Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu stood in absolute silence, his heart calm. He didn't know the Dragoness well, and he didn't know her husband all that well either, but as far as he was concerned, the crime of making his woman cry was enough to sign his death warrant.

He took a deep breath, not immediately exhaling.

He had learned a long while ago that his Dao would progress faster the stronger the world he was on. All the time he had spent on lower Heavens had actually slowed him down quite significantly. However, in this world, it was as though his comprehension was unleashed to the fullest extent.

Standing there, holding onto Selheira tightly so that she wouldn't run off, he drew blades across his thoughts, visualizing a future he would stand on the tallest mountain.

His Dao Heart trembled and shone.

Selheira's cries and roars filled his ears and they seemed to form their own sort of music... not in a sick, enjoyment sort of way, but rather in a sobering, rage-inducing sort of way.

This world was filled with things that could fill him with fury, so many things that could piss him off to an extreme, so many things he might be willing to discard his life for just in exchange for a small percentage chance of getting immediate revenge.

And then his mind suddenly landed on Lysander.

He could feel that the gap between Lysander and the Dragon Emperor wasn't so far apart. In fact, if Lysander was willing to go all out, it would be a battle that raged on for years before a winner was decided. This was more so a guess on Ryu's part than it was based on actual analysis, and it was mostly useless because he knew that Lysander never would...

Lysander hadn't acted because his mind was weighed down by logic, by weighting the odds. And it was likely that Pyrothos even knew that. In a sick sort of way, Pyrothos was far more flexible than even Lysander.

Considering Pyrothos' temper, he probably would have wanted to kill Veridia, but he didn't because he knew that would cross the bottom line of Lysander's calculations.

Ryu found it all so... pathetic.

A Crystal Dragon who couldn't protect his wife.

A Fire Dragon who didn't decisively kill and settled for petty revenge.

What was the point of being a Dao God if you couldn't do as you pleased?

BANG!

"Mother!" Selheira's wails phased back into Ryu's senses.

Ryu slowly opened his eyes and saw Lysander land. The injured Veridia was draped over his back, a weak smile on her face. Even in this situation, she seemed to be happy. It was unfortunate she could only look at her daughter with her Spiritual Sense and not with her own eyes.

Lysander's own gaze seemed to be a bit dim. His daughter still loved him, but the reason for the fissure in their relationship to begin with was because of his nature... and this matter would only make it worse.

Selheira leapt from Ryu's arms to her mother, dodging her father's attempt to say anything.

Veridia nuzzled against Selheira, a gentle smile on her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but the spike of pain reminded her that she couldn't. Instead, a voice as gentle as air echoed in Ryu's ears. In that moment, Ryu understood where Selheira got her enticing voice from.

"You are my daughter's husband? I can sense more than one Primordial Yin in you..."

Veridia almost immediately interrogated Ryu. She was gentle to Selheira, but even though her face was soothing, it was booming in his ears like thunder.

"Yes." Ryu nodded simply.

His mind still wasn't quite on this situation. But when he analyzed Veridia's words, his eyes narrowed. How could she tell he had more than one Primordial Yin?

His gaze focused and he looked at the beautiful Dragon. He realized that, even if he couldn't see her eyes after they had been gouged out, that was purely a guess on Veridia's part.

A rumbling roar came from Veridia. After she had confirmed her thoughts, her temper was flaring up again. Who was this little human boy to treat her daughter as just one more of his harem.

"It's okay, Veridia. You're too injured, don't stress yourself," Lysander spoke lightly.

After hearing this, Veridia actually seemed to calm down and Ryu understood something else.

It was said that Crystal Dragons were the ones who guided the Fire Dragons and helped them to rise up. The tempers of the Fire Dragons would have destroyed them soon enough, but it was the Crystal Dragons that helped them channel it toward the right matters.

Pyrothos seemed to shrug off Lysander's guidance, but Veridia wasn't the same. She was easily soothed by her husband's words. If she still had her eyes, she might have still been glaring. But at least now, she seemed to have calmed down.

"Mother, husband is a good man. Don't be mad."

Veridia snorted and went back to nuzzling her daughter.

"What do you plan to do?" Ryu asked, speaking to Lysander.

Lysander's surprise was painted all over his face. Shouldn't he be asking Ryu that question? Then, he suddenly realized what Ryu was referring to and sighed.

The large dragon shook his head. "There is nothing that can be done. There are some things in this world you simply must accept as they are. Change is slow and will take time."

Ryu clasped his hands behind his back, looking off into the distance.

Change is slow, huh? Well... when you were weak, it certainly was.

This time, Ryu chose to hold his tongue, not for the sake of Lysander or Veridia, but rather because of Selheira. Plus, he seemed to realize that his words in this situation would do nothing.

"Are you going to leave her like this?" Ryu asked.

His meaning was clear. Was he going to let his wife suffer so that he wouldn't enrage Pyrothos again... or not?