Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu didn't explain; he just looked at Elowen with the same gaze. But, there was indeed a catch, it was just that it wasn't nearly as bad as anything Elowen was thinking of.

While Ryu was riding on Lu'card's back to make it to this place, he realized something: there was actually great value in watching the evolution process of others.

The problem with this was that Lu'card was already near the pinnacle of the food chain. Even without Ryu's interference, there was truly a good chance that he could one day become the Dragon Emperor. It certainly wasn't a pipe dream by any stretch of the imagination, though it was somewhat unlikely.

There was a reason that the Fire Dragon Clan had ruled for so long and there were plenty of Dragons that were at least on par with Lu'card.

So while not impossible, it was still unlikely.

Due to this, watching the Embryonic Qi slowly work on Lu'card wasn't nearly the comprehension boost that Ryu thought it would be...

But what if he observed a far lesser talent over a much longer period of time?

Of course, observing trash would be equally a waste of time. No matter how much Embryonic Qi you had, if your base talent were all not even Perfect Grade, you could never reach the pinnacle.

However, Hrakka was perfect for several reasons.

First, she was a variant of the Fire Giants. She had unique mutations that would be extremely interesting to observe.

Second, she was already talented. Although she wasn't quite at the level of the genius tier, and certainly no match for the hero or monster tiers, she wasn't far off. And this meant she had a lot of potential for growth.

Then what did Ryu really gain out of observing?

It helped him to solidify his own path. Observing how the Heavens tended to move others through and toward perfection would give him a window into Heaven's secrets themselves.

How could he turn such an opportunity down?

As for the other "catch", it wasn't a catch at all since Hrakka was already aware. If she one day grew powerful enough, he would use her as a Summoning. It was that simple, really.

As for how the True Nether Plane would react... did it matter?

Firstly, Hrakka was a Demon King, she was a lost descendant of the Fire Giants, sure. But the fact she was battling in the arena meant that she wasn't taken seriously by them at all.

And secondly... since when did he do things based on how others would react?

"Alright. Do you want to stay here or come with me?" Ryu asked Selheira.

"I'll come with you," Selheira said. She didn't actually get to partake in the Embryonic Qi much, and she even seemed a bit put off by this.

Ryu's gaze flickered when he noticed Selheira avoiding the Embryonic Qi, but for now, he chose to observe some more. He was sure that she had her own reasons.

Since she wanted to come, they could go together.

After a while, Elise had prepared and was ready to take them away.

Funny enough, Ryu had done all of this to earn money to use a teleportation platform to Mae, only to not need to use the money he earned at all. But that much was fine. He preferred to use the Nether Crystals to study Nether Qi itself.

Ryu had already seen some of the oddities of Nether Qi after his breakthrough, and he saw even more after he allowed it to enter his Inner World.

It was curious.

Ethereal Qi was able to help those with Real Qi see through the problems and flaws in their foundations, ultimately aiding them in breaking through.

But what about Nether Qi? Could it do the same?

Ryu didn't think so.

Ethereal Qi was like the mirror image of Real Qi, but Nether Qi wasn't the mirror image, it was the opposite. Studying it wouldn't help you along, it would instead hinder you.

The former helped you see your path from a new perspective, but the latter completely erased your path.

What was especially curious to Ryu was that Nether Qi was somehow still different from Chaos Qi at the same time.

If he were to pinpoint what the difference was, it was the fact Chaos Qi had no structure, it sought to destroy. Nether Qi was seemingly like that on the surface, but there was a kernel hidden deep within it that allowed a chance at...

Rebirth.

Chaos Qi was the antithesis of Order which encompassed all of Ethereal, Real and Nether Qi. Nether Qi was the antithesis of Real Qi only because it took an entirely different path.

Real Qi tended to build up, to create.

Nether Qi destroyed and razed so that sprouts might grow in its place.

This was a very philosophical description of the two Qis, and didn't really touch on anything tangible. But this was the vague feeling that Ryu got from it.

As Ryu was lost in thought, the teleportation array had already activated, enveloping himself, Elise, her butler, Selheira and Lu'card.

When their vision cleared, the environment could only be described as hell on earth. Though... wasn't that exactly what the Nether Plane was?

The ground was barren and greyed. Rocky land stretched out for as far as the eyes could see. Dark purple clouds rumbled and arcs of black lightning struck mountain tops.

Lining the sides of the road, there were various shrubberies and vegetation... if you could even call them that. Most lacked budding flowers and greeneries, and even worse than that, they were blackening with pitch-black flames as though this world didn't allow life to exist at all.

And if it did... it certainly wouldn't be comfortable.

The Nether Qi in the air was so dense that it was suffocating. It felt like one was choking on smog every time they inhaled, and it quickly began to corrode Ryu's qi, causing his eyes to narrow.