Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Jojo stomped the ground hard, unleashing a roar. It looked like she was about to charge into the heat of battle. There simply wasn't anything "delicate" about her roar at all. One would have thought that it came from the throat of a bear-like man.

She swung her sword forward, and the claps of thunder echoed. Then she swung with all her might. It looked like a wide swing, one where practically every part of her body was exposed to counter-attack. It felt like the most foolish thing one could do in a battle amongst elites, and yet there was something about the way she moved that made Ryu feel that, at least to another World Sea Realm expert, there would be no holes to exploit at all.

BANG.

The pillar suffered a strike, a gash appearing upon it that quickly healed. Then, a pillar of light shot into the skies.

Jojo pierced the sword into the ground, standing valiantly like a warrior on the peak of a mountain: bold and righteous.

"You swing like a girl."

Ryu's voice cut through the atmosphere of shock, and Jojo almost immediately turned back and glared at him.

"What did you just say to me?!"

Ryu grinned. "You heard me. You might be weak, but you're not weak enough to miss what I said."

The spectators were in relative silence.

That pillar just now had shot out a beam of light of exactly 10 meters. Even as a Fragmented Sky God, if you could get nine meters, you would be just about average. For a World Sea Realm expert to get that sort of result, it was enough to leave them in silence.

In truth, this pillar was only designed for Fragmented, False, and True Sky Gods to use. If anyone stronger attacked, it would be destroyed. If anyone weaker attacked, it wouldn't even register.

Of course, that said, what was being tested wasn't raw strength. No matter how powerful Jojo was, it wasn't at the level of a Sky God just yet. Rather, it was a measurement of comprehension.

Sometimes, geniuses on the verge of entering the Fragmented Realm might come to these pillars. If they could get five or six meters, they would feel confident enough to attempt a breakthrough into the Sky God Realm, and many would cheer for them.

However, getting nine meters was the hallmark of a Fragmented Sky God's comprehension! Getting 10 while in the World Sea Realm was entirely unheard of.

"You just like chatting a lot of shit; don't you have anything better to do?" Jojo snarled.

"My bad, my bad," Ryu held up his hands. "If the little princess is content with just this, I won't say anything more."

Ryu made a motion with his fingers and sealed his lips.

Jojo's temper was threatening to flare up again, but then she thought of something and sneered, handing the sword to Ryu.

"What's this? Giving up already?" Ryu chuckled.

"No, I want to see what you can do since you're talking so much. I'm a World Sea Realm expert, and I hit at a Fragmented God level. You're a Fragmented Sky God, right? Show me a False Sky God's strike."

The spectators couldn't help but chuckle when they heard this. Jojo was obviously getting back at Ryu.

She had spent decades in the World Sea Realm, preparing to enter the Sky God Realm. She already had the Dao comprehension necessary if she wanted to take that step; the trouble was that she wasn't satisfied. She wanted to incorporate her Sword God Aura and become a true Sword God.

It could be said that until she did so, Jojo wasn't anywhere near that lofty title. It was also for this reason that while many were in shock that Ryu had a Founding Dao back then, it wasn't enough for them to lose their heads.

Ultimately, most people probably assumed that Ryu's Dao had taken a step or maybe even two down.

This assumption wasn't without basis. After all, Ryu had entered the Sky God Realms far too fast. A smart person would assume that he traded away the difficulty of his Dao for a quick rise. Most thought that his Dao was probably Hegemonic now, as this would make the most sense.

There was no other explanation for someone going from the Lower World Sea Realm to the Fragmented Realm in just two to three years.

This was all to say that Ryu having just entered the Fragmented Sky God Realm couldn't possibly do what Jojo had just done.

Even so, Ryu chuckled and took the sword.

"How are you going to reward me when I do this?" Jojo frowned.

"Don't speak nonsense and just go."

"You want me to work for free? Where's the love?" Ryu looked back to find Jojo holding up two middle fingers. In response, he laughed uproariously, his laughter echoing across the city without a care.

It seemed that he wouldn't be able to trick this woman.

"Watch carefully. This is how you swing a sword."

Ryu's smiling expression vanished, and the air grew silent around him. In that moment, most felt as though a hand had suddenly grabbed their hearts, squeezing down tightly.

Jojo's eyes widened. This stance...

Ryu held the sword so casually in his palm that it seemed like it might slip out at any slight moment of carelessness. And yet, it somehow additionally felt like an immovable mountain, ancient and permanent in its grace.

The wind blew, and Ryu's wrist flicked.

The strike was so swift that it didn't seem to be delayed by cutting into the pillar at all. In fact, it appeared almost as though he hadn't done anything at all.

Until the pillar reacted.

BOOM.

The pillar of light shot into the skies with such fervor that it washed over the entire city.

10 meters... 20 meters... 50 meters...

Ninety-nine meters were already considered to be the pinnacle of the Fragmented God Realm. Just being able to approach it as someone who had only just broken through was astonishing enough.

And yet Ryu shot right by it.

99 meters... 200 meters... 500 meters...

Nine hundred ninety-nine meters were considered to be the very pinnacle of the False Sky God Realm. And yet...

"Oops..." Ryu chuckled. "Why are your Daos so weak?"

This pillar was not perfect. It couldn't just account for every kind of comprehension a person could have. In fact, even if one had a Hegemonic Dao, you would be outside the purview of what this pillar could reliably access.

If Ryu's eyes were correct, and they almost always were, these pillars were actually designed for Dynastic Daos.

That was decent enough, as having a Dynastic Dao gave you a chance of becoming a Perfect Sky God in the future, or even a Transcendent Sky God if you were extraordinarily lucky. But such a Dao was five levels below Ryu's...

What chance did it stand?

BOOM.

The pillar grew to 9999 meters before a flashbang went off across the entire city. The moment the standard reached beyond the standards of a True Sky God, it could no longer withstand the tirade of forces and the failsafes within the pillar triggered, shutting it down until it was entirely dim.

Ryu smiled. He had gone a bit overboard, but that was fine.

He turned back toward Jojo, but she stood in a complete daze, her eyes having glazed over.

The surrounding spectators stood in silence as well, staring at Ryu as though they were looking at some kind of monster.

However, very soon, their attention was pulled away by something entirely different.

RUMBLE.

Jojo's hair fluttered in the wind, her dress flowing like a wild cape. If not for the latter's length and heft, she might have previously been exposed to the entire city.

Her aura suddenly rushed upward, and a resounding sword cry tore into the skies.

Ryu grinned.

He couldn't say that this was unexpected because it very much was. After he showed her that path, it would be surprising if she missed it, especially considering her current state.

At the moment, she wasn't thinking about breaking through at all. Her entire focus was on Ryu and their little competition. Her body was entirely relaxed, and there was even a smile hidden deep within her eyes. She hadn't had this much fun in a long while.

And then the door suddenly opened.

BOOM.

The aura of an Ancient Dao rose into the skies, rising from the Hegemonic grade. At the same time, it was layered by the aura of a Sword God, making it almost sense like a Founding Dao.

In that moment, the "guests" had previously begun arriving, powerhouses of both the Raging Inferno and Azure Lightning Sects, but they were only in time to find a mighty sword piercing through the skies.

Jojo unleashed another howl and her Cosmic Seeds fused into one, a resplendent glow covering her body.

Then she laughed, a booming laughter that sounded even more uproarious than even Ryu's own.