Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu smiled; he could feel Ragash's nervousness. If he just destroyed the pill, wouldn't that be funny? The pill spun between his fingers, the dexterity capable of making one dizzy.

"Is this your answer?" Ragash managed to say coldly, pretending not to care about the pill.

Ryu's smile deepened. "Although you're a bit shameless, I like it. Honestly, I expected today to be a bit boring. The truth is that your Sects aren't capable of producing anyone below the True Sky God Realm that can defeat me.

"On the way here, I was dragging my feet because I'm a cultivator, not a janitor. Do I look like a person who has the time to take out the trash?"

The eyes of the various disciples went red.

"However, if you all think that you can conveniently hide this battle within this encirclement, you'd be sorely mistaken. This battle will take place so that the entire world can witness it."

Ryu's smile looked particularly devious.

"Little Silk."

A clear, resounding cry echoed that almost reminded one of a majestic phoenix. The gorgeous butterfly swept down, and Ryu vanished, appearing on its back.

"Who would like to come?" Ryu asked, looking toward the Radiant Star Sect disciple.

He had barely spoken when Jojo and Selheira appeared over the horizon. He had, of course, sensed them already. They didn't hesitate to make a move, stepping onto Little Silk.

An old man cleared his throat, and Old Wan, who was pretending to be among the elderly again, walked out with a hunched back. Though, it was truly ridiculous to see a middle-aged man act like this.

However, when others saw him walking through the air without even the slightest hint of Sword God Aura like Ryu or Jojo, their eyes widened.

Dao Lord!

"I'll be escorting these children I guess, aiya," he stretched his back. "Making an old man do so much work, you all have no respect for the elderly."

No one dared to speak... aside from Ryu.

His laughter echoed through the skies, and he streaked toward the distance.

"Follow me, little toad lusting after swan meat. If you dare, that is."

Ragash saw red.

...

Days later, much of the Seventh Heaven was in an uproar. When Ryu said that he wanted everyone to witness this battle, he wasn't fooling around in the slightest. In fact, his actions seemed to have even alerted the Dao Lords.

The various Faith Wells were bubbling, and many could sense that this was a tipping point. But the worst part of the situation was that because Ragash was forced to follow Ryu, there wasn't even time for him to make any extra preparations; he could only hope that what he had done would be enough.

Everything was a blur. Before he knew it, he was standing in the middle of an arena, that white-haired devil standing across from him, still rotating that pill in his fingers.

Ragash took a breath and calmed down. All of this was messing with his mind, especially seeing Jojo fly on the same beast as that man, talking, laughing, and bantering, as though her fiancé wasn't right behind them.

BOOM.

The air suddenly turned crimson.

An older man stepped through the skies. His aged white hair and beard flickered with red and gold flames, a crown of fire hovering above his head.

When he appeared, the crowd, rambunctious and excited for the current battle, was culled into silence.

The Dao Lord of the Raging Inferno Sect... Lord Crown Fire.

He descended from the skies, and the pressure on Ragash's shoulders seemed to multiply several times over.

Ryu felt a gaze sweep over him; it was so hot and volatile that it was almost as though a lens of fire was boring a hole through him.

The difference in reaction between the two seemed palpable.

Ragash tensed, and yet Ryu's smile only grew brighter.

"Now that everyone's here," he said lightly, his digits flickered, and the pill shot through the air, appearing before Ragash in an instant.

Ragash, who was distracted, barely managed to catch it in the end. Though he was a bit embarrassed, he managed to not make too much of a fool of him.

He took deep breaths and closed his eyes, trying to block everything out. In the end, he was still a True Sky God, a Realm and maybe only one in a million would reach even if you were born on the Seventh Heaven. He was better than this.

He swallowed the capsule in a single bite. He wasn't worried that Ryu had messed with it. After bringing everyone here, how could he have the face to just poison him to death.

Ragash felt a slight sickness in his stomach, but that was to be expected. This pill wasn't comfortable in the beginning.

Then, it all reversed.

His cultivation regressed by a grade and his aura became more refined. When he opened his gaze again, he was ready.

The first thing he beheld was Ryu's smile, but it no longer annoyed him as much as the first time. He was ready and focused.

He took a step forward, his aura blazing. He seized at the air, a pair of fire-forged gauntlets emerged on his arms.

The ground erupted as he suddenly vanished, appearing before Ryu with a fist that descended as though a meteor from the skies.

Ryu's grin didn't fade, but his robes fluttered, the aura of a Fist God erupting from him as he punched out.

BOOM.

Ragash shuddered before he was sent flying backward as though a speeding bullet.

Ryu clasped his hands behind his back. "Come on, you'll need to go all out. I want to see what a True Sky God can really do, show me something."

Ragash's regained calm almost vanished in an instant. Ryu was doing this on purpose, still calling him a True Sky God even when he had clearly regressed.

He would repay him by tearing him limb from limb.

Ragash unleashed a roar, flames blazing out of his body from all directions.