Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu felt an unimaginable level of... control. It wasn't power, not exactly, it was more like he could sense every little thing, even down to the atoms of the world itself. Everything was in his grasp, and nothing could escape his attention.

He had never felt this way before, even when he had fully unlocked his Heavenly Pupils, even when he was in a far weaker world with far greater restrictions like Sacrum. It was all simply... unimaginable. It almost felt like the Heavens themselves were pouring power into him, and in a real sort of way, that was exactly what was happening.

A Dao was exactly that, an external source of strength granted to you by the Heavens as a reward for your comprehension. Depending on what you had come to understand about the reality of the world, certain amounts of its laws were laid bare before you, opening themselves up so that you could use them as freely as your Focus Qi would allow.

The amount that had been opened up to Ryu hadn't changed, but a few things made it feel as though that was what was happening, the most important of which was efficiency.

Having a Founding Dao was both a gift and a curse. Most didn't actively use their Daos in battle, but rather did so passively because of the drain on Focus Qi. It wasn't until they entered a hyper intense state of battle that they would lay it all on the line and ignore the potential consumption. Even the Saint's disciple was like this, his use was so subtle in the beginning that Ryu had almost missed it.

For Ryu, this was even more so. He was lucky that he had received the Origin Flame not long after forming his Founding Dao, or else he would have felt the drain far more significantly. Without the Prayer Mat, his chances of using his Founding Dao, his current greatest reliance, in the midst of battle would be like a baby trying to wield a heavy duty God Treasure.

But even with his Origin Flame, Ryu had been very careful with how he used his Dao, not only for the sake of hiding his identity, but also sparing a thought for his Focus Qi as well. Now, however, whereas using his Dao in the past cost a steady river, it was no more than a drizzle.

With his entire Dao opened up to him like this, he didn't have to be so cautious, often using only quarters of it at a time. He could use them all at once, exhibiting its true strength passively. Or, he could actively tap into its strength, opening himself up to the world or rather... forcing the world to open itself up to him.

When Ryu had the idea to build a Matrix in his mind, he had thought of many potential applications. The most obvious to him, especially in the last several weeks, was the potential it had for helping him to quickly lock onto the deficiencies in his battle style and fix them, maximizing his own strength all the more.

He hadn't expected that it would have such a profound effect on his Dao and its strength, and even beyond that, Ramon had enlightened him to its possible applications in battle as well. These were benefits that even he hadn't seen, and he realized just how great of a benefit this was.

No, it wasn't a boon. It was something that he had created with his own hands, his own Taboo Power of sorts, and it made him feel... Alive.

When Ryu had run into the [Refinement Sutra] in the lowest reaches of the Radiant Star Sect's technique libraries, he had known that it was perfect for him. But he had also felt that it would take quite some time before he could truly unearth its potential, and by extension, his own potential.

Sitting here, so he had just roared away billowing and spinning around him, he felt that he had still underestimated himself.

It had taken years, but the moment he sniffed the slightest hint of enlightenment, the benefits had all come rushing together. But he felt that this was only the beginning.

This was just the slightest taste of what it felt like to blend your talents down a single path. Ryu had just managed to align his soul and his Dao, and not even perfectly yet, but the benefits were so great. If he began to use the [Refinement Sutra] to incorporate his other aspects, even fusing his three cultivation methods into just a single one, just what level would he be able to reach? What station would there be waiting for him at the end? Would he already be at the top of the world by the time he succeeded?

Battle. He wanted a battle.

Ryu flickered and vanished. His passive use of his Dao was so great that even with a casual intent, he easily crossed what was ten times his previous greatest distance, leaping across thousands of kilometers. With just that single step, he had already appeared within the territory of a Golden Protector Spirit.

[Absolute Domain] was activated again, but this time... Ryu used a level the little woman would never think possible at his level. The technique was divided into grades, and certain levels were always restricted in their use against certain enemies. A Heaven Grade [Absolute Domain], for example, would always be useless against a World Sea Realm expert no matter how cleverly they used it.

So what about the Fragmented Grade against one?

The white scaled crocodile spirit seemed to rush itself onto Ryu's blade. The gap in tactics and movements was so immense that a third party observer would have assumed that the spirit was simply tired of living, of the hardships of life.

Ryu didn't even have to use his Spacetime Soul Nature cleverly, nor did he have to use his Chaos Qi, he didn't use anything but the strength of his body, and even that was less than 10% used.

He stood in silence as the spirit poured into his body, its physical form collapsing.

He suddenly comprehended just how potent [Absolute Domain] was. And by extension, he understood just what kind of monster he had formed with his own hands.