right?
…
Ryu was oblivious to the thoughts of the wider universe. Even if he could read through all of their assumptions, it wouldn't make much of a difference for him anyway.
There was no great sche behind Ryu's actions… at least not yet.
But if he was going to play with Fate, he needed an audience. Or else how would it be effective?
The laws of the projected images were too distorted for even the Dao Gods to do much other than just watch what was happening.
This was why Ryu had been able to use several interesting trump cards until now, but it wasn't until he unveiled his armor that they caught on.
In fact, if it wasn't for the fact his Bloodline was so pure, they wouldn't have sensed it so clearly either. But even then, it wasn't direct, the muddiness of the screen making them frown.
This was all to say that Ryu could get away with a lot, and all he had to do was set things up properly. And now, the first seed had been planted.
He stood there for 3 hours, not to help the seed beco a large tree with a canopy overhead, but as though he was trying to calculate sothing.
Then, he suddenly moved.
Ryu casually killed those he ca across until he crossed over into the next region.
'Ah… interesting indeed…'
…
Ryu suddenly landed by the side of a young woman. She was so taken aback that she nearly jumped out of her skin. Then, she fiercely attacked.
She didn't seem moved by anything, a true genius who only cared about dealing with her enemies as efficiently as possible.
Unfortunately…
Chi.
The blade qi was flicked away by Ryu and the young woman was suppressed from all sides. Soon, her neck was grasped.
She thrashed about, trying to free herself. But Ryu didn't bother to say any words to soothe her. Instead, he just continued to stand there until she finally realized it…
She was helpless.
"You're in luck, I don't want to kill you just yet. Tell you what… Aie, is it? If you can beat in a Ruin run, I'll let you live. If you can't, you die."
Ryu smiled brightly.
"Good deal, right?"
The woman's eyes bulged.
"Don't worry. I won't use a single ounce of strength. I swear it on my Dao Heart."
Aie's pupils trembled violently. Even the reaction of those on the outside were quite violent. Such a genius swearing on their Dao Heart wasn't a small matter at all.
But what the hell was Ryu trying to do here?
The battle with Young Mistress Nightly had already put him behind. He was lagging behind the other top geniuses, but now he was… finding reasons to lag even more?
Aie furiously nodded and Ryu let her go.
"Alright, go on."
Aie inched away and then turned tail and rushed into the Ruin. She pulled out her Matrix in one hand, beads of sweat falling down her brow.
She pierced through one challenge after another, displaying a might worthy of a Ruin Master genius that had made it so far. It could be said that her mind was very agile and nimble, and she had a sort of cleverness to her that wasn't common amongst even cultivators.
It wasn't just a matter of intelligence, but rather the uniqueness of her solutions. To be able to think of things from such angles when she felt like her life was on the line was a true testant to her ntal fortitude.
The shadow looming over her neck grew thicker and thicker, but she didn't dare to look back or even to the side.
She was here for one thing. To win.
She roared as she passed through a final veil, only for…
PUCHI!
Her body trembled from head to toe.
"You… You… swore…"
She couldn't believe what was happening. She couldn't look back, but she was certain that it was Ryu. It could only be him.
"Yes, I did. I already cleared this Dungeon three tis over while you were still struggling with taking a step forward. I have limited ti, so I can't have you prancing around like that?"
Aie didn't believe him, she really… wanted to hope that it wasn't real.
But her life fading away was too real.
With her last breath, she managed to muster up her courage to look at a certain empty Throne. The end of the Ruin should have had Treasures right here…
But they were nowhere to be seen.
Aie chuckled bitterly. He really hadn't been lying.
That was her final thought before she was erased from the world.
Ryu patted his hands, took one more look, then left with a leisurely gait.
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