Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

"You're going to the Ninth Heaven?" Selheira asked with a frown.

Clearly, she didn't like this idea very much. It also didn't help that her Crystal Dragon Clan had been banished to the Eighth Heaven, so she herself wasn't even allowed to step onto that Plane of Existence. In fact, technically speaking, no one outside of the Ninth Heaven was allowed to step onto it.

On the Eighth Heaven, the likes of the Chaotic Space Dao Sovereign could already sense Ryu just by having the faintest Line of Faith between them. On the Ninth Heaven, one could easily imagine that the situation would be far worse.

Taking a step back, for most people, just stepping onto the Ninth Heaven was a death sentence, not because of attacks from others, but purely because of the environment.

The Ninth Heaven was a region of absolute perfection. It was the place where qi was the most complete and the Dao could be felt the most strongly. In such an area, when someone weak of body and weak of mind stepped foot into it, death would be the only path.

There was a long time where Ryu's talent was weak to the point that just stepping onto the Ninth Heaven would have flattened him like a pancake.

It wasn't a matter of strength, there were even mortals on the Ninth Heaven. It was a matter of oneness with the Heavens and aligning with it, resonating with it.

Of course, even these mortals born on the Ninth Heaven were of greatly exaggerated strength. Many of them, without ever sensing qi in their lives, could crush cultivators from the lower Heavens. Of course, these would be weaker cultivators, but it would be a shocking feat nonetheless.

Ryu didn't find this fact too surprising, though. As a six year old, before his Awakening Realm ceremony, there were many Awakening Realm experts who couldn't hold a candle to him, and that was by a standard of the Shrine Plane.

Of course, that was a different situation. After all, he had been trained by his father ever since he could walk, which was quite an early day considering his Bone Structure and the balancing abilities it gave him.

But the point still stood.

Now, to Selheira, Ryu's will to step onto the Ninth Heaven was asinine.

"Mm," Ryu nodded, "it would be a ridiculous choice under normal circumstances. But I've been paying attention to my Fate recently and it's spiked wildly."

"Isn't that because of..." Selheira's voice trailed off.

"I don't think so. It's on a scale that's much larger. Watch-"

Ryu raised his head to the skies. "I am Ryu Tatsuya."

BOOM!

The Eighth Heaven skies seemed to be split in two and a grin spread across Ryu's face.

"Looks like a master is useful for something after all."

Ryu had been wondering what his "gift" would be, but it seemed like that was it.

It seemed stingy for this to be the gift from a Dao God, but honestly Ryu didn't believe it to be so. For the change to be so drastic, it could only mean that Fading Star really put her neck on the line, probably forcing some ultimatums that made her far more enemies than friends, and the kind of enemies you could make on the Ninth Heaven weren't the kind of enemies most people would want to make.

Even without being there, Ryu had a pretty good idea of what happened. And honestly... he couldn't say that he hated it. At the very least, his impression of Fading Star had deepened in a positive way.

There was probably no other gift that Fading Star could have given Ryu other than saving Ailsa and Yaana that would have been as good as this one. At the very least, she seemed to understand her disciple quite well.

Tangible gifts meant nothing to Ryu. Quite frankly, he had gathered more treasures now than most weaker Dao Gods could even match up to. However, this was different, because it was a subtle hint that Fading Star was willing to put herself on the line if it meant standing by his side.

That was worth far more than any gift.

Now, he just needed a method to go to the Ninth Heaven. That was far easier said than done...

The only method he had was the Nine Pillar Flame Sect's inheritance, and though there was a chance he could find it again, even if he did it would teleport him right to the bottom of that vast ocean. There was no other path than death down there.

While he could survive while in Infinity Mist, that was just due to its unique properties.

If he went high enough, he'd meet a block of ice millions of kilometers thick. He wouldn't even get to start drilling through it before the cold killed him.

Even if by some miracle he made it through and survived the cold, the pressure above that block of ice was so great that opening the void was a pipe dream, he would be crushed instantly.

None of that even mentioned the creatures. While there were no creatures that called the Infinity Mist home... at least not from what he knew, that wasn't the same for the ocean itself.

All in all, trying that route was a bad idea.

'I'll have to find a way to take advantage of this disruption in space, maybe? I don't know if I have the skill to draw a formation capable of crossing that barrier, especially since there are definitely protections... maybe there's another gateway?'

Selheira hesitated. "Husband, maybe..."

"Hm?" Ryu looked over at Selheira.

"If it's for you... we can return to my Crystal Dragon Clan. I'm sure that they have a method of returning to the Ninth Heaven despite the banishment..."

"Oh?" Ryu raised an eyebrow.

Honestly, he didn't have a very good streak going with parents in law, but since Selheira had mentioned this, it must mean that it wasn't impossible.