Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ragash felt completely overwhelmed. It wasn't just the heat; it truly felt like a mighty dragon was bearing down on him. It was the sheer size, the weight, the rage. It overwhelmed his senses and sought to crush him. His fragile mind, which had only just recovered, felt like it was being peeled away, layer by layer, step by step.

He barely managed to remember to defend himself, crossing his arms before his chest. He hoped to be sent flying, but the breath, under Ryu's control, became akin to a convection oven, wrapping around him and billowing with steam and heat that charred him completely through.

By the time the flame faded, he stood there like a statue, his arms still crossed, and his knees slightly bent. He was entirely black from head to toe, and the slightest movement caused him to crack all over. Blood began to pool out of the cracks, causing his body to tremble more and resulting in more cracks that leaked with more blood.

Ryu's lips closed. "Mm, a bit overcooked."

The arena was silent.

In truth, from the moment Ryu's games began, Ragash never stood a chance. The problem wasn't his strength, but rather his psyche. This was simply the power of a Founding Dao, not just of any level, but the equivalent of the False Grade.

After months of research, Ryu understood everything about Ragash's character, and he had even toyed with his emotions thoroughly. There was little worse for a man than having his woman so publicly stolen from him.

It was unlikely that Ragash had feelings for Jojo as deep as that of Litaor, at least not feelings that went beyond feeling that she was a beauty he would like to take advantage of. But it didn't matter. Not everyone had the mental fortitude to ignore the chatter of the public and find motivation from an internal drive.

To make a complicated matter simple, Ryu had essentially spent months whittling away at Ragash's pride, his sense of self. The fact the latter's Dao Heart didn't already shatter was a testament to how much of a genius before Ryu got his hands on him.

But right now, if Ryu were to put a number on it, Ragash probably couldn't even properly use even 10% of his strength.

Ryu shook his head. 'How boring.'

He had known for a long time that he could use his Dao like this. He had mentioned that he could probably become the greatest political official to ever live if he so chose. It just didn't give him the same amount of satisfaction. He meant it when he said it was boring.

If not for the fact this would deal the greatest blow to the Raging Inferno Sect, he would have preferred to have a good battle with Ragash. He was probably one of the few that could give him such a great battle without also being far beyond him in strength.

Unfortunately, no matter how Ryu's maturity had seemed to regress in some ways, he was still quite a serious man when he had to be.

Others might see it as his maturity regressing, but Ryu felt that it was the opposite. He was less stubborn about useless things, more flexible, more secure in himself and his way of doing things.

A cold face didn't always equate maturity. He had seen enough stone-faced beauties to know that this was far from the case.

"Well, that's one down. Does the Raging Inferno Sect have anyone else?" Ryu asked with a smile, knowing full well what the answer would be.

What a joke. He had just taken down the most powerful False Sky God there probably was on the Seventh Heaven, who else could they possibly have?

Lord Crown Fire sat in silence; he didn't seem to react at all to the loss. Ryu's lip curled. He wondered what they were planning. For this man to be so calm at this moment, it was unlikely that he had given up. What Dao Lord would put the hope of their entire Sect on a True Sky God?

If Ryu was a betting man, he'd guess that the Raging Inferno Sect's Faith Well was in a terrible state right about now; it was already on the verge of collapse. Ragash's loss was too resounding and too horrible.

"Josephine."

A voice suddenly rumbled.

The air was completely sucked out of the atmosphere, and everyone's attention was focused on just a single man. No matter who it was, they could only look toward him. He was the head; he was the Crown of Fire.

"I will give you this final chance. Return to the Sect, renounce this relationship, and I will accept you as an in-name disciple. You have ten seconds."

Jojo stiffened when she heard her name. She absolutely hated that name, and the reason was ironically because of the man who spoke it now.

While the in-name master title seemed to make sense, when it came to a talent like Josephine that almost never appeared, it was nothing more than ridiculous posturing.

