Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

The whipping and clanging sounds of Ryu's chains grated on the ears. In just a few exchanges, he had slaughtered two top ten individuals of the Heir Rankings with an ease that sent an eerie feeling creeping up their spines.

The spinning chains in Ryu's hands suddenly lashed out. Every time it landed on a body, it imploded into a rain of ash or ice shards. The youths didn't stand a single chance beneath Ryu's assault nor did he lend them any sort of mercy.

Whether it was members of Elena's entourage or Galkos', they suffered just the same. Any one of them that aimed for his life received the same treatment, their cries of despair ringing throughout the skies.

"How dare you?!"

Cleo couldn't stand to watch any longer. Some of the little girls Ryu had just slaughtered were ones she had been diligently guiding for the last several days. Watching them all fall one by one like this filled her with a fury that dwarfed even what she felt toward Ryu taking advantage of Elena.

Cleo shot forward. When it came to those whose cultivations recovered the fastest, she was only a step slower than Elena and Galkos. But, when it came to battle prowess, she who was practically set to become a Queen in the future, wasn't lacking in any respects.

Even though Heaven's Punishment could suppress their cultivation, what it couldn't do was erase their combat experience. Taking advantage of kids that were barely in their late teens was something Cleo felt endlessly disgusted toward Ryu for doing, clearly having no idea that even compared to these kids, Ryu had been cultivating for a far shorter time.

However… Since when did Ryu care to explain himself to anyone?

The instant he sensed Cleo appearing near him, his chains lashed out once again.

Twin fans appeared in Cleo's hands, one covered in a bright gold sun and the other dancing with the silver hues of a shining moon.

Her gown fluttered in the air, her silver hair dancing about like a raging river. It lengthened in the air as her Spiritual Qi rose and with just a single whip of his wrist, the moon fan slapped Ryu's chains out of the way.

The sun fan snapped close, piercing out toward Ryu's forehead. Its moment was no less than that of a raging flood dragon. One would have thought that she had sliced out with a spear rather than the fan she had used.

Her rage seemed to fuel her strength, her delicate arms producing a power that towered over anything manifested on this battlefield just yet.

Ryu released his chains, allowing them to burst into a flutter of raining sparks of fire.

His palm reached out in the space between himself and Cleo, his claws suddenly pinching downward.

An explosion of air resounded through the skies. An invisible attack suddenly became tangible, an illusory flame trying its best to burn Ryu's arm to ash.

Cleo's face twisted into a sneer. Her flames were among the most powerful in the Martial God Clan and the twin fans in her hands were actually a Half-Step to the Ancestral Grade. To try and take such an attack, even if it was just a probe, with your bare hands was just asking for death.

However, the result was completely out of her expectations. The illusory golden flame danced up Ryu's claw and arm. However, just as it was about to reach his shoulder and engulf the rest of his body, Ryu suddenly squeezed down.

BANG!

The piercing attack shattered between three of Ryu's claws, the illusory flame vanishing along with it.

Cleo's pupils constricted, but Ryu had already vanished in a streak of lightning. To Cleo's horror, a Divine Mark had appeared right before her, yet she hadn't even been able to sense it until Ryu disappeared.

As quickly as she could, Cleo opened her moon fan to its largest degree, waving her arm about. Thick lines of silver qi followed her movement, forming a five sided star before her in the blink of an eye.

BANG!

Her defenses had hardly formed when it suddenly shattered. Ryu's fist plowed through it as though it was no different from a thin pane of glass, an oppressive aura bearing down that forced her to retreat several hundred meters.

However, despite how explosively she had surged backward, she felt an air pressure collide with her chest. Her ribcage cracked and snapped, her torso curving into an arc and a splatter of blood flooding out from her mouth and nose.

Ryu indifferently stepped forward to pursue, but his pathway was suddenly pressed down upon by Ulmir of the Ignis Clan and the youth of the Viridi Clan.

