Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu stretched out his wrist, though it was nothing more than a matter of fan service for him. His wrist was just fine, but when it came to gathering Faith, showmanship was almost more important than what you did.

It was a funny fallacy of the world of cultivation. Faith was so important and it could even sway the lives of individuals as powerful as Aika, or the Dao Sovereign of the Radiant Star Sect. And yet it could just as easily become real when it was originally nothing more than a paper tiger to begin with.

Knowing this, why would Ryu ever take anything like Faith or Karma seriously. They could bind Primus, but they wouldn't bind him.

There was no doubt that one of the reasons he was so confident in his success was because he knew things about his enemies that even they weren't aware of.

The advantage of having data about his opponent was so potent that it had just brought a Half-Step True Sky God to his knees in a single blow. And the unfortunate part of the rest of his oncoming enemies was that nothing would change.

Whether they were stoic, cold, cheery, or happy people, the information that their Sect had fallen would be devastating.

It wasn't that Ryu's Dao of Sin could use manipulation to weaken people, his Dao didn't work so directly and it was entirely a matter of comprehension, as was his strong suit.

It had to be remembered that [Lines of Fate] functioned best when Ryu had more Karma with a person or thing. This was why he had been able to use [Lines of Fate] during his battle with the Awoken Moon Sect geniuses to learn their core spear technique.

Without this foundation of understanding, it would take much longer for the abilities of his eye to trigger and for him to find weaknesses in his opponents or copy their techniques.

Of course, much like most things, his eyes now were far more mighty than they had been in the past. But this wasn't to explain what his eyes could do, but rather how his Dao worked. Or, even more accurately than that, how his Dao and his Heavenly Pupils could work together.

Using Dividing Chaos, should he have information about an individual, especially if he had particularly damning information, he could peer into their Karma and Lines of Fate with much greater ease.

When he had a person like that in the palm of his hands, it wasn't just a matter of them becoming weaker, but also that Ryu could exploit their weaknesses more directly.

Just now, his eyes could practically see the path his fist should take, a path that would kill his enemy in a single blow.

Ryu never planned to fight all of these geniuses at full power from the beginning.

...

Lord Black Worm's sneer froze on his face. If it wasn't for the fact he was a Dao Lord, he wouldn't have even trusted what he was seeing.

Starlight, to his back, stood in silence. But, his pupils were constricted into tiny pinholes. It seemed that he wasn't nearly as calm as he seemed to be on the surface.

Ryu's wild grin seemed to be painted across the backs of all their irises. They could see nothing but it, focus on nothing but it.

It was evident he aware well that everyone was watching and that was precisely where he wanted them, and at the same time... that was the only thing they could do.

When the next Half-Step True Sky God appeared, Ryu laughed and gave the same spiel. Even when his opponent wasn't the talkative or patient type, he simply dodged until they got the message, and then they'd simply fall.

Ryu went through four foes before they felt a dense sort of numbness settle in.

Just who was this young man?

And then, they finally appeared.

A True Sky God.

When Aika recognized this person, her heart shuddered. It seemed that they wouldn't be so lucky to have

...

Ryu stood across from the man He was lanky, and tall beyond reason, standing at what must have been at least eight feet. And yet, his back was so hunched over that he only emerged to be about as tall as Ryu.

His skin was grey and exuded a misty blackness, while his hands carried to scimitar shaped daggers that curled much more like scythes than they did short blades.

Truthfully, he looked like a creature that had just crawled out from a horror story, even down to his sunken skin and prominent cheekbones and eye sockets.

Ryu looked him up and down, the same smile on his face.

"With a creature like you as a genius disciple, I'm not surprised the Dual Radiance Sect was destroyed."

...

Aika froze, her expression turning downcast.

Even with large Sects-no, especially in large Sects- there would always be skeletons hidden in their closets.

Traitorous disciples were just commonplace, and unfortunately, you didn't get to pick and choose which of them would appear to defend their Throne.

This youth that had just appeared, when last Aika saw him, he was known as the Twin Reaper Dao Lord. There was likely no reason for him to be dead right now unless he ran into some unfortunate circumstances.

This man hated the Dual Radiance Sect to the depths of his bones. If he heard it had been destroyed, he would laugh uproariously until the skies split and the mountain fell.

But maybe more importantly than that... he was dangerous. Exceedingly so.

So much so that while Aika was known as the greatest talent to be born in the Sect in several generations, she had never had any confidence in beating this man.

...

"The Dual Radiance Sect has been destroyed?"

The man spoke slowly, the sound akin to wet gravel being rubbed against one another. It was as though someone had sanded down his throat.

Then, a jagged grin spread along his face.

"That's the best news I've heard in years."