Ryu raised an eyebrow after he entered, slightly surprised by what he saw.
This region wasn't some sort of secret realm, nor was it some treasure trove. It was similar to what the golden moon world would be if it didn't also store the final treasures of the Frost Clan… it was simply a place to live.
The ambience was quite beautiful.
Snowflakes fell from the skies in measured and controlled amounts. It seemed continuous, and yet there was only a thin layer of snow on the ground as though it wasn't allowed to grow past a certain point.
A stream of water flowed by in a continuous and steady flow, but it was impossible to tell where it started and where it ended. It simply went around in loops, forming three miniature waterfalls before coming back to the starting point and doing it all again.
In the center of this winding stream was a single hut with a rocking chair set on the outside of it. Despite the falling snow, there wasn't a single speck of water or ice on the chair, one would have thought that it was set in the middle of a spring meadow instead of in this place.
Ryu walked forward, his senses primed. He was checking to make sure he wouldn't run into any final lines of defense as doing so might cause issues for him. If he was correct, this was probably the resting place of the cloaked figure he had met in the campsite. That person was quite unfathomable and was likely beyond the False Sky God Realm, so he had to be very careful about disturbing their place of rest.
At the same time, though, Ryu had no intention of retreating. Maybe he would be able to find more information about what was happening through this place. Since he had already made an enemy out of these people, it was best that he learn as much as he could about them ahead of time, only in this way would he be capable of responding in kind to their threat.
It turned out, though, that Ryu was being overly cautious. There was simply nothing here. The cloaked figure could have never imagined that someone would not only bypass all of the restrictions to get to this place on top of finding their expertly hidden pocket dimension. As such, they had never even bothered to lay down any more defensive measures, so Ryu walked into the hut as easily as if he owned the place.
Though this was the case, Ryu was quite careful to leave everything as he found it, ensuring that he didn't leave any fingerprint of his arrival to this place. If the enemy felt that he was less knowledgeable, they would be more likely to make mistakes that he could capitalize on.
Ryu swept his gaze through the abode and didn't immediately find anything too interesting.
This made sense. Sky Gods, and experts in general, would usually keep their most important items on their person. Why leave things behind when you were powerful and had enough storage to carry them with you?
Due to this, Ryu didn't think he would find any obvious smoking gun. What he wanted instead was a small clue, something that he could maybe use to stitch together a narrative that would be helpful to him. But almost immediately, he found something that made him stop in his tracks.
'Jade…'
Ryu's eyes narrowed and he hesitated.
On an inconspicuous table to the side, there was a single jade rested beside what looked like steaming tea. Despite the chill in the region and the perpetual snow fall, the cup remained heated, maintaining the same temperature. However, this wasn't what Ryu was focused on at all, rather, his eyes were entirely focused on the piece of jade resting by its side.
Was it carelessness? Or was it just a casual decision made by someone who believed themselves to be right at home?
It was more likely to be the latter. But it was also likely the case that this jade didn't hold any groundbreaking information either, or else no matter how casual and relaxed the cloaked figure was, they would still choose to err on the side of caution.
ραпdα nᴏνɐ| сom 'I have to be careful. If I'm not cautious enough, my Spiritual Sense might leave a mark that that person will pick up on…'
Reading through a jade was not too different from flipping through a book. Wherever you picked up from last would have a bookmark and there might even be some signs of wear and tear if it was read continuously.
Of course, these subtleties wouldn't normally cause a problem or even be noticed. Jades were obviously far more durable than books and as such the markers of such things were far less obvious. It would take a great deal of time before a jade was worn down.
Still, that mattered little in the face of someone with sharp enough senses. Those small, insignificant signs could be picked up by someone with sharp enough senses. So, Ryu had to be exceptionally cautious.
With a step, Ryu walked to the side of the jade and sent his Spiritual Sense inward, slowly beginning to read through it. As he did so, his gaze became sharper and his breathing became steadier.
This jade didn't contain some great technique or cultivation method. Rather, it was just a journal, a journal written by a cultivator of times past.
Ryu understood now why the cloaked figure was so casual with it. Reading about a cultivator ruminating on their life wasn't very valuable to most, and it definitely wasn't worth getting bent out of shape to protect it.
The cultivation world didn't have a lot of things in the way of entertainment, at least not in the way mortals did. It was hard to care about some action-packed play when you did something far more dangerous just that morning.
However, there were still some things that cultivators took pleasure in.
One was games, especially board games that pushed the mind to its extremities. There were very ancient games like Go, and there was even the board game that even the Mortal Plane of Sacrum had played, Domain.
Thinking of Domain, Ryu felt a hint of nostalgia. Back during his trial as a blind little prince of the Tor Clan, Domain was one of the few things he could use to pass the time, especially since he wasn't allowed in the libraries.
Another pass time was considered sinful in some circles. These included indulging in the "finer" things of life whether that was food or sex, or rather, gluttony and lust.
And then there was what the cloaked figure seemed to like to do, and that was to read the journals of powerful cultivators that came before them. The stories of these people's lives were far more fascinating than any fiction, but that was only a piece of the puzzle.
One of the main reasons that reading the journals of powerful cultivators was so interesting was because it could be sometimes used to break through plateaus. Experiencing life through the shoes of another, walking a mile, and allowing your mind to relax and open up was very beneficial to many who had hit a roadblock.
Ryu shook his head. He wasn't very interested in such things, though apparently this was also a guilty pleasure of Ailsa's. Her hobby was a bit sadistic, though. She liked reading journals of cultivators who had tragic love stories.
This kind of thing wasn't attractive to Ryu, though. He would much prefer to play a game of Domain. If nothing else, at the very least this jade had given him a path toward clearing his mind. Maybe he should return to the Sect and see if there would be anyone willing to play a game with him.
Usually, the higher the capacity of the mind a cultivator had, the more powerful they would be in playing Domain, but considering his powerful soul, Ryu wanted to see if he could get some Sky Gods to play with him. Or maybe, Selheira would be willing to play.
Selheira's cultivation had always been hidden from Ryu, but he was pretty sure that she was in the World Sea Realm and not quite yet a Sky God. But she should also have incredibly high talent, so she might be a perfect sparring partner in this regard.
A light smile spread across Ryu's face as he wanted to return, but he suddenly paused, his gaze sharpening.
Just now he had been planning on "flipping back" to the exact section the cloaked figure had left off at and leaving as there was nothing else to be had here, but just as he was doing so, he stumbled across something that made his gaze sharpen.
A word flashed by, too blinding to ignore…
Heavenly Path.
Was it a coincidence? Ryu didn't believe that it was. Why would someone as powerful as that be here? How could someone powerful enough to know about the Frost Clan's legacy come to help the Carving Ice Sect of all Sects? And how could this not be related to the Heavenly Path opening that was quickly approaching?
Ryu quickly scanned through the jade and read the portion again. He didn't believe that it was a coincidence. In fact, the cloaked figure had probably "left off" in this place for a very specific reason.
As Ryu read, and then read again, looking for the bits and clues that made up this section, his heart grew calmer and calmer until he settled on the final piece.
It all seemed to link back to a single word: Convergence.
In this journal, this cultivator had experienced the first so-called Convergence. And if what they said was to be taken as the truth then that meant that there was a storm coming that would sweep even the highest Heavens into its maelstrom.
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