Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ianjor didn't say any more. He didn't know why he wasted his time to begin with. Those big Clan and Sect youths were anything but innocent. Even so, Ryu's eagerness to do it had thrown him off to some extent.

"You've misunderstood me," Ryu said after his murderous intent faded. "There might be a smile on my face now, but I didn't suddenly become a good person."

Ryu looked off into the distance.

"Once I become strong, I have no intention of gatekeeping who can and cannot become powerful. If my descendants are too weak to maintain the strength I built on their own, then they weren't worthy of it to begin with. Though, I will, of course, give them probably the greatest advantages of anyone else.

"But that doesn't mean that I'll clutch my pearls as I'm making my way up the mountain."

Ryu looked at Ianjor seriously, the distance suddenly seeming much less interesting.

"I'm telling you now, but though you've made it to become an Omniscient Sky God, your temperament isn't firm enough yet."

"Are you trying to lecture me?" Ianjor sneered.

"Yes. Yes, I am.

"I've learned quite a lot about Dao Hearts recently, and how powerful a Dao Heart is isn't decided by how solid it is. It's decided by how far it can bend without breaking.

"People have thought me to be inflexible in the past, and they were probably right. Inflexibility isn't the problem, it's how the desire of the word is displayed.

"I won't bore you with a lesson on linguistics, but I will give you an example. A person who has a Dao Heart built on their undefeated win streak versus someone who has a Dao Heart built on their will to assert victory no matter what. What is the difference?"

Ianjor frowned. Those words sounded almost the exact same. A win streak versus claiming victory no matter what, weren't they the same just with different wording?

However, since Ryu was asking, he knew that that wasn't the answer.

Ryu shook his head. "The second the person with a Dao Heart built on a win streak loses, their path of cultivation is over. However, the person with the determination to win no matter what can lose. In fact, he can lose again, and again, and again. So long as he eventually wins and resolves the shadow in his heart, his Dao Heart will continue to remain firm.

"Do you see the difference?"

Ianjor's irises flickered.

"My Dao Heart is powerful; I would put it up against anyone-even high-level Sky Gods. What makes it so powerful is its flexibility.

"I have the determination to rise to the top of the world. I have a clear goal and a clear method of execution. I can visualize what I want, feel what I want.

"Something as minor as feeling that my actions might be 'somewhat' similar to the Martial Gods will never sway me.

"That is the difference between myself and Primus. He is inflexible. He thinks himself to be some great person of self-discipline and control, unwilling to sway his own Dao Heart even for the sake of saving his own family.

"But that sort of Dao Heart is brittle. When it meets a force that surpasses what it can withstand, its determination shatters into pieces and his path of cultivation will be severed.

"I determine not to lose sleep over crushing the dreams of others, even if a small minority of them didn't deserve it, because they wouldn't have lost sleep if the same thing had happened to me."

"But they wouldn't be responsible," Ianjor almost growled.

"Wouldn't they be? Aren't they benefiting from the current system? How many of them have done anything to change it? Instead, they'll grow strong and then become another cog in the mission. They'll sigh and feel some small bits of guilt from time to time, but they'll never care enough to actually risk any of their own happiness for the sake of changing things.

"At best, they'll change the Fates of one or two people around the edges, and only if their talents are astounding enough, of course, and only if they have 'Fate' with one another."

"How do you expect people to risk everything for strangers?" Ianjor's frown became deeper.

"You sound like a child, you know that, Ianjor?" Ryu's gaze never left his. "If they have no obligation to risk themselves for strangers, then I have no obligation to change my plans for their sake either. Aren't they strangers to me as well?"

"That's not the same. Inaction and action are not the same things."

Ryu laughed. "Isn't it? Inaction can often have even more devastating effects. Why don't you ask my Tatsuya Clan?"

"At least none of you were tortured for millions of years on end."

"Are we ranking levels of oppression now? What a novel pastime," Ryu chuckled.

"You're infuriating."

"I'm realistic and won't be changing for anyone," Ryu corrected. "Don't take anything I've remarked the wrong way. I truly do not care if they have the heart to 'help' out the less fortunate or not. I could care less. I determine make my own way up that mountain, and I don't need their pity.

"But when I'm taking action in the face of their inaction, don't paint me out to be the monster just because they have hearts of gold and convictions of shit."

Ianjor and Ryu's gazes clashed.

In the end, Ianjor shook his head and sighed.

"Try not to die, lil bro. It would be a shame if you didn't even get there after all this bloviating."

Ryu grinned. "I'll be just fine. I'm not planning on croaking until I can rip the Spiritual Foundation out of every Martial God Dao God."

"Good luck with that, I have some cultivating to do."

Ianjor flashed and disappeared over the horizon while Ryu watched without saying much.

Then, he heard the click of a tongue.

"Little Ryu, how can you treat your only friend like this? You're going to make mother worry."

Ryu was speechless. Why did his mother make it sound like he had an inability to make friends?