Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

The round became one of horrors, at least for the others. Surprisingly, Ryu began a series of continuous challenges that made others afraid to even move forward. It turned out that the rule that you couldn't challenge twice in a row was nothing more than a facade. The reason Ryu had failed to challenge twice in a row in the past was because Litaor was foolish enough to get punished even before the challenge even began.

The real rule was simple. So long as you succeeded in your duel and the challenge that followed it, you could continue to challenge others.

And so, Ryu continued to do so until he realized that it was well and truly not worth it, at least not for now. What was the point in challenging others when they had hardly moved forward. His pillar was bouncing back and forth to the left and right rather than actually moving forward. The only benefit really was the Heavenly Favor, but his own was so large that it hardly made a dent.

At the same time, every time he accumulated more Heavenly Favor, the pressure on him would increase as the backlash of the chains would increase. Though, that didn't matter to him much.

Ever since he had flooded his Dao into the chains, he could manage quite well. The suppression was more so on his Fate Star, but who cared? How could it get any more suppressed than quite literally being unable to move at all? In fact, Ryu wondered if he pushed it far enough, would the chains just snap like they had in the past?

He didn't know. Whatever suppression was on his Fate Star was clearly far more troubling than what had been on his Spiritual Foundation. But what he did know was that he wouldn't allow it to slow his steps, and eventually, he stood before Adlael.

Ryu's pillar rumbled as Adlael began his challenge and he stood across from the latter soon, his arms crossed and his smile having faded.

He didn't like people like Adlael. He hated this sort of person even more than he hated the likes of Litaor or Reykian.

He and Adlael had no real grudges. The reason why he was so enraged was because of Ramon's shattered Dao Heart, a matter that had little to do with Ryu unless Adlael was blaming him for the crime of being sealed as a baby.

And yet, this was enough for the latter to look at him with such a strong grudge.

Of course, he would have killed Ramon eventually regardless. This person had attacked to kill him in the past and he wasn't a fan of allowing those that had done so the right to live while he had the strength to kill them. If Adlael had waited until afterward to display such a grudge, he would have allowed it. After all, such a cycle of Karma was the way of the world.

But doing things this way just made him feel... pathetic.

Even when their pillars connected, Ryu didn't do much of anything. His contempt shone through more than fiercely enough in his gaze, because he knew exactly what Adlael would do.

Much like Litaor, he would never fight Ryu now. He would give up.

When he thought himself to be strong, he would act with impunity. When he knew that he was at a disadvantage, he would bide his time, he would plot and scheme, and he would try his very best to become a burden at Ryu's side.

Funny enough, Starlight was also taking a similar approach. He, too, was participating in this round, but he was so inconspicuous that Ryu had barely thought about him. The reason was quite simple, he didn't really have a grudge with Starlight, at least not one that extended beyond their normal competition for supremacy.

Compared to Adlael, Ryu felt that Starlight was much better-by a large margin.

Starlight was strong in his convictions, he faced Ryu surpassing him with the courage of a real warrior and he didn't feel the need to compensate for his failure by bloviating and bragging his chest like Litaor.

Ryu knew that he had become a target in Starlight's heart, he was probably a large reason why the latter was fighting with all he had.

Starlight might be far weaker than Adlael, but a time would come where he would surpass the latter, that, Ryu was almost willing to bet on.

As for why it was almost instead of certain... well, why would he bet on anyone other than himself?

Adlael's unhappiness was clear in his expression, but looking at Ryu now, all the words he had planned... he felt too embarrassed even to speak.

He had originally wanted to threaten Ryu, to let him know that while Ryu might defeat him here, he would destroy him in the outside world, that one day, no matter how long it took, Ryu would die at his hands.

What else could he do? Although he didn't know Ryu's exact Dao level right now, he could guess that it was in the high Ancient Dao levels. This was a level that was impossibly rare even on the Ninth Heaven, let alone here. He knew that he couldn't match Ryu in a Dao discourse, whether the latter was suppressed or not.

But all of those words were stuck in his throat. He could feel the depth of Ryu's disregard and derision, and it branded itself on his soul. For a moment, he felt like he was the little brother for the first time in his life.

Without a word, Adlael directly gave up the challenge.

now, he could guess that it was in the high Ancient Dao levels. This was a level that was impossibly rare even on the Ninth Heaven, let alone here. He knew that he couldn't match Ryu in a Dao discourse, whether the latter was suppressed or not.

But all of those words were stuck in his throat. He could feel the depth of Ryu's disregard and derision, and it branded itself on his soul. For a moment, he felt like he was the little brother for the first time in his life.

Without a word, Adlael directly gave up the challenge.

Ryu suddenly looked down at his pillar as it rumbled. 'Hm?"

Under the astonished gazes of those present, Ryu vanished. Selheira's reaction was the fiercest. The last time a pillar vanished, it was due to Ramon's crumbled Dao Heart. Without a Dao Heart, he couldn't sustain a Dao, and without a Dao, how would he engage in a Dao Discourse?

But how could Ryu have possibly failed?