Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

"You-!"

Jojo shot forward like a meteor streaking across the skies. The pillar of gold around her seemed thirsty for power as it greedily drank in the surrounding qi, fueling her, empowering her.

Ryu wasn't too surprised by this. Everyone would follow different paths. While he was focused on internal constructs lik maximizing his explosive power or flexibility, others like Jojo might have focused on finding methods of forcing the reaction of atmospheric qi with nothing more than her body.

Maybe a few minutes ago, this would have baffled Ryu. Wasn't controlling atmospheric qi a strength of the Qi Realm? He had never heard of Vital Qi doing such a thing. But this time, with just a single glance, even while using his Dao passively, he saw through the secrets.

When he used his Ice Phoenix Martial Form, he could swallow a large amount of air, and then guide this air through his body to promote his speedy recovery, It was the perfect sort of blueprint for the ability he was seeing right here. Wasn't that a rudimentary form of his body using atmospheric qi to its benefit?

Taking it a step further, wasn't this a concept his master's magnum opus was based upon? His master Elemental War God Visualization could carve out pathways in one veins and arteries to mimic the passages of ancient and powerful beasts. Then these circulation patterns could be used to provoke the activation of talents you shouldn't have access to at all. Wasn't this another method of atmospheric qi usage?

The difference lay in the fact that Jojo wasn't absorbing the qi into her body, nor was she fusing it to a technique. Rather, it was like the Heavens had enveloped her with a second skin, causing each and every one of her actions to thrum with its support. It was a more active usage of an ability that one could passively gain access to after forming their Cosmic Seeds, but adapted to be used with one's Bloodlines.

But more pointedly than that, it was a far weaker version of what his Birthed Phenomena could do.

Ryu had these thoughts even as Jojo appeared before him, but he didn't seem to have the intention of moving at all.

Selheira had already appeared, grabbing her wrist. The knuckles came to a stop a mere half centimeter from Ryu's sharp nose and the smile on his face. never faded. He looked into Jojo's eyes without much care and even a bit of a teasing light.

She was powerful, truly powerful. If it was before he had succeeded in creating his Mental Realm Cultivation Technique, he might have to run from her like he had from Ramon even despite the completion of his absorption of 999 Golden Protector Spirits. But now...

He didn't feel like he had to fear her at all.

"It's a bit inappropriate to attack my Junior Brother when we're working on the same team, don't you think, Jojo?"

Jojo grit her teeth. "Let me go! I'm going to tear a layer of skin off this bastard's face! How dare you stop me!?"

"Tearing layers off?" Ryu asked, looking somewhat surprised. "Have we reached that stage in our relationship already?"

"You-"

Selheira let go of Jojo's wrist, but Ryu tilted his head to the side even before her fingers twitched, causing Jojo's fist to fly by his cheek.

Ryu chuckled. It seemed that Selheira had her own temper as well. Though. he didn't think that that action was out of jealousy. Instead, it was because she thought that he was antagonizing Jojo while relying on her power. If that was the case, then it was like he was using her, and that wasn't something even the gentlest of people would like.

It could be said that releasing Jojo's wrist was a test, much like gauging his reaction toward Aika's marriage" was another. If Ryu's calculations were correct, this woman had tested him in at least a dozen different ways. He never seemed to get enraged, though, a fact that was amusing in its own way. It seemed that he had his own bias toward beauties.

Ryu suddenly vanished and appeared barely a meter away and by the opposite side of Selheira, casually slipping his hand into hers before she realized what was happening. She was stunned, not expecting this sort of thing from Ryu, she even felt that she had misjudged him. Had her tests not been thorough enough?

She looked toward Ryu, a slightly dangerous look in her eyes, but the smile on Ryu's face never changed.

"There it is," Ryu suddenly said. "I've known that you've had that look in you for quite a while, and for more than just the game of Domain at that. Gentle women are nice, but I much prefer arrogant women. A woman who would deem to test me so many times can fall into one of two categories. Either I'll kill her, or she'll be my woman, I wonder what category you'll fall in?"

Selheira was once again stunned by Ryu's words. The casualness of the action, and the future tense in his words as though he really might kill her if she acted inappropriately... she realized now that she wasn't the only one being tested, and Ryu's arrogance wasn't a façade, it was even deeper than she had realized until now.

Ryu's hand squeezed Selheira's gentle palm and her bone almost seemed formed of clouds. But he let go of a moment afterward as though he wasn't interested in taking exploit of her either. And then, he walked away, vanishing. He sensed the Diamond Protector Spirit, why would he stay here? To coddle a woman's feelings?

Selheira was a bit stunned, she didn't know how to react. Jojo, herself, blinked, before bursting into a fit of laughter to the point of slapping her knee. The echo of her gauntlets slamming against her knee brace caused a roar to echo through the skies that made it feel as though it might collapse any moment now.

"Holy shit, this is hilarious!"

Jojo seemed to have forgotten that she hated Ryu's guts. Instead, she was having the time of her life.

When she spoke about Ryu's relationship with Selheira, she had made the same assumptions that Selheira had. She thought that since Selheira had shown the slightest fascination in Ryu, then it would really only be a matter of time. Selbeira's instincts were sharp, and if she liked a man, even if it was just a little bit, he was worthy of a second look. After all, she knew things about Selheira that no one else did.

What she, and clearly Selheira, hadn't thought of, was the possibility that the man Selheira had her eyes on might reject her. If it was someone else who had uttered what Ryu had, it might have come off as posturing, even an attempt to make Selheira chase him rather than the other way around, but Jojo already knew enough Ryu to know that there was little to no chance that he would do such a thing. That man too boldly spoke what was on his mind, and she could sense that he meant every word.

And clearly Selheira could too, or else she wouldn't have reacted the way she had.

This was better than even a birthday present, it was better than stumbling on a God Treasure in the wild, it was better than even if she would step into the Sky God Realm right this moment. To see Selheira embarrassed like this, she could live out the rest of her life with a blinding smile on her face.

She had never seen this gentle beauty take such a loss, and she was having the time of her life.

She fell to the ground, slamming her fists as she laughed. She almost forgot to chase after Ryu, and most had. Who could blame them? Who hadn't heard what Ryu had said? Who hadn't seen what he had done?

Reykian, however, looked as though he wanted for bloody murder.

Ryu didn't think too much about what had just happened, looking at the colossus before him. While it was true that his women could be as willful as they wanted, those women could only have the title of wife and they had to actually be his woman. He didn't have a habit of bending over backwards just because someone was a beauty, even if she showed fascination in him. If he took in every woman who showed interest in him, he wouldn't even have enough time to go around.

Was it a bit cruel to Selheira? Probably. But he was getting a bit displeased that she just assumed that she could have him if she wanted him. He was Ryu Tatsuya, a man destined to stand on the tallest peak of the world, it was an honor to be by his side, not the other way around.

A mountain in the distance rose into a titan of over 10 meters tall, wreathed in blue armor that radiated like crystals.

He pointed his great swordstaffs forward.

"Let's end this battle before any unwanted guests arrive. Shall we?"