Just before Ryu got consumed by the lethal flames, a question had actually appeared in the back of his mind.

What if you were a ghost?

The words seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and mixed in with the storm of thoughts Ryu had. It was with this line that he knew what he needed to do. Ryu wasn’t even aware of the extra thought in his head.

Therefore the Specialization Ryu attempted to contract was… the ability to phase through objects with the same condition that he can’t use any Qi like his first two Specialization. The mysterious hint gave Ryu the idea that he could just pass through it like a ghost.

The rebound was instant, Ryu could feel a piercing force stabbing from within his Qi reservoir. This was the first time he failed to make a Specialization.

However, Ryu didn’t bother waiting and attempted right after. He tried consecutively two more times.

Ability to phase through all objects at the cost of his longevity, one day per use, in a Qi-less state.

Ability to phase through all objects for ten seconds at the cost of a year per use in a Qi-less state.

Both failed before the first rebound even fully kicked in. Once the rebounds start to resonate through him, it’ll threaten to destroy his foundation and cripple his cultivation. However, the scorching white flames are about to incinerate him in a second, he has no time to worry about that.

The top conditions to offer up are one’s life, one-time use, and a Qi-less state. A Qi-less state means that one’s Qi reservoir would be unable use any Qi at all. The reason a Qi-less state is so unreasonable is that one can only use the specialization and nothing else, if they were old then they would just be limiting as they used the specialization. For example, Ryu’s Time Dilation is used with the Qi-less state condition. He can slow a localized area’s time down but that’ll be all. He’ll be slayed easily.

Obviously this was not taking into account Ryu’s other Qi reservoirs granted by the Infinity Tomes. The laws of the world never accounted for the fact that one might have more than one Qi reservoirs.  Therefore Ryu the Qi-less state isn’t fatal at all for Ryu. He gets to reap the benefits of using his specialization while using Qi from his other reservoirs.

Shockingly Ryu felt that his conditions were nowhere close enough to get what he wanted. What he needed was the ability to phase through an attack that is a domain and a half above him for a short period of time.

Ability to selectively phase through objects within two Domains and at the expenditure of one week per second while in the Qi-less state! And… this ability can only be used once!

A rippling force entered Ryu’s new conscious and he knew that it had succeeded. Before the flames hit Ryu, the regenerative ability of his had already succumbed to the flames and he was already suffering from third-degree burns. Without another moment wasted, Ryu activated his new profound ability.

Establishing a specialization is like a purchase, finding the right bargain takes many attempts but Ryu did not have time to do that. Perhaps he could have established the speciation with less conditions but he’ll never know now, this skill could only be used once now.

Right now Ryu was sitting in the middle of the devilish flames that is eating away at the land. The flames showed no signs of weakening nor should they. Extreme heat unbearable to most Emperor Domain experts prevented from all the curious souls from investigating this incident further. They couldn’t see Ryu who was buried hundreds of meters inside the flames.

The Spear Lord and General White Blaze had shared an unspoken farewell and left. There was no enmity between them to continue fighting, the purpose here for everyone present was to compete in the Thousand Swords Graveyard completion.

Under the deep sea of everlasting flames Ryu was continuously utilizing the new specialization he acquired to phase through the flames. The ability, coined “One Time Untouchable”, allows Ryu to partially or completely phase through any objects that isn’t more powerful than two Domains higher of his cultivation. Right now Ryu was bathing in the toxic flame and allows all but a thousandth of the flame to pass through to be in contact with him. The minuscular amount of the lethal flames that are allowed to physically touch Ryu is absorbed and refined by him.

The process was extremely delicate. Ryu failed three consecutive times before establishing this particular specialization, the backlash he faced was not light. It’s a wonder how he’s even conscious with the bone shattering pain rampaging throughout his body. The rebound starts with tears within his own Qi reservoir.

Then suddenly Ryu felt a foreign invasion from a malicious Qi out of nowhere. This was of course from Exoe who targeted his clone earlier. After subduing the clone, it attempted to take over Ryu’s main body.

Ryu who was barely holding on started to cough up blood. Right now if he releases the “One Time Untouchable” specialization, he would be burned to death. Not to mention he would lose his chance at using the dominating flames to heal and establish his essences.

