Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Radiant Star looked like he wanted to tear Ryu apart for even daring to ask a question, and yet it was already too late. He knew from the start that even if he did return to his true strength, it would have all been useless. How would he stop his wife one way or another?

At least, he couldn't do so without harming her.

Fading Star's aura surged, and Ryu felt the Lines of Fate burst apart as though they had been infused with far too much energy.

In that moment, the Laws of the Heavens had been shattered. Nothing worked properly, and even the foundation of the world themselves couldn't be brought together. There was no distinction between a Plane and the Void, and life and death were separated by the thinnest of lines until they suddenly overlapped entirely.

Fading Star blinked, feeling somewhat surprised for a moment. The scope of the question was beyond what she was expecting. She had meant to warn Ryu to keep the scope as narrow as he could, but he had already subconsciously done that. It was obvious he had a clear understanding of the Lines of Fate as well and what it would mean to ask any question.

And yet, though the question could be considered narrow enough, it was still more difficult than she imagined. She felt that maybe it was because he had asked for two people at once, but the way Ryu spoke, it seemed like they should be in the same place.

She suddenly felt a hint of annoyance for the first time. She didn't like men who had multiple wives, and she never thought that she would stumble into wanting one as a disciple. Why'd her disciple have to be so fickle? If there was one, she could finish her cool master impression without worries.

She shook her head and sighed. In the end, she chose to narrow the question even further and only focus on Ailsa. But she was left even more speechless when even that didn't seem to be enough.

Was she really going to embarrass herself like this? What was going on?

Fading Star was stubborn. Given her words about being tested, and how much they mirrored Ryu's own, this was a given. Originally, she had just planned to give up enough to leave her tired for a few days, but this time she really pushed it.

"Fading Star! What are you doing?!"

Blood began to pool out of her nose, but her gaze became firm.

She could feel the answer. It wanted her to speak out the words...

But she bit her tongue hard.

If she spoke out those words now, all of her effort would be wasted, and she would slump like a deflated balloon.

This wasn't the answer she wanted. Her disciple had asked for where so she wanted to give him a place to go.

She knew that Ryu would probably be content with that information alone. The fact he was asking meant that they were a far enough distance away that, somehow, their soul fusions weren't helping in the slightest.

However, where would she put her face if that was all she was able to say?

So she pushed, and she pushed.

The blood coming from her nose soon began to drip from her eyes, and then eventually her ears and even her mouth.

The blood was a bright red, but within it, sparkling drops of silver continued to drizzle outward along with it.

All the while, Fading Star looked right at Ryu, whose gaze had become somewhat dull.

Ryu was looking forward to the answer, but when he saw how much trouble it was causing Fading Star, even he couldn't help but frown.

It wasn't that he was such a sympathetic person. He didn't even know this woman, and quite frankly, if it meant exchanging her life for the sake of his wives, he wouldn't hesitate to do so. He knew himself well, and such moral quandaries that others would spend long spans of time laboring over wouldn't even faze him.

Well, he knew that most people would make such a choice as well; most weren't as morally righteous as they claimed to be. However, they wouldn't dare to do it so boldly, nor as guilt-free as Ryu would dare to do it.

Even so, Fading Star's display moved him.

There was obviously a price to pay for activating this technique in the first place, but she had already been willing to pay that price. After suddenly being forced to pay more, she didn't actually pull back.

Ryu could see more than she probably knew. Or maybe she did know and she had continued anyway.

He knew that she had received an answer; it was just that that answer wasn't satisfying enough to her, so she had continued to push.

For that reason alone, he found it commendable.

Even though Radiant Star looked as though he wanted to tear Ryu limb from limb, Ryu's gaze never left the beautiful founder of the Dual Radiance Sect.

BOOM. The skies shook, and from above the shattered Lines of Fate began to gather once again. The process was slow, but they pieced themselves back together bit by bit, motes of grayish light fusing into solid lines that connected to Fading Star's body step by step.

And then, the world froze.

Everything flashed and entered a state of limbo. Even the blood coming from Fading Star's body floated as though in zero gravity, forming beautiful patterns in the air, patterns that made Ryu's heart skip a beat.

He didn't know why, but in this state of nothing, the irregular and erratic movements of the blood made his heart beat wildly.

It felt like he was watching the creation of the world from its infancy... a spark of life was all it needed to reform once again.

BANG. Ryu's head snapped backward as a beam of information entered his mind, and Fading Star collapsed.

The world fell silent as time began to move once again.