Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

1290 I Don't...

There was a deathly sort of silence. Many of those who seemed to have wanted to compete with Ryu in the future once his cultivation caught up found themselves going entirely pale.

They had never sensed a Founding Dao in their lives, many of them didn't even have a full understanding of what it meant to have one... until this moment.

The gap was so large, so profound. They couldn't even properly sense what level Ryu was standing at. They could only feel that he was impossibly far beyond them, and that was despite the fact that most of them were Sky Gods who had already matured their Daos past the infancy stage and had built their Godhoods.

Whether it was the people of the Radiant Star Sect, or the duo in the skies, both groups had entirely forgotten how to breathe. It felt like they were witnessing an existence that stood beyond them.

Ryu had thought a lot about hiding himself. He felt like that was all he had been doing since he entered the True Martial World, which was greatly ironic considering how he had looked down upon that little arrogant Fey woman.

Was it reckless to do this? Most definitely. Was it smart? Probably not. But did it make him feel good? Without the slightest shade of doubt.

His blood ran smoother, his mind felt lighter, his body more fluid. It was as though invisibly chains that threatened to suffocate him had loosened considerably. He was Ryu Tatsuya, a man who had always held his head high.

He had once told the Patriarch of the Ember Clan that if his talent had been as poor as his own, he would have already been hung dry to be picked clean by the summer birds. So how could he, with his current level of strength, possibly continue to suppress himself.

He was the first to have formed a Founding Dao in countless generations as far as he was aware, and he wouldn't let others ride on his head when he could suppress them with a palm. At the moment, Aika's feelings didn't matter in the slightest to him. Since the name of Ryu Tatsuya had been attached to her, he wouldn't allow himself to be slandered through her.

Ryu opened his palm and his great swordstaff flew into his hands with a resounding slap that echoed through the skies. A harrowing sword howl pierced forward, echoing through the firmament and causing the ground below to tremble. Under the splendor of his Dao, his Sword God Aura seemed to tower, unmatched and unrestrained.

Space rumbled and lightning sparked. The vague image of a manifestation taking shape to his back but not taking even a single step outward. It seemed to hide in the void, looking down on those around with a gaze that was piercingly arrogant, and yet somehow, its eyes were still closed, almost as though it couldn't be bothered to look at those around it.

Ryu's self-created Birthed Phenomena resonated with his Dao even in its partially hidden state. The arcs of lightning in the skies above continued to rumble and tremble. Sparks flew and bolts as thick as a robust man's waist surged down from the skies, blasting thick rocks to ash and burning down ancient forests.

Starlight's gaze never left Ryu, or more accurately, it couldn't. He was finding it difficult even to move a single inch, Ryu's presence bearing down on him. Ryu's question continued to echo in his mind, but he couldn't seem to find the courage to say yes.

His cultivation had been fast, so fast, in fact, that he had already caught up to Ryu. Of course, this was also due to the fact that Ryu had spent at least a year in a coma and another more than half year doing nothing more than tempering his Dao Heart. With Starlight's talent, even though he had come out blazing with his Embryonic Qi, catching up was a given.

Due to this, he had been completely confident that he could crush Ryu now, it wouldn't even be much of a competition. He was unmoved when he saw Ryu's new abilities, unmoved when he saw him defeat three World Sea Realm experts, unmoved when he felt the strength of his body... But now...

Starlight suddenly realized that he stood at a crossroads.

On one side, there was the option to cower. If he took this route, he would never be able to raise his head up again. He could already feel his Dao Heart crumbling just at the thought that this might actually be a viable option, a constricting feeling taking hold of his chest.

On the other side, there was the option to fight... to battle with maybe the only junior with a Founding Dao in the whole of the True Martial World, likely in all of Existence. The gap between Ryu's comprehension and his own was impossibly enormous, and he could very well lose miserably, maybe even to the point of losing his life....

However, at that moment, Starlight suddenly opened his mouth and roared. It wasn't a valiant roar, it wasn't a roar of determination or glory, it was rather a savage, uncontrolled sort of roar, one that came from the deepest parts of his soul, the roar of a man forcing himself to face his fears.

Starlight took a step forward, the stars in the skies suddenly manifesting as a familiar sword appeared in his hand.

His was red, his expression distorted as veins popped across his body. A flood of star qi descended from the skies, his own Ancient Dao manifesting down in waves, but clearly muted and controlled before Ryu's presence.

"I don't fear you!"

These words seemed to take all of Starlight's strength, but a moment after, his gaze glowed with a blinding light, his Dao taking another step forward and entering the Second Cosmic Grade. At this moment, his Dao had actually taken two steps farther than his current training level.