Chapter 1298 Arrogance

1298 Arrogance

Ryu felt like the world was collapsing around him, his expression finally twisting somewhat. His lips pulled themselves into a thin line and his jaw began to pop with veins. It truly felt like every aspect of his body was being stretched to the thinnest possible degree.

A string of doubt entered his heart.

Retreating now was impossible because that would mean shattering his Dao Heart. Although this staircase allowed for failure, that was under the assumption that the pressure was within the limits of what the trial taker could manage. In addition, there would always be some backlash when one failed, causing cracks in one's foundation. It was only a matter of whether the benefits you had gained outweighed what was snatched back upon your failure.

The worst part was that Ryu had a completely unbending Dao, it didn't allow for failure and it didn't allow for retreat. Even worse than the usual, the backlash for his failure would destroy him, this was the problem with being so uncompromising. As a result, the negatives he would experience would be easily tens of times that of anyone else in this position regardless.

However, moving forward also felt entirely impossible. This was just the first step, and there were thousands ahead. If the first step felt like this, what about the second? The hundredth? The thousandth?

He couldn't go forward and he couldn't retreat. It felt like he was entirely stuck, destined to suffer for the rest of his days.

The string of doubt in his heart only seemed to grow.

Had he needed to take a step onto these stairs? He had already assumed it was a test, didn't he hate to be tested? But the reason he had moved forward anyway was because he was curious, because he was arrogant about his abilities, because he felt that it wouldn't be a big deal for him one way or another.

His arrogance had always been such a huge problem, and this was hardly the first time it had landed him in such a situation.

The first time was when he insisted on breaking through into the Spiritual Severing Realm with hardly any preparation. Cultivation had been so easy for him up until that point that he took it for granted. He broke through directly, out in the open, not even in a secluded location, and he had suffered greatly for it, his actions resulting in the death of his grandfather who had gone all out just to save him.

No, was that really the first time? Even before that, when he was just a blind little boy in the Tor Kingdom, how many times had his arrogance made his life harder than it needed to be? He had been slapped by his "father", he had been publicly whipped, he had even been forced to watch a Granny Miriam die because of him.

The more Ryu thought, the more savage and violent the veins across his body and face became. It looked as though roaring dragons were raging beneath his pale skin, unwilling to give up until they had broken through.

For maybe the millionth time, Ryu thought about Sarriel and her words. She had a great deal of hubris in her bones, he had personally seen it, but she was willing to place it down for the sake of her family, willing to lower her head, to suffer grievance, to feel a constant pang in her heart again and again all so that she could grow powerful enough to one day avenge them and rebuild her Clan.

A saying he had thought of even more times than that came to Ryu once again.

What mattered wasn't that you knew something, but it was more important how you came to know it. What was important wasn't how you had come to be a certain type of person, but what mattered more was how that had come had built a certain comprehension, but rather how you had come to grasp it.

This was what Yaana had experienced. Her revelations from her past life were still within her, but because of her Black Rose, it didn't hinder her and rather helped her. If it had been anyone else, remembering once again would have been thousands of times more difficult.

As for why it was important now, it was because Ryu sensed that maybe this philosophy applied to personalities as well.

If you never experienced fear, then how could anything you do be counted as bravery? If you were usually an easy going person and one day you snapped because of ill treatment, could you still be called a hot head?

By the same token, if Sarriel's hubris was so bone deep, could her actions be called cowardly? Or was it more accurate to call her resilient?

If a leader was forced to sacrifice someone, but he was well known as a caring and kind person, versus a cruel and selfish person, wouldn't the optics be different?

Actions didn't come with absolute conclusions. They would change depending on the context.

Was it really right for him to look down on Sarriel so much? At least currently, her journey was still continuing, and yet here he was, about to witness the end of his own.

The pressure had squeezed down to the point Ryu's vision was beginning to swim. His bent knee trembled and threatened to collapse, a strong rush of pressure beginning an attempt to push him down from the stairs.

The seed of uncertainty within his heart grew larger and larger, making him feel every pump of his heart as though it was an increasing weight that was pressuring him.

Dao Hearts had always been relative. Ryu's own was exceptionally powerful, but when compared to that of a False Sky God, or rather, closer to a True Sky God, the gap was still enormous. Just the act of having a fully formed Godhood by proxy created a Way of the Soul that was far beyond that of land bound cultivators.

And now, Ryu was suffering as a result. The only thing that kept his standing was the very same hubris that was weakening by the second.