Ryven settled into a comfortable meditation position on Victoria's sofa and activated the watch containing the copied techniques. The holographic display showed thousands of cultivation methods organized by rank and type, representing the accumulated wisdom of the Strathor family across centuries.
But instead of studying them individually, Ryven had a more ambitious plan. His enhanced comprehension abilities, combined with his Ancestral Chaos bloodline, would allow him to process and synthesize this knowledge in ways that normal cultivators couldn't imagine.
Closing his eyes, Ryven turned his consciousness inward toward his spiritual sea - the mental space where his soul resided within his cultivation base. But instead of the typical formless void that most cultivators possessed, his spiritual sea had evolved into something far more complex due to his Infinite Seed Foundation and chaos energy integration.
Drawing upon techniques from his inherited memories, Ryven began constructing a specialized mental cultivation space within his spiritual sea. This would be more than just visualization - it would be a fully functional training environment where he could practice, modify, and combine techniques without physical limitations.
The space materialized around his consciousness as a vast laboratory filled with training grounds, testing areas, and research facilities. Here, time moved differently than in the physical world, allowing for extended experimentation without aging his body. More importantly, he could safely test dangerous techniques and combinations without risking injury or qi deviation.
"Perfect," Ryven said to his mental environment, his voice echoing through the constructed space. "Now let's begin the real work."
He summoned holographic copies of all the family techniques into his mental laboratory. Each one appeared as a glowing framework showing energy pathways, timing requirements, and conceptual foundations. His enhanced comprehension allowed him to analyze their underlying principles instantly.
Starting with the most basic techniques, Ryven began deconstructing and rebuilding them according to his unique advantages. A simple fire manipulation technique became something far more sophisticated when enhanced with his chaos energy and perfect law integration.
Where the original technique could create flames hot enough to melt steel, Ryven's modified version produced chaos fire that could burn through conceptual barriers rather than just physical matter. The improvement represented a qualitative leap from mundane technique to something approaching divine level capability.
Movement techniques proved equally adaptable. The family's best speed enhancement method became a space-folding technique that allowed instantaneous positioning across vast distances. By integrating his space law mastery and primordial understanding, Ryven transformed a Legendary rank technique into something that operated on principles beyond normal cultivation theory.
His defensive methods underwent similar evolution. A standard energy barrier technique became a chaos shield that could adapt its properties in real-time to counter any type of attack. Instead of simply blocking damage, it could absorb enemy techniques and redirect them as chaos-enhanced counterstrikes.
As the hours passed in the mental space - though only minutes passed in the physical world - Ryven found himself creating entirely original techniques by combining elements from multiple sources. His Void Severance Strike merged sword arts with space law to create attacks that cut through dimensional barriers. His Origin Reconstruction Method used chaos energy to rebuild damaged cultivation foundations at the cellular level.
But his most ambitious creation was the Infinite Adaptation Array - a technique that allowed him to modify his abilities in real-time during combat. By maintaining multiple technique variations simultaneously in his consciousness, he could switch between offensive, defensive, and utility configurations instantly based on battlefield requirements.
Each technique he developed reached Divine rank in terms of effectiveness, despite being created from much lower-ranked source material. His perfect law integration and chaos energy enhancement elevated everything beyond conventional limitations.
While his consciousness worked in the mental space, his physical body continued cultivating automatically. The remaining beast cores and treasures he'd kept for personal use were being absorbed and processed, though their effect was disappointingly minimal.
"As expected," Ryven noted, pausing his technique development to examine his cultivation progress. "Soul Realm resources have virtually no impact on Unity Realm advancement. The energy density gap is too large."
He had consumed dozens of valuable cores and herbs, materials that would have transformed a Soul Realm cultivator's capabilities, but they barely affected his foundation. The problem wasn't with the resources themselves - they were high quality and properly refined. The issue was that his cultivation base had simply outgrown their usefulness.
"I need Unity Realm level resources to continue advancing," he realized. "These materials would be better traded for qi crystals or exchanged with sects for higher-ranked techniques."
Setting aside the remaining treasures, Ryven returned his focus to technique development and law comprehension. Even without external resources, his enhanced abilities allowed for continued advancement through pure understanding and refinement.
His law comprehension had been steadily increasing throughout the session. Fire law, water law, earth law, wind law, lightning law, space law, time law - each one approaching the Sovereign rank that represented near-perfect understanding. His chaos law was already at Sovereign level and creeping toward the Transcendent rank that marked complete mastery.
The mental cultivation space allowed him to test law applications safely, combining different conceptual frameworks to create hybrid effects. His space-time manipulation became more sophisticated, his elemental control reached levels that could reshape landscapes, and his chaos mastery began touching on principles that governed reality itself.
But perhaps most importantly, Ryven was developing his bloodline techniques to new levels of proficiency. The primordial methods he'd inherited were slowly yielding their secrets as his comprehension expanded. His Void Step technique reached Expert level mastery, allowing genuine teleportation across continental distances. His Chaos Shroud became so refined that he could exist partially outside normal causality while maintaining full combat effectiveness.
The Nine Heaven Sword Arts also benefited from his intensive study. The first three forms, which he'd previously mastered at basic levels, now approached Expert level proficiency. The fourth through sixth forms, which had been completely incomprehensible before, were beginning to make sense as his understanding deepened.
As his cultivation session continued, Ryven felt his overall power increasing significantly despite the lack of useful external resources. His techniques were becoming more refined, his laws more comprehensive, and his foundation more stable through the gradual integration of chaos energy principles.
The mental cultivation space had proven incredibly effective, allowing him to accomplish months of normal development in just hours of focused work. By combining his inherited advantages with systematic technique synthesis, Ryven was creating capabilities that exceeded anything in conventional cultivation manuals.
When he finally opened his eyes, the sun had moved noticeably across the sky outside Victoria's windows. His physical body felt refreshed despite hours of intensive cultivation, while his consciousness buzzed with new knowledge and capabilities.
"Phase one complete," Ryven said to himself, reviewing what he'd accomplished. His watch now contained not just copied family techniques, but dozens of original Divine-rank methods he'd developed through systematic synthesis and enhancement.
His law comprehension had advanced across multiple domains, approaching levels that most Law Realm experts never achieved. His primordial techniques had reached new heights of mastery, and his overall combat effectiveness had increased by orders of magnitude.
But most importantly, he'd established a systematic approach for continued development that didn't rely on external resources. The mental cultivation space would allow him to keep advancing through pure comprehension and technique refinement, regardless of what materials were available.
Standing and stretching, Ryven looked around Victoria's empty apartment and smiled. When she returned, she would find him dramatically more powerful than when she'd left. The question was whether she would be ready to witness the next phase of his advancement, which promised to be even more extraordinary than what he'd already achieved.
The real work was just beginning.