Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Trembling Star Qi had two abilities. The first was to suppress other qis and the second was to disperse them. Both of these had exceptional defensive effects that made this qi type very powerful.

From Ryu's understanding, Trembling Star Qi was also an Ancestral Grade Qi. Though, these meant different things in the True Martial World versus Sacrum, the latter of which Ryu was obviously far more familiar with.

In Sacrum, Ancestral Grade Qi represented the absolute pinnacle of all qi as the only Origin Grade Qis were Essence and Chaos Qi, two qis that none could control on their own. Though, of course, this didn't include Ryu who had his Chaotic Silk Meridians.

In the True Martial World, though, Ancestral Grade Qi was quite good, but it wasn't nearly the pinnacle as there were still nine grades above it. As for the true Origin Qis, they were known as the Primordial Qis and Primordial Chaos Qis with Essence and Chaos Qi being off the scale entirely.

Still, although an Ancestral Grade Qi was a bit weak in the absolute large scale, it was still the strongest type of qi anyone below the Sky God Realm could control without special methods or talents. As such, just being able to have access to this qi placed Ryu at the top tier of those beneath the Sky God Realm who didn't have special Meridians or Spiritual Foundations.

Ryu awoke from his meditation and stood to his feet with a calm exhale.

There were three main techniques of [Radiant Monument], but they could all be considered to be the same technique, just used at different stages. These techniques were known as [Radiant Skin], [Radiant Aura], and finally the true [Radiant Monument].

[Radiant Skin] allowed Ryu to project his Trembling Star Qi into a thin film that protected his skin from damage and harm. This would also give his immediate defenses the characteristics of his chosen Constellation and give his skin the ability to tap into the traits of Trembling Star Qi.

[Radiant Aura] would project this ability further out, forming a pseudo domain of sorts that could work similarly to the Monarch Realm of Inheritances.

Finally, the [Radiant Monument] stage would be the amplification of [Radiant Aura] and truly manifest the Constellation into being. This was the absolute strongest state of the technique and it, likewise, provided the greatest defense that there was.

Whether it was [Radiant Skin] or [Radiant Aura], Ryu could still use them without too much issue now as it would only rely on his depth of resonance and his comprehension. However, when it came to [Radiant Monument], the requirements were far more stringent. Not only did he need to meet the requisite requirements of resonance and comprehension, but he also needed to have a certain level of personal strength to withstand the projection properly.

For a Lineal Grade Constellation like this one, Ryu would likely need to enter at least the World Sea Realm to use its Monument.

Of course, this was just because he was Ryu. For others, the Realm you needed to reach would have to perfectly match up to the Grade of Constellation you had fused with.

It had to be understood that Sky God Realms were entirely dependent on your Dao. Meaning, if you wanted to become a Fragmented Sky God, you needed to form a Fragmented Dao. But, beyond this, Daos of certain strengths had caps that were very difficult to surpass.

Normally, one would need a Dao with a quality just a step below their Sky God level if they wanted any hopes of entering that Realm.

This means that someone with a Common Grade Dao could only become a Fragmented and False Sky God, and the latter would only happen in exceptionally rare cases. Likewise, this meant that someone with a Lineal Dao would be capped at the fourth Sky God level since the Lineal Dao was the third Grade of Dao quality, or the Perfect Sky God Realm.

Normally, though, one would usually end up stuck at a Realm below. Meaning, someone with a Common Grade Dao would have no chance at becoming a Sky God, while someone with a Lineal Dao would usually be capped at the False Sky God Realm, which was actually the second Sky God level.

This was all to say that with a Lineal Constellation, Ryu would have to reach the equivalent level of Sky God to project its Monument, or the True Sky God Realm.

Simply put, the hard cap for a Sky God level would be one step above, but most would commonly be stuck at one step below, while for those practicing the core techniques of the Radiant Star Sect, they would have to reach the equivalent step to reach the final step of Constellation Projection.

Ryu, though, believed that he would be able to accomplish it at the World Sea Realm.