Each second Ryu is losing one week of his life, the delays from Exoe costs him greatly. If it wasn’t for the fact that Ryu had advanced to King Domain within a few years, keeping an extremely healthy stockpile of six thousand years in reserve then he would have dried up and died using this new specialization.

This might seem like an invincible state where Ryu is invulnerable but in reality he is not. He could only phase through attacks that are two domains higher than his current self. Each minute that passes, he is losing more than a year of his life! Soul Qi wielded by Supreme Domain experts work similarly by shaving off their life force but never this extreme. Also he can only use this ability once, the moment he snaps out of his out of phase state he will never be able to use it again.

[1 sec phase time = 1 week, 1 min = 60 weeks, 1 day = 1543ish years]

Exoe’s essence was currently navigating through Ryu’s Qi like a virus. If Ryu was in top condition then it would have been relatively easy for him to deal with Exoe’s assault but right now he has his hands full. Ryu was desperately trying to patch up the damages caused by the rebounds of failing to form his latest specialization in one go.

Although Exoe was the invader, he was almost as pessimistic as Ryu was just now. The taboo and forbidden technique, Soul Annexation, he used just now was something he had learned from his dark master… the current head of the Eternal Phoenix School. It allows one to enter the target’s Spirit World that houses their souls, along with any contracted spirits, and take control of it. He had used this technique more than once in the past but never came into such a complicated maze of Qi like Ryu’s.

When he finally made it to the targeted place he was looking for, Exoe was shocked once again. How can someone like Ryu have such an enormous Spirit World? After pondering for a minute, Exoe pounced as he salivated over at the prospects of taking over Ryu’s body. The moment Ryu’s Spirit World was breached, a sense of doom filled Ryu.

Don’t worry kid. I got quite a bit of catching up to do with this little punk. A reassuring majestic voice rang through Ryu’s frantic mind. The confident voice belonged to the Guardian of the Gods, his first contracted spirit, the all-mighty Qilin! The Qilin couldn’t see what was going on outside. The Spirit World was something that only Emperor Domain could barely open, only when it was finally open then could he see what’s going on outside. The moment the Spirit World of Ryu’s was temporary opened by Exoe, the Qilin took care of it and gave Ryu some encouragement when he noticed he was on the verge of forming his essence.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Focus on forming the foundational pillar of your cultivation! Perhaps it’s because you are an Anomaly that forming a perfect foundation is so difficult… don’t give up, this is only the beginning of your road to immortality kid.

Under ordinary circumstances, Ryu should have only been able to communicate with his contracted spirits when he was Emperor Domain but thanks to Exoe, he did the heavy lifting and opened Ryu’s Spirit World forcibly.

Who… Who are you? Exoe’s screeching voice and painful screams could be heard in the background. Contracting spirits is something that only Emperor Domain experts should have been able to do. Exoe did not expect in his wildest dreams he would encounter any resistances. In fact he even deceitfully talked to Ryu’s clone about Beast Fusion, Spirits, Soul Weapons and such to gauge his reaction and have an understanding of his soul defenses.

The pair disappeared as fast as they appeared since the small opening created by Exoe could only last so long. Ryu sighed in relief and started to feel a bit sorry for Exoe. If he had to say what was the most scary or strongest thing he had seen in his life then it would have to be the out of this world Qilin divine beast. Now he could focus on absorbing and refining the raging flames.

On the outside, far away, the general masses had been reminded of the difference in strength between each domain. The Heaven and King Domain experts had no hopes of going even five kilometers near the fire. The scorching heat was too unbearable for them. Emperor Domain could almost approach one kilometer near the ocean of fire but that was their limit.

The entrance itself was also obstructed, the Miyamoto Clan guards came out to laydown formations to make way for the contestants. The initial flames that hit Ryu could have been put out by another Supreme Domain expert with some effort but when General Suun believed Ryu to be dead, he sent another shot filled with Soul Qi in his rage which created a pillar of flames that reached even the clouds. No open else wants to sacrifice their own Soul Qi to put the flames out.

