Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

The idea was forming in Ryu's head even as he acted. The flaws and pitfalls of the original techniques and research notes made him realize a few things. Rather than shunning those flaws, he focused on them. While others might just see flaws, he saw areas the Martial Gods thought were important enough to try to obfuscate in the first place. And those were precisely the weaknesses he targeted.

Ryu didn't just try to envelope his Realm Heart in Cosmos Fog, that was a waste of his time and it would drain him to an impossible extent. Instead, he chose to do something different.

"The Beyond Perfect Extreme Spiritual Foundation had a profound copying and creation ability," Ryu murmured to himself, his eyes glinting with determination. "Just to be able to take something and push it to its beyond perfect extreme necessitated such abilities."

"It was thanks to this ability that I gained the Divine Chains of the Martial Gods, and it was by extension because of this that I comprehended the form of my Dao Vessel so early on."

"But why did I have to use this on an external item? Why not use it on myself?"

This inspiration had once again come from the Martial Gods.

"Gathering three Spiritual Foundations was difficult. Just getting one required a great coincidence for me. But according to this technique, it was possible to use the Beyond Perfect Extreme Spiritual Foundation to create Spiritual Foundations if the situation was right."

"Of course, the process was convoluted and riddled with pitfalls, but the tidbits were enough for me to grasp at."

As expected, when Ryu's Cosmos Fog entered the range of influence of his original Spiritual Foundation, the natural treasures swaying within released a dull glow before it suddenly exploded forth with strength, multiplying his Cosmos Fog several times over.

Ryu's gaze glowed as he observed.

"I expected this Cosmos Fog to be intangible and transparent like the Divine Chains were, but it seems that collecting the treasures changed something significantly..."

It seemed that by using the power of the Natural Treasures, his Spiritual Foundation couldn't just make illusory copies anymore, but rather solid and real copies that were indistinguishable from the original. This was huge.

"It's no wonder they claimed that I could recreate a Spiritual Foundation given the right circumstances."

"Of course, my Cosmos Fog was under the perfect conditions right now because it was my own ability. I already understood it implicitly and it was my own natural talent."

"I had only been able to copy the Divine Chains because they had spent so long suppressing my Spiritual Foundation. And if I wanted to create a Spiritual Foundation, I would have to jump through even more hoops than that."

"But that was irrelevant to me at the moment. I had just realized that my Spiritual Foundation could actually bypass many of the limitations on my own stamina that I might otherwise have..."

He forced himself to push those thoughts down and began to multiply his Cosmos Fog again and again.

The process lasted several hours, but eventually, there was enough to completely envelop his Realm Heart.

And it was at that very instant that Ryu felt his body quake.

The feeling was almost impossible to describe. It was like in one moment he was "normal," and in the next, he had suddenly gained an extra limb that he understood exactly how to use as though it had always been with him from the very start.

In that moment, he had well and truly gained a second dantian, and even without him doing much of anything, his strength had likewise changed.

QIIIIII!

The call of a Phoenix echoed in his ears with such ferocity that his eardrums nearly burst.

At the same time, his Beyond Perfect Extreme Spiritual Foundation began to quake.

Ryu frowned, a deep discomfort rolling through his body. He didn't quite understand what was happening. Were they competing?

"In this sort of competition, did the Phoenix even stand a chance?" Ryu pondered, his brow furrowing. "I know that it is the Phoenix Sky God's Spiritual Foundation, but compared to my original Spiritual Foundation... it has always felt underwhelming."

"But I don't believe that my Beyond Perfect Extreme Spiritual Foundation would be reacting so fiercely if there wasn't a threat either."

Ryu's frown deepened. Had he inadvertently run into yet another clash of talents situation? First his Bloodlines, now his Spiritual Foundations?

"Pipe down!" Ryu commanded with firmness, his will pressing down, his mood turning foul. He was tired of things taking up corners of his body trying to dictate how things would or wouldn't happen.

"Last time this had happened, I used the Divine Chains to forcefully restrict and seal away my own Bloodline Talents," Ryu thought grimly. "I would rather that than whatever nonsense is happening here."

But there was a difference between those situations and this one... That was because unlike Bloodlines, Spiritual Foundations were unblemished by Karma and the Lines of Fate.

"Every time a Spiritual Foundation was granted, all previous users became irrelevant... and that was precisely why Inherited Spiritual Foundation were so looked down upon," Ryu reasoned. "Taking one on was like introducing weakness into your foundation and cultivation, you were bound to not make it far."

"But the White Phoenix Spiritual Foundation surpassed this worry as well because it was a Living Spiritual Foundation, its weaknesses weren't the same as other Inherited Foundations."

"Even so, this was only the tip of the iceberg."

"The Spiritual Foundation represented the very Dao Heart."

"When I spoke, it listened... because it was the embodiment of my will."

"And as such, I was granted a choice."

"Allowing my Spiritual Foundations to fight it out? Absolutely not. The choice was obvious."

"In this relationship, my Beyond Perfect Extreme Spiritual Foundation would take precedent."

The moment he made his intentions clear, the world within him thrummed.

To Ryu's surprise, nothing happened to his White Phoenix Spiritual Foundation. Logically speaking, his original Spiritual Foundation should have now been able to bring it to its Extreme, but it seemed just the same.

"However, that didn't mean that everything was like that..."