Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

The rumbling of the ground only grew more and more intense, once again seemingly sparing Ryu from immediate death. It was as though everything. It was as though everything happening one after another was intent on ensuring this young man survived as luck was on his side.

"A Sect, a Sect is rising to the Fourth Heaven!"

Those that hadn't been in the know were stunned by this change, and that was especially so for the common citizens of the Fourth Heaven.

That said, those experts of the Fourth Heaven were absolutely stunned as well, and that was because the Sect wasn't rising in a random location as they had expected. Instead, it was rising in the most central region of the Fourth Heaven... it was rising up right here!

To say that this was bold was a complete understatement. All those here had thought that they would scurry and hide, maybe choosing a more remote, easy to defend location of the Fourth Heaven. Never had they expected this.

At that moment, the uproarious laughter of a valiant woman echoed through the Fourth Heaven, the forcefulness and power of the voice causing the Sky pupils to constrict. This power, this boldness... this person was dangerous.

From within the walls of the Radiant Star Sect, Old Wan sighed. However, this sigh likewise echoed across the Fourth Heaven, almost as though to let everyone know that the Radiant Star Sect had more than just one expert, but also being slightly reluctant to do so for whatever reason.

Just when these two sonorous welcomes were still echoing, the coughing and wheezing of a third echoed. He sounded like he was coughing up a lung, as though an old man on his death bed. There was no doubt that this person was Samson.

"Dammit! You two are so embarrassing!"

"Big sis, it's not my fault. I was taking a deep breath and a fly got caught in my throat."

"Well maybe next time don't take such a large breath, you flattened all the trees for a thousand kilometres, what's wrong with you? I can't be associated with this foolishness."

A chuckle echoed,

"What are you laughing about?! Weren't you just sighing?! Sigh some more! Let me hear it! You want to pretend to be an angsty teen and a pacifist right?! Be more angsty! Pacify me!"

The sound of choking followed soon after.

"-I-Dammit-Okay!-Go and-get the-children!"

"Oh, right! I almost forgot about Little Ryu!"

-There are-Others-You know-!"

"Forget them, those little brats need to earn my affection. Just look, we almost failed our ascension. If it wasn't for Ryu, we'd still be on the Third Heaven, how embarrassing would that be?"

Hearing this, the disciples who had been forced to kneel blushed, lowering their heads.

"-Hurry up-and go save-them!-What if-something happens!"

"Who dares touch my children?! I'll take their heads off their shoulders and shove it up their asses!"

The blushing disciples felt a hint of warmth when they heard this, clenching their fists. They had embarrassed their elders again, they had to do better in the future.

Gritting their teeth, they slowly pushed, standing to their feet.

The Fourth Heaven fell into silence. The only one who didn't seem confused was Ryu who looked up with a hint of surprise in his eyes, but he eventually smiled.

It seemed that in all these plans he was making, he had forgotten to account for one thing... And that was the Radiant Star Sect. He hadn't thought about using them as a shield... but while he had forgotten them, they had never forgotten him. Maybe he didn't need to go on the run after all.

Realizing this, Ryu did something unexpected. Rather than being prepared to flee as he had been from the very beginning, he sat cross-legged on the ground, cradling Mae gently. With a thought, he looked into her spatial ring and pulled out a pile of pills.

Looking at them, he frowned and shook his head. His wife couldn't be consuming such inferior pills.

A flame erupted in Ryu's hands and it enveloped the pills entirely. It didn't seem to be controlled in the slightest, and yet rather than being incinerated, a strong pill fragrance began to emit in the surroundings.

Ryu laid Mae's head on his chest and raised his second hand, causing a rippled river blue-gold waters to manifest, chilling the region entirely.

Ryu's Yin and Phoenix Flames enveloped one another, working in a delicate balance. What was once a pile of pills that must have been dozens tall concentrated and until there were just three remaining.

The skies split but this time for a wholly different reason.

Radiant Heavenly Favor descended, baptizing the three pills.

The Sky Gods in the surroundings had been too shocked to move, first at the audacity to begin concocting right before them all, but very quickly it became shock at the level of skill given his cultivation level, and even beyond that, it became all the more shocking when the formation of three perfect Runed Pills appeared.

The value of these Runed Pills was objectively far below what these Sky Gods care for, but among alchemists, a Runed Pill, especially a perfect Runed Pill, might sell for as much as a God Treasure given the right circumstances.

The fact that something like this had happened so casually left them entirely stunned.

Ryu took one of the pills and carefully fed it to Mae. She hardly had the strength to open her mouth, let alone chew and swallow, but the pills melted the instantly it touched her cherry lips, sinking into her body with a comfortable, warm feeling.

Almost the odd dents and bruises that had begun to color her body fixed themselves and began to fade.

"Mm..."

Mae's lashes fluttered and her eyes opened. She moved, but winced almost instantly.

"Careful, it still needs a few more minutes," Ryu said.

Mae was stunned, only now realizing she was in Ryu's arms. She blushed profusely, looking around to see just how many people were looking at her. When she saw Aantha's lewd gaze and her elder cousin, she could only bury her head in Ryu's chest, too embarrassed to look any further.

"I think that's about enough," Elizaren said coldly. "Since you have such alchemy skill, I won't kill you. You'll be a nice little pill slave for the Clan."

Ryu didn't even look up toward Elizaren, still ensuring that Mae was healing properly.

"You'll take who as a pill slave?" The voice appeared from nowhere and was seemingly everywhere at the same time.

In the skies, Aika stood with her robes fluttering.