Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu suddenly moved in a blur of white-gold. He completely ignored Radiant Star, focusing on Fading Star. He could feel that the cooperation between these two wasn't strong. They had yet to communicate even once, even subtly. The fissure of their lives was still there, clearly.

They might begrudgingly work together, but it wouldn't be smooth. If he could take one of them out before the other got over their angst, he would gain the advantage.

They might be able to shroud themselves somewhat from his eyes and his Dao, but it wasn't completely.

As he moved, the questions flew about in his mind wildly.

The founders of the Dual Radiance Sect both had Founding Daos, but they were only Sovereigns at their Peak? Why was it that no one knew or advertised that they had Founding Daos?

Why did their auras remind him so much of the little woman?

Ryu suddenly unleashed a barrage on Fading Star. Surprisingly, the gorgeous woman was a Close Combat Expert as well. She wasn't fazed by his sudden change. Her palms moved like steady rivers, flexible but stubborn, preferring to eat away as the shoreline bit by bit to carve out their own path.

None of her attacks seemed to carry a great deal of strength with them, and yet they accumulated a steady damage that made Ryu's bones shudder.

Ryu flickered and vanished several times, appearing around her at different angles. Sometimes he would only move an inch or two to the side, never pausing his attacks and forcing her to recalculate his trajectories just a little bit every time.

His skill in using his Spacetime Soul Nature was only increasing by the day, and the return of his eyes made that progress even faster.

A danger sense pulsed in the back of Ryu's mind and he vanished once again. But somehow, the lingering sense remained, irrespective of the fact he had already gotten into the habit of masking his exit path.

BANG.

A beam of light tore through Ryu's shoulder blade, tearing out of his collarbone.

He flipped through the air, landing on the other side of the battle arena and looking down.

That power... it was strong. He couldn't even dodge it if he wanted. He seemed to have understood some of Radiant Star's Dao. Radiant should be translated from a word more similar to lighthouse. He had an extremely powerful ability to illuminate his path. Depending on how much weight each of those words had, it could be an extremely broken ability, and it definitely wouldn't be swayed by his maze of space and time, unless...

"That was unnecessary."

A calm and soothing voice echoed. It had a gentleness like Selheira's, but a hidden coldness akin to Eska's.

Ryu blinked, but soon realized that Fading Star wasn't talking to him.

"Neither was shrouding me from the child's Dao. I had it handled," Radiant Star replied lightly.

They seemed to be having an "argument", if it could even be called that. They spoke so calmly and evenly that if not for knowing their previous history, this wouldn't have been the first guess Ryu made.

"So you know he's a child as well?"

"What gave you the impression I didn't?"

"Maybe the hole through his chest?"

"This is a Throne challenge of our Sect, and this child clearly has a fickle heart. Have you not seen his other Throne? How can I go easy on him?"

"You can tell as well as I that that Throne is from a Sect of a smaller world."

"All the more reason he should learn of the difference."

"He has the Fate of our Dual Radiance Sect on him. There is no need."

"Dual Radiance? I think you mean the Radiant Star Sect. I wouldn't have thought that you'd be so supportive."

"When have I ever not been supportive of you?"

"Would you like me to list them?"

"Please."

"How about right this moment?"

Ryu was speechless. This was supposed to be a battle, not a marital therapy session. If not for the literal hole in his chest, he might have wanted to laugh.

"So the kind of support you want is in bullying a child?"

"How can this be classified as bullying? He attacked first."

"When has a pair of Half-Step Perfect Sky Gods fighting a Fragmented Sky God ever not been bullying?"

"When the Fragmented Sky God is too arrogant."

"Does he not have the right to be arrogant? Maybe if you had a Peak Founding Dao you'd understand."

"What good is a Peak Founding Dao in the Fragmented Sky God Realm? If he manages to keep it when he enters the Dao Lord Realm, then it might be worth something."

"And if he does so you'll say Dao Sovereign next, right?"

"That's only natural. Nothing is more important than Cultivation Realm. If it was possible to become a Dao God with a Common Dao, they'd crush this boy or even us with ease."

"But it isn't possible, so why even mention it?"

"To illustrate the point. It's called an analogy."

"An analogy is best used when it's plausible. You just mention a hypothetical that's impossible by every metric."

Ryu finally couldn't hold it in and chuckled, causing both experts to look toward him. The pressure they exuded was massive. It seemed that even though Fading Star was defending him, she still didn't want him to try and interfere.

But since when would Ryu be pushed back by a couple of glares?

"Tell you what, Senior Radia-"

"Sovereign-"

"-Senior Radiant Star," Ryu continued, "as a man, you should learn to be more flexible. Arguing with your wife about such things will only make you seem petty."

Radiant Star frowned.

"Me, for example. I don't even argue with my wives," Ryu shook his head as though lecturing a youth. "Life is better when your wife is both willful and happy. A man's job should be knocking down his wife's obstacles, not trying to convince her what she should and shouldn't do."

Radiant Star's frown slowly faded back to his original indifferent expression. Then, he looked toward his wife.

"I'm going to kill him."

Fading Star didn't get a chance to say anything before her husband moved.