Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu's heart shook.

Was it his Spiritual Foundation? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that this feeling he was experiencing now was identical to what he felt when he reconnected with his Phoenix Sky God Spiritual Foundation. He might not have even felt this way had he not experienced losing his Spiritual Foundation once.

But what didn't make sense about this was the fact Ryu should have had a Spiritual Foundation… it was just that it was a False one.

A False Spiritual Foundation didn't equate to an empty dantian. Rather, a False Spiritual Foundation was simply one that failed to awaken, nothing more, nothing less. When Ryu passed the trial of the Phoenix Sky God, his False Spiritual Foundation was replaced.

This was all to say that if this really was Ryu's Spiritual Foundation, then wouldn't that mean he had not two attached to himself… but three? His False Spiritual Foundation, his Phoenix Spiritual Foundation, and this mysterious one…?

What was going on?

Despite being confused, Ryu subconsciously reached toward it, feeling it calling to him. But, he had hardly begun when his body froze, his frame shuddering.

Ryu's inner organs suddenly ruptured and his body curved out his control. A violent spasm rocked him to his core, crimson blood flying from his mouth.

He hacked and wheezed, his face contorting in pain. It felt like everything from his flesh to his bone to even his supposed Indestructible Soul was threatening to collapse.

"Ryu? Ryu!"

Ailsa, who had been sitting like a proud little peacock on Ryu's shoulder all this time suddenly flew into a panic. Without regard for anything else, she entered her full form, her palm touching Ryu's back as she scanned his body.

However, Ryu couldn't seem to stop.

The blood he coughed up was such a striking red that it shimmered like rubies. It didn't carry the same heaviness or darkness blood would have. It was almost as though Ryu's life's blood was constantly sparkling with a more than healthy sheen.

But, that made his sudden change all the more horrific.

Ryu hacked for several more minutes, his body shuddering under the strain. It felt almost like he had thrown up and his body continued to dry heave, but there was nothing left in his stomach to push out. The dryness of it all hurt more than anything else and he almost wanted to beg his body to stop.

For Ryu, who was a man who had experienced all sorts of pain in his journey until now, this was the most horrific thing he had ever been through. The pain was unlike any before and his mind was being ground down by an anvil repeatedly crashing against it.

Sweat pooled down the peaks and crevices of Ryu's body. In just a few minutes, despite his Southern Heavenly Wind, he felt like he was on his last legs. However, by this point, his gaze had turned a frightening shade of cold.

No one could see it with his head bent down and his hands on his knees, but the look alone could freeze a vast ocean over. There was no fury within, no rage or anger, but it still would make one feel rooted in place, unable to move for fear of what would happen.

It felt like the calm realization of something sinister, an acceptance that it was almost impossible to change, and somehow simultaneously an indifference to what these odds happened to be. Ryu simply didn't care as they pain in his body began to slowly numb.

'What is that supposed to be, a warning?'

Ryu's body trembled outside of his control as his gaze turned fiercer.

"Heh…"

Ryu's last cough came out in a half laugh, his forearm wiping across his mouth and taking the last of the blood with it.

Ryu slowly stood to his full height, his gaze looking up at the untangled mesh of Fate, waiting to be claimed by those who were worthy. Ailsa who stood behind him with a worried look on her face seemed to understand what had happened as well, but that didn't do anything to alleviate her worry. In fact, it made her more anxious before she became infuriated on Ryu's behalf.

Ailsa took a step forward and gazed upon Ryu's side profile, but he continued to look up into the skies.

No one would be able to tell what was going on in Ryu's mind and at the moment, even Ailsa was somewhat lost as well. His body was relaxed, his heart, despite having dozens of tears in it, beat calmly, and his thoughts were blank, completely empty as though he was thinking about nothing.

There was only one thing to be grasped from his state of mind, a beacon of light within the stillness of its waters and the emptiness of its frame…

Confidence.

Despite knowing the cause of all of this, Ryu didn't seem to be moved.

'Consider it completing the cycle of karma. You gave me the ability to cultivate and I'll carry this with me... For now.'

Ryu's first thoughts after a long while were clear and concise. They didn't seem shrouded by helplessness or a deep foreboding. Logic would dictate that such a reckoning was coming, but Ryu took it in stride.

Once the events of this day concluded and the skies returned to normal, Ryu didn't doubt that he would become the enemy of most of the martial world. But… So what? Since when were these things that moved him.

For the crime of siding with the Martial Gods, Ryu had already decided to punish most of these people to begin with. If they stood in his way, they could be eradicated just the same.

The surge of Faith began to slow, the stars beginning to move once again as things began to go back to normal, the ugly expressions on the faces of the Martial Gods who understood what had just happened speaking much louder than words ever could.

"Ryu…? Are you alright?" Ailsa asked softly.

Ryu watched as the stars began to fade and the horizon of dusk slowly came into view.

"The Phoenix Sky God doesn't seem to want me to reclaim my original Spiritual Foundation and even saw it fit to punish me for even thinking of doing so." He spoke as though he was talking about the weather.

"I hope for their sake that they're dead."