Ryu instantly reached a level of deep focus most could only reach a few times in their lives if they were lucky, stepping into Breath of Heaven, and surpassing it in the blink of an eye to enter One with Self just a breath later.

The process was smooth and he seemed to fuse with the world around him. No, it was more accurate to say that it felt like he had become a Natural Treasure, a budding Spiritual Herb formed by the efforts of the Heavens themselves.

It could be said that every level of Meditation had its own unique properties and represented a a deeper state of being. These lines often blurred for Ryu because he not only had access to <Focus> which allowed him to slip into a State of Meditation whenever he so pleased, but he also had the Spirit Seeking Lilies that could help to supplement his already astounding abilities.

In the future, Ryu would learn just how valuable this ability was. But, for now, his mind had wandered elsewhere, focusing on the metal in his palm and completely forgetting the fact that he was holding the enormous gemstone above his head.

The metal itself was almost entirely worthless, at least to Ryu himself. A Black Grade metal could only be used to forge Black Grade treasures, obviously. This wasn't a very complicated thing to grasp. And, considering Black Grade treasures were only useful to Qi Refinement Realm and Spiritual Severing Realm experts at best, Ryu himself had obviously left the level where he would need to care about such things a long time ago.

In truth, the only reason Ryu had such a metal ore in his possession was because he had taken the entire inventory of his Clans' treasures with him. Despite their status, the Ice Phoenix and Tatsuya Clans still had low level members to care for and raise. They had enough resources of the Common, Black and Earth Grade to drown out entire Planes, Ryu just had never bothered with them before. He also didn't throw them away because not only would such a thing be wasteful, if he ever wanted to rebuild his Clans in the future, they would be invaluable resources.

Still, none of this explained why Ryu would suddenly take out such a thing. But, maybe the most surprising thing was that even in his meditative state, Ryu began to doubt himself, believing that he might have overextended himself.

If he wanted to try this, maybe he should have tried a Common Grade metal first. However, even this thought only lasted for a moment before he thrust it to the back of his mind, his expression remaining placid and his body becoming completely unmoving.

Violet Pulsing Ore.

In its unrefined state, it looked just like a lump of coal. After a refinement process, its true vibrant colors would begin to show, becoming a pulsing purple that danced depending on the way the sunlight hit it. That said, this was more than just a beautifying effect, the colors of the metal had a function to it as well. This 'pulsing' turned the qi poured into it into waves. If one was skilled enough in its usage, it could be used to both weaken an enemy's strike and strengthen your own.

It was a bit unconventional in its use, though. It required a great amount of skill to use this function properly and an even greater amount of sensory sharpness. As such, it was best used in forging weapons where speed, dexterity and agility could be maximized. These also happened to be the type of weapons that would have the weakest defenses and not exactly the strongest attacks, so they could use the added benefits given by this special ore.

This information flooded Ryu's mind, after several moments of focused meditation. But, what was the most shocking thing about it Was the fact Ryu hadn't known any of this before.

Much like how Ryu was oblivious to the ins and outs of weak beasts back when he was still stuck on the Mortal Plane, he didn't know a lot about weaker metals and ores either. While Ryu had undergone diligent study in Herbology, he hadn't done the same in other fields and only took with him bits and pieces of knowledge that benefited him, nothing more, nothing less.

But that was why it was so shocking that all of this information was suddenly flooding Ryu's mind now. Or, rather it would be shocking to anyone who knew what was going on. As for Ryu himself, it was clear that he had already expected this much.

He was right. The application of his Dividing Heaven Dao went beyond just battle. With Dividing Karma, he could peer into the deepest secrets of an object, unearthing all of its properties and hidden natures. What he knew about this metal now was likely even beyond what even a Supreme Blacksmith would know. In fact, it wasn't just that, not only did he understand its properties inside and out after a moment of meditation, but he also knew what sort of weapons it was best forged into

Daggers. Shorts swords.

