Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu tried to regulate his breathing. He didn't even waste the energy to create a larger space around himself, it would not only be an effort he couldn't afford to put out right now, it wouldn't be easy and it would cause a disturbance that he wasn't willing to deal with.

This many kilometers beneath the surface, the pressure was off the charts, and the hardness of the rocks reflected that. The density of material in a nigh Seventh Heaven environment was already sturdy enough to withstand the battle of high level Sky Gods, let alone Ryu's fists, especially so far beneath the surface. So, he had to make do for now.

On the surface, Pierthron was in his own bind. He had actually lose track of Ryu. At first, he thought it would be easy to find the little bastard even after he slipped away. Those orbs of light that he had left in his wake had shrunk Ryu's chances of escape by even more. They were essentially ranged probes that could act as stand-ins for his own Spiritual Sense. So long as someone passed by within a certain range of it, or there was an odd energy fluctuation around it, or even another Spiritual Sense passed over it, he would be in the know.

But Ryu seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Pierthorn's expression became frighteningly cold. He was no longer worried about Ryu escaping, so he was easily able to remain calm. He could even take his time to adjust his condition and be prepared for when Ryu appeared again, but he didn't do this. He had barely used any energy, and the stamina of a Sky God was far more than a World Sea Realm expert could fathom. He wouldn't give Ryu an opening to do this.

'He'll need to recover. The moment he starts pulling qi in from his surroundings, it will be a simple matter to find him. Even a concealment formation can't hide qi outside of its bounds...'

What he didn't know was that Ryu had absolutely no need to draw in qi from the outside. Why would he with access to an entire Plane's qi within him?

...

Ryu's Embryonic Qi finally recovered a drop and he immediately used it, but not long after, his expression turned dark. A single drop of his Embryonic Qi could even cause large changes in a Sky God like Isemeine, so why didn't it fully heal him?

'Taboo...'

Ryu's annoyance increased, but there was no need to panic. Pierthorn still couldn't find him, so it didn't matter if he took a few more minutes to fully recover.

It was clear that because his body had firmly stepped onto a Taboo Path now, it would take more than just one drop of Embryonic Qi to heal him now. It was also probably in part due to the fact that it was Infinity Mist that had harmed him so much as well. This was an extremely high level of energy, and its effects couldn't be easily waved away with a hand. If not for the fact it was partially under his control, he would have died.

Despite feeling that this made some sense, Ryu wasn't satisfied with this explanation. Embryonic Qi was also an exceptionally high level energy, one existing on the same level as Essence and Chaos Qi. Why was it restrained by the Taboo Path?

The reality wasn't that it was restrained, but rather that the Taboo Path was restrained. Matters of Faith, Karma and Fate intertwined themselves with every aspect of the martial world, and this was only doubly so in the True Martial World.

The Taboo Powers had had their path severed and their names trashed, they were marred by terrible Karma and their Fates were more sealed than even Ryu's own. By the same token, Embryonic Qi was a qi that quite literally gave birth to the geniuses of the True Martial World, it was it that molded the future generation. Ever since the Taboo Powers had been suppressed and restricted, Embryonic Qi no longer gave birth to their talents. So, Embryonic Qi had naturally begun to lean toward the Nine Powers as well.

To make a long story short, Embryonic Qi was simply far better at healing those of the now "common" paths, as opposed to those of the Taboo Paths.

But then that begged an obvious question. Why was it so much easier to heal Isemeine, then?

That was where the matter became more complicated. Just because Embryonic Qi leaned to one side, didn't mean that it was weak. Its abilities were still extremely potent. The problem was that Ryu had quite literally molded his body, changing it fundamentally to step onto a Taboo Path. Isemeine and Eska, though, weren't even quite following a Taboo Path themselves, their path was usually followed by twins, but they were one person. The restrictions on the Taboo Path weren't as heavy for them because it wasn't as recognized.

In addition, even if it was, they still wouldn't have molded their body like Ryu had. It would probably only become more difficult for Ryu to heal himself with Embryonic Qi in the future, but in truth, he wasn't worried.

He had only formed one drop just now, but he was capable of forming small streams of Embryonic Qi now. If it wasn't for the terrible situation he was in, he would have easily been able to produce the Embryonic Qi he needed for himself.

Soon, Ryu had formed a second drop, and then a third. He was fully healed by the fourth, and could finally feel his body decompress and relax despite the splitting headache he was still experiencing.

After this, Ryu focused on his soul.

It wasn't that Embryonic Qi didn't work on his soul, but rather that there was no point. If he "healed" the wounds on his soul, it would just be half as powerful as it wouldn't replenish the half he had lost. It was easier to just recultivate. In fact, doing this instead of directly using Embryonic Qi made his soul more resilient.

This was already the second time he had done something similar and he could feel hints of his soul recovering somewhat like what a muscle would do, as though shredding it apart again and again was an exercise.

Ryu didn't believe it was a coincidence. It was definitely somewhat related to his Phoenix Bloodlines.

The more he learned about his soul, or rather souls, the more he understood just how intertwined all the systems of the body were. So, he found that letting his soul recover on its own was actually much better.

With practiced precision, Ryu pulled his Chaos Qi from his Meridians. In the past, he wasn't about to pass it through to his thoughts easily and would even have to expel it, before turning it into Spiritual Qi, and only then absorbing it. But he understood the systems of his souls far better now and didn't feel that sort of restriction.

The hours ticked by. Recultivating was a simple matter for Ryu, especially considering the new... friend in his Spiritual Sea.

The endless black sea looked just as reflective as usually, but now, there was a hidden change. Or maybe... not so hidden.

A complex formation lay in its depths, at the center of which was a flickering white flame, the name of which Ryu had still never tried to pronounce. With this white flame as the center, waving about like a ball of content, his soul always seemed to tend toward perfection.

What breaking into the Soul Ascension Realm had taught him was that there was, indeed, a limit to the Perfect Blackbody, a limit that went beyond what the soul could do, and rather pushed up against what the Heavens could allow... And this formation would help him reach that.

It would have to do at least that much since it made him abandon a Dao Sovereign's self-created technique. It went to show just how much confidence Ryu had in himself now.

Maybe what he liked most about this formation, though... was how it perfectly melded with his Magus Lock, intertwining and even becoming a part of it. This was the reason his Magus Lock had actually been able to withstand Pierthorn's blow.

Suddenly, Ryu's eyes flashed open, a dense coldness within. He was now in his peak condition.

There was no one here? He faced a Sky God alone? And he even had a protective talisman in that old bastard?

Good. It was about time he found out what the true extent of his power was. What did it mean for Ryu Tatsuya to use 100% of everything he had?

Right now, Ryu wasn't the only one struggling. The mighty Seventh Heaven geniuses came across their own partial Sky Gods one after another, unlucky enough to have not broken through themselves. In fact, it almost felt as though the Heavenly Path had done it on purpose for one reason or another...

However, at the moment, Ryu wasn't thinking about the Fate of others. He had revenge on his mind.

BANG!

The earth exploded as Chaos Qi spilled out in all directions.

His Chaotic Silk Meridians screamed to life, suppressed for far too long.