Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

By this point, Ryu's arrival had caused quite a bit of commotion.

Battles were actually quite frequent given the circumstances, but even then, a battle like Ryu's, where one person came to seek revenge, was completely unheard of.

Several figures appeared on the Sect walls of the Radiant Star Sect, but their faces were colored in confusion. Because Ryu was wearing a mask, they didn't recognize him. Also, the Ryu they knew used Great Swordstaffs, not daggers. In addition, those gorgeous silvery runes floating around him seemed to be a constitution of some sort, and this wasn't something Ryu had either. It didn't help that this person was in the Sky God Realm either.

Last time they had seen Ryu, he was in the Lower World Sea Realm. Even Selheira had spent more than a decade in the Peak World Sea Realm before breaking through, and Jojo had still yet to breakthrough herself-though there was news that she would do so soon.

The only thing that reminded them of Ryu was the arrogance and the white hair. But there were plenty of arrogant geniuses that overestimated themselves, and white hair was quite common when a sample size of the countless trillions was taken into account. Even Selheira had white hair, for example.

Aika, Old Wan and the others appeared as well, but they were hidden within the clouds, frowns on their faces.

Soon, however, Aika's eyes lit up.

She had been under a lot of pressure recently. Technically, this entire matter was her fault. She thought that with her strength alone, she could change everything and turn the tides.

If she had listened to Old Wan instead, and bided their time on the First Heaven, slowly moving through the ranks over many years, they wouldn't be on such a back foot right now.

But she was too eager. She wanted revenge. She wanted those that had killed her family and oppressed her for so many years to pay.

And now, here they were, suffering because of her.

...

The youths on the tower walls frowned, still not recognizing who was below.

Their own prestige had taken quite a hit as well. They had come from all corners of the Sixth Heaven and they had quite some reputation themselves. But their losses after the Complete Heavenly Path were heavy, the three strongest of them had almost died at the hands of Adlael.

Brianus, Robion and Bruiser frowned. They had all broken into the Fragmented Sky God Realm by now, and they were all on the Sect walls, so everyone also knew that it couldn't be any one of them down there.

So who was this person? And weren't they being too reckless?

Even so, they were rendered speechless moments later.

...

Ryu glided through the battlefield, his steps light. He seemed to be both using and not using [Absolute Domain] at the same time, although as though he had taken the skeleton of the technique and condensed it down to a simple handful of steps.

Everywhere he passed, blood streamed down in a fine rain. And yet, not a single ounce of it touched him.

The fury of Core Elder Briza was billowing forth. He was especially furious that his suppression wasn't working in the slightest. If this continued, all of their Fragmented Sky Gods would inevitably fall.

He looked toward the Core Disciples by his side and his gaze flashed with a dense light.

"Forman, Zolda, you both go. Kill him swiftly and with impunity. Don't give him a second to even regret his decision. We don't need to make him bleed, we need to make him die."

The male-female pair frowned when they heard these orders. They couldn't afford to offend a Core Elder, but they also didn't want to take the reputational hit that would come with attacking someone an entire Realm below them.

They were both False Sky Gods, what would they look like attacking a Fragmented Sky God who also seemed to be of the younger generation? It was only worse that Core Elder Briza was clearly asking them to attack together.

However, when they felt Core Elder Briza's oppressive might, a cold sweat streamed down their backs and their gazes turned fierce.

They didn't care about Ryu's life, they just cared about their reputations. Since there was no escaping, they just had to make it as savage and brutal a beating as possible so that no one could find fault with them.

It was Ryu's fault for being stupid enough to attack an encampment with so many elites in it.

Without a word, the two became a blur. A violent gust of wind was left in their wake.

The air suddenly became superheated, their powerful streams of power creating a flash bang in the air.

Ryu smiled. With his [Third Perspective], honestly speaking, there was no such thing as moving faster than his eyes could see, even if his eyes weren't doing the seeing. The question was whether or not his body could keep up with his senses.

Unfortunately for these two, they could.

Ryu's aura changed and the oppressive might of a Knife God descended. It felt bloody, violent, almost bestial in its construction. It was the aura of a man who would do whatever he needed to do to get the kill, even if he had to rip his target's throat out with nothing more than his teeth.

BANG! BANG!

