Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

A familiar young man stepped out from a teleportation portal and a swath of elites swarmed him, bowing in subservience.

However, the young man didn't seem to notice them. He frowned, realizing that his target was once again not here. What the hell was going on? Was this man making him chase him around everywhere? Although the young man didn't curse, his scowl caused the qi in the air to ripple and the surrounding guards to bow even lower, fearing that they had offended him in some way or form.

In the fringe cities, maybe only the City Lords would understand who this man was. But they could see it all quite clearly here as guards of a city nearer to the core of Martial God territory.

His hair was a blazing shade of red and his eyes burned like two golden embers. He wore robes emblazoned with the same colors, he was unnaturally tall and the air seemed to crackle and pop around his body.

This was clearly a young master of the Flame Swallower Branch of the Martial Gods.

While they weren't on the same level as the Divine Chain, Divine Wing and Divine Hegemony Bloodlines, they were firmly considered a low tier Branch within the Martial Gods, and their standing was far above that of these guards.

The structure of the Martial Gods was quite complex because they had several Bloodlines and branches within them.

Aside from the Hegemonic Tier which were considered to be the ruling class of the Martial Gods and included the three Divines, there was still the High Tier, the Middle Tier, the Low Tier, and beneath them, there were what was commonly known as the dregs.

There was quite some movement between the Tiers and there were dozens of Bloodlines. However, it was well known to never offend someone of the Low Tiers or above because they could easily have parents or relatives of much higher Tiers.

The Martial Gods were unique in that they worked a lot like the Dragon Race did. Any Bloodline could bloom at any point regardless of who the parents were. Though, it was more likely to have one of your parents' Bloodlines, it wasn't impossible to end up with another. In fact, it was common enough that such a rule was in place.

That said, even if this young man's parents were also of Low Tier Branches, that wasn't for these people to complain about because they were part of the Dregs.

The Dregs Tier were made up of a random assortment of Martial God Bloodlines that had long since been fazed out. They weren't necessarily weak or powerful, but through the process of evolution, their inferiority had been decided.

And much like with evolution, it wasn't always the weakest that lost out. It was easy for unfortunate circumstances to lead to the fall of an otherwise powerful Bloodline. Even with all of this said, the Dregs were still the Dregs for two very important reasons: they had no political power, and more importantly than that, the techniques and cultivation methods they often needed to bring out their full strength had long since been lost.

"Where did he go?" the young man snarled.

The head guard hesitated. It was against the rules to tell one of another's destination. Who would use their services if they did so?

The fringe cities might not care much about these rules, but how could they not? The closer you were to the core, the more open options there were, and if even the likes of this young man could dictate where and when they gave out classified information, then who would choose to come to their city?

The air popped with more embers as though fire qi was being pulled through the gaps in space.

"I asked a question!"

...

Ryu still wasn't aware that there was a person hounding after him, but quite frankly, he wouldn't really care one way or another.

He finally landed in a city that made him feel the full weight of the world he was in. Well, technically, this was the third time.

He had landed in this city before, but he ended up overshooting Elena. He tried again and overshot her again. So now he knew for certain that she was somewhere between these three cities, and that would mean venturing out into the wilderness.

Ryu smiled when he thought this.

Elena wasn't exactly a... "hard worker". She never truly took cultivation seriously. Although she had easily become a genius by Sacrum standards, it wasn't because she shed blood and sweat.

In fact, the first time they met, Ryu had a particular distaste of Elena because of this. She could do what he had always dreamed of doing, but she never grasped the opportunity. It made him somewhat resentful of her.

Elena, though, never really took it personally. In fact, she would crack jokes about it and poke fun at him... not in the same abrasive way that a certain ignoramus did, but in her own quirky way.

"Oh, look. Mr. Grumpy is here again."

Elena's pink-diamond eyelashes fluttered, sticking her chest out and leaning forward as she looked up. It was almost like she wanted to see up his nose and Ryu really didn't know how to deal with this woman.

"Saintess, if you could-"

"Call me Elena, Grumps."

"This is an important gathering of Clans and Sects. We have many things to get through, so if you could-"

"Hehe, I don't know why you pretend to not like me. If it was someone else, you would have already said something outrageous by now. Come on, tell me I'm from a whore's Clan or something, really try to get me riled up."

Ryu gave Elena a pointed glance.

"Is that really what you want?" He asked coldly.

Elena blinked. "Did I not say so?"

"Alright. You're an absolute annoyance. You act coldly toward others and cozy up to me for what, exactly? Do you think I can't see through your schemes? If you want to be a honey trap, at least be as beautiful as my Death Guard first, then maybe you'll actually have some chance at success.

"Either that, or do what your Clan does best and drug me. Maybe you'll get your way then."

There came a shudder from a nearby ripple in space as Nuri almost slipped and fell. However, she quickly covered up her actions, trying to remain as covert as possible.

Ryu pretended not to notice anything, but Elena giggled, turning her head over.

"Really? I'm not as beautiful as her."

Ryu's gaze became frighteningly cold, almost as though he was daring Elena to take it a step further.

Elena laughed beneath Ryu's cold glare.

"You know, you're kind of handsome when you glare like that. It makes me shudder in all those unknown places. Well, maybe they're not unknown to you, I'm sure you and your-"

"Watch your mouth, woman. Don't impugn the reputation of Nuri, or it won't just be my words that are venomous."

Rather than being enraged, Elena's eyes lit up.

"So you're a virgin? This is great!"

Ryu's expression darkened.

Elena leaned forward, about to kiss Ryu before he could react, but that was when a shadowy figure appeared before her, blocking her lips with a fair palm.

"Hey, hey, hey! You two are no fun!" Elena pouted. "Such a prudish couple, but I can't even get a little kiss?"

There was a push of space and Elena hopped back, smiling as she watched Nuri vanish again.

"Hehe, I'll get you one day, Grumps. Save those handsome lips for me."

Ryu shook his head as the memory resurfaced. But the moment one came, it felt like they came in an avalanche.

"Hey, Grumps, I heard you revived another Spirit Herb from extinction. It was the Mildew Diamond Petals, right? Tell me the truth, you did it for me, right? Right?"

Ryu was speechless, what was this woman talking about.

"What the hell could it possibly have to do with you?"

"Hehe, aren't the Mildew Diamond Petals a beautiful pink color? It sparkles like my hair and eyes, right? Don't tell me you didn't think of me even once."

Ryu sneered. "Did you also know that it's a fungus that grows anywhere damp and moist? It's particularly clingy and irrationally difficult to get rid of. It only went extinct because people got fed up and took up arms to wipe it out."

The double meaning was clear, and the underlying threat was even clearer, but Elena just clapped her hands.

"So you really did think of me?"

Ryu didn't even know what to say. And it was then, in a sudden flash, that Elena stole his lips. Nuri had gotten so used to Elena's antics that she wasn't even on guard against her anymore. Unless there was killing intent, she almost never reacted anymore.

"Hehe," Elena skipped back, dodging out of the way of an infuriated wave of spatial qi.

"I'm only so clingy because I have to be. A man as stingy as you would never pursue me. The fact you've noticed makes me happy."