Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu immediately began to draw in the air with a finger, comprehending the technique from Ailsa's memories. 

The Divine Mark was like an exceptionally layered formation fit into the form of a maze of sorts. Just trying to memorize the form of a single Divine Mark could make one's head spin. 

From what Ryu could tell, there were thousands of nodes, hundreds of layers, and it all had to be packed into the size of a palm. The amount of control it took to form one was ridiculous. But, the amount of skill it took to sustain it and stop it from shattering after just a single use in battle was even more ridiculous. 

Ryu ran into problems almost immediately. The main issue was that his lightning was no longer pure lightning. 

In order to make this Divine Mark his own, he, of course, had to use the same lightning as his Spirit Body. That way, his body would properly de and reconstruct itself. But, the problem was that Ryu's lightning was fused with power. Though this made it far more powerful, it also made it very volatile. 

At the same time, it often flickered back and forth between having fire and having lightning properties. Due to this randomness, it followed a sort of chaotic rhythm that made it nearly impossible to truly grasp what its intentions were. 

This randomness was something that Ryu could usually deal with quite well in battle, especially since it didn't normally matter what state his lightning flame would be in when he attacked. After all, whether it was lightning or fire, the offensive capability would be devastating. 

However, when Ryu was constructing his Divine Mark out of it, it immediately collapsed. Ryu didn't need to guess at why this was, it was obvious. The Divine Mark was designed to work with lightning. The appearance of a sudden fire characteristic would, of course, cause it to collapse. 

Ryu's gaze narrowed, but Ailsa only giggled. When he met her gaze and saw the mischievous light in her eyes, he realized that she had already guessed that something like this would happen. It was no wonder why she would try to goad him like that. 

If there was anyone who knew Ryu the best, it was Ailsa. For most things, as long as he put in effort, there would be few that could match him. If this prodigy of the Lightning Sprites wanted to have a chance against Ryu, the only way would be if Ryu was severely handicapped like he was now. 

'I see…' 

Ryu shook his head as Ailsa continued to giggle. This Life Partner of his was truly too mischievous. However, in the end, he still smiled. 

Defeating a so-called prodigy was too easy. Only like this would things be interesting. 

Ryu raised his finger again and started to draw in the air once more. This time, he broke the Divine Mark into its parts and began to reconstruct its Fundamental Runes. He made it about ten percent of the way through before the Divine Mark collapsed. 

'Mm, I see… I can't change that part. It's core to the Divine Mark and also what will be responsible for connecting it to the other Divine Marks once I progress onward. That part will be the most difficult to figure out.

'Lightning seems volatile but it always follows a predictable path. Lightning will follow the path of least resistance and there are certain materials that it will always choose over another. Its behavior is predictable. 

'Fire, however, is different. By design, fire not only represents the breath of life, but it also represents rebellion and innovation. Taming fire isn't simple.'

Lightning was like a rigid hierarchy. It always wanted to ground itself and it would always choose to pass through certain materials over others. There was a reason that this predictable element was chosen to be the arbiter of Judgment for the Heavens. Its ability to follow rules and dole out swift justice was unmatched. 

Fire, however, was what gave humans life and could often represent the exact opposite of all that was lightning. It had no true form and it was the spark that lit human innovation. The only way to contain fire was by cutting off its path to the sky, but doing this would also snuff out the flame completely, causing it to quickly die out. 

These were the core reasons that these two Elements were so powerful together. They represented opposite ends of the spectrum and couldn't wait to collide and implode. The result was devastating offensive output… A devastating output that was useless right now. 

But, Ryu's smile only seemed to grow brighter. 

He never thought himself to be a Formation Master, reason being he never formally trained himself in this aspect. What he had trained in, vigorously, was in deconstructing and recognizing formations. Technically, he had taught himself the more difficult of the two tasks. 

In Ryu's eyes, this Divine Mark was just a complex formation concentrated into a small form factor. With every Divine Mark you formed, the next would become more and more complicated because they were interdependent and related. 

What Ryu needed to do was two things. First he needed to adjust this formation without changing its core. It needed more degrees of freedom without losing its integrity. 

Second, he needed to find a method to make fire more predictable and easier to control. 

In just a few seconds, he had already come up with a solution for both. 

Adjusting the Divine Mark was a simple matter. Ryu didn't even consider it to be a worthy challenge. He believed he could finish the necessary calculations in just a few days. And, it would only take so long because he had to consider the redesign for each subsequent Divine Mark. 

As for controlling fire and making it more predictable, he had a solution for this as well. 

What was better at controlling fire than the Origin Flame? And, what if the abilities of the Origin Flame were layered with the core of the Ruler Realm?