Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

1295 First Step

There didn't even seem to be a viable solution to it the more Aika thought about it.

In the end, she simply shook her head, scanning the youths that remained behind, none of which seemed to dare to move.

Without a word, she vanished. It was impossible to control what would happen in the mountain range now, she could only hope that Ryu would be able to protect himself. Something had definitely happened within the Dream Asura, and she had a feeling that it was related to that little girl, or else they wouldn't have taken Ryu in like that.

It would be up to Ryu to survive now.

...

Within the pathway, Ryu felt his vision distorting and his mind twisting. It was difficult to see even right before his eyes even though when he had just been outside everything had seemed so free and clear. Even so, he continued to walk forward slowly.

That path seemed designed to try and make him feel suffocated, as though he would never make it out, as though all the walls of the world were crashing down around him. And yet, this was meant to be an opening. He could only imagine how the full brunt of the formation would feel. But just the same, he was unmoved.

The suffocating feeling that those chains had placed on him were on a completely different level. It didn't just make you feel small, it made you feel as though your life wasn't even worth living. After experiencing that, it was difficult for him to even care about other types of pressure.

Beyond that, he had also been forced to face the judgment of the Valkyries of the Martial Gods. Although this was much lesser than that of the chains, when comparing these two things, he was simply on a level of his own when it came to Dao Heart, at least against those of his generation.

Lost in his thoughts, Ryu suddenly took a step and felt the world twist around him. He stood at the bottom of a staircase that seemed to extend up and into the skies. The man he had assumed had been right before him earlier was nowhere to be seen.

All the way above, squinting his eyes, Ryu could barely see that there were figures at the stop of the stairs.

His gaze shifted away as he blinked. Even with his current eyes, seeing such a far distance, even without any clear obstruction, was difficult. This was no longer the void he was peering into.

Ryu looked around again and he found the space in this place was incomparably sturdy. It was probably designed so that one couldn't just break through the void to circumvent the stairs, they wanted you to take every step deliberately.

The problem, though... was that this was completely useless against Ryu. Even this kind of sturdy space couldn't stop him from breaking the void any longer. Using space to stop him was a waste of time, the only way to stop his current self from breaking through the void was by using a large amount of qi, and powerful qi at that.

Using space to count him was like trying to drown a fish. Formations and skill were worthless against him, only absolute power was useful.

Even so, despite knowing the formation was worthless in stopping him, Ryu didn't seem to have any intention of taking that option. He stared at the steps for a moment before he raised his foot.

...

On the stairs' peak, a familiar beauty was entirely enraged. Those that had known Mae all her life couldn't help but be baffled, and those that had only come to know her in the past few months were even more so.

"I told you to go and save him! When did I say to test him?! When did I say to intimidate him?! When did I say to make him walk up the Samsara steps?!"

At this point, even the red eyed Dream Asura man was speechless. He was the very one who had gone to get Ryu, and it could be said that given his status, he would probably be the last person who would be tasked with such a matter.

This man was none other than Patriarch Rogryll, the current head of the Dream Asura Race and Mae's father. He could be uttered to be the most powerful individual in the Dream Asura Race other than a few elders and secluded Ancestors..

He had never in his life imagined that his daughter would actually come to scold him one day, let alone to scold him for the sake of a man. Mae had never been such a type to begin with. Although she sometimes lost control of herself when her Soul Fire and talent began to act up, she had been exceptionally restrained ever since she came back from the Samsara Wheel. In addition, this was very different from her usual outbursts as well.

Usually, she would want to harm those she loved as a sort of sadistic fantasy, but clearly right now she was trying to protect Ryu from harm, not harm him more.

And now, without regard for his face as her father or even as the Clan Patriarch, she was scolding him so boldly. Couldn't a father test his son-in- law? Did he not even have this sort of right anymore?

Off to the side, Aantha was holding her belly in laughter. Her own father and mother tried to stop her, but their attempts only managed to stop her from rolling on the ground.

Every time she looked up to find Rogryll to find his stoic face looking straight ahead as though he was unable to hear his daughter's severe words, she began to wheeze again. This was the funniest thing she ahd ever experienced in her life.

Down below, Ryu was unable to hear a thing, and many thought that he couldn't see them either. However, even if he could hear them, it was unlikely for him to care enough to say much.

Instead, he was inquisitive about what this first step would feel like.