Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

1756 Invincible

Ryu didn't have a chance to take a deep look at the technique. He had already arrived.

This time, he found Selheira in a state of deep meditation, a frown pinching her delicate brows. She wasn't in any imminent danger, or so it seemed on the surface. But Ryu quickly found what the issue was.

Her body was, indeed, stronger than his in this state. The problem was that she hadn't grasped Bloodline Resonance and her cultivation was much lower than those that would be able to reach this stage.

Although she was advancing by leaps and bounds, she wasn't going to be able to make up for years of delayed cultivation in just a few days or even months.

She had already missed the ideal window for fast progression, and now she was heavily relying on her talent and resources instead.

Ryu wasn't worried about this because he was certain that he could help her to overcome that hurdle. But that wouldn't change the fact that this seventh layer was too much for her.

He quickly rushed up and put a hand on her shoulder. It was only then that the pressure around Selheira finally alleviated and she let out a haggard breath.

She collapsed into Ryu's arms, fainting. Her breathing became shallow and quick, her skin paling.

Ryu felt a pang of guilt. He had brought her here before she was ready, and she had likely been here waiting for him. She had likely expected that he would quickly catch up. Instead, he had forced her to endure alone for over a half day.

He picked her up into a cradle and dispelled all the black water around her. Her body finally fully relaxed, and her frown smoothed out, but judging by the erratic beating of her heart, she wasn't out of the woods just yet.

Ryu only sighed a breath of relief after he realized that there was no immediate danger to her life. In fact, he realized that although this situation was dangerous; she had benefitted quite a bit.

Her skin was covered in droplets of impurities, likely forced out thanks to the tremendous pressure she had been under.

Ryu carefully cleansed her body, controlling a pulse of ice qi to freeze them over and shatter them.

From what Ryu could see, after Selheira left this place and gained access to Real Qi once more, she would be able to take a straight shot right into the Perfect Sky God Realm at the very worst.

It wasn't just this, but the pressure also forced her Fire Dragon side into a more active role, and more shocking than that, Ryu actually began to sense other Dragon Bloodlines in her body.

That was when it hit Ryu.

If Selheira had a Fire Dragon Bloodline hidden inside of her, why wouldn't the other Bloodlines, suppressed through her lineage, not be there as well?

He sensed aspects of Wind, Water, Earth. There were even traces of rarer Dragons, like Spatial Dragons, in her blood.

They were, obviously, much weaker than her Crystal Dragon Bloodline, but this was an analysis Ryu made based on their quantity, not their quality.

Ryu grinned.

This had nothing to do with him. Selheira had realized that if she used her Crystal Dragon Bloodline as the main pillar, forcing these other Bloodlines into subservience was possible.

Wasn't this exactly what Ryu had done after he gained Selheira's Primordial Yin?

Back then, when his master taught him Bloodmancy, it still wasn't enough to corral his Bloodlines entirely. So, he took advantage of the Crystal Dragon's ability to control, increasing his hold on them.

Ultimately, he was able to exhibit some more control over his blood.

Of course, now, his methods of controlling his Bloodline were far more profound. It could be said his method of relying on his Inner World was the best method ever created. He had directly stripped the Bloodlines of all their Fate, allowing them to exhibit their power directly.

While losing their Fate weakened them somewhat individually, because they were fused as one, the ultimate result was far better.

In addition, as Ryu continued to accumulate Faith, he could use it to bolster his Inner World. In the end, he would even be able to make them even stronger individually than they were in the past. And once they fused…

Well, he would become a true monster.

Selheira was taking a similar path but through a completely different method. And, because of the nature of her path, she might be able to succeed in using conventional methods alone.

At some point in the past, the Crystal Dragons were the only Race of Dragons that all others listened to. Even the Fire Dragons listened to their advice.

That meant that Faith-wise, these Bloodlines were already inclined to give deference to Selheira's blood. This meant that if Selheira could refine this method, her Bloodlines wouldn't clash and force the others into suppression. It would be their natural state to harmonize.

This, obviously, meant that Selheira wouldn't need an Inner World like Ryu did to keep things orderly.

Of course, this was all just the ideal result. It would still be up to Selheira to strengthen her comprehension of her Crystal Dragon Bloodline sufficiently so that it could keep all these other Bloodlines in line.

But once she succeeded.

Ryu almost burst into a booming laughter. If it wasn't for the fact his wife was in a deep sleep, he truly would have.

He already had one Dao God for a wife. In his opinion, he wouldn't be satisfied until they all were. He wouldn't leave a single one of them behind.

Ryu continued to carry Selheira in his arms and rushed ahead. This time, he didn't use Embryonic Qi to speed up her recovery. This was an important crossroads for Selheira.

Sure, using Embryonic Qi now would heal her quickly. But Ryu felt that she would have far more room for enlightenment while her body was still a battlefield.

As she slowly resolved it herself, she would improve by leaps and bounds. This environment also happened to be the most perfect for Bloodline improvements.

Once she succeeded in reaching a new baseline, only then would Ryu give her Embryonic Qi. At that point, not only would it solidify her improvements, it would help them tend toward greater perfection.

'Now, let's find Empana.'

Ryu began to send out pulses of Bloodline Resonance.

The geniuses in this place were too spaced apart, so it was hard to find them. Though the region was narrower, there were also far fewer participants.

Ryu finally sensed a person. He wasn't sure if it was Empana because the distance was too far, but he could only go one by one in this situation. So, he set off.

As he did so, he turned his attention back to the Ash Treant's method. It was such a fundamental technique of the race that it didn't even have a name. It was a lot like the Martial Arts that Ryu practiced as a youth.

But as Ryu read, he was completely blown away.

Ryu was almost never impressed. It took his master finding his wife across countless world barriers before he even acknowledged her.

It wasn't that there weren't people that could do what he couldn't. It was more, so that it was rare for him to come across someone he didn't think could only do so because they had more years of cultivation than himself.

Ryu always felt that he could accomplish more than others should the circumstances be the exact sum. Though, he acknowledged that the world was fair.

But this… this was truly impressive.

…

In the outside world, the Ash Treants were bristling with rage at the fall of their genius. There were only three Ash Treants that had made it so far, and Ryu actually killed one of them so easily. It was nothing short of a humiliation.

But when they saw him reading their technique, their reaction wasn't furious at all.

That was because this technique fell into a rare category.

It was a technique that was both a core method of the Ash Treants, and yet one that they never bothered to try to put restrictions over. Not only could any Ash Treant practice it and even carry a copy regardless of status, the technique had been passed on so far and wide that every Demon Clan had a copy in the Ninth Plane. Even the weaker ones.

It was simply a technique which, even if one came to comprehend it, it wouldn't make a difference because it was entirely reliant on the unique body of the Ash Treants.

On top of that, even other lesser Treants couldn't make use of this technique because the requirements were too high.

As such, this was a unique technique. They could only sneer at Ryu's actions. He'd have better odds looking at what the other two might have been carrying.

…

Ryu had no idea what the Ash Treants were thinking, nor did he give a damn.

Because the moment he saw this technique, his heart was practically beating out of his chest.

This was the method…

"I will use this to bring my close combat to an all new level. If I accomplish this and succeed in improving my Dao the way I want, it should be almost impossible for anyone beneath Dao Lord to even scratch me."

The fierce glow in Ryu's eyes could burn a world down. He could finally take strides toward that ideal he had dreamed of since he was a child.

One day, he would be invincible.