Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu appeared before Galkos, his fist shooting outward like a streaking star. It was hard to tell when he had sent it forward, but the strength behind it was undeniable.

Even before Ryu's fist landed, the land beneath his feet had split and the clouds above rippled. The rolling air currents around it were so violent that it looked as though Ryu was punching through the ground despite the fact his attack was nowhere near it.

Galkos' expression was weighed down by his own solemnity. His Earth Inheritance surged, his feet anchoring themselves to the ground and gravity of the surroundings multiplying several times over.

The space around Ryu's fist bent and twisted as the air compressed. It was as though everything was beginning to weigh heavier, and yet, Ryu's attack was unmoved.

Galkos made a decision in a split moment. His feet slammed heavily onto the ground, causing a pillar with ancient markings to shoot upward in Ryu's path. Without even waiting for the result, his body sunk into the ground, the fog of white gold hanging around him vanishing soon after.

BANG!

The pillar cracked and nearly collapsed, actually managing to withstand a punch of Ryu's for just a moment before it suddenly imploded from the inside out. It was simply too difficult to tell what sort of mysterious force Ryu had used to accomplish this.

Seeing that Galkos had vanished, Ryu's gaze lit up, a furious light hidden within their depths. He still didn't dare to use his Heavenly Pupils' higher level abilities with Heaven's Punishment still hanging over head, but that didn't mean that he would simply allow this to happen.

Ryu's foot rose into the air for just a brief moment before slamming down.

Whistling winds followed the arc of Ryu's foot, the harsh sound grating on the ears before it suddenly and forcefully crashed into the ground below.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The earth rose like an ocean's tide, large blocks of stone rippling outward in a wave. However, Galkos was absolutely nowhere to be found. It was as though he had truly become one with the earth, simulating the ability of a Spirit Body through other means. And yet, Ryu seemed unmoved by this realization.

A towering death qi surged out from Ryu's body. Through the cracks in the earth, this endless surge of black energy ripped into its crevices, digging deep into the ground.

At that moment, the members of the Necromancy Guild couldn't help but stand up along with the Lightning Sprites, shock evident on their faces. They had never sensed such pure Death Qi in their lives, it was completely beyond anything they had ever experienced. But, the result was even more shocking than anything they could have anticipated.

'[Summoning Corpse World].'

At that moment, large numbers of Higher Skeleton Warriors began to appear one after another. At first it was just a handful, but it quickly ballooned to dozens, then hundreds, until eventually there were thousands, each radiating an aura at the Peak of the Path Extinction Realm, far beyond anything those present had managed to recover to.

In one sweep, Ryu had gone from having the weakest cultivation to controlling an army of towering powerhouses.

His arms whipped outward as though he was flicking his robes, his fingers stretching out like a puppet master ushering in the dawn of a world he dictated the finest details of.

'[Bone Manipulation].'

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

One after another, the Skeleton Warriors imploded, forming tall, piercing pillars of bone that dove into the ground and formed a spherical cage, of which only half was visible above ground. It was only at that moment that those watching understood that Ryu hadn't destroyed the ground for the sake of finding Galkos. Rather, he had destroyed the ground so that his bone cage would be able to root itself with greater ease.

Ryu's arms rose. "Rise."

In that moment, the bone cage tore up the earth, taking with it hundreds of meters of stone and rock. Everyone was so shocked by what had happened that they didn't even register when Ryu had appeared outside of the sphere, standing in the skies with a dark abyss the shape of a crater beneath him.

His hand stretched outward with a nonchalance that stopped the heart. They had no way of knowing what Ryu planned to do next, but their throats constricted, fear taking hold of their very souls.

"No!" Cleo, who was still nursing her rib injury, shouted out despite the pain. Her strength burst through the Middle levels of the Path Extinction Realm, soaring through the Higher levels and quickly approaching the Peak. The more time passed, the weaker the Heaven's Punishment seemed to become. And yet…

As though her voice was a cue, Ryu's palm lightly pressed on an arm of the bone cage.

It shot through the air, falling toward what remained of their entourage.

Once again, Ryu vanished. This time however, he had appeared before Elena, his back facing her.

