The woman's face drained of all color. This moment Was maybe the most surreal of her entire life.

Logically, she knew that even if she let this blade qi approach her without doing a single thing, it wouldn't even manage to reach her skin. The difference between the current Ryu and a Sky God was so large that the attacks he would levy toward one would crumble beneath their presence without even making contact

And yet, despite that, despite knowing the disparity between them, the woman was still frozen in place. A deep, rooted fear took hold of her heart. It felt in that moment that every flaw she had ever hidden and buried deep within herself was being dredged up and displayed for all to see, as though she was being stripped naked for the world.

Such a feeling of vulnerability, such a feeling of helplessness She hadn't experienced such a thing since

The pressure suddenly vanished like the wind. As expected, the strike didn't even make it to within even ten meters of the woman. Despite the fear and apprehension she felt, Ryu's blade qi crumbled before even reaching her range.

This was the second time, the second time since she had known this young man that he made her feel like that little girl she had been before she picked up her first sword.

Cold sweat poured down her delicate brows, her skin alternating between rosy and pale even to the point her dress began to cling to her curves as they became moist. She felt so frail and helpless right now that she could only be thankful that she hadn't tried to resist. If she tried to use qi in such a state, there was no telling how terrible the backlash of her qi deviation would be.

However, what she hadn't noticed was that because she retracted her qi instinctually, the barrier she had formed around Ryu was dispersed by her own hand

BANG!

A blinding pillar of light descended from the skies. Even now, the process of Aberardus' breakthrough was still hanging in the air, but this breakthrough seemed capable of overshadowing even it. For a moment, those who were paying attention felt as though a second Sky God was appearing.

Ryu stood beneath the large and sweeping energy, his eyes partially closed and his hands lightly gripping his sword. It seemed that the blade might fall from his hands at any time, yet it also seemed to be firmly in place at the same time.

Ryu took a deep breath, his skin glowing as it greedily soaked in this qi.

The expression of this woman couldn't help but change. Absorbing qi through the skin? That was impossible, unless.

Her pupils constricted into pinholes and for a moment she forgot about her horror. An Ancestral Grade Bone Structure was impossibly rare. But, for it to appear in a boy who seemed to have almost an endless wealth of talent in other areas as well, she couldn't help but feel at a loss.

'My Dao is cracked'

The woman could feel that her Godhood was unstable. Even though it wasn't close to collapsing, she could tell that if she truly attacked Ryu to kill him now, she could forget about her title as a Sky God. Ryu had made a bet And he won.

She was truly at a loss for words. She had lost to a kid who hadn't even comprehended Cosmic Qi yet? Even if she personally told this story Who would believe it?

It was quite ironic. She herself had been the experimental subject that proved the worst of her fears. Ryu had managed to effect the foundation of her very Dao.

Of course, this could once again be counted as a 'unique' situation.

First, she had an instinctual fear of Ryu after witnessing his magnum opus. Another Sky God wouldn't have witnessed his feat and would have no reason to fear him whatsoever, making it several times more difficult.

Second, she had spent the last year observing this young man. The imprint he had on her heart was already extremely deep. She had watched from start to end as he accomplished a feat that even she would find impossible, making the effect he had on her even deeper.

Third, these things made her susceptible to believing those words Ryu spoke before swinging his sword. The imprint he had on her was too deep, so she fell for it easily.

All of these circumstances led to Ryu's actions causing a small imperfection on her Godhood, one that if she didn't fix she would be unable to progress again throughout this lifetime, and it once again seemed like it was all a finely tuned coincidence that couldn't possibly happen again

Yet wasn't this already the second time today that she was thinking such a thing?

This young man Just what kind of monster was he?

She felt now that not only could she not kill him for fear of her Godhood completely crumbling, he had become a Heart Demon of hers that she had to cure. Did she owe this young man something in her last life? How had things become like this?

To a Sky God, a year was like the blink of an eye. While Ryu was pissed he had wasted so much time on this, to her it was like taking a small break. But, to think that this 'small break' would end with her practically being enslaved to a boy too young even to be her great great great great greater grandson

The surging pillar of light only seemed to grow with more fervor and majesty. The aura seemed to infinitely approach a Godhood and easily dwarfed many Minor Godhoods, and yet it had the aura of neither.

The woman could only shake her head. She couldn't fathom how a mere Dominion could have such a powerful momentum. If this ever managed to become a Godhood in the future

The pillar of light slowly faded, leaving Ryu standing without moving an inch. He looked down, his hair masking the light frown on his brow.

'It feels Incomplete.'