Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

The Origin Flame didn't need to be explained. As far as Ryu understood it, it was the Origin of all Fire and capable of ruling them all. It was because of the Origin Flame that Ryu's Bloodline Flames awakened so quickly and also why his Flame Inheritances also progressed so quickly. Well… Until it was that his Origin Flame hit its limit and could no longer progress any further. This was to be expected, though, considering it was just an incomplete Embryo.

Still, despite being an Embryo, the docile Origin Flame was perfect for this. All Ryu had to do was to incorporate a bit into each Divine Mark. However, because it was an Embryo, Ryu still had to take things a step further to ensure that there would be no problems.

What was the core of leaving the Impose Realm and entering the Ruler Realm? Wasn't it characterized by Ryu being able to take control of his Impose Barrier and change its form?

If Ryu took advantage of this ability now and drew out his former Impose Barrier to follow the complex nodal pathways of each Divine Mark, adding this atop the Origin Flame, wouldn't all of these issues be fixed?

Ryu's gaze glowed. He sat completely still for an entire three days, his eyes only seeming to grow brighter and brighter.

On the morning of the fourth day he suddenly sprung to life, his finger moving about with an almost unconscious speed. In just three minutes, he finished the core of the first Divine Mark. In just seven more, he finished it in its entirety, causing it to spark to life.

The Divine Mark reflected a pale purple light that almost looked like a delicate cherry color depending on the lighting. Sometimes it took the form of a perfect sphere but at other times it would look like a bolt of lightning, hovering about Ryu's palm before it found its way to his legs and sunk in.

Ryu almost didn't register this as an accomplishment at all as his hands were already moving. One Divine Mark after another began to manifest. Every time they fused with his body, a spark of violet would course through his eyes, making him realize that this technique wasn't so simple at all.

The greatest speed one could muster would appear when the Divine Marks were deployed and their wielder could flash about between them. However, this was also a dangerous thing to do because when a Divine Mark was deployed, it became susceptible to being destroyed by an enemy.

Of course, this was a big deal to someone else who went through great difficulty to form their Divine Marks, withstanding many failures and sometimes even taking many years to succeed. But, this clearly wasn't an issue that Ryu was facing.

Still, this aside, when the Divine Mark fused with the body, it became the movement technique even without deployment. Ryu could feel that every Divine Mark he fused with doubled his speed and he also came to understand why the absolute cap was 12.

Upon reaching 12, there was no longer potential to squeeze out and the circulation method for the technique was complete.

The 12 Divine Marks hovered about in Ryu's body, taking up their positions and forming a formation within him. Ryu immediately felt that unless he met an opponent that could bring him to the brink of life and death, there would really be no point in bringing his Divine Marks out because it would simply be overkill.

However, despite having finished the perfect 12, Ryu didn't stop.

At that moment, his Indestructible Soul manifested from his forehead and it too began to draw out Divine Marks. By the end of the day, Ryu had formed 24 complete marks, crushing whatever record it was that this Lightning Sprite prince had had.

Though the Divine Marks within Ryu's soul couldn't boost his speed like the first 12 could, what it did do was give him an additional 12 to use instantaneous movement with. This would give him far greater flexibility in battle. And, should his soul ever be in danger after his body was destroyed, for example, it too would have the ability to escape.

Ryu exhaled a breath, his eyes opening as the final arcs of lightning vanished.

"Not bad. I guess you're a little bit better than him." Ailsa appeared before Ryu again, her pearly white teeth flashing him.

Ryu chuckled but let Ailsa have her fun.

"And what were these Elemental techniques you talked about before?"

"Ah, right." Ailsa smiled, pretending like she had forgotten. "Should I tell you a story about one of my suitors for each one?"

Ryu's lip twitched. "How many stories do you have?"

"Well, you see, your wife is a very beautiful woman. Even though I only spent a few thousand years with the Faeries before coming here to find you, you could say that my fame had already spread far and wide. Rather than asking me how many stories I have, it might be easier to ask me who didn't try to pursue me."

Ailsa blinked innocently, his eyelashes fluttering as though she was unbearably innocent.

"How about we start with this one? It's the [Flying Star] technique of the Fire Sprites. There was once a prodigy of their Clan that loved me too. There was one time he dove into their Clan's Holy Land and entered an ancient volcano all for the sake of bringing a Silver Core Rose Crystal to me…"

Ryu suddenly felt a headache coming on. He knew that Ailsa was doing this on purpose.

To make matters worse, due to what Ailsa described about how Faeries reproduced, it was impossibly rare for a dual Elemental Faerie to appear. That meant all of these core techniques were likely constructed for a single Element.

Even if a dual Elemental Faerie had appeared in the past like Ailsa had spontaneously appeared, their Elements wouldn't be fused like Ryu's had. More likely than not, they'd just have great affinity for two different Elements. There was no need to create a technique that combined them both.

This meant that Ryu would have no choice but to change and adjust all of these techniques one by one if he wanted to use them without them blowing up in his face.

Clearly, his Ailsa was just trying to get a bit of revenge on him. And, the worst part was that considering Ryu could see into her mind, he knew that she wasn't lying in the slightest.

In the end, though, Ryu smiled. He'd happily jump through all her hoops.