Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu was still considering the best ways to use his Bone Structure. In reality, its ability could be described in a single phrase, and yet it was exactly that ability that provided him such a broad range of possibilities. In truth, this was probably the case for all Bone Structures and he was not exactly special. His far weaker Ice Jade Crystal Body had four abilities, but each one was broader and more variable than the last and could be used in an endless amount of applications.

Take his sped up cultivation as one. It essentially allowed perforations in his skin that enabled him to absorb qi through his skin instead of just through his mouth and nose like everyone else. This increased flexibility was great and made the Ice Jade Crystal Body comparable to much higher forms of Meridians in terms of cultivation speed, especially when paired with his Chaotic Silk Meridians.

Ryu had never really thought about it before, but naming this ability "speed cultivating" had pigeonholed him. If he had instead looked at that ability as the connection between his skin, pores and Meridians, the strengths that he would have been able to unlock would have been on a completely different level.

For example, if he had made use of this ability for anything other than cultivation, he would have been able to use external qi before entering the appropriate realm. He could have easily expelled qi from his palms, his fists, his elbows, his legs, even his head had he so chosen, catching his enemy off guard. As a fight tactic, this would have been invaluable.

Even after he gained the ability to attract atmospheric qi, this ability would have still been invaluable because it could catch enemies off guard. Everyone could sense atmospheric qi being gathered, but no one except those with the best of Heavenly Pupils could see what was going on with the qi inside your body. There was a clear advantage in using one over the other.

Unfortunately, he hadn't thought of this method until now long after he had already had his Bone Structure replaced and his body reforged. Even so, it was a proof of concept that let him understand that he had to open up his thoughts and think outside of the box.

The good news was that having a new Bone Structure that had maybe never before appeared made this much easier because relying on the opinions and long-ingrained biases of others, he would rely solely on himself and formulate a new discipline.

A large part of the reason he had never thought of such an application for his Ice Jade Crystal body was because it had been practically drilled into him that it was only a supplementary Bone Structure. But the more he thought about it, the more he felt that there was so much more he could have done with what he had.

What it he could use the Friend of Beasts facet and harmony with nature to trigger a larger pool of control over his atmospheric qi? Or what if it could amplify his Dao and make a weaker level or grade of Dao exhibit the strength of a stronger one? His perfect flexibility and balance had always been something used passively by him, but what if he had tried to use it more actively? What could it have done in conjunction with this new fight style of his? How could he have applied it to his Vital Qi? And back to his Speed Cultivation ability, would not the new connections between his skin and his Meridians formed by the Bone Structure create little, minor changes to his Meridian Pathways? What secrets did those pathways hold? How could he have used them more effectively?

The questions practically burned a hole within Ryu. He felt like he had left so much on the table and almost wanted to go back in time to shake his younger self awake. He was focused so much on increasing his talents, that he did not take a step back to truly understand what he already had.

Who knew? Maybe he could have honed the special abilities of his Meridians to such a fine and sharp blade that its grade would have naturally increased.

Where else was he making this mistake? If there was so much to gain from a much weaker Talent, what about his much stronger ones? Did they have even more flexibility? Or did they have much less because Fate constrained them so much as powerful Talents?

His mind was spinning, however he was able to force himself to calm down. No matter what constraints held back his other talents, his Bone Structure was a blank slate. It was up to him to see just how far he could push it.

He could use his Bone Structure in conjunction with his Soul Nature to form a domain of sorts within his body separate from the outside world. This allowed him to cultivate at an accelerated speed. Objectively, it was even more useful than his Ice Jade Crystal Body just in terms of cultivation speed alone.

But if he could speed up the circulation of his qi for cultivation, what about other things?

That was much harder. This was because the time dilation worked the easiest within his body where it was the center of his own universe. He had to expel qi for the sake of an attack, that would change the scope of the time qi and it would be as difficult as trying to affect the timeline of another person, requiring much more energy. But...

What about Vital Qi? Vital Qi did not have to be expelled from his body at all and it simply fueled his physical strength.

'Something is missing in the loop. Still, the act of punching or moving at all is impacting that outside world and would thus require me to increase the scope of my time qi, unless...!"

Ryu's heart skipped a beat. He did not need to continue the time dilation through to the end of the attack, what if he simply used it to position himself instead?