Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

BANG.

Both men flew back, performing a backflip through the air before they landed.

The man's eyes narrowed. He returned to his lanky appearance, raising a hand and touching his cheek. Ryu had actually managed to land a hit; that was surprising.

In that moment, when the man's fist suddenly expanded, Ryu simultaneously attacked through the air, his fist that should have missed crossing into the void. That one simple punch carried the heat of a Fire Dragon, the energies of the world, and Order and Chaos.

Ryu had done more damage than the man had done. It was just unfortunate that his body was far weaker than the man's. The man came away with a slight blemish on his cheek, while the entire left side of Ryu's chest had collapsed, almost taking his shoulder with it.

Ryu rolled his shoulder, snapping it back into place. He took a breath, his expression filled with indifference. His smiling expression was gone, and all one could seem to focus on were the floating orbs that were his silver irises.

"You're tough, I like that. That's what a Close Combat Expert should be like," the man grinned.

Ryu didn't respond.

"What's that feeling? It's your Dao, no? But why does it feel so subtle? Is it one part concealment based? I've never sensed a Dao I couldn't tell the Grade of before. What's your title?"

Ryu shifted into a battle stance.

"Aiya, a Close Combat Expert should be more earnest. If you shroud yourself in cold, how can you feel your blood pumping?!"

The man's gaze turned wild, and this time when he exploded, he rose to a height of more than two and a half meters tall. Star qi descended from the skies, and the braces on his wrists glowed with a wild light.

PA! PA! PA!

He struck at the air, and it looked as though he was throwing meteors from his hands. Ryu moved, his Birthed Phenomena glowing as he met the maddened assault. It took over ten of his punches to clear a single one of the man's, but he didn't seem to care. His arms moved in a blur, layering in the void. His Spacetime Soul Nature took root, slowing the clock on the space around him as he erupted with greater and greater speed. The stars of [Absolute Domain] pulsed with a radiant light, and just when the man got close, he vanished.

The uproarious laughter of the man rocked the skies, and without even looking, he punched in a certain direction. Unfortunately for him, Ryu wasn't there.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Ryu unleashed a furious assault on the man's back. He could feel his strikes being absorbed, swallowed whole as though they were entering a black hole, but he didn't seem to care in the slightest. When the man recovered, he had already vanished.

Ryu flickered around like a specter. He wasn't allowed to take God Treasures above his grade into a Throne Challenge, but it truly looked as though he had strapped the Spectral Wind Wings to his back, his Fire Dragon Wings moving about as though they had a mind of their own.

And then it suddenly all changed.

ROAR.

"Take Form and Command the Heavens."

Ryu vanished in flickering bolts of lightning. He not only crossed through space, but even when his real body appeared, he was either wreathed in lightning, or he was lightning itself.

Lightning Spirit Body.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Radiant sapphire scales coated Ryu's body and his battle style turned from one of claws to one of a relentless cyclone of kicks. They descended from the skies like bolts of lightning, the starry skies above gaining rolling dense, black clouds.

It was clear at a glance that Ryu's skill was far above the man's. Unfortunately, his strength output was just too lacking. The man's defenses seemed to have already surpassed the normal realms of the Lower True Sky God Realm. This was obviously a true genius of the Body Realm. He only used his Star Qi to amplify it. No, it wasn't just his Star Qi, but his Dao as well.

This was an example of a man who had fused everything down a single path, so seamlessly that it was easy to miss... That Ancient Dao that was fused into his body.

The man rarely landed hits on Ryu, but even then, they were devastating. His laughter roared, and as he grew more excited, his strength only seemed to increase.

"Kid! I admit it! I was wrong! Your blood does indeed flow hot! In the afterlife, remember my name well!

"I am the 37th Patriarch of the Dual Radiance Sect! You may call me Sovereign Swallowing Earth!"

Ryu coughed up a mouthful of blood. Swallowing Earth's thundering voice made his organs feel as though they were collapsing, vibrating so hard that they'd be blended into a slurry. It was clearly a voice attack, one that channeled his Star Qi at that. It penetrated the wounds surrounding Ryu and stabbed into him. At the same time, because so much qi had invaded him, he couldn't even easily enter his Spirit Body form again.

Swallowing Earth appeared before Ryu in a flash. A wild grin spread across his face. He was truly insatiable in battle. He couldn't get enough of it. He was a true glutton. If he could, he would swallow the earth.

BANG.

A fist ripped through Ryu's chest, blasting a hole so large that his upper body nearly separated from his legs.

Swallowing Earth retracted his feet. He put his hands on his hips, raising his head to the skies and chuckling uproariously as he returned to his lanky appearance.

"Good battle! Good battle! Good battle!"

The Seventh Heaven fell into silence. It was indeed a good battle, one filled with much more twists and turns than they thought possible for a Fragmented Sky God facing off against a true genius of the Eighth Heaven.

Aika covered her lips, her eyes dimming. Unfortunately, she didn't even get a grace period to react.

"Decent at best," Ryu uttered softly.

[Fate Reversal].

The chuckling Swallowing Earth suddenly exploded in a fountain of blood.

Swallowing Earth's eyes widened. Suddenly, Ryu who was across from him appeared perfectly fine. But him... He appeared down at his chest. Where it should have been, there was a huge hole instead.

Ryu's finger flashed in a spark of lightning, a swift kick akin to a heavenly judgment crashing against the side of Swallowing Earth's head.

His neck was severed from the rest of his body and the silence of the Seventh Heaven became even deeper.