Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu's eyes narrowed, but other than this, he didn't move a single inch. He thought that it might be a possibility that after gaining complete control over the Ruin, Ruin Master Vitae might have become capable of sensing all of the changes that occurred within what was effectively his domain now. Ryu hadn't thought of this possibility before, but after he heard those words… He realized it might be possible.

'This Ruin was at most of the Seventh Order at its peak. A Path Extinction Realm expert like Necromancer Hecate is limited to an Eighth Order Ruin at most even if my calculations are wrong. But, as a Necromancer, even if she dabbled in formation theory, it would be impossible for Hecate to form an Eighth Order Ruin.

'The conclusion is obvious. Whether a Seventh or Eighth Order Ruin, it doesn't matter. It's impossible for such a lowly ranked Ruin to allow its owner a symbiotic relationship like this Ruin Master is displaying now. This means one of two things…

'Either he's bluffing and simply wants to see if he can goad a person he isn't certain of being present into appear. Or, he's relying on something else entirely different in order to sense my presence.'

Ruin Master Vitae could have never expected that his opponent was a Ruin Master by far his better. Ryu's knowledge of Ruins dwarfed practically everyone in existence. Trying to take advantage of such a scare tactic before him was asking to be slapped in the face.

The room fell into silence, a deep frown creeping up on the Ruin Master's face. Unconsciously, he brought his hands together, rotating a ring on his right middle finger.

Suddenly, Ryu smirked. He understood at that moment why the Ruin Master had called out seemingly arbitrarily.

Humans often had a knack for feeling the gaze of others. This ability only diminished when the person observing reached a level far beyond that of the individual being observed, either in cultivation or concealment ability.

There were many theories as to why this might be. Some believed that gazing upon a person tied your karmas together, subtly shifting energy balance of a person. Though one might not consciously understand what happened, you would unconsciously. Others believed that this was an innate instinct humans had similar to the sharp senses of beasts, it was just that we evolved to rely on it less and less, resulting it the ability diminishing through the generations.

If one were to go through all of the possibilities, it would form a set of volumes even longer than Necromancer Hecate's life works. But, what was important here was that the ability existed.

The ring Vitae unconsciously touched answered Ryu's doubt. When Ryu's pupils focused on it, he was able to see that this ring was actually a treasure used to detect and raise awareness. It amplified this innate ability of humans by fusing it with one's Mental Realm, essentially combining instinct with power.

It served the same function as Ryu's throbbing pupils, though far less sophisticated. Simply put, Ruin Master Vitae called out to Ryu because his ring warned him that someone was gazing upon him.

'This isn't a simple treasure at all if it's able to work despite my cloak…' Ryu's eyes narrowed.

Ryu suddenly jumped out, gliding smoothly across the air as though he was a swallow. His body was as light as a feather and the wind seemed to meld into his being, silently supporting him.

Ryu knew that as long as he had the intention to attack, his cloaking would be seen through, which meant he only had a single chance. By moving, he was already pushing the ability of his Mystical Grade cloak to its limits, fully aware that it could only display its full strength when he was completely still. But, he only had two choices in this situation: either escape with his tail between his legs, or kill this so-called Ruin Master.

Ruin Master Vitae was a Middle Divine Vessel Realm expert, a man who was far beyond Ryu's capabilities as it stood now. But… Ryu had become strong enough to harm such an expert if they insisted on being a motionless combat puppet.

Ryu closed his eyes. Suddenly, Vitae felt that the thrumming of his ring had come to a complete stop, but this reality only made his nerves stand up taller.

Though many didn't know it, becoming a Black Grade Ruin Master while having such low cultivation was unheard of. Usually, only Connecting Heaven Realm experts would be of the Black Grade. Ruin Master Vitae was truly an anomaly.

Realizing he had poor cultivation talent, he poured himself into the Ruin Master profession after becoming lucky enough to stumble upon a Ruin Matrix. He had hoped to use his profession to make enough money to compensate for his poor talent, and it worked, mostly, but even in his old age, he only managed to become a Divine Vessel Realm expert. If it wasn't for his status as Ruin Master, he would be considered a minor expert of the Inner Ring.

He had always imagined himself to be a great man, believing that he could overcome his weakness with hard work, but that was when a heart wrenching reality set in.

Even if he was a Ruin Master, he could only rely on the commission of others. Even if part of a Ruin Master's job was finding Ruins themselves, only the best of the best among them could do this. Thanks to his fortuitous encounter, Ruin Master Vitae managed to become one of these individuals. In fact, it was he who found Necromancer Hecate's Ruins…

The problem was that he was too weak. He didn't dare to enter Ruins alone, and the ones he could enter alone weren't good enough to help him transcend his weak talent. It was then he happened upon this Ruin and a new potential path was opened to him.

What if he relied on corpse puppets instead? With his fortuitous encounter by his side and undead to take on most of the dangers, he would finally be able to leave the mediocrity of his being behind.

He had finally done it, he had finally found a path forward. So… Why was this happening?

Ruin Master Vitae looked down at the spear piercing through his heart, his life flashing before his eyes as violent spear qi tore through his inner organs.

"… Why… I … I worked so… so hard…"

No one would think Ruin Master Vitae to be a valiant warrior, but watching him cry tears of sorrow in his final moments made Ryu feel uncomfortable in his heart.

Ruin Master Vitae didn't even gaze into Ryu's eyes with any hatred. His expression of resignation was more damning than any other emotion he could have displayed.