Caution
Ryu was surprisingly calm by this "sudden" breakthrough that wasn't much of a breakthrough at all. It was more accurate to characterize it as a novel application of an ability that he already had, at the same time, his vision for what the Earth Character could be and accomplish widened tremendously.
He had already gained a unique appreciation for his Founding Dao, and he also gave some credit to the Origin Flame.
One would have thought that in this sort of situation, he would have to go down to the wire to find a solution to his immediate predicament. However, only a couple minutes of his three to four hours time limit had been used before he found a solution.