Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu turned his attention away from Adlael. If he didn't have such a tough road ahead of him, then would it even be worth it?

This was what he came to the True Martial World for. As much as he wanted to say that it was to grow more powerful so that he could protect his family from the Martial Gods, that was only one of the reasons. In truth, even if Sacrum wasn't in danger of being constantly targeted by these bastards, he would have still come.

What he wanted most in life was to battle against the strongest, to feel his blood boil even as it leaked from his body in the midst of a bloody battle. He wanted to feel that euphoria of crushing his enemies in his fists, of climbing over adversity and coming out on top.

His aura flared and was quickly suppressed by the blinking chains. Spikes of pain shot through his body, but his grin didn't fade as he focused on the rules.

He scanned them quickly and understood what was going on. This was a battle of snatching Heavenly Favor that relied on the Dao, but with a twist. Rather than them all starting at the same point, they would have a divide between them, and ironically, it was those that had to climb up from the First Heaven to reach this place that had an advantage. Or at the very least, those that had performed well did.

This was a struggle between those that had been handed all the luck in the world, whether that be in terms of backing or talent, and those that had fought for everything, tooth and nail.

Ryu realized now that even though only his name was on the list of the ancient cube, there were some here that had survived the Incomplete Heavenly Path that had managed to gain a small boost compared to others as well. He assumed that these were people who had come down from the Fourth or Fifth Heavens in order to participate. But their boost was negligible compared to his own.

In the coming round, there would be a series of challenges and duels, both of which would provide opportunities.

The challenges were divided into Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond, much like the second round. The greater the challenge, the more Heavenly Favor you could snatch from it. But likewise, the penalty for failing would be far harsher as well.

Duels had two categories that they fell into, and within each of these categories, there were further divisions.

The two main categories were Challenge Disputes or Normal Duels.

Challenge Disputes occurred when two participants wanted to target the same challenge. A challenge could only be taken on by one participant at a time, and therefore there would be a battle for supremacy over the right of challenge.

Normal Duels could occur instead of a challenge. In this case, a participant would choose to challenge another participant instead of a challenge.

Within each duel, there were also Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond levels. This would decide how much of your Heavenly Favor you were betting. A Bronze Duel would cost 10%, a Silver would cost 20%, a Gold 30% and a Diamond 50%.

What was immediately obvious was that the more Heavenly Favor you had, the more of a disadvantage you seemed to be in and there was an opportunity presented to those with weaker Heavenly Favor to catch up quickly....

Unless, of course, they died.

In the case of any death, as opposed to a successful forfeit, a participant would lose 100% of their Heavenly Favor to their opponent.

As for how the progression of the round would proceed, it was quite simple. They would be ordered in terms of Heavenly Favor, and this would decide the progression path of the rounds. Ryu, as the one granted the greatest amount, would be first.

During his turn, Ryu could select to complete a challenge or compete in a Normal Duel.

This was where the benefits of having more Heavenly Favor would come to bear fruit. If Ryu chose to challenge, and another wanted to dispute and take the challenge for themselves, they could do so but there was a requirement.

They had to have at least half the Heavenly Favor that Ryu did.

When Ryu saw this, he had mixed feelings, because the truth was that no one here had even remotely half of his Heavenly Favor. Even if he gave them a small chance at it, they wouldn't be able to challenge him until the last stages of the rounds. Unless...

Ryu looked at the chains on him. How would the Heavenly Path decide how much Heavenly Favor he had, exactly? Would he still be first to go? And if he was first to go, how exactly...

There was really no knowing. His Fate Star had seemed to screw him over, but he wouldn't know how much until he started.

The first part went more effortlessly than he expected. After finishing its calculations, the Heavenly Path lit up Ryu's pillar and it moved forward by a step. The faint markings of a Domain Board lit up and when Ryu looked upward, he could see tiers rising into the skies.

... Interesting...

The challenges began to flash before Ryu, each one carrying a different, but slightly shrouded aura. It seemed that this trial would test his senses as well.

Unfortunately, he could sense the deficiency in Dao, Right now, it was like he was cut off from the Heavens, he wasn't even sure if his Dao was even as potent as a Lineal Dao any longer, let alone a Founding Dao. He couldn't sense anything ahead of him clearly as a result.

Ryu's eyes continued to scan the challenges, each of which represented a different position on the board.

'Fine, I will pick at random,' then, he thought somewhat bitterly.

The moment he pointed, he felt the descent of a task rock his pillar.