Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

1289 Echo

Much like with the Incomplete Heavenly Path, a Sect had to send in disciples to gather a certain amount of Fate and Faith for the Sect in question to be able to transcend to the next level. Ryu had been able to do it and reach an adequate standard on the Incomplete Heavenly Path, but the Complete Heavenly Path was a completely different animal. Without several disciples performing excellently, it would be simply impossible to reach this appropriate standard.

The last power that had managed to reach this standard was the former Frost Clan, but it had already been countless generations since then, and before they could even readily accept the rewards that came with their success, they were eradicated almost down to their last man.

This was a blight on the history of the Sixth Heaven and a reminder that transcending to the Seventh Heaven wasn't something that everyone could aspire to. In fact, even the geniuses who managed to bring themselves to the Seventh Heaven would choose to turn back in the end, returning to their lives of leisure.

Of course, this was tacitly allowed by the Seventh Heaven. If the Seventh Heaven became too much of a myth in the eyes of the people of the lower Heavens, after enough time passed, they might begin to believe that the gap was closer than they thought, and soon there might be many who thought themselves great enough to challenge their bottom line.

However, by allowing the powers of others of the Middle Heavens to send their geniuses in, and allowing the beset to receive the resources and guidance of a Seventh Heaven power for a small time, they would be able to return later with tales of just how inferior they were.

This aside, the difficulty of even getting such an honor was extremely difficult, and it would change depending on the kind of competition one would face. This was because the Heavenly Path, or more accurately, the Complete Heavenly Path, would never allow more than one Clan or Sect through at a time.

This meant that the difficulty was relative to the number of powerhouses partaking in the event, and since so many had come down from the Seventh Heaven, the difficulty was similar to a Sect attempting to rise to the Eighth instead of the Seventh, the gap was enormous.

Because of all of these reasons, the idea of a single person gathering enough Faith to allow it, especially in the face of such competition, was absolutely ridiculous. And if they were purposely targeted by a Seventh Heaven power at the same time, that difficulty would only skyrocket.

Asce's threats were most definitely not empty, but it only made Aika feel all the more disgusted.

"You know that I've always loved you, Aika. Plus, how could there be a better couple than the two of us, we were made for each other."

Aika finally couldn't hold back her sneer.

Love? If he had so much love why was he only proposing marriage now that she had regained her youth. The Fading Star Sect could have come to chase after them long ago, but because they believed Aika was at the end of their rope, they felt that it was unnecessary to extend the time, effort and resources it would take in order to do so. But now that she was young and beautiful again, there were these talks of love? She could gag.

None of this even mentioned the fact that the hatred she held for Asce couldn't be any more bone deep. Her fury was to the point that she felt as though she was being suffocated, and yet she still didn't do anything.

Ryu looked down from the skies and toward Aika.

This Asce truly had a lot of nerve. He had just said that if anyone wanted to marry Aika, they would have to go through him. He might just be a stand in for husband, but saying such things right in front of him... Wasn't this Asce trying to make him out to be a cuckold?

Others might feel that it was only right. If you had a woman that a more powerful man fancied, you should offer her up with two hands, palms facing the sky. But since when had Ryu ever done things this way.

As though no one else was there, he took a step forward. Aika didn't even notice what was happening until her view of the sky was suddenly obstructed.

She had always been a very petite woman. Unlike Selheira who was easily 6'3 on a bad day, Aika was maybe 5'2 or 5'3 or just under 160 centimeters tall. The top of her head didn't even come up to Ryu's collarbone, with him standing right in front of her, it was difficult to see past him and continue looking into the skies.

She blinked. With the target of her rage suddenly vanishing, her gaze refocused onto Ryu.

She felt that Ryu was far too reckless. Just now, her line of sight was incredibly volatile. If she didn't have more control over her qi, just stepping before her would have blasted Ryu to pieces, and yet he was actually still so reckless. She didn't believe for a second that he couldn't sense the danger.

Even now, Ryu's body reacted although she reacted quickly. That said, to her surprise, it felt like her gaze had fallen into the endless depths of an ocean, vanishing without a trace.

"There's no need to talk to someone who didn't even dare to come in person to offer a proposal, right?"

Ryu's voice, amidst the silence, was exceptionally piercing.

At first, he thought that the two in the sky had appeared personally, even his eyes and senses couldn't see through it immediately. But after several minutes of observation, he began to pick out more and more oddities, almost as though he had just woken up from a dream and was only now realizing that it had, in fact, been a dream..

He realized now that the reason Aika didn't attack wasn't because she didn't dare to, it was rather because there was no point. Those two above were nothing more than mirages.

Ryu took out a handkerchief and under the stunned gazes of those present, he gently wiped the sweat from Aika's forehead. She had been so agitated that her body had begun to overheat.

The subtle cool touch made her almost release a sigh of pleasure, the timing and the amount being just right.

Ryu looked back toward the skies after a moment, finding two faces without the slightest expression on them. For the first time, Asce's smile had entirely vanished.

"Still not scramming yet?" Ryu asked.

A vein on Asce's forehead suddenly appeared like a roaring flood dragon before it slowly vanished. His control over his temper seemed somehow both excellent and frightening at the same time, but all the same. Ryu was unmoved by it.

His gaze shifted from Ryu to Aika. "So is this your decision? When you hold the corpses of your apprentices in your arms, remember this moment well."

Aika's brow twitched, her temper threatening to flare out of control again, however Ryu spoke before she could.

"You speak boldly for someone without the apprentices to back up your words. Is the defeated one by your side supposed to be your backing?" Ryu asked lightly.

Starlight's gaze suddenly sharpened before he sneered. "... This is the first time I've seen someone take so much pride in defeating someone an entire cultivation Realm below them."

Ryu took a step forward, his feet landing on the very edge of the Sect's walls.

His eyes began to glow furiously as two rotating eight trigram diagrams appeared in both.

The skies rumbled and the earth trembled, but as though they had both sensed something that frightened them, the retreated like the tide, not daring to show themselves.

The aura of a Founding Dao covered the surroundings, grabbing the hearts of those in the environment and refusing to let go.

Whether it was Starlight or Asce, both of their eyes widened to the point their hearts stopped beating entirely.

"Would you like to try for round two?"

Ryu's voice boomed, its echo spreading everywhere. It was as though the Fifth Heaven had lost all capability of resisting, its laws bending out of the way to allow his voice to spread further.