Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

The world fell into silence.

Mordecai, Kirvag, and Jurkaa felt as though they were First Heaven natives stepping onto the Ninth Heaven for the first time, their inner organs were devastated, and their bones were crushed.

The world watched in horror as they first lost a layer of skin, then another, until they were left with nothing more than muscle fibers, and then even they began to lose their own layers.

They were stripped down to their very souls, losing their eyes, their flesh, and soon even layers of their bones began to be peeled away piece by piece, step by step.

It was the worst and most horrible pain they could have imagined.

And yet, with a flick of Ryu's wrist, it vanished.

When their senses came back, they lay in a crater, soaked in their own piss and sweat. They shook, the fear being seared into their very minds.

"Do you know why I didn't kill them?" Ryu smiled, looking at Elena.

Elena's mouth opened and closed, not sure what to say.

Anyone else would feel that the reason Ryu didn't kill them was because he didn't want to shed all cordiality with the Martial Gods, but if that was what he was worried about, why didn't he spare Elder Vermo?

Ryu chuckled. "If I wanted, whether it be in body or soul, they would have been wiped out to the last degree possible. The reason I didn't go so far was because only they experienced that feeling just now, only they would be able to describe it, and while I can patiently explain something to my wife, I have no desire to do so for those unrelated to me."

Elena blushed and rolled her eyes. This wasn't the situation for him to be flirting with her. When had her hubby become so bad in this regard?

Even so, she found it both cute and amusing. Remembering how much effort Ryu put into trying to make her happy again when she had been upset with him... her heart softened considerably.

For a long while, it had felt like their relationship was one-sided, but it could be said that ever since she snuck into his room that night, the dynamic had changed. He had become fiercely protective of her, he was always considerate of her feelings, and even if it meant him suffering in some small way, he was always willing to put her first.

When he was weak and couldn't cultivate, it was much harder to pick up on that tendency... but now that he had the strength to overturn the skies, it was impossibly clear to her.

Even when she was unruly, even when she was being unreasonable, he was willing to be patient with her... even when he could be bothered to give even the strongest existences of the real world the same courtesy.

"When they manage to pull themselves out of that rubble, their lives will never be the same. Others will ask them what happened here today, and they will feel too much fear to explain.

"They will be pressed, and the answer will eventually fly from their mouths, and the ultimate result will be that my name will ring through the Nine Heavens.

"Even now, they send trash like this after me. They think themselves to be above me, that their movement is unnecessary.

"But very soon, they won't be able to be so complacent."

Ryu swept his wife's waist into his arm and took a step, laughing as he strolled toward the distance without a care in the world.

He gave a casual glance back at a particular location, his gaze locking with that of a Dao Lord who thought they had hidden themselves well.

A sneer quirked his lip as continued into the distance, his destination very clearly the outside of Martial God territory.

If they wanted to come, they were free to come.

Were they under the impression that he feared them?

...

"Where are we going?" Elena finally asked. The smile on her face had yet to fade away, but this time her curiosity got the best of her and she couldn't quite help it.

"The Martial God Clan is boring," Ryu said with a chuckle.

The couple had spent the last several days strolling through the wilderness. It was a place that should have been filled with danger, but because of Ryu's eyes and his abilities, even if they met a Lord Beast, avoiding them ahead of time and steering clear wasn't difficult at all.

Elena laughed. "Hubby, what are you talking about?"

"I got the feeling that they wouldn't send anyone of interest, and staying there would only stifle my growth. So I thought that we should go to the Nether Plane, but first I wanted to take a look at something. Unless you wanted to stay with the Martial Gods? I can send you back."

Elena blinked and then was lost in her thoughts for a moment.

"... I think I should go back," she eventually said. "But first, tell me why you feel that way? And also, why the Nether Plane?"

"The Martial Gods are hiding themselves. For what purpose, I do not know. At first, I thought it was just the upper management that felt that way, but after today, I'm fairly certain that they're hiding the best of their younger generation as well and I have no idea why.

"If this wasn't the case, they wouldn't have sent that trash after me."

Elena laughed. "Hubby, Kirvag and Jurkaa aren't trash. They're better than most of the Hegemony Tier of this generation. Although they only have High Tier Bloodlines."

Ryu shook his head. "That might be so, but they aren't true geniuses. For one, their Dao Hearts are weak. Second, their Daos are only at the Lower Ancient level."

Elena scoffed, feeling offended. "Are you insulting me?"

Her Dao was also at the Lower Ancient level.

Ryu smiled and gave his wife a peck on the cheek before running away.

"Hey! You get back here!"