Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

The catalogue of Mental Realm techniques the Zu Clan had was expansive almost beyond reason. A single Clan might struggle to have a handful of this caliber of technique, yet the Zu Clan had thousands. No, even tens of thousands on this level.

What surprised Ryu even more was that his analysis was previously was actually wrong. The Zu Clan had plenty of Necromancy techniques and even had some Summoner Necromancer fragmented Legacies.

After thinking a moment, Ryu understood why this was. One had to remember that the reason the Zu Clan fell into decline was precisely because they existed during the Era right before the ban on Mental Realm Masters. This meant that before their downfall, there had yet to be a rift created between them and Necromancers.

Still, the Zu Clan was fundamentally an orthodox Mental Realm Master Clan. The Necromancy techniques they did have were often the most basic and only served for reference and curiosity. As for the fragmented Summoning Necromancer Legacies, Ryu knew he wasn't fated for them.

To call these Inheritances fragmented was a massive overstatement. In reality, they were nothing more than introductory excerpts to the enigmatic third branch of Necromancy.

Maybe it was only now Ryu truly understood how difficult it would be to gain such an Inheritance for him. If even the mighty Zu Clan knew so little about Summoning Necromancers… Just what level of existence were they?

Throwing this matter to the back of his mind, Ryu set his mind to the task at hand.

With so many techniques to choose from, it was no surprise that many accomplished the same tasks. For example, [Minor Teleportation], [Blink], and [Warp] all functionally completed the same goal, however the manner in which they did so was different.

In fact, Ryu saw this pattern repeat itself many times more. [Vector Arrow], [Winding Arrow], [Piercing Ballista]… these were another set of techniques that fell into the same categories.

Each technique, however, had a different theory behind them. Peering into how their Visualizations were constructed gave Ryu a deep level of insight he didn't previously have.

[Vector Arrow] emphasized straight-line speed, but it lacked variability. [Winding Arrow] gained this variability, but it was lacking in power. [Piercing Ballista] had the power, but it was incredibly difficult to control and it took several moments to properly complete its Visualization.

Following this logic, each technique had its pros as cons. But what Ryu actually became lost in was exactly the subtle differences in Visualization that led to these changes.

Before, Ryu hadn't noticed. This was because the Visualizations he practiced had yet to reach a level where he was qualified to. But, every Visualization was constructed of Runes. These Runes were similar to the nodes of arrays and formations and held the power to communicate with the heavens to enlist the specific sort of strength it evoked.

Because Ryu had yet to master [Immortal Sakura] or [Divine Chaotic Annihilation], he wasn't qualified to sense their Runes yet. His Visualizations of them were still superficial.

When Ryu came to this point in understanding, a brand new world was opened up to him.

"It seems I've made a mistake." Ryu said lightly. "I've been focused too much on powerful Visualizations when there was a treasure trove hidden here…"

As techniques created for those of the Spiritual Awakening and Endowment Realms, Ryu was more than qualified to peer in the Runes of these techniques. Suddenly, Visualizations no longer looked like mere images to him, but rather became a series of equations that when given an input, relayed a predictable output.

"If it's like this… I can construct and deconstruct these as I please…"

Lost in thought, Ryu inadvertently spoke aloud.

In an instant, a [Vector Arrow] appeared in Ryu's hand. It had a sleek and long body, the amount of Spiritual Qi needed to form it was very little, and its head seamlessly melded into its spine in the shape of a silver bullet.

A moment later, a [Winding Arrow] appeared above it. Unlike the former, its body was quite a bit shorter. At the same time, its feathered ends were larger than normal. This drastically lowered its flight speed, but increased its maneuverability.

Even above them, the [Piercing Ballista] that should have taken several seconds to Visualize appeared in the blink of an eye. With the Origin Flame's perfect recall ability, Ryu could effectively instant cast. This drawback of the [Piercing Ballista] was nothing to him.

Unlike the other two, it didn't have the shape of an arrow. Instead, it looked like a glistening glob of mercury shaped into an oblate spheroid. Its form factor was simple, and even allowed the free flow change of its structure, but Ryu could faintly tell it was the most dangerous.

This wasn't much of a surprise. The former two were Spiritual Awakening techniques, while the latter was a Spiritual Endowment technique.

However, what was a surprise was the sudden collapse of the three Visualizations. At least, it looked like a collapse until one realized the numerous golden ancient runes bobbing gently in the air in their place.

The eyes of the four Ancestors widened. They had been here for too many years. Even for Sky Gods, it was grating on the nerves. In a way, watching Ryu cultivate, even if he was their enemy, was a sort of release no matter how uncomfortable they felt about him ignoring them. It was no surprise then that they immediately noticed this oddity!

It was only after a Mental Realm Master comprehended a Visualization to the Great Circle of Perfection that they could deconstruct a Visualization into its Runes and seek to manipulate it to their personal preferences.

However, Ryu had only been here a few days! To make matters more unnerving, most of the time was spent reading the other several thousand techniques. The time he spent on these three in particular barely amounts to a few minutes.

How was this possible?!

Ailsa, however, found this to be very normal. If Ryu could comprehend [Divine Chaotic Annihilation] to the third stage in a few weeks… What did these weak techniques count for?

With his pupils, Ryu could see the Runes of these weaker Visualizations even without first comprehending them. This in turn allowed his comprehension to occur much faster which also in turn allowed him to see the Runes even clearer. With this sort of cycle, how could he not have such great success?

Still, what happened next left the Ancestors completely speechless.

The Runes began to move at Ryu's will. Sometimes they would collapse, but Ryu would reform them just as quickly.

Soon, they began to stack upon one another, slowly melding one.

This process continued for an hour. But even with this seemingly "long" period of time, the shock of the Ancestors only deepened. What was even more surprising than even this was that Ryu had actually managed to sustain his Spiritual Qi for so long. Wasn't he an inferior talent? Just how far had he pushed [Tribulation Nine Clouds]?!

"That should be it." Ryu said softly.

The Runes before him finally stabilized. After checking to make sure the Runes had combined to his liking, he condensed them, allowing his creation to be projected into the world.

The space before it trembled slightly. Not because of its might, but rather because Ryu's control over it was still poor, causing his Spiritual Qi to leak out from its Projection. However, even with this small flaw, one wouldn't dare to look down upon it.

Ryu's creation had the same mercury-like consistency and appearance of [Piercing Ballista], except this time, it was formed into a wide angle V. No, maybe it was more accurate to say that it was reminiscent of a headless bird of prey, its eagle-like wings spreading out with a faint desire for slaughter.

As for its thickness, it was incomparably thin. So thin in fact that it seemed to disappear when observing from its side. One could imagine the level of sharpness. It was quite possible that one wouldn't even notice they were cut until their life ended.

Ryu nodded with satisfaction. "I'll call you [Vector Eagle] then…"

'Monster…!' The four Zu Ancestors all shared this combined thought…