Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

These were all absolutely ingenious methods, and they were worthy of respect... But what if the Heavens were looking down in disappointment from the very beginning? What if they had been born with such a method hidden in their bodies all the while?

It made sense that this was never found. The connections between the Lungs, Heart, and the various detoxifying and energy refining organs were just veins. They could be easily mistaken as the circulation routes of the Body Realm, in fact they might even be assumed to be absolutely useless.

This made sense. After all, all Body Realm methods required circulating Vital Qi to the muscles, most accurately, active muscles that could be controlled with the mind. But these organs were all controlled by the brainstem. Even cultivators could only control the beating of their hearts with very special methods, and even then the change in heart beat was usually a proximal result of another action, rather than direct control.

Why would Body Realm Cultivators use circulation pathways that didn\'t lead to any results? They would obviously focus their attention on the vein patterns that could explosively increase their output strength.

Even if one wanted to unearth what secrets these \'dormant\' formations in the body might have, if it wasn\'t done through the lens of the soul, it would be akin to looking in the wrong direction. So long as you kept the thought that you were looking for some great secret of the body, you would forever be unable to unearth the mysteries of those patterns.

The moment Ryu had these thoughts, he had fallen into a deep state of enlightenment that Mae noticed. It was then he used the Origin Flame to force his body into the same exact state it had been when the Prayer Mat was active within him.

And then it all clicked.

As expected, a slow circulation of energy started at his lungs, then passed into his heart. From there, under his astonished gaze, it split into five differing, complex patterns, entering the remaining Five Spirits before connecting into one and entering his brain.

The moment that cycle was completed just one time, Ryu\'s Focus Qi had never been moved by anything other than long rest...

Actually recovered by a small bit!

Seeing how complicated this circulation pattern was, Ryu was speechless. If not for having had the Prayer Mat in the past, he couldn\'t imagine how many years it would have taken him to discover it, even with his Founding Dao.

It wasn\'t just the circulation method, but also the nuance in the ebbs and flows. These were processes that were normally naturally controlled by his body, so it was no wonder he had never noticed it.

What was most important was that while it was indeed his blood moving, he hadn\'t noticed the change because it wasn\'t Vital Qi that was the energy. Rather, it seemed to be a unique energy sitting between Vital Qi and Spiritual Qi that was almost imperceptible to the mind.

This breakthrough wasn\'t a small matter in the slightest, but it was too difficult to rely on things like this. With this method, he would be able to replenish his Focus Qi much faster, but he would still need a pause.

If it would take him over a day to days of rest before, he could do it in half an hour to an hour. And he would have to enter a selfless state. He suddenly realized how valuable a treasure the Prayer Mat was. It had done all of this for him automatically without any effort whatsoever.

On top of that, the circulation pattern was far too complex. To put this matter into perspective, it was akin to a God Technique. If it was a real formation, it would be hundreds of times more complex and powerful than the Perfect Grade Formation he had just shattered.

At his current skill, Ryu knew immediately that it was a fool\'s dream to attempt to distill this comprehension down to a pill. Maybe only after he became a Sky God could he make an attempt, and even then it probably wouldn\'t be enough.

\'It seems that I can only take an hour break to replenish after every battle... Unless..."

Ryu sent his mind toward the little woman, but then he shook his head. He needed the Favor Alchemy Sky God to concentration on concocting the pills that would sustain the army behind him. Without it, no matter how much Focus Qi he had, it would all be useless.

"In an hour, we set out." Ryu\'s voice echoed.

Ryu sat in a lotus position, entering an unprecedented state of focus. Once again, he missed his Mysteries of Heaven and Earth Pupils. If only they unsealed, he would be able to complete these circulations even faster. However, he couldn\'t be too greedy right now. He might very well be one of the only people in the world who could actively replenish their Focus Qi, and now that he had such a method, he didn\'t believe that he couldn\'t find a way to cultivate it rather than just replenishing it.

...

As Ryu was quickly replenishing his Focus Qi, the Sky Gods that had fled into the distance had already sent out alerts of what had occurred and very soon, the whole Fifth Plane was in an uproar.

In a metropolis that was far larger than the one Ryu had leveled to the ground, a male with an inhuman shade of green eyes sat on a throne, a female with a human\'s upper body and a cobra\'s lower body to his side.

When he got the news, his stare couldn\'t help but sharpen before he sneered.

"What audacity. Call Empana and the others here."