Ryuk was absolutely and completely right when he talked about Isha ending up saving his life.
At that last second, when that column of lava had spilled on him, Ryuk's transformation, Nao-Umbral Reaper, was already at its end.
If the transformation had had to endure that column of lava, then it would have been torn through, and Ryuk would have returned to his normal form, where he would have been burned to death by the column of flames.
Even if he somehow managed to survive getting reduced to ashes, he would most likely have been fully spent and knocked out, and Ignatius still had some little flame left to stand to his feet and be declared the winner of the match.
But when Isha came out and blocked all of the column for him, Ryuk had been able to stand unfazed by the attack, and with Isha's appearance, he was finally able to activate "King's Aura," the ultimate card that made him win the match without needing to fight anymore.
King's Aura could only be used if Isha was around him.
In the end, Isha had saved him from the destruction of the flames that ought to have made him lose and also enabled him to activate King's Aura that rooted out the last fighting will left in Ignatius' mind, making Ryuk win the battle.
Without Isha's last-second intervention, it was safe to say Ryuk would have lost that fight.
That was why he felt himself grateful for her appearance.
And looking at Isha now, even though it seemed like the same tiny python, Ryuk knew that was a facade.
He had seen the form Isha took during the battle. Its size had reached close to 3 meters in pure length, and it was incredibly big.
This must mean that during Isha's slumber, it had managed to gain an expansion and contraction skill.
And Ignatius's lava, which had turned Ryuk to ashes, had been somehow frozen in ice blocks by Isha's ice, broken, and smothered off easily.
This must mean its Ice manipulation and mana must have reached a whole otherworldly level.
Now even Ryuk had no idea just how powerful Isha was. The little thing had barely shown its ability during the test, and who knew what it was still hiding.
With enough rubs from Ryuk, Isha slithered down the bed with ease, its eyes scanning around the room one by one and looking at everything.
Ryuk stared at it for a while, chuckling before he activated the system.
[Congratulations on Host's Victory!]
[Host has completed the quest: Pride of a Genius!]
[Quest Information: Successfully accept to join the Fallen Family's genius trial and fight for a spot to be one of the students admitted into the prestigious Ascension Academy!]
This was the quest that had gotten Ryuk into all of the trouble in the first place. It had seemed impossible when he had received it, but now, here he was, having fulfilled it.
[Host has obtained the following:
+10,000 Purchase Points
+1 Free Evolutionary Card for Isha!]
The system stated as Ryuk jumped out of the bed and shook his tiny butt a little, earning an eyeroll glance from Isha.
"Finally, finally! I get the purchase points. With this, I can buy a new cultivation manual that comes with special ingrained abilities, and also, with Isha's evolutionary card, I'll evolve Isha, and in so doing, be able to obtain one of her abilities."
"Yes!" Ryuk screamed, but soon he got control of himself as he crawled back into the mattress.
"Now, time to balance up my stats. And I remember well, I already had some attribute points which I kept for the battle with Igantius, but the pressure of the battle had made me forget about them."
"Not that 30 or so attribute points would have made much of a difference," Ryuk mused before commanding.
[Cultivation Stage: Perfectionate Origin Plane Cultivation]
[Does Host wish to use Level-Up Cards?]
The system asked as Ryuk nodded.
[Congratulations! Host has successfully used a Level-Up Card.]
[Host has levelled up to Level 20!]
[+5 Attribute Points will now be added for every level up!]
[Host has obtained 20 Attribute Points.]
[_1 Level-Up Card used.]
[Host has levelled up to Level 21!]
[+20 Attribute Points obtained!]
[_1 Level-Up Card used.]
[Host has levelled up to Level 22!]
[+20 Attribute Points obtained!]
[_1 Level-Up Card used.]
[Host has levelled up to Level 23!]
[+20 Attribute Points obtained!]
[_1 Level-Up Card used.]
[Host has levelled up to Level 24!]
[+20 Attribute Points obtained!]
"Just like when I levelled up to Level 10, another 5 attribute points have been added to my stats..." Ryuk beamed as the interface changed, bringing out his stats tab.
[Attribute Points: 130]
"So many attribute points!" he said in slight shock. He had never before seen such an amount of attribute points. Now, Ryuk decided to fully balance his stats properly. Now that the fear of combat had faded away, he could relax a bit and make sure his stats made much sense.
"Add 60 attribute points to Intelligence and add 39 points to Charisma!" Ryuk ordered immediately.
His body froze up as he felt an incredibly hot, yet relaxing wave of energy swim into his brain.
Immediately, a bright flash of blue light emanated from Ryuk's ears, feeling an intense transformation being made to his brain, as if it was suddenly being enhanced.
He stood in the same position for a little more than 2 minutes before he once more regained his body.
When Ryuk regained his consciousness, at first, it seemed as though nothing had changed.
The ceiling, the faint shadows, the tall buildings out the window—everything appeared the same. Yet something seemed profoundly different.
His mind was alight with clarity, processing information at a speed that startled even him.
He was able to notice minute details that he'd never paid attention to before.
"So, this is the effect of increasing Intelligence, huh?" he could only wonder as the notification flashed once more.
[Congratulations! Host has successfully increased his stats.]
[Attribute Points: 31]