Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Most cultivators had a solid foundation of close combat skills. It was partly for this reason that they were so ubiquitous. Depending on the situation, your body could ultimately become the last tool you had left to save your life, while weapons were mostly external matters.

However, truly being a Close Combat Expert was a different matter entirely.

Ryu had heard of them in the past, people that forged their bodies into weapons and could force an air of lethality even into their pinky toe if it came down to it. Unsurprisingly, these people were mostly Body Realm experts, and that was perfectly in line with Ryu's wishes.

'Is that really all?' Ryu thought to himself, sinking into an even deeper state of meditation.

There were large parts of Ryu that were actually very eager to embark on this path, but there was a small part that was still a bit hesitant. Should he really do this?

A flash appeared in Ryu's mind. It was mostly an image, one of him using his fingers like a sword. Another flash appeared. He remembered evoking his Lightning Qilin body and whipping out with a kick that split the skies. It had almost felt as though an ax was in his leg.

These memories floated by one after another, his thoughts swirling about.

People used their fingers as swords all the time; it wasn't even that difficult, honestly speaking. Quite honestly, you could use your body as anything because the body was unrestrained by such matters.

Weapons were created by humans and by definition, they were designed to be amplifiers to what the human body could already do. As such, there wasn't a single weapon in existence designed to be used by one's hands and feet that didn't perfectly comply with the Faith of the body as well.

The thought intrigued Ryu.

What if he didn't just become a Close Combat Expert, but he also learned to not just figuratively use his body as a weapon, but to truly use his body as a weapon?

Ryu shook his head. Wouldn't that put him back to square one?

The reason that he was stripping down the layers of complexities and returning to what was simple was that he simply didn't have the time to follow abstruse and hard-to-grasp paths.

What he should be doing, instead of making all of this complicated on himself again, was exchanging for a large amount fist, palm, finger, and leg techniques, pouring over them until he could incorporate them into his body much like he had the Protector Spirits of the Heavenly Path.

But the nagging thought lingered in the back of his mind.

Ryu frowned, losing his State of Meditation.

He stood up as his eyes opened, feeling a hint of annoyance. However, when he saw Eska's delicate body wrapped in thin white sheets, sleeping without a care in the world with her pink lips just the slightest bit parted, his peace returned to him.

He shook his head.

This was the difference between cultivators of Sacrum and the True Martial World.

In Sacrum terms, Ryu wasn't even 30 yet and should only just be in the Divine Vessel Realm. This would be the first true gap in cultivation and in Sacrum, it should take him 80 years to reach the Connecting Heaven Realm from this point.

Simply put, if he were in Sacrum, this would be the first time Ryu would be learning to go into large bouts of closed-door seclusion. But, he had never experienced that before.

Most of Ryu's improvement came in the midst of battle, and though he had spent decades stuck in that black hole, he spent much of the time fighting back against its pull and also chatting with the little woman.

A true seclusion? This wasn't something he possessed ever experienced before.

As for Eska, she possessed experienced trillions of years of life. A seclusion of a few decades was child's play for her. Even one of several millennia would feel like a sip of tea.

Ryu shook his head. He expected that with his firm Dao Heart, this would be a breeze for him. But he understood that this was akin to exercising two different sorts of muscles.

The main issue was that the path Ryu was trying to take now ignored his heart. He wanted to find out more about this potential variation of the Close Combat path, but he was pulling against himself, thinking about the moment he possessed left, trying to speed up the process.

That push and pull was bound to have negative effects and he was essentially shooting himself in the foot. It was unacceptable.

'I've taken it too far. Not chasing after perfection is one matter, but suppressing perfection is another. If I'm purposely shooting down my own thoughts with every step I take because I'm trying to rush to catch up to others, I'll only harm myself.'

When Ryu possessed this thought, he calmed down again. Taking a deep breath, he pointed a finger and suddenly struck down.

A streak of sword qi seemed to form and it split the air in two. It was silent, and deadly, but...

'No, this isn't the feeling I'm looking for. This is just a sword that is a finger. What I need is a finger that is a sword. The foundation is wrong...'

Ryu found himself slipping into enlightenment again, but this moment it wasn't due to the actions of his Heavenly Pupils. Rather only the second time in his life that a true enlightenment possessed descended, one bestowed by the Heavens themselves.

This time, when Ryu's finger descended, the world trembled.

Like a shooting star of silver, it danced through the skies, shredding everything in its way apart.

Ryu retracted it and sent out a fist. The illusion of a rod that could hold up the Heavens appeared, but just as quickly it vanished, replaced by a rod whipping from the side.

His physique continued to move, the flashing illusions of weapons bearing down until there was nothing but a man that possessed returned to simplicity.