Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

"What's with that look?" Ianjor's brows raised. "Don't tell me the great Ryu Tatsuya is afraid of a little competition?"

Ryu shook his head. "Annoyed by inconveniences, is more accurate. I don't have the time to throw myself into danger, just to offend people whose heads are far bigger than their guts."

Ianjor understood what Ryu meant, but he was still surprised by it. No way the Ryu he knew would turn down something like this even if he knew what the outcome would be.

Would Ryu definitely win? Ianjor didn't believe so, he hadn't even met the minimum requirement to participate yet. Though, technically speaking, there wasn't really a "minimum". It was more like a "if you're not foolish and don't want to die a premature death, you won't even attempt it if you're not at this level", kind of thing.

However, what was Ianjor's guilty pleasure if not making Ryu's life a living hell?

"Have you given Voice to your Sky God Title yet?" Ianjor asked with a grin.

Ryu's eyes narrowed.

Did he have a Sky God Title? Yes, yes he did. He knew what it was, and it floated around in his mind just when Ianjor asked. Just the thought of it caused the skies to split and the ground to rumble. The clouds above looked as though a million mile blade had suddenly run through them.

Of course, this didn't mean much. This was Sacrum, and there was no one in Sacrum, not even Primus himself, who had extra Faith in this land. Ryu's feats were simply too outstanding, while Primus hadn't even made his presence known in this land in trillions of years.

Ianjor's grin widened. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. It would be a real shame if you missed out. Just how disappointed would you be in yourself. A once in a several epoch opportunity vanishing, merely like that. Oh the humanity."

"Just get to the point," Ryu said, pinching his brows. He was beginning to have too good an influence on this man. He was almost as annoying as him now.

"No rush, no rush." Ianjor wrapped an arm around Ryu's shoulders and stretched a palm out around the boundless skies before them. "Let big bro paint a beautiful picture for you first.

"Ah, a Sky God Title, it's the oh so often forgotten, and maybe even worthy of being, Seventh Pillar of cultivation. Some even believe that unlike the other Pillars that are equivalent in value, the value of a Title is beyond the other six because it represents not just itself, but a culmination of everything you are and aspire to be."

Ryu sighed inwardly. He knew all this stuff, but he already knew there was no point in interrupting Ianjor. The asshole might even restart from the beginning and accuse him of "not listening". So, he merely let the man proceed since he really was interested in what was happening all of a sudden.

"... The choosing of a Title is about as difficult as it is important, though. Just how many experts have existed across all of time and space? There are only so many paths to follow, and usually the strongest of geniuses have Ancestors to follow in the steps of, and even those without backing find themselves digging up remains and scurrying around like rats to find the inheritances of experts who had lived long ago."

Ianjor gave Ryu a pointed look, causing him to shake his head again.

He was an esteemed Ruin Master. When had he become a scurrying rat now? He would remind Ianjor that he owed his life to him, or else how else would they have made it out of that trial so easily? But once again, he remained silent, a fact that made Ianjor extremely happy.

While he continued to talk, though, Ryu felt that he was correct. Although he was doing his best to annoy Ryu and drag this out, his words held some value.

There were only so many paths to follow and the Heavens only had so many Daos. Although the Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Heavens had added artificial caps to the Daos lower Heavens could use, the fundamental truth was that there was a limit to the Daos the Heavens could manifest at once.

There were only so many elements, only so many laws of the universe, only so many principles and fighting styles to follow.

Ryu had absorbed extra Protector Spirits than anyone in the Complete Heavenly Path. During that time, he had seen the same aspects of his muscle memory over, and over, and over again.

If one took it a step further, it wasn't even merely the name itself.

Not everyone was a Ruin Master like Ryu, and not every Ruin Master was also a master of linguistics like he was either. Most people didn't pick out the best and most special characters, or had to sift through thousands of languages before they found the perfect combination for them.

As a result, what did that mean?

It meant that what was most important behind a God Title was its intention. There were probably trillions of languages in existence, and a mind-boggling number of word combinations between them. Someone might even think themselves clever and try to combine multiple languages into a single title.

But none of it would matter.

Even if two Sky Gods had completely different names, so long as the Intention behind it was the same, they would clash.

And once that happened, one would either have to swallow up the Faith of the other, or deviate their path to avoid dying.

Given that there were only so many paths, and thus only so many Intentions a person could have, the difficulty of this matter was far greater than the thought Ryu had given it in the past.

His God Title was definitely grand and imposing, and it carried his will to rule above all.

But was he really the only one to ever have such grand aspirations?

"... and now that you comprehend some of the history, there's only one thing left, the difference between Voicing your God Title and not."