Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu's eyes slowly opened. He could sense that they were getting closer. Though Mae was still quite a distance away, at the very least, he felt that there was civilization closing in.

It was odd. These days, he felt more sensitive about certain things. There was no reason he should be so certain. After all, he knew far too little about the True Nether Plane to begin with. The dreary atmosphere, the thick Nether Qi, and the demons were pretty much all he was aware of. And yet, just from the shift in Fate in the air, he could tell that they were closing in on a more civilized society.

The wilderness had bundles of Fate that were more irregular and chaotic, while humanoid civilizations were more organized and almost... airtight, as though there was less room for change.

There was no doubt that the change in sensitivity came with Ryu's Heavenly Pupils as well, the two were inextricably linked. However, it was also related to his Inner World. In fact, the latter was likely the bigger piece of the pie.

During Ryu's battle with Lu'card, he activated [Lines of Fate] while his inner world was projected, and the synergistic effects were entirely beyond his expectations.

But he realized after taking a step back that he should have known.

His Inner World allowed him complete control over Fate, Faith and Karma over a designated area. Of course, there were restrictions and such, but none that were worth considering when it was layered with [Lines of Fate].

It had to be remembered that [Lines of Fate] wasn't an immediate cheat. There was a reason it was one of the first abilities awakened by Ryu's Heavenly Pupils.

It allowed Ryu to "read" the future, and even copy techniques and see through their weaknesses, but the problem was that it relied on Lines of Fate to do so.

This meant that unless Ryu had a strong tie of Fate to the person he was fighting, he had to fight them for a long and extended period of time before the true strength of [Lines of Fate] could manifest.

Someone like Lu'card was actually in a middle ground. They were both geniuses from Sacrum and both had Dragon Lineage in their blood, so honestly speaking, compared to most people Ryu fought, he was on the easier to read side.

If Ryu used [Lines of Fate] on the people of the Fading and Radiant Star Sects, it would be super effective because he was their Throne. He would be able to read them in an instant and predict their movements probably even seconds into the future without faltering.

What Ryu realized when he layered [Lines of Fate] with his Inner World, though, was that his world was showing faint signs of suppressing those weaknesses. In fact, he could already see a path to the future where if his Inner World grew strong enough to become a Tenth Heaven or anything adjacent, his [Lines of Fate] would be just as effective against any and everyone.

"Let's touch down now," Ryu suddenly said, "we'll have to approach this city on foot. I'm not sure whose territory we're in right now and I'm not exactly... unknown in this place."

Lu'card resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He was a dignified Dragon, destined to be the next Dragon Emperor, he couldn't just slip and fall for each and every piece of bait Leonel dangled before him. It was beneath his dignity.

But of course Ryu had already made enemies. How did he have enemies on the Ninth Plane of the True Nether Plane? Lu'card didn't even know if he should ask.

Ryu chuckled. "Don't worry. So long as we aren't in Fire Giant territory, we should be okay... probably."

Selheira and Lu'card gave Ryu a look, he could only shrug his shoulders in defeat.

"It's not my fault this time, Primus slaughtered a Fire Giant in front of too many people. I really am innocent."

Lu'card suddenly felt an even greater headache coming on. This was probably even worse than Ryu doing something.

While he had never met Primus personally, Lu'card knew the man most certainly had the arrogance of a Dragon. If he took action, it should have been a great expert of the Dao Sovereign Realm at the very worst.

Not everyone was like the Martial Gods or the Dragons. In fact, the majority of Clans would never take such a thing lying down. They would hunt such a person down to the ends of the earth to protect their prestige.

Still, since this was only tangentially related to Ryu, at the very least there wouldn't be Dao Gods descending from the skies. If they had to worry about that, they'd already be dead. Ryu's karma alone would have handicapped them just by virtue of stepping foot onto the Ninth Plane.

"Selheira, do you know anything about how they treat Dragons on the True Nether Plane?" Ryu asked, changing the subject.

'This bastard,' Lu'card thought to himself. Shouldn't he have asked that before they came all this way?

Lu'card was from Sacrum much like Ryu and spent most of his time training the Dragon Clan. There was more than enough to spend a lifetime on in the territory of one of the Nine Powers. While Ryu himself was also from Sacrum.

Between the three of them, Selheira certainly had the most knowledge on this topic.

"The True Nether Plane is more of a loose collection of sand. It's more like the Dragon Clan, but everywhere. Although it has its powers, the rest is mostly a chaotic mess. It will raise eyebrows, but only from curiosity. In fact, most of the cities are built to accommodate large demons, so it won't be a problem."

Ryu nodded as they approached a city in the distance. They had been traveling for a long while and they should at least get some rest. If there was a chance for teleportation as well, that would be great.