There were many reasons why Ryu had not chosen to take on the challenges of the city gates himself and instead chose to circumvent them. Many of these reasons were kept to himself, but of them, maybe the most important was his stamina.

After watching Sarriel's battle especially, Ryu could tell that the purpose of the gate trials was less about testing for talent, and more about testing one's limits. If not for this and being pushed right to the bitter end, how could it be that Sarriel would have been so tapped out?

With her talent, and especially her prowess, this was impossible.

To Ryu, these trials were nothing more than pokes and prods, as though someone from on high was watching them for entertainment. Toward such things, Ryu had no patience. If he was going to put himself on the line, it would be for something meaningful. And, this Keep was exactly one of them.

The moment Ryu scanned the hidden formations in this place, he knew that this was the true center of the city and only by controlling it could he call the city his.

Ryu knew that it would be impossible to skip the entanglement of the mastermind's games. However, he could most definitely skip through the ones he found useless to himself while keeping his cards close to his vest.

All the while, he would keep his gaze peeled for a method to leave this place.

Deep inside, though, he knew that the scope of this operation was still far beyond his understanding. Namely He still didn't quite understand how it was people of such vastly different dialects from seemingly epochs of time apart, could possibly be gathered in just a single place

SHUUUUU

Ryu appeared on Nemesis back, an endless plain of red land before them.

The ground beneath Nemesis' hooves moved about like a cross between wet sand and loose clay. It made one feel as though it was impossible to display their true strength without much of it dissipating into the ground they stood upon.

With a single thought, Ryu's grimoire appeared above his head. The instant he saw such a situation, he made an instantaneous decision.

A strong Yin surged all around, whipping winds of ice blue surging through Ryu's fluttering white hair.

In the blink of an eye, an expanse that covered several hundred meters was suddenly created.

It was at that exactly moment that the ground began to splinter.

Skeleton hands radiating out a dense black fog tried to rise from the ground, only to find their movement drastically slowed by Ryu's Ice Flames.

Why was it that Invitations were sent to certain families? Why was it that the Nether Palace just so happened to appear in a territory of the Ice Phoenix Clan?

Each and every one of the races Ryu had identified were all overwhelming soul talents. Each had unique bloodlines, talents and bodies that were conducive to Spiritual Qi cultivation and activated their Mental Realms to an extreme most couldn't hope to match.

However, Ryu seemed to be wholly lacking in this department. And in some ways, this was very true Still, Ryu was absolutely certain that if his Ice Phoenix Clan hadn't been destroyed, or even if there was a small portion of them surviving much like Sarriel's own Fey Race, this invitation would have definitely been sent to them.

What were the Ice Phoenixes known for?

They were expressly known for their defense and their sealing capabilities. Of all the elements, ice was among the very best in this aspect. And, amongst all beasts, the Phoenixes were among the most powerful in aspect of the Mental Realm!

Seals were simply the opposite side of the coin to Formations. It requires a manipulation of Spiritual Qi beyond understanding to reach the level of proficiency an Ice Phoenix did in this regard.

In fact, the truth of the matter was that every Phoenix, whether Fire, Ice or Dark had this sort of strength within them.

It could be said that while the Lightning Qilin and the Fire Dragon tended toward more and more powerful aspects of bodily strength, even being a large portion of the reason for Ryu's Body Realm cultivation standards The Ice and Fire Phoenix evolved in other ways.

The Talents that Ryu had yet to awaken with his Phoenix Bloodlines, at the very least a large portion of them, were directly related to the Mental Realm.

Simply put Of all the races brought together by this mysterious entity, Ryu's own was among the very best.

Nemesis charged through the ice plain of red and blue, his hooves shattered the land beneath his feet as he trampled one rising skeleton after another.

The pages of Ryu's grimoire flipped once again, sparkling blue lightning crackling about.

As though a raining purgatory had appeared around Ryu, arcs of blue crashed down around him, charring the rising skeletons to ash as Nemesis galloped by them.

A skeleton suddenly broke free of the iced ground, pouncing up.

It had no weapons in hand, but its arms and legs spread outward as though it simply wanted to latch onto Nemesis.

The rattling of the skeleton's jaw increased as its mouth opened wide, a row of shimmering white teeth intent on taking a chunk out of Nemesis' neck.

But it was then that Nemesis made a slight shift to the side, his shimmering silver and spiraled horn piecing through the skeleton's skull with an action of incomparable ease.

With a shake of his head, the skeleton fell off to the side, only to be crushed into shards of white with a single stomp.

Nemesis and Ryu plowed through the first area with ease. However, the moment the last skeleton fell, Ryu's eyes narrowed.

Without hesitation, his palms flipped over, revealing two shimmering Great Swordstaffs.

The land shook for a moment. Off in the distance, a cloud of red rose up as a hoard quickly approached.

When he finally laid eyes on what it was, Ryu's pupils constricted.

Elite Canis. An entire group of them.

They were hardly in range before their skeletons began to rattle.

The sound of whistling wind pierced Ryu's ears as a rain of bone arrows showered down from above, making the sky seem far darker than it really was.