Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

"Tsk," Ianjor clicked his tongue. "This is no fun."

He might have bet on Ryu, but his actual intention was to watch him struggle for a bit longer. But what happened? He got slapped away by one beast, and then it was practically smooth sailing the rest of the way.

After some thought, though, Ianjor comforted himself. It was definitely going to be a shit show when Ryu finally took a step out. That would be nice to see.

"You know him."

The words came from nowhere and descended onto Ianjor from all sides. It looked as though they were trying to suffocate him.

Ianjor looked up and snorted. The surrounding pressure was incinerated to ash and the person who spoke yelped, reeling back.

High in the skies, the body of a Demon manifested. It was a member of the Blacksteel Giant Race, and the confusion and fear on their face was clear for all to see.

Logically, you shouldn't be able to set someone's aura on fire, but why did it seem like Ianjor could break the physical laws of reality to force it to be so?

What profound control over the fire element did this take?

The Blacksteel Giant had already noticed that Ianjor was a Dao Lord, but he could also sense that he was a human. Demons never took humans in the Nether Plane seriously. The strong among them were all on the Ninth Heaven and had no reason to come here, because it would only hinder their progress.

The only humans here were fugitives or meager in talent.

How could this Blacksteel Giant expect to run into not just one human monster, but two?

This action by Ianjor, though, made most conclude that he had to be with Ryu. By this point, Empana had long gone inside the Rotten Sea to participate. So he had no plausible deniability whatsoever.

No one was paying attention to this corner of the mountain ranges to begin with, so they had no idea who Ianjor had come with or who he was representing.

Ianjor was left speechless when several unfriendly gazes landed on him.

"Son of a bitch," he cursed under his breath. His gaze shifted, looking toward where Lu'card had vanished, probably still being pursued by the Bone Serpents.

Ryu had really screwed them both over.

A dangerous light danced in Ianjor's crimson gaze.

"I'd advise you all to piss off. I'm in a good mood, and I'd prefer not to ruin it by dealing with ants."

Ianjor's words might as well have been throwing oil onto a fire.

'Dammit, I still can't control my mouth.'

Ianjor cursed again, making sure to levy another large segment at Ryu.

Back then, the reason he got into conflict with Ryu all the time was because he couldn't control his mouth when his temper flared up. All things considered, he had no right to be so rude to the ruling Clan of his father's Sect, but that hadn't helped.

It seemed that he was still the same person.

Ianjor cursed again.

"Fine, fine."

Ianjor's eyeballs erupted, becoming dancing lights of multicoloured flames. His aura multiplied several times over and the Fire Giants looked over as though they had felt something stirring within them.

"You all want a fight, right? Then let's fight. You must think I'm a pushover or something."

...

Ryu took Selheira's hand and guided her deeper down the Rotten Sea. She fluttered along with a smile on her face, wondering why she had ever felt so uncomfortable before. Having her husband's protection made her feel like she was floating on a cloud.

It was the best feeling in the world.

"Here it is." Ryu said. "Take your time and see if you can resonate with it."

This was the barrier to the fourth layer. If Ryu's calculations were correct, the real geniuses, at least relatively speaking, were probably already in the fifth.

This fourth layer, though, was a clear watershed. It was no wonder the concentration of participants was so high in this region. Most probably couldn't make it through this barrier.

Well, it wasn't that they couldn't, but rather that they needed the blood crystals to help, which also explained why they had made such a big deal of it.

"Okay," Selheira nodded, going into a state of concentration.

"What does it feel like?" Ryu asked.

He was curious. He could make guesses as to why his wife registered as a Demon, but he wasn't 100% sure.

The reasoning was clear. Humans have the most variable talents and beasts had the most locked in talents, and Demons were right in the middle.

Ryu had realized this when he was thinking about talents and their restrictions. Namely, this being caught in between of the two races-beast and human-was the reason Demons were susceptible to Summoning Necromancers.

Selheira was a beast that had come to follow the path of a human, so she was the perfect reflection of a Demon... just that the steps she took to get there were a bit different that most.

"... Whenever I sense the barrier, it feels like two sides of me are tugging at once. The barrier itself seems a bit confused about exactly what I am, but it's close enough that it activates, regardless."

Thinking to this point, Selheira opened her eyes and looked at Ryu.

"But how are you getting it to recognize you?"

Ryu grinned. "Bloodmancy."

Selheira blinked in surprise. She had never heard of this discipline before. She considered herself to be quite knowledgeable as well, so it was a surprising oversight on her part.

"It's a discipline from another world. I didn't know about its existence until recently either. But this sort of blood resonating barrier and internal seals is exactly what it's most useful against. In fact, it's also the reason I can resonate with the blood in this Rotten Sea."

His Dominance Path forced the surrounding blood into submission, making it resonate with the cadence of his own Bloodline.

The trouble was that this way was far too draining.

It would be far more efficient if he did the reverse, but to succeed in doing that, he would need more time to decipher exactly what was happening.

The fourth layer took Selheira a few hours to break through. Ryu wasn't impatient. As far as he was concerned, so long as all his targets were in this sea, they would die one way or another.

Once she had broken through, he took action as well. Having had the benefit of observing the barrier for so long, it didn't take him more than a few seconds to burst through.

"How's it feel?" Ryu asked.

Selheira didn't answer immediately.

There were definitely changes occurring inside of her. She just didn't know if it was a good thing or not.

Her Fire Dragon Bloodline, after having been suppressed all her life, was showing signs of returning. But the odd part was that it wasn't in the same way.

For example, she felt no affinity toward flames at all. Instead, she was beginning to feel the temperament of a Fire Dragon more and more clearly, and it was somewhat overriding her usual temperament as a Crystal Dragon.

More complex than that, she even somewhat felt that she could still guide it, molding it into something new. But she wasn't sure what path to take.

She hesitated before shaking her head. If she couldn't lean on her husband, then who could she lean on?

"What do you think I should do?" Selheira asked, after explaining her situation.

"What do you think the main path of the Crystal Dragon is?" Ryu asked.

Selheira blinked. "... Control?"

Ryu thought for a moment, but didn't agree. Words were especially important, especially when deciding a path like this one.

"Control, somewhat. From what I can feel from your Primordial Yin, it's more accurate to say guidance. You are never really controlling anything. Instead, you're giving it the room to bring out the best of itself.

"Although this could be seen as a form of control, in practice there's a subtle different to it, an important one that can make or break a lot of things."

Selheira's eyes lit up. "Then?"

"You can give your awakening Fire Dragon Bloodline some intentionality that other Fire Dragons do not have. Rather than viewing your Crystal Dragon Bloodline as a weakness, view it as a strength."

Ryu didn't say anything more. In truth, if it wasn't for his Dao, he likely would have said too much already. Comprehension was the one thing he couldn't put his fingerprints over. He had to give much more subtle guidance. If not, it would lead to trouble down the line.

"I see..."

Selheira's eyes glowed, and her thoughts churned.

Seeing her lost in her own world, Ryu chuckled and just lifted her up, placing her onto his back before walking forward.

The pressure in the fourth layer increased substantially. Even with Selheira's weight, it felt like he was walking on solid earth. It could hardly be called water any longer. It was more like a cured, toxic sludge.

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