Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu didn't quite know how to respond to this. He had just learned about the Title Stele, and it wasn't a prominent, deity-like treasure in his mind like it was for everyone else just yet. So he hadn't even put two and two together until the little woman spoke.

Even so, she said it like it was common knowledge, but Ryu highly doubted that this was the case. If anything, it was likely that only a small number of people were aware, while the rest just assumed the Title Stele was brought out by the Nine Powers whenever they so fancied.

The idea, though, that there were still some powers outside the control of those Nine Clans and Sects made Ryu's heart palpitate.

He didn't think that there was a huge shift in power like there was in Sacrum. Dao God should truly be the limit of cultivation. However, that didn't mean that there weren't worlds more powerful than this one.

Their Heavens had a limit of 999 Founding Daos. What if there was a world with higher limiters than that? Or maybe, what if all Heavens had the same exact limiters, but the difference was that they actually filled their quota while they very much did not?

There were only a handful of Founding Daos in existence in the True Martial World, nowhere near the limit. It would be interesting to see what a world packed to the brim with such existences would look like.

He wondered, could it be that the actions of these powerful Clans were making their universe weaker than it should be? And if they knew that there were other worlds, why would they do something as stupid as limiting their strengths like this?

The way those Nine Powers acted, one would think that they already stood at the top of everything and now they were just maintaining their power. But if they weren't, then weren't they too stupid?

The thoughts swirled around in Ryu's head until he realized that there was a convenient person to ask right here.

"... Are they stupid?"

These were the only words Ryu could come up with. He had so many questions, but in the end, they all distilled down into that single thought.

The little woman was stunned before she suddenly sputtered with laughter. She laughed so hard that Ryu thought that he might end up hurting himself.

Now that he thought about it, this was most definitely the first time he had heard this woman laugh, at least in such an earnest manner.

It was quite beautiful in its quirkiness. Though, the longer she laughed, the more Ryu wondered if it was because of the way her laughter sounded that she had made a concerted effort not to.

Not to toot his own horn, but he was quite a witty person. He didn't believe for a second that he had said nothing amusing in the last several decades. But this was what brought her over the edge?

The little woman's laughter sounded like the cross between a silver bell, a fairy's whistle, mixed in with the honk of an elephant's trunk. It was shocking how something could simultaneously be so beautiful and yet so jarring at the same time.

The longer she laughed, the more certain Ryu was that she had just been holding back. It was like decades of pent-up humor had rushed out all at once, drowning her in a pleasure that made her grab at her belly.

It wasn't until several minutes later that she managed to calm down, gasping for breath. She slowly came to realize what she had done, and her face blushed with shame.

Ryu grinned. "Don't let me ruin your fun, please, do continue."

"Shut up!" The little woman snapped.

"If you wanted me to call you a little elephant instead you should have just told me."

"Stop it!"

"Okay, okay, little dumbo-"

"Ryu!"

The little woman was so exasperated that tears began forming out of the corner of her eyes.

Ryu was speechless, but he still raised his hands up in mock defeat. Clearly, if it hadn't bothered her so much, she wouldn't have hidden it from him for so long.

"Alright, I give." His gaze flickered with an amused light. "But if you want to avoid the name, don't you think you should tell me your own already?"

The little woman fell into silence.

Ryu could only be speechless again. First, the laugh, and now her name? Why was this woman so insistent on hiding silly things from him?

"I'm not hiding stuff!" She snapped, it's just purely coincidence.

"I didn't say anything," Ryu smiled mysteriously.

"You-!"

The little woman knew that she had exposed herself just by mentioning it before Ryu could. She tried to be shameless, but it just wasn't in her personality. In the end, she really was that adorable little woman Ryu painted her out to be.

"It doesn't matter. Either way, I'm not hiding my name from you, it's just that even if I told you, you wouldn't be able to pronounce it."

Ryu, who was a master of linguistics, was skeptical almost immediately. He wondered if she had an equally embarrassing name as she did a laugh. Maybe a name that would be more fit for a puppy, or maybe a stripper.

He would definitely get a kick out of that. But if he made the joke before she told him, then she would never say it.

"Just tell me and we'll see." Ryu finally said.

"Fine, my name is-"

Ryu listened to the name, and then his eyes went wide, the universe itself beginning to reflect in his pupils.

It had nothing to do with the name. The little woman was right; he truly couldn't pronounce it, but the reason he couldn't pronounce it was what was shocking.

This name... why did it sound so similar to the name of the white flame?

The white flame had a name that Ryu also could not pronounce, one that Ailsa had told him. Instead of a name, it felt far more like a conveyed feeling, one of beginning, one of creation.

The little woman's name conveyed a feeling as well, one of hope and anticipation.

Ryu remained silent for a long while, not sure of what to do with this information.

"Alright, I'll call you Little Hope, then."

The little woman was startled. She hadn't expected Ryu to catch the subtle meanings of her name; that wasn't something most of this world were capable of doing. But then she was angry.

"Can't you drop the little?! What's so little about me?! I'm a grown woman!"

Ryu vanished and entered the Golden Moon world, a hand on his chin.

"Definitely little," Ryu nodded.

Hope was on the more petite size. Most of Ryu's wives were over six feet tall, but she was the height of a more normal woman. She also didn't have Ailsa's towering breasts or Eska's wide birthing hips.

Of course, she was still a one in a million beauty. Her proportions were perfect, her face was delicate even when she was pouting, and those eyes that seemed to hold the depth of the cosmos themselves were mesmerizing.

Her eyes were truly fascinating. The more powerful she grew, the more shocking Ryu found them. She had no whites at all, neither did she have pupils. Her irises took up her entire eyeball and they swirled like the colors of a deep purple nebula, accented by twinkling stars.

Even now, she was wearing pink. She couldn't have been more of a little woman even if she tried.

"What are you doing here?!" Hope frowned.

Ryu chuckled. "Shouldn't I be asking you that? You know, originally, you said you would only stay in the Golden Moon World until you returned to your full power. Well, now you've not only returned to that strength, but you've taken a step beyond to become an Omniscient Sky God.

"So you tell me, why are you still here?"

Hope's eyes widened, her heart skipping a beat. She immediately looked away from Ryu's eyes, not wanting to meet them.

"What's it to you? It's not like you need this place that much. Why are you being so mean?"

The little woman looked like she might burst into tears again, leaving Ryu without the words to say.

If you were going to be on the verge of becoming a Dao Lord, couldn't you at least act like it?

"I was merely checking up on you, making sure you didn't have anything more important to do. Wouldn't want you wasting away your time following me around, right?"

Hope sniffled. "I have nothing better to do," she finally mumbled.

Ryu smiled and didn't resist the urge to pat her head. He was practically two heads taller than this slight woman; how could he stop himself?

Hope was startled, but eventually didn't resist.

Ryu shook his head. He really had no idea how this slight woman had survived for so long on her own. He almost wanted to make sure she would stay so that he was the only single that could take advantage of her.

"Speaking of duty," Ryu grinned. "When are you going to have my baby?"

Hope turned as red as a tomato and seemed to lose all speaking function.

Was this the same woman that had demanded he be her Dao Companion the initial moment they met? What changed?

After Ryu got his fill of teasing the slight woman, he set his sights on the True Martial World again. Namely, Elizaren.

He had a promise to uphold and his initial kill as a Sky God to claim.