The fight between the Supreme Domain was an extremely hot topic as one can expect. Who was the mysterious boy everyone sought over?  What was the result? The three remaining Supreme Domain experts did try scanning the area a few more times but Ryu is already phased out of this dimension, unless an Immortal or a God tried to look for him no one else can find Ryu.

The long awaited moment eventually arrived the next day though, eclipsing everyone’s curiosity about Ryu. The Thousand Swords Graveyard was finally opening! The Miyamoto Clan guards for this particular entrance barely managed to get everyone in line before this spectacular event after laying down a grand anti-fire formation overnight. Magical symbols started to become visible on the indiscernibly huge domed Enchantment. The mysterious symbols then worked in union, spinning and glowing to open a pseudo door up. The golden door was formed by intricate lights and stretched large enough to accommodate all objects present, whether it is war constructs or the floating castle.

The reaction to this was priceless, the excitement was boundless. When people saw this miraculous mechanism they could not help but gasp and offer praises. It’s a shame that Ryu could not see any of this. Lines that stretches as far as one could see formed and hundreds of thousands of people slowly entered the Thousand Swords Graveyard.

Half a day later not a soul was in sight at this entrance, the grandiose golden doors also disappeared as well. Nothing was moving except the raging flames from the aftermath of the previous fight. A day and half had passed since Ryu started using the “One Time Untouchable” skill. The drain on his longevity was extreme. As a King Domain expert, Ryu had a little over six thousand years of longevity. Right now a third of that has been used just to maintain the out of phase state he is in.

The wounds from the specialization failure rebounds and his initial attempt at forming his essences have healed somewhat. Now he has a tough choice to make. Should he use this opportunities to use the convenient source of fire from a Supreme Domain expert to create his essences?

Or should he blindly wonder around the land for another opportunity? After absorbing two Emperor Domain experts and failing to form his essences, Ryu knew that the power required is exorbitant.

Nothing great was every achieved without great danger… Ryu finally decided to gamble everything on this. He selectively chose to stay out of phase, draining around a year of his longevity per minute. Ryu allowed slightly more flames to enter him.

The strength within these flames were much richer in Qi than absorbing the Qi from the Emperor Domain cultivators. After half an hour Ryu’s Qi reservoirs started to congeal into a cloud-like substance. Although it was a step better than before, this was as far Ryu could go. He can’t take on more of the infernal flames at once or he would perish.

A trace of frustration grew. You could say everything had worked out smoothly for Ryu until now. Not only did he sacrifice over two thousand years of his life, he was nowhere close to forming his essences. This just reminded him how tough

“Hehehe that looks fun, what are you doing?”

“Who said that?” Ryu shouted out in frustration.

“Why so angry? You didn’t like my ghost hint?” An innocent voice filled with joy replied. The voice sounded like an excited little girl’s voice.

“That was you? Who are you?” Ryu said after realizing he was in an out of phase state, how could anyone even see him? Let alone talk to him.

“I’m so happy there’s finally someone to talk to after all this time…” The happy animated voice continued. “That horrible old man trapped me here for so long… good thing you took my hint!”

“Who are you?” Ryu asked again. Did this girl manipulate him into using a specialization to phase out into a dimension that she’s trapped in?

“I am the embodiment of many divine miracles.”

“Swords were the very first weapon that the humans used to defeat Gods.”

“I am a sword with my own life and free-will.”

“I was an unfinished sword that was forged by the many Gods and Immortals in the past in an attempt to reign supreme over all Heavens.”

“My blade came from the cores of multiple stars, I was bequeathed with the authority of…”

The feminine voice slowly got less and less enthusiastic as if it was tired of bragging.

“Ah who cares. Many divine beings have tried to own me but I choose you… you are not one of those pesky Gods or disgusting perverted old men who lived for too long but you can still rip apart space and play with time too. That must be so fun! Will you be my master for the rest of eternity?”

“Uh…?” Ryu wasn’t sure how to answer.

Without Ryu’s answer, an eerie but comforting feeling embraced Ryu’s soul. It was as if someone was hugging it. All of Ryu’s senses disappeared and a peaceful feeling flooded in. All the power within Ryu slip away into unknown place. The world around him vanished from sight. It was as if he was in a serene dream, the feeling was more soothing than that of a mother’s embrace.