Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

1770 Nine Layers

A constellation of lights began to glow across Ryu's body. It looked like he had truly become a star chart.

These points of light suddenly solidified, and a seal took shape in the form of a magic circle.

Ryu suddenly urged his blood and right then…

BANG!

The seal shattered into countless pieces.

Ryu's aura suddenly began to soar. Not only was it oppressive, but it was only growing more so as time passed.

CRACK. CHIIII!

The ninth layer shattered, and Ryu was pulled through before he could react.

…

Ryu found himself standing in a sea of black. But this time, it was more metaphorical than it was literal.

There were no thick waters around him at all. Instead, the blackness simply came from a lack of light.

His aura had yet to settle down, and it was a bit peeved, honestly. He had been about to make great strides in his Dao and Bloodline. The time he took would have probably been as much as it took for Selheira and Empana to go as far as they could, then he would help them out.

But instead, this world had thrown him a curve ball again.

Ryu sighed and shook his head.

It would be fine. He had already killed all the threats that had a grudge against him. Even if the Black Thunder Wraith took action, Empana was already strong enough to deal with him. His talent might be weaker, but his current strength couldn't be looked down upon.

Plus, at the very least, the suppression on him had completely vanished. And though he couldn't resonate with the Rotten Sea in this place to take the final steps he had been planning on, since this was a part of the trial, he assumed that whatever was at the end would be even better.

Well, he hoped, anyway.

For all he knew, this place was truly something only Demons could take advantage of and no amount of trickery would help him out.

'I'll find a way.'

Ryu's aura slowly calmed, and he took a step forward.

The moment he did, a line of torches began to light up.

Ryu gave them a glance before continuing forward.

The walk felt… endless.

'A test of the mind?'

Ryu was indifferent to it. He practically shut off his senses to the outside world and just thought more about the breakthrough he hadn't been able to follow through on and the changes he might be able to make to his Bone Structure.

He didn't know how long passed, nor did he care very much.

But suddenly the situation before him changed, and he came to a pause.

The torches formed a large circle, and before him, he saw nine statues that rose into the skies.

'Demon Kings…'

Ryu immediately noticed something odd, though. There were, indeed, nine Demon King statues before him, but what was curious was the fact that they were all the same size… except for one.

Regardless of the largest Bone Serpents or the smallest Ice Queens, they all stood shoulder to shoulder.

And yet in the center of them the Dream Wraiths stood two heads taller than any one of them.

His gaze flickered.

This obviously meant something, and it was quite substantial. But what was this place?

"A human."

It sounded like it could have been either a statement or a question. The voice was layered in nine and was ambiguous in gender.

Ryu's gaze flickered, but he didn't look very surprised by this at all.

He scanned the surroundings but couldn't tell exactly where the voice was coming from. It could only be that it was coming from all the statues at once.

"This has to be a joke. The first to make it here in generations isn't a Demon at all."

"He might not be a Demon, but he has the Primordial Yin of a Chosen."

"And a human. And a Faerie. And a Dragon. This is clearly a shameless man."

Ryu was speechless. He hadn't expected to come here and be attacked.

"Can a man not have more than one wife?"

"Why are you defending a human so much? This isn't the place for them."

"You've clearly forgotten what the purpose of this place is. Every soul, regardless of Race, passed through the Nether Plane for reincarnation."

"Yes, and it is the Demons that must guide it. A human would be of no help."

"You're overestimating your use. It is no one else but the Dream Wraiths who carry the brunt of the burden. When is the last time you've done anything at all?"

Listening to the same voice argue back and forth made Ryu feel weird, but after a moment, he began to understand something.

There were nine voices layered atop of one another, speaking at once. But while at first all the voices were even, when they began to argue, certain voices were more prominent than others.

That made him wonder. Why did they have to all speak at once? Why were their voices layered like this?

Ryu ignored them and began to walk around, looking for something, anything.

But he didn't find the answer he was looking for. At least not immediately.

'Fascinating… it must be a case of their souls or whatever remains of them being forced to rely on one another. But what kind of ability is that? Unless…'

"Reincarnation? You're all the same person?"

The addition of Ryu's voice stunned the nine into silence.

Ryu took a step back and began to observe the statues again, but he truly couldn't see anything linking them.

But didn't that make sense?

Ryu had never thought about his previous life before. Well, more accurately, he never thought about the one that came before his last. He also didn't know if he even had one.

But technically speaking, even if it existed… would he remember it?

Of course not. If not for the Phoenix Sky God, he wouldn't even remember his last. In fact, if he didn't pass the Sky God's trial, he still wouldn't remember it.

He wondered…

What did this place have to do with Reincarnation?