Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu let the thought sit for a moment. 

According to Guiot, his father had died. His mother was a mortal without cultivation, yet she had lived for hundreds of years. And his sister, after leaving a state of malnourishment, became a talent great enough to replace the Inheritor Disciple of the Awoken Moon Sect. On top of that, according to Ailsa, Guiot himself was born with a Spear Soul Nature, allowing his talent in the spear to even surpass Ryu's own, at least if the abilities of the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth Pupils weren't taken into account. 

All of this for a small family with seemingly nothing special about them was a bit much. However, if they were the descendants of Martial Gods, this could make sense. 

Who was to say that in the 900 million years the Martial Gods had been on the Shrine Plane that they never once had relations and formed families they later abandoned? This didn't necessarily mean that Guiot's father was alive as opposed to dead like he thought, after all, it seemed that the special one in this case was Guiot's mother and not his late father. 

If Ryu was correct, Guiot's mother definitely had Heaven's Dew Vital Qi in her body. If this was the case, it would explain her great lifespan despite having never cultivated a single day in her life before. 

This didn't have to mean that she was even aware of her lineage. 900 million years was a not too long but not too short time to many high level cultivators. However, to mortals, and even lower ranked Immortals, it constituted hundreds of generations. 

Who knew if Guiot's mother just had a very dilute portion of Heaven's Dew Vital Qi that originated from a long lost Ancestor she had never even heard about, let alone met? This was all very possible. 

As for whether Ryu would have a use for such a thing…? He wasn't sure of that. 

He hadn't met Guiot in a while. He had left him to train within the tower and improve himself. There was no telling if Guiot was even still alive at this point or not. 

Ryu had never had much intention in taking care of Guiot to begin with. At most, he had agreed to bring him to the Moon World since he insisted. It was never anything more than this. At that time, forming relationships was never on Ryu's mind. And even now, if he were to form such a thing, it would have to be with someone on his level, or else he would simply be dragging others into danger. 

Still, there was one thing Ryu needed to confirm. 

Guiot's mother seemed to exhibit the talent of Heaven's Dew. Guiot himself seemed to exhibit talent of Nourishing Soul. And now that Ryu thought about it, the little sister of the family exhibited talent of Silver Touch. 

In that case… 

"What decides which Vital Qi you are born with? Is it random?"

Eska, who had been about to continue to explain, blinked. 

"… Yes, it is random. This is why despite having such vastly different goals, the Martial Gods still see each other as one unit. Having a parent with a Berserk bloodline doesn't mean that you will necessarily be born with one. 

"But, according to Martial God culture, your loyalty will always be first and foremost to your branch and to your family second. Isemeine was actually born from two Silver Touch branch parents. Due to the fact she is still quite low on the hierarchy of Martial Gods, she can still take up missions handed down to her by her parents. But, after entering the Dao Pedestal Realm, she will be expected to leave most of those ties behind."

Ryu nodded. This was what he had expected. In that case, it made perfect sense. 

"And the Martial God's policy on marrying outside of their Clan?"

"The Martial Gods are unique in that their power stems not really from their blood, but rather the Vital Qi is carries, which mean…"

"It can be trained." Ryu finished. 

"Exactly. Whereas another Clan would weaken with a thin bloodline, a Martial God can always make up this gap by training harder. As long as they have the ability to produce this Vital Qi, they can always increase it."

"Is there no limit?"

Ryu's own Bloodlines, for example, had a limit. His Phoenix Bloodlines carried much less strength than his Dragon or Qilin Bloodlines. But, if what Eska says was true then that means that there was either no such limit for a Martial God. Or…

"There is a limit, but it is the same regardless of the amount of blood you have. The only difference is the time it will take you to accumulate that amount. Those with thicker Bloodlines will need less time than those with thinner. 

"This is why the Martial God culture emphasizes strength and competition. It also encourages marrying outside because the offspring produced by such unions are greatly beneficial to their futures. 

"The Martial God Bloodline has high activity rates so the number of mutations it can undergo is quite a lot. In addition to this, those born with Martial God Blood are often promiscuous and quite liberal with sex, even women."

Eska looked toward Ryu when she said this, but he was still playing with Little Gem, a light smile on his face. He didn't seem moved by her words at all. 

Eska didn't continue to press. It could be said that the only reason Isemeine was still a virgin was due to her cocky abrasiveness. The men on her level were too weak to defeat her, and the men above her only drove her competitive spirit. Unless one was a talent who could suppress her at her age, she wouldn't even look your way. 

Ironically, she lost her virginity to a man she might have picked on her own anyway, and yet he very clearly didn't want her. Not once had Ryu asked about Isemeine's wellbeing despite being fully aware that by now, she was likely conscious of what was happening. 

Eska had taken advantage of Isemeine's absent state of mind to take over her body easily, but she hadn't killed Isemeine. She needed Isemeine alive for her technique to continue working and also needed the latter's soul to be in healthy condition. 

It could be said that Isemeine had likely woken up long ago and could only be a third party observer as her body was made use of like a vehicle. 

Even for her, she had gotten tired of being mad already. Well, she had gotten tired after about the second day of Ryu's assault on her body—which still felt like her body despite the fact it looked like Eska's. 

"So the Martial Gods are a Clan built for war and constant improvement." Ryu responded. "I understand."

Eska nodded. 

"We can turn our focus back to their focuses.

"As I said before, the Berserk branch is entirely focused on the Shrines. They seem to be looking for a secret, but haven't quite been able to find it. According to Isemeine's memories, the Shrine Plane is mostly sealed off by an enormous Ice Barrier they haven't been able to break down. 

"From what I can gather from Isemeine's memories, this was the result of a large sacrifice made by a woman called Himari Tatsuya."

Ryu's hand slowed a measure when he heard his mother's name being spoken for the first time in what felt like several lifetimes. He probably should have spun into a rage hearing that word sacrifice, but his silver eyes only became a slight shade darker, his chewing becoming a bit more deliberate. 

Eska took a pause before continuing. 

"It has been a culmination of hundreds of millions of years but there is word that the Martial Gods may be getting close to finally breaking the Seal and accomplishing the original goal they set out for."

Ryu nodded. 

"The Silver Touch branch has split their own way and is greatly interested in matters related to the Nether Realm, but this is only just the half of it. Along with this, they have made many moves on the Ethereal Plane and have seemingly attempted to form many ties, especially with the Faeries."

Ryu's movements slowed once again, his eyes narrowing. 

"As I told you before, Isemeine's parents are both Silver Touch Martial Gods, so the information she has in this area is even more than what she might have for the Berserk branch. 

"From her understanding, everything had been going well on this front for many years already and the Silver Touch Martial Gods and the Faeries were beginning to integrate with one another more and more. 

"Apparently, the synergy caused by Half Faeries was especially pleasing, so the Silver Touch Faeries wanted more. 

"900 million years ago, there was a marriage contract decided between a Silver Touch King and the Cultus Faerie King. It was meant to be between Princess Ailsa Cultus and youthful talent of the Silver Touch branch, Galkos.

"Having recently entered the World Sea Realm, it seems that Galkos wants to celebrate with a marriage ceremony."