Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

The power was intoxicating. Every enemy he came across didn't have the ability to last even a single exchange against him. [Absolute Domain] used the very stars to map out projections that could allow for a perfect defense. If you were still enough, this perfect defense could easily become a perfect offense. If you were even more skilled, then you would have to sacrifice nothing at all. A perfect offense and defense would seamlessly meld into one another, creating a battle style far beyond anything that Ryu had self-created in the last several months.

Soon, though, this intoxication wavered and Ryu's coldness returned. In fact, it was a coldness that suffused from the depths of his soul and it dashed all the previous happiness he had had.

He had put his everything into these last several months, carefully honing himself and building little changes to his combat strategy that made large differences in his strength.

But the moment he made use of [Absolute Domain], it all became useless. He felt like he was being pulled along by someone else's strings and he was relying on a Dao forged by another person. It was a feeling that made him unhappy and disgusted, and if this was the him of just a year ago, or even a few months ago, he would have vowed right here and now to never use [Absolute Domain] again.

He didn't like the feeling. It was like an elder was casually patting him on the head, and an elder he didn't know or have any love for, shaking their head at his naivete.

Indeed, how could anything he could accomplish in a few months, even with the backing of a Founding Dao and an Origin Flame, possibly match up to what he was experiencing here? The [Absolute Domain] was indeed very difficult to use, and it required memorizing all the star maps of existence itself. However, there was a proportional reward for succeeding.

Usually, a technique with such a steep entry requirement would be too greatly flawed to be used by anyone and it would be cast as a failure. But this technique was obviously one of the very few that was worth it.

It was a sharp reminder, and almost painful one, of how far he still had to go and his happiness toward the success of his self-created Mental Realm technique was dashed. No, it wasn't dashed, instead it turned into a boiling flame of lava that poured through his veins.

Ryu quickly used the [Absolute Domain] to tear a path through the remaining quantity of Golden Protector Spirits. He knew that [Absolute Domain] or not, the Golden Protector Spirits could no longer pose a challenge to him. If he wanted to catch up, creating a method of combat that could rule over even [Absolute Domain], then he needed to fight against the Diamond Protector Spirits.

When he succeeded, a roaring pillar of golden light pierced the skies and Ryu's gaze narrowed.

Until now, he hadn't come across a single Diamond Protector Spirit. He had wondered why this was, but it seemed that he was about to get his answer.

Ryu didn't believe that the requirement was gathering up 999 Golden Protector Spirits like he had, or more accurately, he believed that this was only one of the potential triggers. There simply weren't enough spirits remaining for this to be an expected course of action. The other trigger was probably far more reasonable, like a percentage of protector spirits.

Regardless, it seemed like the Diamond Protector Spirits would appear now, but now before...

As expected, several powerful auras appeared over the horizon, speeding toward Ryu. The disparity between 998 Golden Protector Spirits and 999 was enormous. He wouldn't be surprised if the pillar of light that surrounded him now was visibly everywhere. It was likely they thought he was the spirit.

Ryu crossed his arms and didn't move. He had no need to flee, and it wasn't as though it mattered if he did flee. With the density of the pillar around him, people would find him no matter where he went. Of course, whether they could actually catch him was another matter, but he didn't have a propensity to flee.

Several who saw him from a distance decided to directly stop coming forward. However, just because they halted moving forward, didn't mean that they left. Anyone with the courage to come after what they thought was a Diamond Protector Spirit was also smart enough to know that if they were attracted, then other people would be. It was relatively harder to gain knowledge in this environment, and if such a big showdown was about to happen, it would all be for the best if they observed it personally so that they couldn't be manipulated due to their ignorance later.

It wasn't long before the true powerhouses began to appear.

Ryu spotted three squads from the Azure Lightning Sect, three teams from the Stalwart Sun Sect, another three teams from the Raging Inferno Sect.

Every team that came forward was surrounded in a swirling pillar of mostly silver, but he could see quite some gold within as well. It seemed like for them, the search for gold had just begun.

Each one was taken aback when they realized it wasn't a Diamond Protector Spirit at all, but rather a man. They slowed to a stop, but unlike the first group of stragglers, they were much closer. Clearly they weren't here just to observe.

And then came the team of the Fading Star Sect. There were five of them, that being the number of teams. As for their numbers total, there were 20. None of them seemed to have any distinctive characteristics, but with just a glance, Ryu picked out Starlight as though it was as easy as breathing.

He grinned, but he didn't say anything.

And then came those four, maybe the four that everyone had been waiting for from the very beginning.

Litaor of the Azure Lightning Sect.

Reykian of the Stalwart Sun Sect.

Jojo of the Raging Inferno Sect.

Selheira of the Radiant Star Sect.

Ryu raised a slight eyebrow. 'Interesting!