Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

[Bonus chapters thanks to Chronotitan <3 4/6]

It was simple and unadorned, its main body made of an almost unpolished greyish black steel. The only thing that was slightly special about it were the twin stars at its center, but that was all it needed to unleash the truest might of its majesty.

In the True Martial World, Thrones weren't a true protected class. There were even many examples in history of them being hunted down and killed by the very Sects and Clans they had claimed a Throne from in the first place. It could be said that becoming a Throne was a very lonely road, one you would inevitably have to walk to the end of on your own.

However, if this was the case, what was the point of becoming a Throne, then?

In Sacrum, when a Throne was formed, a Sect or Clan was forced to open up the doors of their treasury, showering their Throne with both techniques and resources. But if in the True Martial World, a Throne could be casually killed, then what would be the point of any genius risking themselves like this?

Like with all things, there was always balance. And if Ryu had to choose, he liked the way things worked in the True Martial World much more. That was because rather than relying on what the Sect would give to him...

He could take what he wanted instead.

At that moment, the Fading Star Sect members below suddenly felt as though their strength was being ripped from them. It wasn't in a literal sense, but rather that their techniques lost their sharpness, their Daos seemed to lose their connection with the Heavens, falling in grade, and their Star Qi fell flaccid.

Omniscient Sky God Stardust, a woman with delicate brown skin and eyes like glowing ash, reacted with astonishment.

That ability was precisely the reason this war had been triggered so suddenly, but there was no way that Ryu should have been able to use it so soon!

The battle that had suddenly been firmly in their control tilted wildly and the difference was only becoming more drastic.

There were three things that Ryu could do with his Throne, each of which grew proportionally in strength depending on the amount of Faith he had gathered for the Sect.

The first was a Domain suppression against those tied to the Sect, and that was this very ability that he was using here and now. It worked regardless of cultivation. Even if a Dao God was here, they would be suppressed just the same. This was the power of Fate and the bindings that even Primus feared crossing.

The second was an innate talent for techniques of the Sect or Clan. It was similar to the Lines of Fate Ryu had received as a reward from the Complete Heavenly Path, but this time tailored to a specific set of Core Techniques. It could be said that Ryu could learn any Dual Radiance Sect technique with half the effort in half the time.

The third was unrelated to the Sect at all and was instead an option rarely taken, and that was to sacrifice a Throne for the sake of another power's revival.

The reason this route was almost never taken was because of the side effects of such a thing.

The newly rejuvenated power would be in a mother-child relationship with the starting Sect or Clan, though this would be putting it mildly. In reality, the two would be at loggerheads wherein only one would be able to survive in the end.

Should the newly created Sect win, it would steal and take all of the Faith of the Sect the Throne originally came from, while the latter would be unceremoniously wiped from history.

Right now, Ryu was only using the first ability, but due to the constraints, many had thought that he would still have no right to use it on such a scale.

As was previously stated, everything came with a balance. One couldn't just target a Sect, do nothing for it, and take all the advantages. All of these abilities, even in the case of the last, scaled with Faith gathered.

How could Ryu possibly be able to suppress them so much already?!

What the Fading Star Sect hadn't calculated was the result of their meddling in addition to Ryu's own odd way of doing things.

The gathering of Faith shouldn't start until after a Throne was claimed, so technically speaking, even if Ryu awed the Seventh Heaven, it shouldn't count.

Unfortunately, the rules were twisted by the Fading Star Sect as they made efforts to ensure that Ryu would die, resulting in things starting much earlier.

Then there was the fact that Ryu had never really considered himself a disciple of the Radiant Star Sect. He moved about the world with a highly independent mind state and much of the Faith he gathered was still concentrated on him.

The result was as such... but there was a third variable that Ryu would only find out about later and that the Fading Star Sect couldn't have possibly prepared for.

In the last few days, a commotion had broken out on the Ninth Heaven as an unfamiliar Dao God, unaffiliated with any powers, descended on the realm of the Martial Gods.

Her might was near unparalleled and she strolled into their grounds without a care for the face of the Clan. Then she announced something quite simple...

She had taken in a disciple. Not only had she taken in a disciple, but she personally disallowed all those above the Omniscient Sky God Realm from taking action against him.

After saying her piece, she turned and left without a word. It was clear only after she left that she didn't target the Martial Gods for any particular reason, but only that she had heard that they were the strongest of the Ninth Heaven. So long as she made herself clear here, then everyone would find out soon enough...

That her disciple's name was Ryu Tatsuya.