Chapter 510 - The roaring Second (Part-4)

"Normally the next level after Celestial realm is Yin Lord after that Yang Lord, then Yin-Yang Lord, Jade Emperor, Ancestral Immortal, High God, Elder God, Empyrean God, DaoFather, that is all you have to know for now."

Ryuu gained a small frown upon hearing the stages before he looked towards Nuwa as he spoke, "Teacher you said normally so does that mean there are other levels that do not appear normally."

Nuwa gave a nod as she spoke with a smile, "You have noticed correctly, there is another stage that is in between Empyrean God and DaoFather, and it is called Spirit Lord, a level that cultivators can skip and move directly to DaoFather realm."

Ryuu frowned as he spoke, "I see, but there must be some kind of catch otherwise why would there be an extra level that you can simply skip."

Nuwa gave a nod as she continued, "The catch is if you complete that level then the future level will be much faster that you would have done without it, more importantly if you face some problem you can always give up and move to higher realm any time you want to, it does not matter whether you are in the second rank or the fifth you can move up anytime you want to."

"So should I skip it?"

Nuwa shook her head as she spoke, "No Ryuu, you will not skip that stage, we forbid you from doing it, you will undergo all the stages then undergo the tribulation before moving to the next stage."

Veena gave a nod as she spoke, "I concur with Nuwa, there are many who skip just before they reach ninth rank in fear of facing the tribulation but you will do no such thing, you will complete the entire thing and then transcend the tribulation to reach the DaoFather realm."

Celestia sighed as she spoke, "You two instead of telling him you forbid may be you should explain why, why do you wish for him to work on a realm that is often called as a pseudo-realm, a realm that many advices to skip, but most importantly he is very far away from that realm."

Both of his teachers blushed in slight embarrassment as Veena spoke with a slight cough, "Ryuu the reason we are vehemently asking you to do so is because if you successful pass through the pseudo-realm then there is boost in cultivating speed at first it would be barely noticeable but as move to higher realms it would be more prominent, take Antariksh for example."

With that, she turned towards Antariksh as she spoke, "How long did it take you to increase by a single rank."

Antariskh frowned for a moment in deep thought as she spoke, "I think it took me seven and a half million years approximately."

Veena gave her a nod as she spoke, "And you would have done much faster if you had not been stuck with your job."

Antariksh simply gave a nod as Veena spoke while looking towards Ryuu, "Even after saying that she would still need more time than it would take a person to reach from simple mortal to a peak Mystic Immortal Emperor, but if she had skipped that pseudo-realm then it would have taken her a hundred times more time easily even if all she did was to cultivate every moment of her time."

Ryuu frowned as he spoke, "I see."

Only for his frown to disappear as Maheswara spoke with a smile on his face, "Well Ryuu there is no need to worry about it, after all it would be a long time before you will reach that stage."

Ryuu would have agreed to his words except he had gained a sour look as he spoke, "That may be so teacher but what if 'She' forces my development once again."

A shiver ran down Ryuu's spine as he had the sudden urge to hide under the table, but unfortunately, he was not only frozen from fear but the air became so heavy that he was a hard time breathing.

"Enough."

The shout instantly released the pressure as Maheswara spoke with anger in his voice, "Control yourself I know you are all excited because of today's events but there is no excuse for all of you to act as such, control your aura there is someone here who cannot withstand it or did you all forget that."

Being chastised his family found them wracked with guilt as Maheswara turned towards Ryuu with a concerned look on his face, and upon seeing Ryuu still sitting ramrod he snapped his finger making Ryuu gasp for breath.

"Are you alright child?"

Ryuu was unable to answer as he was busy taking a deep gulp of air while holding to the side of the table to keep him from collapsing while his body was trembling uncontrollably.

Maheswara quickly went by his side as he gently rubbed his back as he spoke in a soothing voice, "Okay okay, just take some deep breath, do you wish to go back to your room.", All he received was a small shaky nod as Maheswara left along with Ryuu but not before glaring at the rest of his family.

As the duo disappeared Sylvana sighed as she spoke, "I have never seen father so angry in a very long time."

Her words earned her a harsh glare from Shamiran who spoke with a look of guilt on her face, "Of course he would after all we almost killed our baby brother because we were agitated."

Antariskh stood up as she spoke with a sigh, "I do not have any more appetite I have some work to do.", her eyes then fell on Veena as she spoke, "Mother will you be checking him up."

Veena gave a nod as she spoke, "Yes, after you father has managed to calm him down I will.", she then let out a long sigh as she spoke, "I am so ashamed of myself that I cannot even begin to speak."

Antariksh sighed as she spoke, "Don't worry it would be fine I have some work to do and faster I finish the faster I can begin planning the ceremony.", her eyes then fell on her two sisters as she spoke, "Will you join me."

Both Sylvana and Shamiran gave a nod as they stood up following after their eldest sister as Veena called out to them, "Remember you can meet and plan with Ryuu only if he is ready to do so.", the trio of sisters only gave a nod as they left.

A few days later Ryuu checked his clothes for the umpteenth time as Sylvana spoke with a sigh, "Your clothes are fine brother."