Seeing two traitors appear before him like this, a billowing steam flew from the sides of Ryu's mouth, sparking with both flames and lightning. He seemed no different from a beast suppressing a chest of fury, his scales dancing with life as Heavenly Patterns coursed throughout them almost as though they had minds of their own.

Ryu's Spiritual Qi soared, dwarfing the small tides Cleo had just caused. The difference was so striking that it threw her into the depths of despair. She could only sigh a breath of relief when she realized that the target wasn't herself.

A massive grimoire appeared above Ryu's head, a gathering of Elemental energies swirling about with all sorts of colors. To Ryu's [Ephemeral Tapestry], it was a sight as beautiful as the Heavens. However, to others, it was an oppressive showing that threatened to shatter their hearts.

Ryu pressed two fingers together on both his hands, drawing an arc with one and a straight line that divided the skies with the other.

A bow of raging sapphire lightning formed, its might causing the clouds above to rumble, only being held back by the presence of the Heaven's Punishment.

There was something especially divine about Ryu's lightning. Facing it, Ulmir felt as though all his lightning affinity had vanished in an instant. Everything he had been proud of came crumbling down, his Dao threatening to shatter.

It was at this moment, standing a thinnest line away from death, that Ulmir finally understood how it was his clansman had lost his will before Ryu.

Ryu's fingers released.

SHUUUUU!

Despair colored Ulmir's face. He couldn't mount any sort of defense, his soul having already fled his body long ago. He lost consciousness even before Ryu's arrow of lightning reached him, saving him from the horror of feeling his body implode from the inside out… But, maybe what would have hurt him all the more was the fact Ryu didn't even care enough to see his death through, having already turned his gaze toward the Viridi youth.

The pages of the grimoire flipped wildly, a volatile Wind Qi forming.

The Viridi Clan member's expression warped to an extreme. The instant he saw what happened to Ulmir, he retreated explosively, realizing that he was in over his head. He had thought he stood a chance after he recovered to the Divine Vessel Realm, but he understood now that he was nothing more than a fool.

Unfortunately, that hardly mattered.

A surging blade qi rose out from Ryu's body. For the first time, they understood that the fist was nowhere near Ryu's specialty. For them… He simply didn't need to bring out his weapon.

A golden green wind qi wrapped about the blade qi, their towering Inheritances fusing into one before they completely vanished. The air continued to tremble, but it was as though all the effort Ryu had put in before amounted to nothing.

However, it was then the Viridi Clan member stopped retreating, bitterness evidence in his eyes as his body fell into two halves.

'… It didn't disappear… It was just too thin to see…'

A manic roar shook the skies as Arteur blazed a trail toward Ryu.

As though Ryu had already anticipated this, his grimoire flipped its pages again, towering pillars of flames suddenly rising into the skies.

Ryu's chest expanded, the scales on his throat suddenly becoming separated by a bloodred light as the skin beneath heated up to an extreme. A deathly stillness rose within Ryu's gaze, the slits of his pupils bearing down with a menacing intent as he stared down Arteur from above.

It was then that a roar that completely drown Arteur's resounded. A beam of black-red left Ryu's lips, shattering the air it came across and evaporating everything in its path.

Arteur's expression arched into a sneer, his Spirit Body taking effect instantly as he attempted to vanish within the rising flames and appear right before Ryu. However, it was exactly because of this stupid choice that no one ever got to see his look of horror.

All they heard was Arteur's screech of pain. As though a pig being slaughtered, he hollered into the skies. It was just for a brief moment and the sound disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, but it was enough to paint the picture.

Three geniuses. Three attacks.

Every time Ryu took action, he used the strongest affinity of his enemy and crushed them to a pulp. It was as though he was trying to show the world something.

Before him, even the greatest geniuses were worth nothing.

Right then, Galkos' cultivation shattered another barrier, crossing into the Path Extinction Realm. His aura blazed, his confidence soaring once again. However, he still didn't attack, allowing his cultivation to accelerate toward the Dao Pedestal Realm.

Ryu's gaze fell onto him, a lofty momentum soaring from the root of his very bones.

"You've already lived too long."

Ryu vanished.