Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

"Next."

"STOP!"

Star River's roar came from the distance. She was so fast that the moment she appeared in everyone's vision, she seemed to have already arrived, her silver long gown fluttering into the wind.

Ryu gave her a glance and then continued to speak indifferently.

"Next."

"I SAID STOP! What are you doing?!"

"Challenging your disciples," Ryu replied plainly. "That's well within my right. So long as any one of them defeats me, they become the new Throne, isn't that it? I want to avoid the hassle so I came here to defeat all of them first."

This was, indeed, the case, though it was a very rare application of the Throne rules... and that was mostly because Ryu had explained it all too simply.

Technically speaking, because it was his third Throne, it was much easier to take the Throne away from Ryu. After all, he had to face Transcendeds during his challenge despite having only been a True Sky God at the time.

That meant that now that he was a Transcended, although Lords still wouldn't be able to challenge him, Omniscients certainly could.

The problem with all of this was that while it was technically true, there were restrictions. After all, the Heavens wouldn't allow a Sect to force a Throne into a battle of fatigue. That meant that after a certain point, Thrones had the right to reject.

When would a Throne ever be the one to take the initiative?

Clearly, Ryu was just stirring up trouble on purpose, and if that was all, that would be fine. After all, he hadn't actually killed anyone yet. But he was doing something far worse than that.

"That's not all you're doing!" Star River replied, infuriated. The clouds changed color and the weather seemed to reply to her fury, ready to strike down Ryu at any time.

Somehow, he was cutting off their Fate to the Sect as though they had been expelled.

Usually, this was only possible when done by a high enough ranked elder, and it couldn't be reversed without an equally highly ranked elder also taking action.

The problem was that Ryu was a Throne. There was no one that superseded his authority in regard to the Sect's Fate.

Somehow, he had found a loophole in these rules and was cutting down their disciples one after another.

This didn't seem like a big deal... except it was. Fate was impossibly important to a Sect and it couldn't be explained simply just how important it was. To lose all of their lifeblood like this would cripple their Faith Well.

If Ryu continued, even if all their elders remained intact, in just a matter of a generation or two, their Sect would be completely finished.

"So? Isn't it more convenient for me if they don't even have the right to challenge me at all? What did I say that was a lie?"

Star River's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets.

"You are a descendant of the Goddess! How can you do this?!"

Star River's words were like a bomb going off in the Sect. By this point, practically the entire Sect had been alerted. They weren't a very large Sect to begin with, which was part of why Ryu's current actions were so terrible for them all.

"A descendant?" Ryu asked calmly, looking into the distance as though he was lost in his own thoughts. "I don't know what you're talking about. The Tatsuya name is mine, was always mine, will always be mine.

"When it rings through Existence, echoing over all Heavens to hear it, it will be because of my path of cultivation."

Ryu's words echoed, but he didn't seem to be speaking to anyone in particular. He had said these words for no one other than himself, and yet they were words that made Star River pale down to her collarbone.

She wanted to hurry and shut Ryu up, but it was already too late. Disrespecting a Peak Dao God like that could end your life instantly.

"Just stop," Star River finally said, her eyes darting around. "This isn't appropriate. If you continue, I'll have to—."

"You'll have to what?" Ryu finally looked at her once again.

Star River froze. If she said stop him, it would impact her. If the backlash was bold enough, she might never progress in her cultivation again.

It was only now she seemed to remember what it was Ryu had said before he left her courtyard...

~"Is that what you think…?"~

"Do you finally get it?" Ryu asked. "As a Throne, the amount of resources I can ask from your Sect is nigh endless. Those resources include and extend to what you may have deemed to be functionally out of your jurisdiction or control.

"I asked you not because I needed to beg you for anything. The same way I can peruse your libraries at my leisure, take your techniques as I please, plunder your resources with a thought or a breath, I can force your hand to do almost anything for me.

"If you ever say that I, Ryu Tatsuya, have to beg for anything again, I promise you it won't end like this the next time. I will raze this Sect to the ground before I allow you or anyone else to disrespect me again.

"Dao God or not."

By the end of his words, Ryu was exuding such a biting, chilling cold that the temperature over the entire Sect plummeted, penetrating through the protective formations and pervading the very laws themselves.

After saying this, Ryu vanished.

"I will give you three days. Otherwise, my challenges will continue."

Star River stood in the skies in a daze. Her pupils trembled fiercely, and if not for being aware of her status, she would feel tears brimming in her eyes.

She had lived such a long life, but she had always been sheltered and cared for. Never had she suffered such a grievance in her life.

How could a man be so callous and cold? Didn't he realize that she was trying to protect him?

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