Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

The fatigue that Ryu's body had been experiencing seem to have vanished with the wind, somewhat ironically. As though someone had taken hold of his lungs and breathed life into them, they suddenly expanded. At the same time, his heartbeat became exceptionally slow, beating just a single time per several minutes. And yet, that single pump filled him with so much vitality that even his veins themselves seemed to glow.

The moment this occurred, the snow that had piled onto Ryu began to melt purely as a result of his body's heat, pooling into a small pond of steam as he lightly snored, oblivious to the world. He floated face down within the pool, his clothes having vanished without him conscious to maintain them. His lungs were so powerful that the pair even pumped water in and out without a single sign of Ryu drowning. One would have thought he had a pair of gills instead.

Ryu was shocked by the change. But, what was maybe the most shocking to him was that he hadn't lost complete connection with his Northern Heavenly Wind's Inheritance, nor had it been overwhelmed by his Southern Heavenly Wind. Rather, it felt like Ryu had just gotten a large piece of the puzzle.

He found himself standing before two paths.

The first was to continue along the road of his Northern Heavenly Wind. This path would be a bit slower than if he rebuilt his foundation completely with the Southern Heavenly Wind, however it would be the more powerful Inheritance. There was a reason the Northern Heavenly Wind was seen as the King amongst the four.

The second option was to abandon his current comprehensions and rebuild his Wind Inheritance with his Southern Heavenly Wind. With his Heavenly Pupils, this path would progress with a blazing speed.

This time, Ryu didn't make a choice of one or the other. Rather, he made a choice that encompassed both.

He felt that the Southern Heavenly Wind carried a unique character that seemed both familiar and somehow foreign to him at the same time. Every time he breathed, he would feel this unique character rush into his body, stifling whatever fatigue he had. In fact, he felt that his lifespan had exploded, increasing by a thousandfold. And, that was just his own poor comprehension of things. It most definitely wasn't just this simple.

If Ryu was forced to describe it… It felt like a year of his life now was suddenly worth more than a year of life for anyone else. But, even he didn't quite understand what this meant. What he did know, though, was that his Ice Flame seemed to be reacting to this with a passion Ryu had never seen before.

Usually, his Ice Flame took a backseat to his lightning-fire mutation, not because it was suppressed, but rather because it wasn't fighting to begin with. It was like a woman watching the testosterone filled tirade of two men. She couldn't' be bothered to participate.

What Ryu's Rage Flame and Qilin Lightning hung their hats on wasn't anything Ryu's Ice Flame cared about, and the same went for his Rebirth Flame. Both were content to take a backseat.

At the same time, though, Ryu also understood that his Northern Heavenly Wind was invaluable to his combat prowess, namely in easing his ability to dual wield. He felt that both paths were invaluable. And, with his Ice Jade Crystal Body being capable of Balancing all things, he didn't have to choose.

"Alright, Little Ryu, there are a few more things that grandma has to tell you about.

"Firstly, the [Phoenix Heavenly Body] art that you are practicing is incomplete. Half of it was sealed away due to the restrictions on Soul cultivation and it could be said that the sealing of that half resulted in a loss of over 90% of the technique's true strength."

Ryu's pupils constricted. 90% was a number far larger than he was expecting. Didn't that mean that with the supplementary portions of this technique, it would become ten times more powerful? What kind of ridiculous concept was that.

"We Phoenixes don't have bodies as strong as Dragons or Qilins, but that is because we are Elemental creatures. Our flesh and blood is minimal and in the highest grade of Phoenix, the only blood they had was their very essence.

"What Phoenixes rely on to have a tangible form are Heavenly Patterns, thus where the 'Heavenly' portion of the technique's name comes from. The truth is that even I am not certain of just how powerful these Heavenly Patterns were. By the time we chose to abandon the rules and do whatever it took to become more powerful, the time remaining wasn't nearly enough.

"However, what I do know is that the Phoenix Bloodline has three branches of Heavenly Patterns. Life Patterns. Rebirth Patterns. And, finally, Death Patterns.

"From what I can tell, at a base level, there is no functional difference between these Patterns. The main dividing line is what Bloodline you have to have in order to use them.

"After we visited the Death Shrine, [Phoenix Heavenly Body] completed itself and several new pages appeared, filling in what was missing: the Death Patterns.

"Though it's just a guess… I have a feeling that since my little boy is sitting right here in front of me, you should be able to use all three Heavenly Patterns."

Ryu understood what his grandmother met. Although his Spiritual Foundation had yet to play a huge role in his combat prowess, there was no doubt that he was the Phoenix Sky God's successor. In fact, Ryu was almost certain that the white flame, whose name he still could not pronounce, was the greatest representation of this.

"Here, I will demonstrate."

The moment Ryu's grandmother spoke these words, her aura completely changed. From a loving grandmother, she became like a wild beast, her seemingly frail fist punching out at empty air.

An instinctual fear took root in Ryu's heart. He knew that if his grandmother released this attack, this Spiritual Sea would be completely obliterated.