Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

"A Staff city? What's that?" Yaana asked curiously.

"You see the hundreds of cities hanging in the sky? Each of them has their own affiliation. In the Armament Guild, one of the highest honors you can earn is becoming a City Protector, or what they call 'earning your Armament'.

"There are exactly 999 cities excluding the largest one in the sky and there are 111 cities to each 'Armament'. There are 100 placed for Path Extinction Realm Armaments, 10 places for Dao Pedestal Realm Armaments, and a singular place for Cosmic Seed Realm Armaments for nine total.

"Do you see those nine cities closest to the largest one up there?" Ryu pointed.

Yaana looked up, her gaze sparkling. "Those are the Cosmic Seed Realm Armaments?"

"Yes, those are where the most powerful experts beneath the World Sea Realm call home. In the countless years since the Armament Guild has existed, the Cosmic Seed Armaments have always been in the hands of one of the nine families."

"Oh?" Yaana blinked. "Are they that good with their weapons? No one else can surpass them?"

"Well…"

Ryu smiled but didn't answer immediately.

The truth was that it was a matter of face and there was probably a lot of background shenanigans involved as well.

Those who came from good backgrounds wouldn't want to antagonize the Armament Guild without reason while those without backgrounds didn't dare to. In the latter case, if one was talented enough, it was possible to change your last name and join the nine families, effectively keeping the title in house. But, there were very few people who would be willing to do such a thing.

Even in the case that you were a woman and didn't have to carry on your family name like a man would, any woman who was an expert capable of claiming a Cosmic Seed Armament for themselves would never lower their pride to marry into a family just for such a title.

There were certain principles that those who followed pure weapon paths abided by that felt universal. And pride was most definitely among them.

As a result of this, those who felt they had the skill to challenge the Cosmic Seed Armaments would almost never do so in an official capacity. There was too much trouble involved with it all.

However, this wasn't too surprising, this was just the reality that being too powerful brought about. Without struggle, conceit would be bred. With too much conceit came complacency. With complacency came the loss of virtue. Eventually, this loss of virtue would lead to the collapse of a power.

Ryu didn't know what had happened to the Armament Guild in the last billion years, but he could sense something off about the atmosphere this time around the moment he stepped foot into the city he chose.

The last time Ryu had come here, it was with his father and he was just a toddler. He even remembered using their testing stone, though his father had never let him see exactly what his result was back then.

Ryu remembered that visit well, especially since he had the complete Origin Flame now. The ambience had felt different, much lighter and far more carefree. Everyone came to this place to exchange knowledge and grow as cultivators. But now…

"Well what?"

The sudden voice cut through Ryu's thoughts. There was no doubt that it was exceptionally abrasive and carried the tone of starting up trouble. Clearly this individual wanted Ryu to finish his sentence, not liking what his long pause was implying.

Ryu was still leisurely walking with Yaana and they weren't far from the city gates up ahead. All around them, individuals holding staffs on their backs walked forward as well. There were very few like Ryu and Yaana who didn't have any weapon to speak of. These individuals were very clearly here as tourists and were viewed as lesser than by the true cultivators.

Within the Armament Guild, it was common practice to keep your weapon outside of your spatial ring. There would often be challenges and a person without a weapon could even be seen as someone who had lost theirs to another. This was among the greatest humiliations for a person of the Armament Guild.

Ryu sighed when he heard this voice.

"… Annoying."

Yaana giggled beside herself. She didn't know why, but she found this side of Ryu extra funny.

The truth was that Yaana had never met the cold Ryu. The Ryu she knew was still that mischievous, too clever for his own good little blind boy. So, the Ryu of right now was exactly the same Ryu she had always known, which was why she sometimes felt like she was missing a piece of him.

"You dared to speak before but you've forgotten how to now?"

The young man cut through appeared before Ryu and Yaana, clearly not having heard Ryu's most recent comment. This made it obvious to Ryu that his cultivation couldn't be very high.

With a single glance, Ryu noticed that this young man was indeed only in the Immortal Ring Realm. But, judging by his robes and the emblems on them, he was a member of the Virga family. It was no wonder he had gotten offended by Ryu's earlier non-answer. Obviously, he understood that Ryu had implied that there had been experts that surpassed their nine families in the past. This was a great insult to the young man.

Ryu shook his head.

Eustis, the Virga family's Staff, had sat with him at the banquet. He couldn't very well turn his junior into a cloud of mist just for a few words, now could he? Was this what having to control your temper felt like? It was annoying.

"Get out of my way or I'll snap your staff in half." Ryu said coldly, his demeanor changing entirely.

Ailsa almost fell over Ryu's shoulder laughing, holding onto her toned belly as though she couldn't take it anymore.

Could this still be considered controlling your temper?