Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu lowered his blade slightly and he vanished, appearing on one of the few trees remaining in the region. His expression didn't seem to be one of victory, but it wasn't one of fear either.

Right then, Ramon fell out of the air, his clothes shredded to pieces and his skin covered in dense, but thin lines of blade marks. He looked to be in a sorry state, and he was, but Ryu could also see that it was very surface level. Ramon had obviously been able to protect himself from the greatest damage, likely relying on some sort of qi shield as his body didn't seem that impressive to Ryu.

'My Dao is far more useful against actual humans than it has been against the spirits. It's no wonder..."

Ryu had gotten the feeling when this battle started that his Dao was far more effective, and now he understood why that was. Using it against real people, who had thoughts and emotions, and could be manipulated, was far easier than constructs that only knew how to battle. It was no wonder although he was certain Ramon was far more powerful than any single spirit he had battled until now, Ryu still felt that he was still in more manageable ranges in terms of what he could deal with.

Even so, Ramon was truly impressive. Ryu was certain that even if he gave up all of the Golden Protector Spirits he had, that attack just now could still kill a Golden Protector Spirit in a single strike. But Ramon's life wasn't even in danger despite the blood covering his body.

Impressive, truly impressive.

Ryu grinned.

He had learned something else. He had done it on a whim to counter Ramon, but the feeling felt good. Having a Matrix in one hand and a blade in another felt right. But at the same time, it was also a bottleneck.

In the past, this Matrix had helped him greatly, but now he felt like it was holding him back. Of course, it was still a help, but it felt like it could only amplify a small part of his strength.

This made sense. After all, he had both an Origin Flame, a complete one at that, and a Founding Dao. It was no wonder that his Matrix couldn't keep up and amplify it all.

'I wonder..."

Ryu thought to the formation he had used to replace his soul cultivation and then he thought about how Ramon clearly used a Matrix without bringing one out, and he grinned to himself. He had known it, from the very beginning, the basis upon which he had used to forge his own Mental Realm cultivation method was built off the back of the Matrix.

He had had thoughts about doing this, and he took a leap of faith, and now the person that he needed to complete it was right in front of him. If he succeeded, then he would not only no longer need a Matrix, but that feeling of a bottleneck would vanish.

His speed of thought would become faster, his Dao would be become sharper, his mind would...

Ryu allowed himself to fall out of the tree, controlling the spacetime fabric around him to accelerate the gravity and fall even faster. He just barely moved out of the way of the coming Ramon, his mind still working a step: ahead.

His Matrix rapidly calculated as he observed Ramon and then his Spiritual Sea rolled.

At that moment, a hidden formation, embedded within like spiderwebs in glass, rumbled and took shape. Ryu was instantly shrouded in Void Spiritual Qi and a dense fog wrapped around Ramon in a domain.

Ramon didn't say anything, his face an icy cold crisscross of injuries. His robes had rapidly healed under some mysterious power, but his body itself was slower too. As he moved his blood leaked, but Ryu could tell that soon enough, even this would come to a stop very soon. Ramon's healing factor wasn't bad at all.

A small snort left Ramon's lips as a barrier of qi rushed around him, blocking against the Void Spiritual Qi, but to his surprise, it failed.

'Spiritual Qi?' Ramon's eyes sharpened. 'Perfect Blackbody Soul.

He recognized Ryu's talent immediately and his pupils constricted. A Founding Dao and a Perfect Blackbody Soul? In addition to such a high attainment in Space Soul Nature? He didn't feel like he was fighting against someone from the Sixth Heaven at all.

The Void Spiritual Qi lapped against his skin, feeling like a cool breeze, and then he felt as though every inch of him was being scanned. This only lasted for a split second before his own Spiritual Qi rumbled forth, vibrating and dispersing Ryu's Spiritual Qi.

However, Ryu had already hit the ground, accelerating backward and skipping through space.

"Babye, say hello to your elder brother for me."

"You think you-"

Ramon looked around and Ryu was gone. When he looked toward the ground, his gaze flared with anger. Even during the battle, Ryu had been forming a large scale teleportation formation concealed within the layers of his attacks of space and time. He was simply on a completely different level. Ramon had simply never seen anyone beneath Sky God had such a strong Space Soul Nature, and to use it like this, so cleverly, with such layers of complexity... Even Sky Gods couldn't do that.

Even now, he didn't comprehend how right he was because he had still not picked up on Ryu's time affinity at all. It was too deeply hidden, too perfectly shrouded.

Ramon stood in place for a long time, taking deep breaths before he settled down and his smile slowly returned.

Fine. He would just have to go and check on his choice instead, then. At least this Ryu knew his limits.

He slowly unclenched his fists as the last of his blood dried and his wounds closed up completely. He would recall this, and when the time came that he no longer had to hold back, his retaliation would be had.

'If you can make it far enough for me to care, that is. Regardless, that soul is mine.'