Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu didn't seem perturbed by all the rage that was around him. His mind seemed to still be in a half foggy half indifferent state. He had felt much better last night after meeting with Sarriel and allowing her to take his mind off of things, but these emotions seemed to come in waves much like all of this killing intent.

He wondered to himself when he had ended up making so many enemies. It had only been a few years since he began to cultivate, not even ten. But he was actually able to have so many blades pointed toward him at once.

It was one thing if they simply did all of this for the sake of their face. But, Ryu could tell that each one of them had their own bone to pick with him. Even if there was no one else to gauge their actions or no benefits to gain from him… They would still want his life on a platter.

It was only then that Fidroha finally managed to relax. That was right, there were so many people around her. What reason did she have to be scared?

Plus, what else did this Ryu have other than a scary gaze? If he could have that glare when he was in the more Qi Refinement Realm, of course he would have it now. That didn't mean he was strong.

Fidroha had spent the past several hundred years taking part in the best resources and growing amongst geniuses, each of which was just as if not more talented than Ryu. No matter where he went, could his progression compare to her own? Plus, she had already been ahead of him to begin with, how could he possibly catch up?

Ryu, though, didn't care about what Fidroha was thinking about. In fact, he could hardly see the faces of the people below him. They had all become one homogonous monster of rage without anything differentiating them… In fact, even the resentment of the Ice Devil Legacy World and Ryu's own seemed to merge along with it.

The result was Ryu having a hard time even finding where it all started and where it all ended. He couldn't even tell the difference between his own and that of others.

Rather than shocking him, such a reality only made him chuckle.

As important as his own family was to him, wasn't Esme also important to the Zu Clan? Of course, she deserved death for what she did to his grandfather, but wasn't it also a matter of perspective?

As important as his own family was to him… wasn't Geftien also important to the Cloaked Dagger Sect? Of course… he also deserved death. But, once again, wasn't it a matter of perspective?

To Ryu, all Martial Gods deserved to be eradicated from the face of his world. But, to the Martial Gods, the Tatsuya Clan was in the way of their survival, were they not? Ryu still didn't know exactly what it was that the Martial Gods were running from, but if they had a choice, why would they make an enemy of a Clan as powerful as his own?

Maybe all this resentment really wasn't so different.

Ryu ignored the enraged shouts from below and looked toward the swirling portal that waited for him in the sky. By now, it had grown so large that it seemed to want to swallow the city whole. Cracks began to appear in the walls and the solid rose-gold gates, a violent earthquake ravaging the land.

He had a feeling that it was because the resentment of this world was so clear that these things were so obvious to Ryu right now. Maybe it wasn't so true that it hadn't affected him at all.

When he peeled away all of the layers, what was it that he wanted?

Ryu didn't have to hesitate to answer that question. Even if his family had never been eradicated, what fueled him was the drive to be the best, the drive to stand atop the world and look down upon it from on high. He had told Ailsa as much long ago…

However, what if he had none of this resentment? It was easy to ignore what he did to others because he had this baggage with him. He could always play the 'how could your pain compare to my own?' card whenever he wanted.

But, if his family was still here, if he still had his loving father and his doting mother, how would he deal with all this resentment?

Wasn't the answer to that simple as well?

"As long as my conscious is clear, my blade will ring true."

This was the first time Ryu had ever said such words. In fact, he couldn't exactly remember hearing them from anywhere either. But, for some reason, he felt that they were perfect... Perfect because he finally realized just what it was he had been neglecting.

That night he left Elena, he left like a coward.

He could give it all sorts of reasons. He could say that he was scared his parents would stop him. He could say that he was afraid he would lose the courage he had built up. He could say that he didn't want Nuri to have a chance to change his mind…

However, he would always know that that wasn't the full truth.

What he had done to Elena that night was the reason Ryu didn't have an ounce of blame to give her.

It sounded cute and sweet that he would choose to spend his last night with Elena the way he had so they could part as husband and wife… But there was a reason he asked to be selfish before he had done it.

There was nothing sweet and wholesome about that night. He had been nothing more than a weak, insecure man 'marking' his territory before he left. He had treated Elena like a lamppost to be lit and set aside as property, forcing her to live the last nearly billion years as a 'married' woman simply by the virtue of the fact she was no longer a virgin.

The moment Ryu finally admitted these things to himself, he felt a wave of disgust welling up from the depths of his soul. That was the man he had been… That was the man he was.

His 'marking' had worked. Even Isemeine knew that the mighty Princess Elena was the wife to such a weak man all because her purity had been taken away… Taken away by the man who should have loved and protected her the most.

It wasn't about Ryu taking Elena's virginity. He was the man she had loved, she would have gladly done it. Even when she felt that he was wrong, she had still gladly done it... The issue was in why he had done so and the purpose behind it... It was a stain on their relationship that was hard to erase, a stain that Ryu had been completely ignoring until now.

That was it. The reason why Ryu never thought of or spoke of his conscious was because he had been ignoring it for too long already. How could he ever reach his true potential when he was such a coward… when he had always been such a coward.

He wouldn't be that anymore. He would never do something that went against his own code, whether it was out of fear or a twisted love. He was Ryu Tatsuya. This pride of his, he felt that it was about time he earned it with something other than just his talent.

"Never again," Ryu said softly, his voice blanketing the entirety of the city. "Take form and conquer the world."

Ryu's aura seemed to completely vanish before it erupted to a level it had never touched before.