Ryu blocked Forman and Zolda, each with a single hand. With the latter being a master of palms, and the former one of fists, had they not had God Treasures protecting their arms, they would have been sliced to pieces in that instant.

Even so, the lingering blade lights around Ryu cut into their exposed skin, across their arms, their faces, and their legs. The silver runes around him grew agitated and seemed to call forth all the Blade Qi in the world, forming a quasi Domain that wanted to shred any foreign objects to pieces.

In that single clash, the ground was littered with blade scars and blood began to leak from multiple wounds that appeared spontaneously across Forman and Zelda's body.

The eyes of the two False Sky Gods widened. A Fragmented Sky God had blocked their blow?!

Ryu shifted, sparkling lights of Star Qi manifesting around him.

A mountain appeared to his back and a violently vibrating qi took shape. At the same time, the stars of [Absolute Domain] manifested and the two were surrounded by both a gravity field and a domain that made them feel as though there was nowhere to run.

They both roared, flames billowing from their body as they indiscriminately revealed their strength. So long as they burned everything within several dozen meters, how could Ryu possibly survive?

The inferno rose like a spiralling tornado into the air and the eyes of many widened. It all happened too fast. First Ryu had revealed himself to be a disciple of the Radiant Star Sect, and then just... died?

Core Elder Briza sneered. It was less than perfect because Ryu had managed to block two strikes, but this was still the second best thing. He had a feeling that it would take two False Sky Gods to deal with Ryu, that was why he hadn't just sent one.

That said, he was also trying to confirm something else, and that was whether Aika would use this as an excuse to take action. Luckily, it seemed that that answer was no, that made things much easier on him.

At that moment, the flames dissipated and Briza's eyes practically popped out of his sockets.

Ryu stood there, perfectly fine. There was a tiny flickering flame caught on the edge of his white and sky blue robes, but he kicked at it and it dissipated as well.

The worst part, though, was that two headless corpses stood, their bodies about ready collapse.

"The Raging Inferno Sect members are rather weak, don't you think. Those flames couldn't even though make me sweat.

"Are you going to send more False Sky Gods at me? Or are you going to take action?" Ryu asked with a smile.

When the youths on the wall heard this voice, their eyes widened. How could they not recognize Ryu's voice?

Briza's face turned completely red. This was the worst possible outcome.

"Oh. Since you're not coming, I am."

Ryu vanished and when he appeared again, he was barely ten meters from Core Elder Briza. This time, he no longer bothered to hide his Spacetime Soul Nature, directly stepping through space itself and appearing suddenly and majestically.

His boldness made Briza's blood boil, but he couldn't even react in time as one of his disciples found their heads spinning in the air.

"Come on, you're too slow, old man. Try to keep up."

Another False Sky God's head spun into the air.

"Why are all these disciples so pathetic? I just broke through and I thought I could have a nice fight. Instead, it feels like I'm mowing weeds."

Laughter began to ring out in the Radiant Star Sect even as Briza roared with a billowing fury.

Ryu chuckled and vanished merely when Briza lost his patience. He appeared high in the skies, sitting on a sword with his feet dangling as though he was just trying to enjoy the scenery.

"Tell you what. If you can make it up here without using a flying treasure, I'll hand my head to you on a silver platter."

Briza had never been so enraged in his life. He was a Core Elder, he was revered, he was respected, when had a junior ever spoken to him like this before?

He took a breath and forced him to calm down.

"A coward who hides his face and his name isn't worthy of my rage. You will die in due time."

The words had been a bit shameless, but they were the only things he could say.

Suddenly, Ryu's mask arrived flying at him, fast. It carried an oppressive aura of a Sword God and it appeared before Briza in an instant.

Briza snorted. What kind of joke was this? Was this supposed to scare him?

He put a hand up to capture it casually, but then his expression changed. He clamped his fingers down merely a moment too late and it rolled up his palm, rebounding and slamming against his face.

He took a step, then another step back, his eyes spitting fire as he glanced at the handsome man in the skies above.

Ryu grinned, his charming smile akin to a second sun in the skies. At that moment, it was hard to think of him as anything but absolutely radiant.

"My name is Ryu Tatsuya, Inheritor Disciple of the Radiant Star Sect. Remember my name well. Whether it's the Raging Inferno Sect or the Azure Lightning Sect, or any enemies that might come later, I'll be sure to make your lives a living hell."