Chapter 407 - Subconscious

To this point, Ryu was still practicing three Qi Realm techniques simultaneously. Among them, there was still [Six Realm Opening]. This technique allowed Ryu to form miniature diantians in his Qi Pulses and Vessels. This would ultimately allow him to store 12 different Qi types without interfering with one or the other. 

However, after Ryu awakened to the truth of his Meridians, it became less and less possible to use this ability. Even when he stored Grave Qi within his Qi Pulses, he had to continuously pay attention to it to ensure that it wasn't catalyzed back into Chaos Qi. 

This was the truth of the catalyzation into Chaos Qi. But… If Ryu was able to form Primordial Chaos Qi, though his battle prowess wouldn't increase fundamentally, situationally, he would definitely be able to produce a greater impact on any given battlefield. 

For example, Primordial Death Qi, the root of all Death Qis, would have an astounding effect on Ryu's Necromancy. And, because of the fact it was Primordial Death Qi, unlike other Death Qis which needed specific techniques to be used properly, Primordial Death Qi could be used with any technique, regardless of the requirements. 

If this Primordial Chaos Qi could produce an equivalent… The help to Ryu would most definitely not be small. 

However, even after over a day of observing in silence and with patience, Ryu couldn't find any method of fulfilling these dreams of his. 

In truth, he should have known. Something like refining Primordial Qi wasn't so simple. In fact, even if he managed to succeed, there was no telling what level of control it would take to maintain the production. 

As of now, everything happened passively. But if Ryu wanted to consciously form a type of qi, who knew how much more difficult that would become? The strain on his Focus Qi would most definitely not be small. 

As with everything in the Martial World, there was give and take. 

That said, this endeavor hadn't been completely fruitless. In all his focus, Ryu had actually managed to find a faint connection to his Spiritual Foundation. As long as he followed the lead, there wouldn't be much of an issue in finding it once more. 

But, this wasn't very much of a surprise. Ailsa had already told him that as long as he opened his ninth node, finding his Spiritual Foundation again would only be a matter of relying on his Heavenly Pupils. Since Ryu could gaze at his Fate Star, an existence countless of billions of light years away from him, why wouldn't he be able to gaze upon his Spiritual Foundation? An existence that was just as if not more tied to him than his Fate Star.

However, Ryu also knew that now wasn't the time to reconnect. According to Ailsa, if he reconnected too early, the balance he had gained with his Chaotic Silk Meridians would be thrown off and the result would be him retreating back to step one. 

Ryu had to first reach the Immortal Ring Realm, only then would his meridians be properly established and this would no longer be a worry. 

Ryu suddenly froze. 

'Why am I trusting Osiris so much?'

Ryu's frown deepened at this thought. 

Ultimately, this was a dream world. All this time, Ryu had expected for Osiris to be able to perfectly replicate everything about his talent, but how was such a thing possible?

It was already impressive enough that Osiris was able to replicate the use of Ryu's Heavenly Pupils, but how could it also manage to replicate his Bloodlines, his Bone Structure… Even his Realm Heart? 

Somehow, Osiris had managed to replicate every single thing about Ryu, even down to the most minute details. Was this really a dream world? Or was he looking at things from an improper perspective? 

Logically speaking, no matter how much of a genius the Sky God that created this world was, if they could really perfectly replicate something like the number one ranked Heavenly Pupils, even in a dream world, their power would be beyond imagining. 

'There's something I'm missing…'

Ryu's brows furrowed. 

There was something else he neglected. 

Logically speaking, Osiris should be like a central hub everyone took a piece of. Every projection of an individual should take a certain portion. Likewise, the more talent one had, likely the more effort the system had to put in to recreating their dream form. 

Of course, it was possible to circumvent this problem as well. In fact, Ryu believed that Osiris did it perfectly. By placing the burden on the person rather than the system, Osiris could avoid having to deal with this. 

Ryu experienced this first hand. When he first entered Osiris, he could barely move or fly. In fact, even now, he at best had 70% control over his body. 

As Ailsa had said back then, the more talented you were, the greater the burden on your mind would be… 

So could it be that the reason Osiris was able to perfectly project an image of himself was because it was relying on an understanding Ryu had of his own body? 

No, understanding wasn't the proper way to put it because Ryu hadn't known of the empty space within his Meridians until just now. However, that didn't change the fact that it had always existed. 

'I understand… I was thinking about things wrongly… Osiris isn't perfectly replicating the effect of my Heavenly Pupils. Rather, its relying on a subconscious part of my mind that understands my body like the back of my hand… This subconscious mind has a perfect grasp of my talent…'

This might be hard to grasp at first, but think of this analogy for a moment. 

Does one need to think for one's heart to beat? Does one need to ask one's digestive system to digest? What about a myriad of other bodily functions the body performs without our input?

This could all be classified in the same vein as the subconcious mind Ryu mentioned. But, what one mustn't forget while accepting the existence of this subconscious mind was that for it to be capable of controlling all of these functions we never think about, it must, logically, have a road map for all of these things as well. 

Maybe, much like one's heart beats without conscious thought, Ryu's Meridians worked in the exact same fashion. 

'Ingenious…' 

Ryu rarely if ever praised anyone. But, to be able to build Osiris off of such a principle… This mysterious Sky God was in a league all to their own. 

By extension, though, this put up another roadblock for Ryu. 

The good news was that since his projected talent relied on himself, he wouldn't need to worry about members of the Mercenary Guild suddenly paying undue attention to him. 

The bad news, however, was that if his Meridians worked subconsciously as he believed… If he wanted to grasp Primordial Qi, he would have to somehow bring a subconscious process to his conscious mind… It would be no less difficult than trying to control the beating of one's own heart. 

Unbeknownst to him, Ryu spent over half a year meditating on this problem.. By the time he would awake, the situation surrounding both Osiris and the Moonlight Blossom Sect would completely change.