Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu stood before the Magma Devils, his hair billowing under the clash of cold and hot air. Even now, he seemed completely unmoved.

"My blood?" He said coldly. "Since when did a mere Demon Baron have the right to speak of such a thing?"

Not to mention the First, Second and Third disciples of the Three Pupil Eclipse Sect, the Magma Devils themselves were absolutely stunned to hear such words.

They were mighty Demon Barons. They existed on a plane of strength that could only be worshipped. When had they ever been looked down upon as 'mere' anything.

However, at that moment, Ryu's aura began to rise. A tempest of whipping winds seemed to want to drown the world out completely. His momentum instantly suppressed the three Demon Barons before him, his expression icy to the point it seemed to cut across the rising heat with an undeniable ease.

"Take form and conquer the world."

BANG!

Ryu shot forward. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before the middle Magma Devil, his palm forming a blade as though his flesh itself had become his Great Swordstaff.

Fury lit the gaze of the Magma Devil. When had it ever been looked down on to this extent? It believed that even when it was an Immortal Ring expert, it could have crushed Ryu. And yet, now that it had stepped into the Dao Pedestal Realm, this ant dared to attack it?!

Of course, it had to be said that much like beasts, the cultivation path of Demons was different and actually followed the same naming scheme as that of beasts. Rather than calling these Demon Barons Dao Pedestal Realm experts, it was more accurate to call them Ninth Order Demon Barons. This was why their breakthrough had been so smooth. No human could so casually breakthrough such a large barrier, and most definitely not in battle… In most cases, that is.

However, none of this dampened the strength of the Magma Devils. The Ninth Order was still the Ninth Order.

"I'll use your skull as a cup to drink your blood!"

"Too many words." Ryu replied coldly. "You're a Demon, what's the point in using your head to try to come up with insults and threats? It's clearly not your forte."

At that moment, Ryu's palm descended from the skies. It felt as though the world was being split in two, a momentum the likes of which even Demon Baron's couldn't fight against descending like a mighty judgement from above.

"Weak." Ryu said with disdain.

BANG!

Ryu's palm split the shoulder of the Magma Devil as it shifted to the side to dodge. He splintered its flesh as though it was nothing but only managed to get half way through its bone before his arm was caught.

The rest of the momentum crushed the Magma Devil into the ground. Its knees almost shattered, its legs bending out of its control, and the right side of its ribcage threatened to collapse entirely.

It only took Ryu a moment to realize that these Demon Barons were weaker than that Scarlet Sparrow Clan traitor he had fought just yesterday. It wasn't by an enormous margin, but Leonel could tell that it was at least 10 to 20%. If it wasn't for the fact Ryu didn't have an appropriate weapon for his current level of strength, this Magma Devil would have already been split in two.

The pupils of First Brother and the other two constricted into pinholes. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

It had to be remembered that they had come prepared to enter an Immortal Ring capped world. The idea that three Dao Pedestal level Demon Barons weren't enough to be overkill astonished them.

But at the same time, Ryu had noticed the ridiculous nature of the situation even before them. Had he not had such a massive increase in his strength… Wouldn't he be dead? No matter how bad his luck was, he would never think himself to need the strength of a Dao Pedestal Realm expert just to survive in this Legacy World.

Though Ryu understood the power of Demon Barons to normal cultivators, he never put them in his eyes. Even when the Martial Gods provided such a potential gift for joining, he hadn't been moved. To him, Demon Barons weren't nearly noble enough to fight by his side.

Just like that, Ryu stood between two Magma Devils, one of his hands wrist deep in the shoulder of a third, forcing it to kneel before him.

The roar of the middle Magma Devil sounded like the layered, manic cry of a resentful soul. It was hard to tell, though, if it was simply in pain or if it was furious for being humiliated like this.

Ryu could feel its heat and smell its terrible sulfuric breath. Quite frankly, he felt disgusted. However, a Demon Baron's blood would be quite good for Nemesis' growth so he had to be thoughtful with how he chose to kill this one. Wastage wasn't good.

Nemesis didn't have an elemental affinity. Though this meant that he couldn't absorb 100% of blood with an affinity, it also meant that he wasn't restricted by the type of blood he could absorb for his body cultivation as well. Plus, Magma Devil had quite strong bodies in order to withstand the molten rock that weaved through their veins. They were perfect.

Ryu stretched forward his free hand, an accumulation of purple lightning flames pulsing at its tip. He aimed it toward the three cloaked figures. He had already given them a chance to live. Though he didn't particularly care that they had sacrificed their own fellow disciples, he was a man of his word. He had no intention of giving them a third chance.

SHUUU!

A bolt tore through the air. Before Second Brother could react, he was pulled by his First Brother to block before him. There was nothing he could do as he was incinerated in mind and soul.

After entering the Soul Birth Realm, something many did after the Immortal Ring Realm, it was possible to survive for a short time without a body. Not all Immortal Ring Realm experts or even Path Extinction Realm ones could accomplish this. However, Mental Realm Masters were obviously better equipped than most in this regard.

That said, Ryu's lightning flames didn't even allow such a chance. Lightning was the bane of all soul and fire was the root of life, death and reincarnation. The combination of the two was too lethal.

Ryu didn't react much to First Brother betraying his junior. It was all meaningless to him.

He could remember just how arrogant First Brother had been when he first met him. However, Ryu had hardly spared him a glance back then, let alone now. As far as he was concerned, only those who could be arrogant in the face of true death were worthy of their arrogance.

At that moment, one of the Demon Barons were broken free from their contract and immediately tried to escape back to the Nether Realm. But, right then, a streak of black lightning curved from Ryu's finger and almost burnt it to ash.

"Be patient."

Ryu said off handedly.

He turned back toward First Brother and shot out another attack. This time, it was a streak of purple.

First Brother tried to form numerous barriers, his third eye even opening wide, but it was all futile and meaningless. Ultimately, he was still in the Path Extinction Realm. To Ryu, he was nothing more than an ant that could be squashed at any time. If not for the sacrifice of his fellow disciples, Ryu wouldn't have even needed to put in so much 'effort'.

With that, the middle Magma Devil Ryu still had his hand in quivered. But, with Ryu latched onto him like this, there was not a single chance at fleeing.

One after another, the Magma Devils were bound and thrown into Ryu's Incubator. Demon Barons were still quite rare. Maybe it would be better to wait for Ailsa to awaken and make proper use of their blood before Ryu thought of having Nemesis absorb their strength. He was still holding out hope that he could find what he needed in this world.

Ryu twirled two spatial rings in his fingers. These had come from First and Second Brother. He took a glance inside and, as expected, he did find himself some of the treasures the Silver Touch Branch had promised to hand over to those that passed their test. But, none of the most important stuff was there.

For example, there was no summoning formation for the Magma Devil Demon Baron Clan. But, Ryu had already expected as much. The Martial Gods wouldn't hand over such knowledge randomly or without fail safes. They had definitely been obliterated along with their soul. The only chance Ryu would have had at them was if Eska or Ailsa was here to handle the soul side of things. Unfortunately, she wasn't.

But right now… That hardly mattered.

Even now, the feeling of danger his intuition was giving him had yet to disappear, and it was all coming from this supposed Third Sister.

Ryu adjusted Yaana's place on his back with a doting expression and made sure she was comfortable, securing her a bit tighter so that he could fight more freely. Knowing that the fabric tying her to him was a Visualization made it easy for Ryu to trust it.

Finally, after taking his sweet time, Ryu looked up, his indifference returning and his aura simmering.

"Madame, I presume? Or should I call you Sarriel?"