Chapter 203: 206: Masochist

Ryu found this fourth floor to be more amazing than he could have ever imagined. Here, not only did his body not feel any fatigue, he didn't become injured either, not in any true sense. The only real exchange he had to make was with his Focus Qi. The longer he fought, the more his mind seemed drained. But, the Fourth Floor also seemed to have the ability to more quickly replenish Focus Qi as well, as far as Ryu could tell, sleeping here for an half hour was the equivalent of eight in the real world.

Ryu wasn't at the point yet where he could go without sleep entirely, but as a Qi Refinement expert, staying up for several days wasn't much of a problem. And, when he did need to sleep, about four to five hours was more than enough.

Of course, because the training was so intensive, Ryu's Focus Qi drained much quicker. As such, he felt tired after just a few hours. This problem was magnified many times after a death, because reforming his consciousness seemed to take everything out of him. Still, with just a quarter hour of sleep, he was back and ready to battle.

Even with all of this said, Ryu didn't believe this was the best aspect of the fourth floor. Nothing was better than the reward for defeating a stage.

After Ryu's two previous victories, he felt a flood of information enter his mind. This wasn't novel information, per se. Rather, it was a collection of data about himself. Everything from the techniques he used to his tendencies in battle all entered his mind as though he was being instructed by a master. Essentially, the reward for victory was a perfect understanding of yourself and a path toward improvement.

As a Cultus Faerie, there was no one better than Ailsa at setting a path for Ryu's future. However, that was only in terms of raw strength and cultivation. When it came to comprehending his own battle prowess, especially techniques, it was mostly up to Ryu himself.

Ryu had entered the fourth floor having reached Small Success in all of his chosen Black Grade techniques and an Entry level mastery of his chosen Earth Grade techniques. Aside from this, he also had a Small Success understanding of the Awoken Moon Sect's Legacy technique, [White Serpent's Dance].

After winning the first battle, [Monumental Pierce] and [Breaking Charge] reached the Great Success level instantly. [Lined Assault] also reached the Large Success level. As for [Curving Arrow], because Ryu hadn't used it during the first battle, it remained at the Small Success level.

During the second battle, [Monumental Pierce] and [Breaking Charge] both entered the Circle of Perfection. It was then Ryu realized that the benefits from the rewards were meant to be digested over a long period of time. However, because he entered the second battle so quickly, its full benefits hadn't been seen. This only became more obvious after [Lined Assault] reached the Great Success level as well.

However, judging by the surprise of the grey robed man, Ryu realized that the fruits of his rewards were seen far too quickly. He immediately understood that he had the Origin Flame to thank for this.

The stream of information that entered his mind was like a massive hub of data. The mind of a Qi Refinement expert and even a Spiritual Severing expert wasn't meant to compute so many things at once. But, thanks to the Origin Flame's perfect recall, Ryu didn't need to sift through and comprehend everything individually. The moment it entered his mind, it was destined to never leave. As a result, his benefits were near immediate.

It had to be said that the Zu Clan's crystalline jade was truly a treasure. Even for a Qi Refinement expert, it wasn't an easy task to reach the Circle of Perfection in a Peak Common Grade technique. Yet, Ryu had done so with just a few days of work with two Higher Black Grade techniques!

Seeing the benefits of the fourth floor, Ryu immediately threw his Black Grade techniques to the side and attempted to win the second battle with his Earth Grade techniques. It was then he realized something magical.

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The trials of the fourth floor, they weren't meant to only be taken once. If Ryu wanted, he could go back and retake the very first one and receive the very same rewards for winning.

If this was true, then… What was the point in continuing at all? The secret to this answer lied in how perfect and how helpful the information you received at the end of a trial was.

When Ryu won his second battle, he realized that he gained greatly, but not as much as he did for the first trial. This wasn't because the second trial rewards were worse, but was rather because Ryu was using Earth Grade techniques! How could a trial meant for Spiritual Severing Realm experts be helpful in comprehending Earth Grade techniques? It had to be remembered that only Divine Vessel and Connecting Heaven Realm experts could bring out the true strength of such a high-grade technique.

It was then Ryu completely understood. The first trial was most effective for Black Grade techniques. In fact, it was meant to aid Zu Clan descendants in quickly comprehending Lower Black Grade techniques. It was a combination of Ryu's own high comprehension and the Origin Flame that made it so effective for the Higher and Peak Black Grade techniques he used them for. The fact that Ryu got even an inkling of improvement in his Earth Grade techniques was a testament to how high his comprehension skills were.

By Ryu's calculations, if he wanted to quickly improve in his Earth Grade techniques, after taking into account the Origin Flame and his own innate talent, he would need to defeat the fifth trial.

However… After this list of benefits, Fate wouldn't feel right with itself if it didn't snub Ryu in some fashion.

Despite his comprehension skills being exceedingly beyond normal standards, Ryu simply didn't have the battle prowess necessary to cross even the third trial, let alone to make it to the fifth.

The standards of the Zu Clan and their era was obviously far higher than the mere Ninth Order Sect Throne trial Ryu took. The fact he even passed the first trial was a testament to his own improvement after returning from Flash Mountain.

To make matters worse, Ryu had to use the techniques he wanted to improve in to win. Meaning, simply relying on his speed or finding another roundabout method of victory would only be hurting himself. It was impossible for the fourth floor to collect the necessary data on him if he didn't show his use of the technique, right?

So here Ryu was, dying again and again to the very same old man. Though all of his Black Grade techniques reached the Circle of Perfection, he simply didn't seem satisfied. Maybe if he used [Focus]…?

The old man felt that this was too ridiculous. When did their Zu Clan gain such a masochist?

It was then Ryu's image fizzled out of the jade. He hadn't given up. Rather, someone had called him.

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