Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Chapter 129: Veins

Spirit Seeking Lilies weren't a spirit herb that Ryu was unfamiliar with. In fact, it could be said that they were responsible for him living a long life despite being unable to cultivate during his first life.

On the surface, Mental Realm cultivation was useless to the lower levels of the cultivation world. Even to the higher levels, it's a mere supplementary skill. The secrets of Mental Realm cultivation were tightly guarded by Clans like the Zu Clan, so after their banishment and banning, Mental Realm cultivation fell to the very corners of Martial World society.

However, Ryu was aware of just how important Mental Realm cultivation was to the foundation of a cultivator. In Ryu's first life, everything began normally. He lived through his first one hundred fifty years without much issue and even crossed his two hundredth birthday with ease. But, when he neared his three hundredth year, he began to experience some problems. He would often experience severe night terrors, his motivation to do anything his rock bottom, and he began to wonder if life was even worth living anymore.

Considering Ryu's personality, he obviously tried his best to hide this from his parents, not wanting them to worry. But, how could a mere mortal hide things from individuals with his parents' level of cultivation? In the end, his parents found out and they were devastated.

These matters continued for a few dozen years. No one could find out what was wrong with Ryu. He seemed perfectly healthy! Eventually, Ryu's parents had no choice but to call upon an Ancestor of the Ice Phoenix Clan, an older woman who ranked even above Ryu's Grandma Kukan. Considering the Ice Flame of their Phoenix Clan, women like Ryu's grandmother and this old Ancestor were all renowned healers. It was this woman that figured out what was wrong with Ryu.

The answer was simple: mortals weren't meant to live for so long! The reason the Heavens cut the lifespan of mortals short wasn't because it was cruel, but rather because mortals didn't have the capacity to withstand such a long life. The only solution she had was for Ryu to cultivate.

But, how could Ryu cultivate? He was born with a False Spiritual Foundation, he couldn't even sense qi. There was only one path to turn down, and that was Mental Realm cultivation. But, obviously, with its banning, there were no materials, even in Shrine Library, on the matter.

It was then that Ryu stumbled upon Spirit Seeking Lilies. Just a small percentage of one of its petals caused Ryu's Mental Realm to surge to life. In fact, if it wasn't for Spirit Seeking Lilies, how could Ryu ever have comprehended Breath of Earth in his first life?

Ryu understood at that moment exactly what had been wrong with him. The reason mortals couldn't withstand such long life was because they didn't have the mental fortitude of cultivators. Even when cultivators didn't focus on their Mental Realm, it would imperceptibly strengthen as they continued along their path. But, obviously, Ryu hadn't been cultivating. Simply put, Spirit Seeking Lilies saved Ryu's life!

There were multiple kinds of Spirit Seeking Lily, the nomenclature of these different kinds depended on the color of their veins.

Gold Vein Lilies were what saved Ryu's life. They had the ability to passively and gently increase the bounds of one's Mental Realm. Your first leaf would increase your Mental Realm by 100%. You would then receive diminishing returns, falling by 10% every time, until you reached 1%. The magic of these Lilies was that no matter how many you ingested, the return would never fall beneath 1%!

Silver Vein Lilies focused on meditation. One could take them when on the verge of a breakthrough in cultivation or comprehension. According to legend, there were Nine States of Meditation: The Meditation State, Breath of Earth, Breath of Heaven, Breath of World, One with Self, One with Earth, One with Heaven, One with World, and Breath of Quintessence. A Silver Vein was able to directly send you into a higher state for every petal you consumed, up to a maximum of six corresponding to its six petals! This meant that if one could enter the Breath of Heaven state under your own power, eating six Silver Vein Lilies would send you to the highest State of Meditation immediately.

The only drawback to Silver Vein Lilies was that even if you used them, the time limit you were constrained to were limited by your own abilities. For example, Ryu could only enter Breath of Heaven for a few seconds. So, if he took six petals immediately following that, he would only be able to experience Breath of Quintessence for that same few seconds. This meant that if one was untalented to the point of not even being able to enter the simplest Meditation State under their own power, then these Silver Vein Lilies were practically useless to you.

One also had to consider that entering states of meditation wasn't something everyone could do at will. In fact, Ryu was an exceptionally rare case. He felt like this ability of his was tied to his Heavenly Pupils which seemed to err on the side of boosting comprehension. All of this meant that Silver Vein Lilies were generally less desirable than Golden Vein Lilies, but they were still a great treasure.

However, for Ryu, he was the most excited about the Silver Vein Lilies he saw here. One might think that Ryu was wasting too much time in strengthening himself. It had been years since he began cultivating, yet even with the help of the Origin Flame, he was only the Heir of one Inheritance. Wasn't that too pitiful? This was especially maddening considering he had a Heavenly Wind! Why hadn't he become a Wind Inheritor yet?

The answer was simple. The power of one's Natural Order depended on the Inheritance, also known as Path, you were following. The reason Ryu's Tatsuya Saintly Weapons were so powerful was precisely because he was following the Path laid out by his Tatsuya Ancestors.

If Ryu just wanted to become a Wind Heir, it would be frighteningly simple for him. After all, not to mention his Northern Heavenly Wind, he had reached the Great Circle of Perfection with his [Gliding Cloud Steps]. However, Ryu didn't want to settle for mediocrity.

Ryu didn't just want to become any Wind Heir, he wanted to become a Heavenly Wind Heir and comprehend the Inheritance of his Northern Heavenly Wind! The issue was that not only was doing such a thing incredibly difficult, the Path was incredibly vague due to the fact Ryu only had an embryo. Even with Breath of Earth and his Heavenly Pupils, he couldn't comprehend anything.

However, these Silver Vein Lilies changed everything! Now, he could rely on them to sink into a deeper state of comprehension. Once he did, grasping the Path of the Northern Heavenly Wind wouldn't be impossible anymore. He had a chance! If he succeeded, his battle prowess would skyrocket!

Ryu lightly smiled. Things were going well. After retrieving the final crystalline jade piece, he would go and take the Immortal Path trial. Considering the Path wasn't qualified to pressure him, it would be a breeze. Then, he'd finally set foot on the Immortal Planes once more. As he was thinking to this point, he suddenly froze. He only knew about Gold and Silver Vein Lilies. So, why did he see ones with Black Veins here?

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