Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Living Spiritual Foundations were usually buried within the solid state of the Spiritual Foundation they were birthed from. As a result of this, until one could plant their Cosmic Seeds and shattered their Spiritual Foundation, forming their World Sea, it would remain stuck.

This truth added an extra layer of complexity to understanding Living Spiritual Foundations. Because they spent so much of the early cultivation process dormant and asleep, its communication with its owner was non existent, and as such it was far more difficult to comprehend the wants and needs of this never before seen beast.

Essentially, the Spiritual Foundation was like the egg shell of the beast, and only by cracking through it could it give birth to this beast and finally be able to study and comprehend it. The fact that this was happening to Ryu three cultivation Realms ahead of time made little to no sense... but that was when he noticed another oddity.

This white majestic bird creature was never embedded within the Phoenix Sky God's Spiritual Foundation to begin with. Instead, it seemed to take root within this river of white flames. Could it be that the creature had used the white flames as an extension of its egg shell, allowing it to be birthed ahead of time?

There was something off about all of this, Ryu felt like he was missing something. Could it be that this wasn't a Living Spiritual Foundation at all and instead something entirely different?

No, that shouldn't be the case either. Ryu wouldn't make such a foolish mistake, he was a Ruin Master. Although there was a lot of knowledge of the True Martial World that he wasn't aware of, when it came to things that he was well-researched on, his judgment was unmatched and perfect.

There was no doubt that this white creature had a very strong tie to the Phoenix Sky God's Spiritual Foundation. In fact, it was very obvious that the reason why Ryu hadn't sensed it ahead of time was precisely because of this as well.

Suddenly...

The majestic and long neck of the bird creature slowly raised, its wings trembling as it seemed to be struggling to unfurl itself. Despite the fact nothing seemed to be binding it, its body trembled and Ryu could even feel faint cries of silent pain coming from it.

For some reason, Ryu felt a pang in his heart. He wasn't a person who easily felt sympathy. He cared little for those that he had no karmic connections with, and even for someone like Mae, it wasn't until he saw that she was willing to sacrifice for him did he truly begin to treat her like one of his wives.

However, the moment he laid eyes on this creature, and more importantly felt its pain, he felt a protective instinct that echoed from the depths of his soul. He didn't want any harm to come to this little one and he wanted to clear all paths for it.

Ryu moved his consciousness forward to help, but suddenly froze in place, his brows furrowing.

Were those really his feelings? Was that a connection born from the fact that this was his Spiritual Foundation? Or was he being manipulated?

For some reason, Ryu felt that these feelings of comfort and wanting to be protective didn't come naturally, but was rather a sort of ability this white bird had. It was able to make even he, who had a heart as cold as ice, feeling sympathy for it.

Ryu took a breath and exhaled.

Just what was this creature exactly?

Before, he had made the assumption that these white flames were similar to the white flame currently in his Spiritual Sea, but now that he was here he felt that they were different, almost an immature version of what he was used to.

He had a feeling that the truest form of that white flame came from this struggling bird and he was curious enough to explore it, but now he couldn't help but hesitate.

They say that creatures born to Spiritual Foundations had never before appeared in the world... but a creature that was able to influence the psyche of a Dao Pedestal Realm expert as an infant was practically unheard of.

If Ryu still had poor Mental Realm talent, then it might be possible. But the current Ryu was on an entirely different level. During his year of sleep, his Spiritual Sea had reached a point of saturation, and given the current capacity of his body, there was simply no one below the Seventh Heaven who could match him within the Soul Refinement Realm.

On top of that, he had the Magus Sky God's Inheritance protecting his mind even further.

But this little bird got through all of that as a baby?

The bird trembled once again, still struggling.

Ryu's frown deepened before he shook his head. Regardless, even if this little bird would be difficult to deal with, he needed it. His Chaotic Silk Meridians needed two Spiritual Foundations and he didn't even know how he would go about getting a new one if he had to. You couldn't just communicate with any Spiritual Foundation, and even if you could, they wouldn't just accept you.

No matter how troublesome it would be, he knew the earlier he communicated and began to observe this little creature, the better chance he would have in the future of choosing a path that could make them both happy.

After a breath, Ryu reached forward. His qi surged forward, feeding the bird and allowing it to gradually grow in strength. Ultimately... he cultivated.

The struggling of the little beast weakened and its pain signals lessened as much of the burden was taken on by Ryu.

After a hint of hesitation, Ryu brought out another drop of Embryonic Qi. By now, Ryu had realized that by passing qi into his white set of Meridians, he could produce this qi. However, even with a fusion of Essence and Chaos Qi, he could only form about a single drop an hour, and currently had only had about three dozen or so remaining.

But for his Spiritual Foundation, it was worth it.

The moment the white bird absorbed the drop, it let out a world shattering cry that almost dispersed Mae's breakthrough attempt entirely.