Mistress Kukan smiled and didn't say much to this. She was sure that Ryu had his reasons but she trusted him to make the appropriate decision so she chose to not press for answers.
As for Ryu, he was already very much used to making tough decisions . He still remembered the sting of having to turn down his Storm Talent in favor of his Lightning Spirit Body. That was a choice that had worked out very well for him. Not only had it stimulated the awakening of his Fire Spirit Body, but it led to a mutation that evolved even his Bone Structure.
This time, he believed that he had made the right decision again.
Firstly, Ryu was in a stage of explosive growth. Now that he was in the Blood Tempering Realm, he would soon begin to undo the shackles of his Bloodlines one after another in very quick succession. The sudden awakening of his Dragon Claw ability was as much of a result of this as it was about his Master's Visualization helping him to see it ahead of time.
It didn't take a genius to understand just what kind of effect endless stamina would have as he stepped into this level of his progression.
Secondly, the Northern Heavenly Wind's abilities sounded unbeatable, but as everything was, there was always a balance.
For one, the Northern Heavenly Wind would only be so effective when it was unknown that Ryu had it. If others were prepared for it, the countermeasures were endless, just one of which was a Dominion.
Of course, with a full Wind Inheritance and the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth Pupils, Ryu would quickly surpass Dominions and thus be able to counter this aspect. However, even for him, it would take time to continue onto Realms that were beyond this.
Above Dominions there was still the formation of a Divinity. And, even beyond that, there was true Deity-ship, something that couldn't be touched unless one truly became a Sky God.
The good news was that treasures like Heavenly Winds provided vessels that allowed for Godship without reaching that level. But, even Ryu wasn't arrogant enough to believe that this would be a simple task for him, especially when he had yet to enter the Cosmic Grade with his Pupils.
A talented World Sea Realm expert would likely be a Minor God and thus have formed a Divinity. This was all it would take to render Ryu's Northern Heavenly Wind useless.
But, that wasn't all that could make it useless…
The higher your cultivation, the less you would rely on raw speed. Many relied on tearing the void and had attacks with such large areas of effect that speed was often rendered moot.
Then there was the matter of acceleration. The lower one's cultivation, the longer it would take to reach the limits of speed. After all, momentum couldn't come from thin air. This meant that within a certain distance of a suitably powerful opponent, having the Northern Heavenly Wind would be meaningless and would end in death all the same.
As though that wasn't enough of a knock on choosing the Northern Heavenly Wind, there was still the matter of attack speed. What good was attack speed if one didn't have the power to puncture an enemy's defenses?
The current Ryu would be hard pressed to break any defense constructed of Cosmic Qi. This would be even more difficult against Martial Gods who placed so much emphasis on their Vital Qi and thus had outrageously powerful bodies.
When things were put , Ryu felt that he would be a fool to sacrifice the Southern Heavenly Wind for a treasure with so many flaws. None of these things would even mention how useless the Northern Heavenly Wind would be if Ryu got caught in a formation or, even worse, an entrapment treasure of some kind.
"Okay, grandma will help you absorb it."
Mistress Kukan's smile felt light.
Though it wasn't immediately obvious, she was very happy with Ryu's choice. Breath of Life wouldn't just be a great help with Ryu's Bloodlines, but it would also give him a complete Wind Inheritance that would give him a unique insight into Life.
With the help of the Southern Heavenly Wind, the imbalance Ryu had allowed to appear in his Ice Flame would be quickly fixed. And, that would just be the beginning.
Thanks to Ryu's twin Phoenix Bloodlines, Breath of Life would, by proxy, give a great boost to his soul stamina as well because the Vital Qi of the Ice and Fire Phoenixes, while not providing as much of a boost to Ryu's strength as his Qilin and Dragon Bloodlines, made up for it in spades when their impact on his soul was taken into account.
What did this mean? It mean that Ryu was essentially gaining near infinite bodily and soul stamina for the price of one. If he wasn't her grandson, she might feel a little jealous.
Ryu felt his body being invaded by something before he could even react.
A golden-green wind with complex runes floating within its edgeless mass appeared. Ryu didn't have to do much of anything before he felt all sorts of treasures begin pouring into him. The amount caused his lip to twitch. Was this really what it took to raise a Heavenly Wind?
Even the weakest Wind Attribute treasure was at the Ancestral Grade. But, more of them were at the Origin Grade, world toppling treasures that an entire network of stars might only produce once in their lifetime. Even Ryu's heart began to ache seeing such things.
He had accumulated a ridiculous amount of wealth as a Ruin Master during his lifetime, a wealth that helped the Tatsuya Clan to prosper. But, it was only now he truly understood what the reserves of a powerful Clan were.
His contributions were nice, but they were barely a twentieth of what he was looking at right now, and this was just Wind Elemental Treasures! It had to be remembered that the Ice Phoenix Clan wouldn't have prioritized these treasures at all, yet they were able to bring so much together.
At that moment, Ryu's heart suddenly thumped. It sounded like crashing water or a collapsing mountain, it was so loud that even Ryu himself felt that it might harm his ears.