Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

[Author's Note: Mistake from last chapter, Ryu used silver petals, not golden]

Okie watched on speechlessly as Ryu walked away. There were too many surprising things that had happened in just the last several seconds. Whether it was Aberardus entering Breath of Earth, to Ryu entering One with Self, to the appearance of those Spirit Seeking Lilies… 

Okie felt as though he had entered some sort of dream or fantasy land. With his breadth of knowledge, how could he not recognize Spirit Seeking Lilies? However, just how rare were they? 

If Okie knew that Ryu practically had an endless supply of Gold and Silver Vein Spirit Seeking Lilies, who knew how he would react? 

With the incubation of an Origin Grade treasure and the liquid Spiritual Qi treasure that the Zu Clan had left behind, the Spirit Seeking Lilies thrived under Ailsa's care. Every few months, there would be another batch. 

The only unfortunate part was that the liquid Spiritual Qi was slowly, but surely, running out. At this pace, it would only last a few more years. But, by now, it had already done its job and then some. Ryu had already used the Gold Veined Spirit Seeking Lilies to raise his soul to infallible perfection, and he had more than enough Silver Veined Spirit Seeking Lilies for a lifetime. In fact, with the pace his Mysterious of Heaven and Earth Pupils were improving at, very soon, Ryu might not need to use them at all. 

Even then, what Okie was the most shocked about was Ryu's casual attitude toward being snapped out of a One with Self state. Anyone else would have been distraught, in fact to many, such a thing would be enough for the collapse of their Dao and the assurance that they'd never improve a single step in all their lives. Yet, Ryu didn't seem to care… 

It was as though… He could enter such a state whenever he wanted? 

Okie shook his head. What a ridiculous notion. 

In the end, he turned his attention back to the blueprint hovering before him. Whether or not Ryu managed to get that lass Wynhorn's help, he had already decided to work on and finish this forging by himself, even if he had to substitute with other materials. This blueprint was a great help to his Dao, it was no longer about Ryu to him any longer… 

…

The main Armament Guild City felt as large as a world. It was easy to forget this when he was being shuttled around by a World Sea Realm expert, but just travelling from one end of the city to the next would take Ryu several weeks even at his full speed. 

Of course, things weren't this inconvenient. Everything in this place was connected and there were also countless teleportation platforms to use. 

Usually, only those a certain status was allowed into this place, but Aberardus had pretty much bypassed all of these rules to allow Ryu in. Now, Ryu was essentially a rogue within the city, but Ryu was obviously not the type of person to be pressured by rules and convention. Not to mention the likelihood of getting caught was low, even if it was certain that he would be, Ryu would still remain unmoved. 

Lingering thoughts swam about Ryu's head as he continued to think of the meaning of the Severing Blade. 

In truth, that state he had entered previously was the first time in his life that he had entered a Meditation State without relying on his Heavenly Pupils to open the door for him, or in other words, using the [Focus] ability of his Mysteries of Heaven and Earth Pupils. 

It had been an interesting feeling to suddenly fall into such a state, but that was all. It felt no different from when Ryu used [Focus] normally, so he didn't feel any particular attachment to the state. He had chosen to fall out of it because he didn't want to accidentally interrupt Aberardus, it was all the same to him regardless. 

After using a few teleportation platforms, Ryu entered the swordsman faction of the main city. He remembered this place quite well. On his trip with his father, they had also stopped by this place to buy a whetstone for his mother. 

Himari Tatsuya, Ryu's mother, had always been an expert swordswoman. In fact, she followed a rare and difficult path even among them as she was a dual wielder. Though the path she chose was both rare and difficult, it was also among the strongest sword paths to take as it allowed one to simultaneously practice two separate sword Daos. 

'Two separate…'

Those words seemed to resonate with Ryu, his slow steps entering an odd rhythm. 

Whether by coincidence or not, it felt like all those who came across Ryu's path split without him having to say or do anything. If anyone was observing this matter, they would have been shocked to an extreme. The swords faction was filled to the brim with arrogant men and women, each with their necks high strung and their noses pointed to the sky. The idea of them willing stepping out of the path of anyone like this was enough to shock one into silence. 

Yet, Ryu didn't seem to be doing this on purpose. He simply chose a straight path and others deviated from it. There wasn't the slightest hint of qi or coercion. With light steps, he continued to walk aimlessly throughout the swords faction. 

One would have thought that with two Daos, Ryu's mother would have chosen a path of balance. Maybe one hand would be tasked with offense and the other would be an absolute defense. In fact, this made perfect sense. After all, Himari had mastery over an absolute defensive Element in Ice and an absolute offense Element in lightning. 

If she had chosen such a path, she would have been a force to be reckoned with. 

But, funnily enough, Ryu's mother chose two offensive paths and had still become undefeatable within the Cosmic Seed Realm with maybe the exception of Ryu's own father. 

Ryu's smile bloomed as he remembered something his mother had said to him. 

She held up her two blades to him when he asked what the difference between her swords was. With a brilliant smile that could light up a world, she said:

"This sword kills fast. But, this sword kills faster."