In all likelihood, since Ryu knew himself quite well, he would never get that far. He would probably swap the Trembling Mountain out for another Constellation once he was strong enough to do so.

'I'll wait and see when the time comes. If trading in for a stronger Constellation isn't worth it, then I won't do it. It's possible that the true state of [Radiant Monument] is far stronger with a weaker Constellation than [Radiant Skin] or [Radiant Aura] would be with a more powerful Constellation. In that case, trading up wouldn't be worthwhile.'

Ryu closed his eyes and entered a state of focus.

At that moment, his flawless skin which already shimmered like the moist surface of clear ice became more resplendent.

The skies opened up and a cascade of star qi fell with a rippling torrent.

Ryu didn't rush the process, taking his time and understanding what was happening.

'I see. The best way to control this qi is definitely through my Immortal Rings, but it was already so troublesome to deploy my Immortal Rings in the First Heaven, the backlash will probably be even worse in the Second Heaven.

'However, there's another way I can make use of it.'

Ryu's attitude shifted and his Bone Structure trembled. At that moment, his skin's pores opened and the Trembling Star Qi began to pour into his body, before being fed back into the atmosphere. This subtle and exceptionally quick process caused the qi to go from atmospheric to well within Ryu's control.

There was a large difference between utilizing free qi in the atmosphere versus controlling qi you had expelled from your own body. The latter provided far more refined control and even worked better than what one could induce with Immortal Rings.

Utilizing his Bone Structure's ability to absorb qi through his skin, Ryu had actually made [Radiant Skin] far more powerful than it was initially.

'This method will work for [Radiant Skin], and the process is covert enough to not raise any eyebrows, but it won't work with [Radiant Aura]. [Radiant Aura] inherently needs control of atmospheric qi.'

Ryu nodded to himself. It seemed that [Radiant Aura] would have to become one of his trump cards, he would only pull it out if he absolutely had to.

He had learned his lesson from the first time, the True Martial World wasn't a fan of his Immortal Rings. If he had to fight the Heavens and an opponent at the same time, it would be incredibly troublesome. He wouldn't put himself in that situation unless he had to.

What Ryu did know, though, was that the next person who forced him to reveal his Immortal Rings would have an incredibly bad time, because now that his Realm Heart had established itself in the True Martial World's Abyssal Plane, his comprehension and ability to control Immortal Qi was on a level most couldn't fathom.

Ryu opened his eyes and grasped out with his left hand.

His Storm Talent activated, causing the skies above to rumble with malice.

BANG! BANG! BANG! RUMBLE.

True Tribulation Lightning struck down but were all easily controlled by Ryu's Lightning God Talent to form a menacing saber edge.

With a single flex, Ryu swung down on his star qi coated arm with all his strength.

If others could see this, they would think him to be a madman.

Tribulation Lightning was, without a doubt, the strongest offensive weapon the Heavens had. But to concentrate so many bolts into a single blade took something that was already dangerous and turned it into a weapon of absolute death.

Just on lethality alone, this blade was definitely stronger than the strongest attack of a Heaven Grade World Sea Realm expert, the very kind of attack Ryu hadn't dared to take head on just hours ago.

CHIII!

Ryu's gaze flashed and a spike of pain shot through his body.

At that moment, in one sweep, the blade cut through half of Ryu's forearm before its momentum ground to a halt.

Blood flowed like a stream as Ryu retracted his blade. But, very quickly, his wound began to close itself up.

He lightly nodded to himself. For a mere Ancestral Grade Qi to be able to match up to Tribulation Lightning, which could definitely be classified as an Origin Grade energy type, was not bad indeed. This technique was powerful and it was only at the first stage.

With this, he could definitely fight more head on battles in the future with less worry about being insta-killed.

'It's time to recultivate.'

Once Ryu was finished with this, he would enter the Second Heaven and see what opportunities he could find. He still needed to help Little Silk reach her full potential and he was still looking for ways to speed up curing his blindness.

Plus, he wasn't a fan of being coddled and babied.