"I know but I am so nervous, what if I make some mistake, there are many seniors who have arrived and if I make a mistake then I will end up dishonoring my master and then…"

"Nothing will happen, Ryuu."

The calm and collected voice of Celestia drew his attention who continued to speak, "There is nothing to worry about I know you will be fine just believe in yourself because I know you will."

Ryuu had a small smile on his face as he gave a small nod the a few words of encouragement from Celestia seemed to have washed away any and all worries he had.

Each of them dressed in a way befitting Deities which to Ryan seemed to be quite appropriate seeing they could easily pass for one in his previous life, while he himself was dressed in white in the most humble manner possible.

Behind him stood his sisters who unlike his teachers wore equally humble attire similar to that of Ryuu but unlike his completely white they each wore colourful dresses.

Watching them especially Ryuu like a hawk were many acquaintances of his teachers as well as elder sisters, they sat like stone statues but Ryuu could bet every precious treasure that was in his space ring, those cultivators were chatting amongst themselves through telepathic means, but that was not his primary focus.

Ryuu's heart sped up seeing the cold stoic look that had replaced the usually warm look that was present on his teachers' faces, but it did not let it phase him, as he approached the head of the family, Maheswara.

Ryuu kneeled in front of Maheswara as Shamiran handed him a medium-sized tub which Ryuu quickly placed under Maheswara's feet, as Antaiskh poured water over her father's feet, which Ryuu used to diligently wash Maheswara's feet, and like the water that was poured on the tub disappeared, Shamiran handed him a light saffron-coloured paste.

'This paste kinds of smells like a mixture of sandalwood and rose, but I do not have time to think about it.'

Ryuu proceeded to cover Maheswara's feet with the pastes before Antariksh supplied Ryuu with fresh warm milk that he used to clean it before he used water to clean Maheswara's feet again as Sylvana provided him with a towel with which he wiped it dry, he then gave a deep bow before moving towards Veena.

Khygnos looked at the entire proceeding as a distant memory surfaced in her mind as a small nostalgic smile formed on her face, 'It has been so long since that day when just like Ryuu I had performed the ceremony, so long that my memory is becoming hazy, I long for those days that will never come, those faces that I will never see.', before anyone could see Khygnos quickly wiped out the tear that appeared in her eyes.

As Khygnos watched Ryuu moved from Veena to Nuwa, she exclaimed out loud telepathically, 'What a good child? Is he not brother Rishit?'

'Yes Sister Khygnos, but have you heard about the reason why he almost succ.u.mbed to his demonic heart during tribulation.'

Khygnos snorted as she replied back, 'It was so hilarious to hear about it, he is such a glutton, Veena fears he might get himself kidnapped one day because of his weakness to good food.'

A snort came from Rishit as he spoke, 'I can picture him getting kidnapped because the food is too good, but the best part even after consuming too much spirit food look at his body's build.'

'So true eating too much Spirit Food every now and then makes you fat really fat and then it is very difficult to slim down and yet he is perfectly slim and fit, though I would have loved to see Ryuu conduct the ceremony with his true face, would you not like so Saidhal.'

Siadhal let out a groan as he replied back, 'Please aunt Khygnos, please give me a break, he has gone even more handsome to the point than before and I would not like my children to be enamored with him to the point of madness.'

Rishit gave a grunt as he spoke, 'I have to agree with nephew, Ryuu is getting more and more handsome as he increases his strength and I fear there would come a day when even us would not be able to look at his true face without getting completely enamored.'

While they were busy with their small talks Ryuu had finished washing his teachers' feet, and now he was kneeling in front of them while holding four incense sticks with the fingers of both of his hands in a manner that the back of his hand was facing his teachers.

Ryuu then touched his hands holding the incense stick to his forehead, as he kowtowed in front of his teachers as he spoke out loud in a monotone, "I submit myself to be judged as worthy to learn your wisdom."

Ryuu returned back to his kneeling position before performing his second kowtow as he spoke out loud, "I pledge to obey and follow the path under your guide."

With that third kowtow Ryuu spoke out low, "Oh, humble and wise masters please grant me the honor of being your student.", and with that, he lay prostrating in front of his teachers with even moving an inch.

Zywia had a soft smile on her face as she spoke, "What a rare sight."

Cezary looked towards Zywia as he spoke with a nod, "So true to see him bowing in front of someone…"

Cezary was instantly shushed by Zarina who hissed with a slight glare, "You two keep quite it is highly impolite to speak during this ceremony."

As Zarina scolded her children, Maheswara and his wives made their way towards Ryuu who was still prostrating on the ground as Maheswara helped him up as they spoke in unison, "We have heard you pledge and accepted you as our disciple and bless you with our teachings and open our home to you, from henceforth you are our disciple."

Khygnos eyes widened momentarily as she smiled inwardly, 'I do not understand you do not already claim him as your son, 'Opening our home', that line is used when someone is taking their own children as their disciple, really instead of skirting around they should already claim him as their son, after all he is more like a son to them than their disciple.'