Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu was speechless, the old man was really treating him like a kid.

He was quite tall, standing at 6'9. But, quite frankly, as someone with Fire Dragon blood in him, he should have been taller. Much of that was suppressed by his Ice Jade Crystal Body, which kept him to a more streamlined and ideal height for a cultivator. Even when he lost it and gained the Boundless Cosmos Bone Structure, the latter wasn't designed with bodily strength in mind, so it didn't have any functions to change that. His father, his grandfather before him, and even Primus were all born with the Tyrannical Emperor Bone Structure. So, even now, his father was a head taller than him. Of course, that was because he was also still in his Dragon Form. But Ryu knew that even when his old man was in his human form, he was still at least a forehead taller. So Ryu had his entire head cradled in his father's chest as though he was still a toddler.

Even so, after being speechless for a moment, he laughed and hugged his father back. He felt that only an insecure man would do anything else.

Titus grabbed Ryu's shoulders and pushed him back, looking at his face as though he wanted to get a really good look at him, even ruffling Ryu's hair. He probably had an avalanche of things to say, but Titus was quite similar to his own father in the he didn't usually express his love in words. He rather preferred actions. As for words, his son had always been far better with them.

"Those matters you spoke about... We'll have to talk about them later. As for this."

Titus looked toward the three Faeries who had snapped out of their stunned states and looked more angry now than anything else. Their plans had been completely ruined, but they also felt a pressure now from Titus that they weren't certain they could even properly handle.

It was asinine. They were Dao Sovereigns, no mere Dao Lord should be able to pressure them so much, even if they were from the Ninth Heaven or Ninth Ethereal Plane.

No, it felt like something different...

Then it clicked for them.

Why were they so obsessed with the fire treasure? It wasn't just because it was objectively valuable, but because they were Fire Elemental Faeries though they had done their best to hide it somewhat.

The suppression wasn't coming from the difference in raw strength. Rather, Titus was just personally immune to them.

Suddenly, it also made sense why he had defeated those two earlier so easily.

He hadn't used it yet, but he likely had a Spirit Body. But more importantly than that, if his earlier Phoenix Bloodline wasn't more than an illusion... then he should have the Rebirth Flame.

No, he certainly had the Rebirth Flame. How could one use the Reincarnation Talent without the Rebirth Flame? It was impossible.

And what was the strongest passive talent of the Rebirth Flame? Wasn't it complete immunity to flames?

The trouble was that this immunity was based on one's level of Flame Inheritance, and Titus had no doubt just gotten a huge boost. In fact, those lightning strikes from earlier were definitely the ascension of a Dao!

When they began to put it together, a cold sweat matted their backs.

They were Faeries. All of their strongest abilities surrounded flames and their Element of choice. This was their advantage...

But it was also their weakness.

Ryu had been very much correct. The Human Race was the only one with perfect balance. Every other special Race was skewed in one direction or another. If their Flames were useless, Faeries wouldn't have strength better than a Realm or even two beneath them.

Run.

That was the only choice they had, so they acted on it.

They flashed and disappeared, slipping back into the Ethereal Plane without any resistance whatsoever.

Ryu chuckled. That line of deduction was exactly why he had stepped out himself. Otherwise, his appearance would only cause trouble for his father. How could he face off against three Dao Sovereigns and protect him at the same time? It would never work.

"Seems they did the job for us. Faeries might be smarter than humans."

"And are you saying that because of your second wife?"

"Uh..."

Ryu looked toward his father almost as though to say: "How did you know that?"

"Your mother told me."

Ryu was even more speechless. He only met his mother after Ailsa and Yaana got trapped in his eyes, and he definitely wouldn't go out of his way to-

'Elena...'

Ryu cringed a bit. While he was undergoing his Rebirth, Elena had spent quite a lot of time with his mom. She had also been insane enough to pass along those... images to his mom to hand to him as well. That woman would really be willing to do anything. His mother never mentioned it... or did she?

"Wait, where's mother, then?"

"She went to look for her own opportunity."

"You separated already after just getting back together after so long?"

"Don't try to change the topic, Ryu."

Ryu subconsciously stood up straighter as his father looked at him. His posture was already perfect, so he practically shifted his weight to his toes almost as though he would stand on them but not quite.

"A man only has so much energy in his life. It's impossible for you to love so many women equally and fully, and it's equally impossible for them to always be alright with being neglected. I know your personality well. Your mother was aware of five women, including Elena, in the span of just a few years since your rebirth. Of those women, you probably only gave a few status. And what would you do when the neglected women have finally had enough of you? Do you think your charm is endless? It's only been a few years now, but what about in a thousand? A million? A billion?"