Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

The fact Samson had waited to ask this question last told Old Wan all he needed to do about the kind of weight he put behind it. That being... None at all. First he had attacked with emotion, then with the founders, and then with Aika, before only finally mentioning what should have been the greatest threat to them, the seemingly overprotective Half-Step Dao God. For someone like Old Wan, that was all he needed to hear.

"I think you already know the answer to that."

"Do I?" Samson replied. "Enlighten me."

"It's clear the man is cut from the same cloth as his grandson. I know a man trying to sever Karma when I see one, and you do too. Maybe by now he's a Dao God, maybe not. Either way, it doesn't matter."

He hadn't been certain until he saw Primus trying to stop Ryu from entering the Complete Heavenly Path. With how deep his comprehension of Karma and how good his deduction skills were, that was enough to take a speculation to a certainty.

Half-Step Dao Gods didn't just follow around Dao Pedestal Realm expert no matter how "over protective" they were. Someone who had lived that long and a Dao Heart far more sturdy than that, it was hard for them to even feel familial love in the same ways.

Most of the truest Dao Companions to ever exist had gotten together at a very young age. Those that came together while deep into their cultivation years weren't nearly as tied to one another and often didn't even use the title of Dao Companion at all. Instead, they preferred the more layman titles of husband and wife, and some didn't even use that.

It was a fact of life that no cultivators could escape and it was exceptionally rare to break free of that mold.

Whenever higher level cultivators showed rage toward the treatment of their youths, it rarely had to do with love at all and was almost entirely reliant on one, their face, and two, their Karma.

The only reason Old Wan didn't dismiss it outright was because Ryu had come from a Middle World. There was a small chance that things could work differently over there. But that was all thrown out the window the instant he saw that scene.

If there was anything that struck fear in him at all, it was the fact that Ryu had somehow managed to wiggle out of Primus' grasp. As for the rest of it, he didn't even consider the matter.

"And that's your reply? That's it. A young genius who's done nothing but help us, snuffed out just like that. And for what? Because you were scared of the future?"

Back to emotion, it seemed. Old Wan wanted to sigh, but he knew that if he didn't handle it well it would only cause a fissure that couldn't be mended. This wasn't the time for witty remarks.

"Samson, my only loyalties are to you, Aika and the Sect. I wanted to do things the right way, but Aika was too impatient. I'm the one who found the boy, did you forget that? I've known how much talent he's had in him longer than all of you, I know things about him that I haven't even told that two of you about yet purely for the sake of protecting him and his secrets.

"However, this is ultimately the world of cultivation. Geniuses die. I understand the irony of saying that when he did so by my hand, a senior who was supposed to protect him, but it was either him or the entire Sect. By then, it wouldn't just be one genius dying. You wanting him to live would be akin to cosigning thousands of others to death.

"Do you think you would have seen what I did if I didn't want you to see? Those other three certainly saw nothing, so why were you the only one to react? I did so because I trusted you."

Samson fell into silence, the struggle on his face clear. However, he didn't get the chance to work through it.

A dull bang came from the distance and Aika landed, her hair a bit messy while there was a scowl on her face.

"That bastard is really slippery," she cursed, "he actually managed to slip away. Where's Little Ryu? I need to give him a big kiss and a nice spanking."

Aika wiped her forehead then looked up, only now really observing what was going on and feeling that something was amiss.

"What's wrong? Where is he?"

It wasn't long before a howl of grief echoed across the Seventh Heaven. It was the kind of rage that made blood curdle.

Eska heard the howl of grief, and soon she learned of what happened as well. Aika broke the news to her with tears streaking down her face, apologizing again and again.

Eska had never seen a Sky God break down so thoroughly, let alone a Dao Sovereign, but she could only stand there and take it, her face filled with gloom.

It wasn't until a long while later that she could return, taking it upon herself to pass the news to Selheira.

She entered the cave and her gloom was matched with a frown. She could sense that Ryu's state was terrible right now, and she could even feel a dense coldness from him that was without a doubt murderous intent, but he was very much not dead... at least not yet.

"Selheira," Eska shook the slumbering Dragon beauty awake.

"Hm?" Selheira's eyes slowly opened and she released a yawn that sounded more like a grumbling roar. It shook the immortal abode before settling down. "What is it?"

Eska explained the situation.

"You want me to pretend as though Husband is dead?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Eska looked at Selheira instead of answering. Then, said something that almost made the Dragoness enraged.

"Will you listen to me or not?"

Her words came with a majesty of a woman who had lived for trillions of years. She even looked like she might directly kill Selheira if the latter responded the wrong way.

Selheira managed to rein in her temper, realizing that she was asking the wrong questions.

"What happened to Husband?"

"I don't know yet, but I don't like it."