Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

1266 Boundless

Ryu didn't know how long the comfortable feeling lasted for. In an irony of all ironies, he completely lost track of time, or maybe it was that it had become almost meaningless to him. After he had seen through the final layer of distortion casting a veil over the world, it felt like time and space had just become yet another variable no more complex than any other facet of the world.

Most believe time and space were the most complex of the elements, but Ryu couldn't bring himself to feel that way. In fact, he even felt that it was the simplest of them all, the most straight forward, the most fundamental.

How could they not be? They were the only two that one would always feel no matter where you were, no matter what you were doing, no matter what your goals or aspirations were, no matter what your station in life might be.

Maybe that was why, of all that qi in the world, it was time and space that cultivators would naturally gain some control of as they grew more and more powerful. Transcended Sky Gods could break through the void even if they had no talent for space to speak of. Dao Gods could peer through time, even gaining a recollection of events that had occurred in a certain location so long as it was within a certain limit and the parties were within a certain level of strength...

Neither of these abilities necessitated affinity, and maybe that was by design.

It was akin to a familiar concept, one so benign and uninteresting that you believed that you had already seen through it completely, and it was it was also precisely because of this that it was so difficult to step outside of the box, to see what others had not seen, to grasp what was right before you all along.

This was a method of viewing time and space that maybe no one else in history had grasped. To call the two most enigmatic elements simple and easy to understand wasn't something even the most arrogant of cultivators would do, even if said individuals had some of the strongest affinities for the two known to man.

However, the further along Ryu's body's reconstruction went, the more firm in these ideals he became and smoother his qi seemed to flow. By the end of it, he was so relaxed and assured in himself that even a light smile seemed to appear on his face, his mind peaceful and unhurried.

The blinding light came to a slow stop and Ryu opened his eyes.

Within them, an unfathomable depth hid. His silver irises seemed just a hint brighter than normal, but the depths of his pupils seemed to have become as deep as an endless abyss. It felt as though his gaze held the entirety of the starry skies within them, the vastness of time and space spreading out like an illusory net.

Ryu's hair sparkled with an added sheen. It no longer seemed to be just white as it gave off a faint holy light. Every time it swayed, small motes of light would drift into the air like fireflies, vanishing mere meters away and yet lingering in the psyches of those that saw it.

His features had become more refined and otherworldly. Faint lines of imperfection that had been nigh undetectable before seemed to have entirely disappeared. However, it was his temperament that had undergone the largest change.

Ryu was always someone who carried an air of indifference and coldness. His more majesty-filled demeanor wouldn't appear unless something triggered it, as was the case for his more maddened and rage-filled side. However, at the moment, his coldness had been replaced by something else. No, it was more accurate to say that it had fused with something else, as though he had merged with the vicissitudes of life and the unfathomable breadth of space.

Observing him felt like staring into the cold endlessness of space. That feel of insignificance whether through the span of space or time.

A person wasn't even a single speck in front of the breadth of existence... A Dao God's lifespan was nothing significant before the breadth of history...

Small. Insignificant. Meaningless.

For those that were weaker of heart, just observing the current Ryu for too long might shatter your Dao Heart.

When Ryu moved, he felt like his limbs were wading through water. It wasn't That he felt heavy, but that he was brushing up against the lines of reality. It was a completely novel feeling and one that was difficult to describe in any other way.

He had reached a point where his ability to see spacetime had gone beyond just that. He could reach out and touch it, he could feel it. Every slight distortion, every tweak, every crevice. It felt as though he could just reach out and twist them as he pleased, manipulating them to his will.

Ryu finally looked into his body and what he saw left him a bit stunned.

His bones were entirely translucent. It looked as though he had carved them of the finest crystal, but they still weren't perfectly clear. An odd dark fog moved about within them. This fog would twinkle from time to time as though it had bright and shining light to show the world that this fog wouldn't allow it to.

As Ryu observed it, he couldn't help but think of one matter...

Didn't this look a lot how those ancient books referenced the start of the universe? A wild mass of heated energy, shooting in all directions with a great acceleration. Over time, this mass of fog would begin to slow and cool down, forming the stars and planets and they knew it today.

Every time Ryu moved, so too did this fog, a blazing energy shooting forth and filling his limbs with an endless strength.

It seemed both delicate and not, both oppressive and harmless. At the same time, it carried a near endless amount of mysteries that hurt Ryu's head when he tried to fathom their depths..

... Boundless Cosmos Bone Structure..."

Ryu seemed to hear and repeat its name....