Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

The Southern Heavenly Wind circulated every time Ryu took a breath, but the wounds in his body didn't seem to want to heal no matter what he did. It was like a permanent mark on his body, but Ryu was hardly worried about this. With where he would be going, this state wouldn't last very long.

Ailsa remained silent and didn't respond to Ryu. Once the stars were about to fade completely, she entered her small form once again, finding her place on Ryu's shoulder. 

When the World Sea Realm experts broke free from their shackles, King Cultus had already appeared to Ryu's side, a palm landing on his shoulder. 

Rather than gazing toward his father-in-law, Ryu gazed at the hand on him. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with any bullshit at the moment because he felt like there was a growing tumor in the pit of his stomach. This faux concern from his supposed father-in-law which was really just a control tactic wasn't among the things he had patience for right now. 

Seeing Ryu's cold and indifferent glance toward his hand, King Cultus was inwardly infuriated. He felt that Ryu truly thought too highly of himself. It was like his hand was that of a peasant's and Ryu couldn't stand his touch for even a moment. But, thinking of his daughter and her safety, he had no choice but to swallow his grievances and force his rage down. 

At a moment like this, he wished his wife had come instead of him. But, Ailsa's mother was sickly and hated such events to begin with, so she wasn't here to rein this brat in. 

King Ficia appeared before Ryu along with King Quibus. The former looked Ryu up and down, a deep frown on his face. 

"He's injured." King Ficia said. 

King Cultus snorted. "Let him stay injured. He still has the energy to make faces so I'm sure he can last a few days."

King Ficia's frown only deepened. He understood King Cultus wasn't exactly in the cheeriest of moods right now, but he should understand that for the King of the Ficia Faeries to speak about the injuries of a junior, they obviously weren't normal injuries. In fact, by King Ficia's expertise, Ryu shouldn't even be conscious right now, let alone standing. 

To Ryu, that touch from King Cultus should have felt like someone had suddenly stabbed him with hundreds of long needles, each of which happened to be serrated. If he was Ryu, let alone a small glare, he might look like he wanted to bite his father-in-law's head off. 

However, to make matters worse, this was just the tip of the iceberg. The level of energy swirling about these wounds was unlike anything King Ficia had ever seen before, at least not in a person with such weak cultivation. The more King Ficia analyzed, the more he felt that Ryu should be dead. 

It had to be remembered that there were multiple factors when it came to assessing the degree of severity an injury had reached. The first was the level of damage, the second was what was damaged, and the last and maybe most important was the quality of attack that caused said damage. This final third point superseded the first two by a large margin. 

The higher quality the energy applied to a resulting injury, the more disastrous the consequences. Ryu's current state was like a Sky God had been infuriated by him and chose to slice apart his body in the most painful way imaginable and stop just before killing him. 

If Ryu was to try and heal naturally from such an injury… It would take billions of years, and that was a conservative estimate. He might not even live so long because cultivating with such injuries was nothing short of a nightmare. 

Knowing all of this, it was no wonder that King Ficia was so stunned. 

Had Ryu been battling like this the whole time? No, that was impossible. So who could have possibly caused this injury?!

"Let's go." King Cultus said, preparing to take Ryu away. 

"King Cultus."

At this moment, it wasn't just King Adonis who had a terrible expression, but most of the World Sea Realm experts of the Martial Gods had followed suit. They all realized that trillions of years of meticulous planning had just been unwound by a single boy, how could they possibly allow him to leave so freely?

"Do you really think that we can allow you to leave here like this?!" King Adonis' voice boomed. 

The wave of pressure soared over, rocketing toward the three Kings. 

There wasn't a soul he wasn't aware that the combat prowess of those in the Ficia, Cultus and Quibus Clans were lacking. Although there were certain members within their Clans that took combat seriously, when it came to those who followed the Core Texts of the Clans and could become Kings, they were ironically among the weakest. 

However, at that moment, something no one could have thought of occurred. 

Ryu's gaze began to glow, a fierce momentum leaving his body. In that moment, a surge of darkness took hold of the skies and directly shattered King Adonis' aura.

The World Sea Realm experts were suddenly appalled. It felt like another Heaven's Punishment could fall at any moment. The feeling seemed to be just the same. 

"You've been pissing me off ever since I stepped foot into this place. I don't have as much patience as others…

"Do you believe that I can kill you right now with a single glance?"

King Adonis was suddenly shaken to his core, his skin paling to an extreme and a cold sweat riding down his spine. Every cell in his body screamed danger. If Ryu did what he was going to do, whatever it was, King Adonis, at that moment, had no doubt that he truly would die. 

Silence reigned, the only light for several dozens of kilometers being the radiance of Ryu's pupils. 

"As expected of a Martial God. You're all cowards." Ryu spoke with a biting cold. "Let's go."

King Cultus reacted on instinct to Ryu's words, suddenly vanishing. 

One after another, the Faeries followed suit, leaving the Martial Gods in a state of frozen shock. 

Had… Had that just happened…?

But they had all felt it… They didn't know what trump card Ryu had, but if any one of them stepped forward… They would have died… 

On the ground, silently gazing up into the space where Ryu had just been, Elena stood in silence. From start to finish, ever since Ryu had appeared before her and stopped her movements, she hadn't moved a single step. And yet, not an ounce of harm had come to her. 

When he finally vanished, she turned and began to walk away, ignoring the brewing storm. 

'This is the man you've always wanted to be, to have strength of your own and to climb that mountain peak under your own power. You never understood that I never cared if you had such things. Unfortunately, you can't live with yourself without it. 

'I think we both know well that when it comes to that mountain peak and me, you'd choose the mountain peak every time… 

'But… That's not the man I fell in love with.'