Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

After hearing the conversation, Ryu got the gist of it even though these Working Disciples had almost no details whatsoever.

Everyone else of their generation had managed to breakthrough, but Jojo hadn't. Whether it was Selheira, Reykian, or Litaor, three of the former so-called four "Immortal Deities," they had taken that step already.

In fact, after taking note of some other conversations, he learned that the four Immortal Deities title remained, it was just that Jojo had been replaced by Starlight who had also recently broken through to the Fragmented Sky God Realm.

The fact that even Working Disciples were aware of what was going on likely meant that Jojo was under quite some level of pressure.

The Immortal Deity title was just something that those of similar stature had come up with when they were bored, and Faith didn't really fight back against it because those four were truly the most talented of their generation and several generations around them, especially Jojo and Selheira, Litaor and Reykian less so.

Now, of course, Starlight was seen as having potential that could maybe even surpass Jojo and Selheira, ever since it was revealed that he had Chaotic Silk Meridians.

Ryu chuckled when he heard this.

In the past, he might have been pissed off. But now that he knew the tiers of differentiation that came with having Chaotic Silk Meridians, he was certain that even if Starlight had the backing of a Dao Sovereign, the likelihood that his Meridians were on the same level as his own was slim to none.

Plus, he had been able to deduce something else.

Transplanting talents was never easy, you would almost certainly lose some aspects of its efficacy. Although some would be skillful enough to mitigate these losses and turn them to zero in some cases, for something as complex as Meridians that spanned every nook and cranny of your body, such a perfect method simply didn't exist.

Whether it was because his Vessel was lacking in comparison to Ryu's, or because the transplant wasn't 100% perfect, Starlight would be inferior to him in both aspects.

Still, Ryu was a bit envious.

Because Starlight had the backing of the Dao Sovereign of the Fading Star Sect and was also now the true Disciple of the Chaotic Space Dao Sovereign, an elite of the Eighth Heaven, he could boldly proclaim the existence of his Chaotic Silk Meridians and only the most insane would blink their eyes with greed.

Of course, he had a second layer of protection as well.

Anyone who was knowledgeable enough to know how to steal Meridians wouldn't believe that Starlight had only just chosen to reveal his Meridians; they would likely deduce that he had had them transplanted.

Transplanting a talent once was hard enough, doing it twice after it had already been stolen once was impossible.

Ironically, because of his theft, Starlight was mostly safe from greedy eyes.

Ryu chuckled, shaking his head.

Unfortunately, eyes were much easier to transplant. Some Sects even kept Heavenly Pupils for several generations, passing them from Inheritor Disciple to Inheritor Disciple.

Ryu had only just learned of this through Hope, and it really made him at a loss for words.

These greater powers of the True Martial World were truly as shameless as they came.

'Hm?'

The land beneath Ryu changed and the sloping land became more obvious.

From time to time, pools of lava would form. If they were replaced with normal water ponds, the region would look like quite a beautiful zen garden. But now, it had an exotic and even somewhat sinister edge to it.

'Hm?'

Ryu sensed the formation around him transformation again and it became deeper and more resounding. The formation scanned over his region three times, seemingly sensing some sort of anomaly. But after finding nothing, it relaxed again.

'It's actually so sharp...'

Ryu nodded to himself, took note of this, and continued moving.

Finally, he was beginning to see more substantial buildings. They seemed carved out of obsidian, but the cuts in them were absolutely perfect. They didn't have the jagged and somewhat janky character of obsidian constructions at all, and were rather examples of gorgeous architecture, reflecting the red-golds of the lava pools around them.

Ryu sensed something interesting and flashed forward.

One of these constructs was much bigger than the others, but it was also the bleakest.

"-Jojo, you need to stop being so stubborn. This is the last time I will advise you."

"I've already explained." Jojo replied with a firm tone.

"It's been too long, Jojo!"

The tone of the man was beginning to become exasperated. It was clear that he was only a few seconds away from losing his temper completely.

"It's only been three years since I returned from the Complete Heavenly Path. What is that kind of time worth? So what if it's harder for me to breakthrough than others, that just means my path is more worth walking. The more you all harass me like this, the harder it is for me to calm my mind and breakthrough, then you want to complain about me not doing so fast enough! Do you not find that ironic?!"

"Watch your tone, young lady!"

The voice boomed and the pressure of an Omniscient Sky God nearly flattened Ryu, but he managed to stabilize himself.

This was trouble. If this person scanned the region, he couldn't guarantee that he could escape detection.

Fooling such a large formation was one thing, fooling the eyes of such a high-level Sky God was a completely separate matter entirely.

"I have been watching my tone, I've been watching my tone for too long! You all have never wanted me to be the face of the Raging Inferno Sect, you've always wanted me to fall head over heels for that useless twerp with the face of a woman-"

"That's your Senior Brother you're talking about."

"Oh, now he's my Senior Brother? I could have sworn he was my husband by the way all of you talk about him."

"That's enough." The man had truly had it up to here. If not for how much he appreciated Jojo's talent, he would never allow a mere World Sea Realm expert to talk to him in this way.

"You have three days. In three days, I want to see that you have abandoned that Sword God Aura and that you've broken into the Fragmented Sky God Realm. If not, I will ignore all of your wishes and marry you to Ragash and allow him to benefit from your Primordial Yin and constitution.

"We are in the middle of a Battle of Faith. Every day you don't break through is another hit on us, especially since news that the Inheritor Disciple of the Radiant Star Sect has returned and he is exceptionally powerful among those of his level."

"So you want to ruin my future just to get some bonus points from people who don't matter."

"Jojo, you are not a child anymore. Following the path to Sword Godhood would be something that you would have to abandon eventually regardless. We let you indulge in your fantasies only because it didn't matter much at the time, but now we can't allow it anymore.

"It's your choice. Either you can become a legend on your own and find a husband worthy of you in the Eighth Heaven, or I will slap a piece of cow dung on your flower and use you to elevate Ragash instead!"