Jojo should have become the True Disciple of Lord Crown Fire long ago. From the moment she completed her Rites and stepped from the Awakening Realm to the Pulse Opening Realm, it had been obvious that she deserved such a title.

However, she hadn't been, and the reason for that was this man. Or, rather, his only child, his daughter, Transcendent Sky God Giraldene.

Giraldene had been the only child of Crown Fire for his entire life, and she was spoiled rotten. It was said that her birth caused the death of Lord Crown Fire's late wife, and as such, she was cherished all the more.

When Giraldene heard that her father was going to take in his first True Disciple, and a little girl, at that, her jealousy flared up and she had a huge argument with her father.

Lord Crown Fire bent to the whims of his little girl and chose to pass Jojo off to Omniscient Sky God Garran, the very same man Ryu had caught Jojo talking to the first time he snuck into the Sect.

Of course, these weren't things that Jojo knew immediately. This wouldn't be a matter that would be publicized, and it took years of strife and misfortune, surviving on the edge of life and death, before Jojo learned the truth.

The problem was obviously not that Lord Crown Fire had refused to take her in as a disciple. If she just had to become a disciple to a lesser guide for a while, it would have been fine. Although her pride would remember this slight, it wasn't enough to hold a life and death grudge.

However, how could things have possibly stopped there?

Giraldene did everything she could from the shadows to make Jojo's life a living hell.

Jojo lost count of how many life and death experiences she had in that time, how many friends she had lost because none of them were aware who she had offended, and to make it all worse, she never received the guidance of an Omniscient Sky God either. Probably under pressure from Giraldene, Garran, who was betrothed to Giraldene, never gave Jojo any proper guidance.

The fact that Jojo managed to rise to her current Realm was the result of nothing more than grit and determination. The fact Garran had dared to speak to her like that after so many years of doing absolutely nothing for her had made her heart boil.

Unfortunately, she hadn't had the strength then, and she didn't have the strength now. Her gaze was filled with thus much fury. She wanted to fling curses that could paint the skies red, but she didn't dare to do so.

She had suffered so much, and for what? Because a grown woman couldn't stand the idea of her daddy doting on another little girl? Just the thought filled her with such a belly of fire that her hair and brows began to flicker uncontrollably again.

But she controlled it. She had to control it.

She wasn't a disciple of the Radiant Star Sect, they had no reason to protect her. It was foolish of her to come in person to begin with, but she had simply wanted to see how matters would end. She hadn't expected such an ultimatum.

She wasn't a fool. She knew that the Sect must have something to rely on or else Lord Crown Fire wouldn't be thus calm.

It was then that a laughter cut through all of it.

"You want to take a Sword Sky God as an in-name disciple? I don't even think they'd do that on the Ninth Heaven; Lord Crown Fire's standards must be impossibly high, which is weird considering how trash the rest of your Sect's disciples are."

The words were obviously a power play by Lord Crown Fire, but trying to play with words with Ryu correct here was digging your own grave, don't you think?

"The Raging Inferno Sect tried to pawn off such a good disciple to this good-for-nothing?" Ryu pointed toward Ragash, and the latter suddenly erupted into a fountain of blood, collapsing to the ground. "And now that he's lost you want to take her back. There isn't such a good thing in the entire world.

"So now that we've reached this point, how about you stop wasting everyone's time and bring out what you're trying to rely on?"

Ryu looked into the skies as the audience fell thus silent that pin drop could exist heard.

"Let me guess," Ryu grinned. "You've realized that you can't win on your own thus called for help from your father?"

BOOM.

The pressure of a Dao Lord drenched the skies.

However, it wasn't Lord Crown Fire at all.

It was an expert of the Fading Star Sect.

Ryu's grin widened. He really wanted to see what they were going to do here.

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Erdiul's Note: New year! Same me! Hope you all had a great year, and if not, I hope the service I provided over the year made it a little bit better. It will continue though, how long? Not sure. I will notify when I do have to stop, and I will try to find a good replacement if possible. But that's for the unknown future. For now I will continue as usual. Let's hope we all have a great entry into 2024. Cheers mates.