Having been silent this entire time, Elena's gaze was blocked from what happened. She realized at that moment, though, that Ryu's frame was much fuller than it ever had been. That frail man she had known was nowhere to be seen, replaced by one with the strength to fill out his broad back and shoulders.

Ryu's pristine white hair gently danced in the wind, his face the picture of indifference.

"Don't you dare."

The voice came from outside Heaven's Punishment, the barriers having finally weakened just enough to allow voices to permeate.

The momentum of the sound was undeniable, even somewhat faintly suppressing Ryu's own despite being more than halved by the Heaven's Punishment. Ryu didn't even need to look to know that it was King Adonis. However, his head turned in that direction anyway.

For the second time since this event started, Ryu's gaze locked with this Peak World Sea Realm expert. This time, though, he didn't look away.

A silence hung over, the strength of a King threatening to press Ryu down to the ground as the Heaven's Punishment rapidly weakened.

By this point, the World Sea Realm experts had come out of their small pocket dimension. There were only a few dozen of them, making them a minority amongst the thousands that had come. And yet, if it wasn't for the battle occurring right this moment, there was no doubt that they would be the absolute center of attention.

The spherical bone cage continued to glide through the air slowly, its oppression crashing down toward the youths below. There was no doubt if Ryu's plan succeeded, there would likely be no geniuses of the Martial Gods left.

The World Sea Realm experts of the Martial Gods stood in the skies as a unit, their lofty auras advancing and receding with their breaths. It was clear that they would take action the moment the Heaven's Punishment completely vanished.

However, not one of them could have expected what they heard next.

"Who the hell are you to command me? [Warped Corpse Explosion]."

In that moment, it was as though the world had lost all of its sound. Swirling Dark Phoenix Patterns danced on the surface of the spherical cage, all the wind in the surroundings suddenly surging toward it in the blink of an eye as though a violent vacuum had formed.

The cage warped and twisted, pressing in on itself until it shrunk to less than a tenth of its original size. And then…

It imploded.

A pillar of darkness connected the earth to the skies. The sound was far too great to register, a high pitched whining sound replacing the hearing of even the Cosmic Seed Realm experts.

It rapidly expanded, covering the whole of the battlefield. Whatever tragic screams there had been were completely drowned out. It was the cruelest sort of end. Their bodies were eviscerated, their souls destroyed, and their deaths becoming nothing more than a blip.

Just when the explosion was about to reach Ryu and Elena, the former reached out a hand. [Divine Chaotic Annihilation] appeared, melding into the darkness without a sound. All the debris, qi and residual impact that tried to cross its defenses were directly destroyed, leaving Ryu suffering nothing more than a fluttering robe and hair.

Slowly, the pillar receded, revealing the fathomless depths of an abyss. Whatever remained of the Viridi Clan castle had been obliterated, leaving nothing more than a hole in the earth. It was said that destroying the signboard of a Clan or Sect was among the most humiliating things you could put it through. But, what could you say about destroying the entirety of their land?

'Hm?'

Ryu's gaze shifted, landing on Tybalt. Surprisingly, this man had managed to remain unscathed.

Ryu only spared him a glance, though, before he turned toward the center, his hand grasping outward.

A soul shot out and landed in Ryu's palm. From a single look, one could tell that it was what remained of Cleo who hadn't managed to reach the Dao Pedestal Realm in time to have a chance at surviving.

"I'm not sure if she's your friend or not." Ryu looked back toward Elena and spoke lightly. "If she is, you can probably still save her since she is in her prime."

Elena took hold of Cleo's soul without a word, silently gazing downward.

Ryu turned his gaze back toward the center. It narrowed as he noticed Galkos' charred body.

Unlike Cleo, it seemed that Galkos had managed to breakthrough in time and was actually playing dead now that he was so severely injured. No amount of cultivation recovery would help him defeat Ryu now and he had already used too much of his Vital Qi earlier when Ryu shattered his skull several times.

Ryu reached out two fingers, a spark of lightning sparking between them before an arrow of violet shot out.

It was right then that an audible crack resounded.

The Heaven's Punishment Curtain had fallen.