Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Was it a true Fate Star? When Ryu felt it succeed in forming, he knew that that wasn't the case, it didn't even have the slightest control over Fate, nor could it seem to absorb Heavenly Fate. Instead, it was rather like his own kernel, a seed for something that it might be able to become in the future.

Ryu's Cosmic Seeds weaved together, intertwining and forming the solid foundation of a Godhood. And then, his Dao flourished, growing stronger and stronger.

In that moment, it all clicked for Ryu.

His Beyond Perfect Extreme Spiritual Foundation was odd. It was an existence which, rather than relying on his own Dao to flourish, instead seemed to need external items. This wasn't how cultivation was supposed to work and he had been thinking about what it could mean for his Spiritual Foundation to work like this. Even so, he had followed his instincts, not to mention the path the Heavens had laid out for him, and chosen to trust it.

If he didn't have the White Phoenix Spiritual Foundation, it was doubtful that he would have been so confident in just moving along like this, but because he had it as a buffer, he hadn't felt the need to chase down this answer too much.

Although his White Phoenix Spiritual Foundation might be another ticking time bomb within his body, at the very least, for now, it was his own, and he had some confidence in keeping it that way the stronger he became.

Now, however, he understood.

The purpose of the external items wasn't just to unseal the Spiritual Foundation and unleash its true potential, it was also to enhance the abilities of the Spiritual Foundation as well, making them more prominent and obvious to the senses. At the same time, when it was unleashed, it had an impact not only on itself, but also the Realm Heart that it was stored in.

His Spiritual Foundation seemed to be described in a single word: amplifier.

It could take in anything it sensed, copy it, and then even amplify it in the end. To do this, it needs a foundation of the Heavens itself, and so, it forced Ryu to collect Natural Treasures that could fill in this void.

At the same time, the reason he didn't need to plant the kernels of his Dao like everyone else had to was because his Spiritual Foundation already encompassed all that was Heaven and Earth. To it, his Dao was just one of the many branches that fell under that umbrella.

His Spiritual Foundation could already sense his Dao, it could fuel it and uplift it. When his Beyond Perfect Extreme Spiritual Foundation and his White Phoenix Spiritual Foundation worked as one, he experienced an amplification to his Dao that was similar to his Internal Matrix.

Ryu was a bit stunned. He had yet to upgrade his Internal Matrix just yet even though he had broken into Soul Quintessence. It would take some time and meditation, and time was something he couldn't give it right now. And yet, he experienced that his Dao was now closer to a False Dao than what it should be currently: a Fragmented Dao.

Did that mean that once he sharpened his Internal Matrix to the level of a Sky God, he would have a Dao as strong as a True Dao?

Ryu didn't think that it would be this exaggerated. If he was correct, rather than leaping two levels of maturity like this, his Dao would probably be on the very edge of the True Dao.

Much like in the Immature Grades, Mature Grades of Dao were separated into levels as well, just the usual Lower, Middle, Higher and Peak.

Unlike in the Immature Grades, though, a Dao could not be below your level of Sky Godhood. Your Dao had to precede your advancement.

Meaning, if Ryu wanted to move from the Lower Fragmented Realm to the Middle Fragmented Realm, his Dao had to make that move first.

Did this mean that Ryu wouldn't have any bottlenecks when he became a Sky God? At least for now, that was what it truly seemed like. Though, things wouldn't be so easy.

After all, if he let his Dao linger in the Lower Fragmented Realm for too long, even with the amplification, he would catch up quite soon. He had to keep pushing his Dao ahead or else he would end up faced with a bottleneck just the same.

'It's time...'

Ryu felt that he could explore all the hidden secrets of his Spiritual Foundation in due time. In fact, he felt that it wasn't just his original Spiritual Foundation that would have some secrets to reveal to him either, but additionally his White Phoenix Spiritual Foundation.

However, he had a certain impetus to uphold.

He flooded his Dao into his Spiritual Foundations and the combined Cosmic Seeds began to glow, solidifying and rushing toward forming true Godhood.

Himari's eyes narrowed. She sensed something even before Ryu did, there was a problem.

The problem wasn't a backlash of sorts, but rather that there wasn't enough energy.

Obviously, she had more Life Qi here than Ryu could even handle, but what was missing was...

After some thought, Himari waved a hand and picked Ryu up, pulling him outside of the Shrine.

And it was then all hell broke loose.

It was a good thing that after the war, the only living being on the Shrine Plane aside from Himari were just a few beasts that barely succeeded to survive, or else Ryu's deeds might have inadvertently caused a genocide.

The Fire Shrine rumbled.

The Lightning Shrine rumbled.

The Life Shrine rumbled.

The Death Shrine rumbled.

The Ice Shrine rumbled.

...

A great number of Shrines suddenly became hyperactive as though vying for supremacy and Ryu's attention. There were even quite a number among them that the Tatsuya Clan hadn't even been able to discover in their heyday.

Then, streams of pulsing energy hurried forward, pouring into Ryu.