This was an application of Dividing Judgment. Dividing Karma had allowed Ryu to peer into the design the Heavens had created for the ore. He could see what its properties were, its melting point, its different states of changes at various temperatures, the kind of refinement methods and types that would work best on it, he could even see a branching system of properties it could match well with, forming alloys with countless times the power of this one individually.

And then, with Dividing Judgment, he could translate the Will of the Heavens into his own image. While Dividing Karma allowed him to comprehend, Dividing Judgment allowed him to apply what he had comprehended!

The wider his breadth of knowledge, the more he would be able to properly apply these metals toward their value.

Ryu had already been able to form high level blueprints just based on his superficial understanding of metals and ores well enough to astound Sky Gods. What would he be able to accomplish if his comprehension of all metals in existence became this deep? What would he be able to accomplish if his Dao progressed even further?!

This was just the tip of the iceberg, Ryu could feel it. This ability wasn't limited to metals in the slightest. He could do the same for Spiritual Herbs with great ease, he could even do so for natural occurring Foundation Runes, strengthening a path toward Herbology, Alchemy and even Formation Mastery.

The best thing about all of this was the fact Ryu no longer felt like they were deviant paths, wasting his time and dragging down his progress toward becoming stronger. The more he used his Dao to comprehend the world in this way, the stronger and sturdier his Dao would become and ultimately, he would grow more powerful as a result.

Everything formed a beautiful cyclical cycle, feeding into one another bit by bit and measure by measure to form a holistic whole.

Ryu suddenly felt like a blazing trail had appeared right in front of him, illuminating the path toward his future progression and the pinnacle with blinding golden lights. Wasn't this what it meant to cultivate? To comprehend the Heavens and make it your own? Ryu's heart couldn't help but tremble. At that moment, he had no doubt that his Dao was the greatest Dao ever formed. No one would be able to shake his resolve in this belief.

'I know the path to perfecting this The day I find a way to perfectly fuse my Dao with not only these secondary professions and my Qi Realm cultivation, but also my Body Realm and Mental Realm cultivation

'I will be invincible.'

A violet fire-lightning flame suddenly appeared in Ryu's palm, erupting around the mass of ore.

'Failure.'

Ryu threw his hand to the side, the Violet Pulsing Ore crumbling to ash before it even hit the ground. But, by then, he had already pulled out a second, a third, and even a fourth.

'Failure.'

'Failure.'

'Failure.'

Ryu's expression didn't change in the slightest. However, on the fifth try

A shimmering light pierced into the skies. In that moment, the metal seemed to release a twinkling sound as though sparkling motes of starlight.

However, even witnessing such a beautiful scene that was beyond anything a Black Grade Ore should have been capable of, Ryu's expression didn't change in the slightest.

The flame in his hand changed, losing its purple color and becoming entirely black-red. Soon, however, a delicate and illusory golden-red flame fused into it, followed by an entirely golden flame that spread outward like a proud peacock.

Unlike the previous process, Ryu was absolutely perfect this time. The temperature rose and then suddenly hit a steady plateau, not fluctuating one way or another in a perfect harmony.

The violet orb in his palm melted but the temperature capable of melting a Black Grade metal was nowhere near enough to even tickle Ryu. It was far more of a challenge to even maintain such a low temperature to begin with.

Ryu's palm flipped over, pinching one end of the melted metal and whipping it outward until it was nine inches long and about two inches thick.

Ryu suddenly launched the gemstone he had been holding up into the air, his gaze narrowing as he used his now free hand to send several flicks of his finger toward the molten metal.

DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!

'Perfect.'

Ryu formed a circle with his thumb and index finger, pushing the nail of the latter against the skin of his thumb. With a flick, a sharp nail protruded from his index finger, pulsing with a dense qi.

Ryu pierced forward with it, beginning to draw out enigmatic Runes.

[Sorry everyone. For the next few days, there will only be one long chapter a day just like the weekends. I will be back to two chapter uploads on the weekdays Monday next week <3]