Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu's aura flared, and the sonorous call of a Phoenix echoed.

His White Phoenix manifested, and his Chaos Qi churned. His white scales suddenly erupted with sharp blue lines that made him look particularly ethereal. At the same time, his claws were lit with swirling patterns of black as his wings were adorned by complex golden-red feather patterns that flowed perfectly with the existing patterns.

"More abilities do not make you stronger," Radiant Star commented lightly, his fist having already appeared before Ryu's chest.

BANG.

Ryu's back rebounded against the barrier once again, but he was already so close to it that he was prepared. Using the momentum, he bounced back, erupting with a Dragon's Claw matted by Phoenix Heavenly Patterns.

Radiant Star slapped his wrist to the side, striking his chest with another palm.

"Trying to gather the power of the Heavens before someone with a higher cultivation than you is foolish. The moment they start taking you seriously, this is the only outcome."

BANG.

Ryu rebounded against the barrier again. His gaze was sharp, and his battle intent didn't waver, but the outcome was just the same every time.

[Lines of Fate] felt worthless, [Death Acupoint] kept missing again and again, he thought about using [Fate Reversal], but he hadn't taken nearly enough damage to make it worthwhile yet. Plus, he didn't know if Radiant Star somehow had the ability to avoid that as well.

His series of combinations didn't falter. Every time he was countered, he would have the perfect response ready, and yet every time he would take a hit, and then another. It felt like with the barrier, every one of Radiant Star's strikes was worth double.

Ryu's claw met a palm as his knee was slapped down by another. As his foot was driven hard back to the ground, the palm his claw had met deviated, parrying his arm to the side and cracking his collarbone in the same motion.

Blood continuously drizzled out from Ryu's lips, but he could feel it, a slow change.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Ryu suddenly blocked a continuous flurry of three strikes with a knee and two elbows. He shifted to the side, erupting with an uppercut to Radiant Star's ribcage.

His entire body roared with power, from his plant leg to his pivot leg, up his winding and powerful core all toward his fist.

His qi roared inside of him and lashed out, the Ice Phoenix Heavenly Patterns on his knuckles sparkling with a dancing radiance.

BOOM.

Radiant Star drew a palm across his body, blocking. And yet, he was lifted into the moving to the side and back around three meters.

Ryu followed up, his eyes glowing with a radiant light. Within their irises, the dancing brilliance of two oppositely revolving eight trigram diagrams glowed.

Subconsciously, Rage Flames began to dance in Ryu's white hair. This time, they weren't fueled by the fury of others, but rather his own.

His speed accelerated, and Bone Structure roared. A dense Cosmos Fog billowed out from him, suppressing the world.

Space bent to his will, time bent to his thoughts.

Two Domains fused into one. One from his Bone Structure and the other from his self-created Martial Art.

His body became layered in afterimages, some slowed considerably and some sped up far beyond the limits of a Fragmented Sky God.

Radiant Star reacted calmly, and yet it was clear that more and more of Ryu's strikes were beginning to make their way through.

Fists shuttled through the void unexpectedly, slowing down at weird intervals and suddenly accelerating when they were least expected to.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Ryu fought his way out from the barrier, his aura flaring up and the Rage Flame dancing more wildly in his air.

He was like a cornered animal, and yet he had a controlled fury about him that would burn down even the Heavens if it had the chance.

Every mistake he made was erased instantly, every improvement was incremental but obvious. His furious barrage of fists, claws, and fingers was only belayed by an equally furious rampage of kicks and knees.

His elbow clashed with Radiant Star's, their gazes meeting across their blow for just a moment before they separated and vanished in another flurry.

Every time they met, the air would clash and seem to implode from an unknown point.

Suddenly, Radiant Star's lip curled into a smile, his first real expression other than distaste. His Dao flared before it was quickly subdued. Even so, something had changed.

His body was coated by radiance, and even his hair seemed more like filaments of condensed, flowing light, rather than real hair follicles any longer.

His speed exploded.

Distance didn't mean anything to him, his Dao illuminated the path.

Time didn't mean anything to him, his Dao would always make certain he reached where he needed to at the right moment.

Defense didn't mean anything to him, his strikes would always ring true.

Offense was everything to him, nothing could block him.

Ryu could tell that this was a Dao Charm technique... No, it was beyond that. It was a technique that Dao Charm techniques would be derived from, a technique that only Radiant Star himself could possibly pull off with any sort of real mastery.

And the moment it appeared Ryu suffered a series of bloody wounds. A fist to the gut, a kick to the side of the head, a finger that pierced right through his body.

BANG.

He collided against the barrier, his bones rattling within him.

[Fate Reversal].

Ryu finally used it, and Radiant Star's expression changed. The latter's aura flared up instantly, but marks still appeared across his body.

Ryu coughed up a mouthful of blood, feeling as though he had just partially failed at something.

He struggled to his feet, his eyes still on the couple.

"Alright, I think that's about enough," Fading Star suddenly said.

Radiant Star frowned as he looked back at his wife, but she was sporting a glare of her own at this point.

"Don't make the child reveal more than he has to; you've proven your point."

Radiant Star crossed his arms, but ultimately didn't do anything more.

"Child, please tell us about the current circumstances of our Sects."

Ryu frowned, looking up.