Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu's breath became peaceful, yet cyclones of visible wind entered his lips and nostrils before beaming outward in a strong stream. The more he thought about which path to take, the more confused he became.

First, there was his Grandma Kunan. She was an absolute master of the palm. It was rumored that she could blot out the skies with a single strike. The power she showed in crippling the Third Grand Elder wasn't even 5% of her true strength.

However, Ryu's Grandpa Kunan was a God of the Bow. Even during Ryu's lifetime, he would often hear stories about how he used to stand on the clouds like a God of the Skies, his blue hair whipping about violently as he passed judgement with a single pull of his bow string. His grandpa treasured his bow almost as much as his wife.

Then there was the Tatsuya Clan. Ryu felt that his father and grandfather alike would be more disappointed than words could describe if he didn't master the three Tatsuya Saintly Weapons. Of course, these referred to the Dragon God Weapon: the halberd, the God Emperor Weapon: the spear, and the War God Weapon: the glaive.

Ryu's Grandma Tatsuya was a master of the saber. Fire Phoenix Clan women were usually taught the whip, but Merula disdained to follow suit. Instead, she forged her own path. In fact, legend of her shimmering rose-gold saber didn't lose out to Grandma Kunan's palm at all.

Last, but not least, there was his mother. After Himari was born, her mother and father thought it would be a shame if she couldn't make full use of her bone structure. Although she had great potential along the palm and bowman paths, they allowed Himari to forge her own. In the end, Ryu's mother chose the most difficult of the weapon paths.

This so-called most difficult path didn't refer to a specific kind of weapon, or weapon length, or weight. Instead, it referred to a particular Form. This path was known as the dual wielding path. Because of the dexterity gifted to her by her bone structure, Himari became the Twin Sword Demoness, neither one of her blades fell behind the other in either speed or power.

Obviously, Ryu couldn't choose all of these paths. No matter how much he wanted to pay homage to his lineage in its entirety, attempting to become a master of all always ended in becoming a master of none. In a world where comprehending the Natural Order was so important, Ryu needed to maximize his talent, not dilute it.

The first choice Ryu made was to take a first step along the path his mother chose. Since they shared the same bone structure, he would be wasting his talent if he didn't make use of it.

There was a reason dual wielding was so difficult. Even for Immortals, one would be born with a dominant hand. Not only would this hand be less awkward to use, but it often had wider and more robust meridians as well. Training one's off hand would require a lot of effort that didn't always bear fruit. Even for Ryu's grandmother who practiced palms, the strike of her right palm had always been more powerful than her left.

However, all of these problems disappeared into the ether for Ryu and his mother. Their bodies were born with perfect flexibility and dexterity. Now that Ryu had gone through nine Rites, he could feel the flawless balance of his body… It was this symmetry that nature loved so much.

Still, even after picking this path, Ryu remained undecided. Should he learn the twin swords as his mother did? Was it even possible to dual wield something that wasn't a sword or saber? But, he was a Tatsuya Clan Heir at the end of the day, how could he disappoint his father and grandfather? Although his grandpa was a very quiet man, he always showed his love by his actions. Ryu didn't like the idea of letting him down. He had already done so once… He couldn't do it again.

Ryu's jaw clenched. 'Even if it's impossible, I must try. Dual wielding two, two-handed weapons is a fool's dream. But, I, Ryu Tatsuya, will do it.'

With a thought, Ryu's body flashed. Even without a movement technique, his speed was blinding. Since his body was far stronger now, it of course followed that he could use his Heavenly Wind in a more unbridled fashion.

Moments later, Ryu reappeared within the Human Pavilion, scanning a large room filled with weapons.

Weapons followed the same Grading system as treasures. There were seven divisions which were each broken into lower, middle, higher and peak sub-divisions. From what Ryu could see now, most of this first floor was filled with various Common Grade weapons. Lowers were found at the front, while Peaks were further toward the back. There were also a set of stairs that led to floors with better weapons. However, Ryu didn't go there just yet.

When one was within the first two cultivation realms, the Awakening and Pulse Opening realms, it was only possible to use Common Grade techniques. Following this line of logic, it was also impossible for one of these two realms to pull out the full potential of a weapon above of the Common Grade. Until Ryu entered the Qi Refinement realm, using a weapon of too high a Grade would only serve to drain his stamina more quickly. At the same time, using a weapon of too high a Grade before one was ready would also hinder one's comprehension of the Natural Order.

Ryu remembered that the first weapon his father gave him was a wooden stick. Of course, this wooden stick was still of higher quality than even the Peak Common Grade weapons here, but it still served to ingrain the concept within Ryu's mind.

Without feeling any doubt or regret, Ryu immediately chose two mass produced Lower Common Grade halberds, and repeated the process with two spears, and two glaives.

Truth be told, this was a blessing in disguise. Because these weapons were inferior to the point of being mass produced, Ryu didn't need to worry about imbalances. The pairs of weapons were more or less the same weight, balance and length.

After completing this task, Ryu appeared within the Pill Storage rooms of the Natural Order Sect. Taking a moment, he ignored the Qi Realm pills to find a set of Body Realm ones known as 'Blood Congealing' pills. These pills agitated one's blood and forced it to coalesce. Doing so pushed out impurities and also made attacking Body Pulses much easier.

Of course, Ryu didn't need these pills for forcing out impurities, his Rites could do that. Plus, his bloodline was of the Ancestral Grade and thus was near a realm of perfection already. These mere 40% pure pills couldn't hope to refine it. But, they could help him enter the Body Realm.