Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

[Author's Note: I ran out of ideas? Limmmaaooo. I'll never run out of ideas to torture my lovely readers. Enjoy <3]

'Son of a bitch... Ryu held a hand to his chest, still feeling as though it was practically being ripped apart. Even given the situation, after the first round of pain, that is, his smile returned and he couldn't help but chuckle.

Maybe in the past, he would have been enraged by this sort of thing and started lifting up a few middle fingers to the sky, he might have even started roaring. But right now, he found this situation more hilarious than anything.

Of course, his laughter was more than a little bit self deprecating as well. Since when had things ever really been easy for him? Imagining that he would get a victory on a silver platter... Well, it wasn't like the world to allow him that.

He could vaguely gain a hint of what had happened, just before much of his Dao was cut out. His eyes were still sealed, so he couldn't gaze upon his Fate Star anymore, but his senses were far sharper than they had once been and he could vaguely measure its presence.

Just like it had always been, his Fate Star was unmoving and stalwart, like a blazing light that would burn brightly, and yet give out just as quickly. It was the very same feeling his Fate Star had always given him, nothing had changed, even after all the improvement he had made. It was like a constant reminder that his demise was inevitable and he would never reach the pinnacle.

Now, though, his Dao Heart was simply far too firm to give a damn. He had ignored his Fate Star and he felt that it was only a moment of time before he found a way to shatter its restrictions much like he had shattered the restrictions of his Spiritual Foundation.

But it was unlike these bounds placed on him to not at least cause him some trouble before he dealt with them. His Spiritual Foundation had caused him such bad backlash that he felt months feeling as though he had stepped into a burning, hellish inferno. There hadn't been a single inch of his body, back then, that hadn't been harmed.

Now, it seemed like it was his Fate Star's chance at a turn to screw him over. Such was the cycle of life.

But it was also why Ryu was chuckling. Wasn't this also a chance? Maybe, if he carved a path out just like he had for his Spiritual Foundation, he could shake it free once more. By then, the last of the restrictions the Martial Gods had placed on him would be dealt with and he would be ready to bring them holy hell.

Wasn't this a matter to laugh about? Wasn't it so incredibly funny?

There hadn't been a single soul here that hadn't been paying attention to Ryu. Seeing him wiping blood from his mouth and chuckling, it looked as though he had lost his mind.

Different people dealt with grief differently, and some would have been able to accept that this was a laughter of defeat. But what was with that glimmer in his eyes?

Veins of black latched onto Ryu's body and chains began to appear, tightly wounding around him. They flickered into and out of existence as though painted illusions, but every time they almost solidified, Ryu's body would unleash an imperceptible tremble.

Ryu coughed again and slowly rose to his feet.

"It seems you're all in luck. Maybe you have a chance after all."

No one uttered anything, but any sympathy, or at least neutrality, toward Ryu's situation vanished. How could a man who looked so weak now speak with such bravado?

In the not too far off distance, approximately a dozen or so pillars separated from Ryu, Selheira felt her heart tremble. She found a smile creeping up on her face before she forcefully pushed it down.

How ridiculous. She wasn't alleviated approximately this guy at all, not until he apologized to her.

She caught herself again. When had she become such a tsundere? It's all that guy's fault, couldn't he tell that she liked him? Couldn't he treat a lady more delicately? What was that nonsense he had said before? She looked away unhappily. She didn't feel like herself right now, and it was for more reasons than just Ryu, she knew that.

She cast a slight peek toward Ramon. This man, she didn't have complicated feelings toward. Instead, she really wanted to kill him. But to kill him she would have to do something she really didn't want to do. He could count himself lucky.

Ramon didn't seem to notice Selheira's glance, but it wasn't an act either. Usually he would be far more focused on his surroundings, but in this situation, he simply couldn't be. He was so completely focused on Ryu that he had forgotten everything else.

His heart was beating out of his chest as well and he almost couldn't put his thoughts into words. It was like all speaking ability was deprived from him.

Once again, he was the only one other than maybe Ryu and Adlael who understood what was going on. No, maybe only he and Adlael. If Ryu knew what was really happening, maybe he wouldn't have gathered up the conviction to begin cultivating at all. In fact, he couldn't believe that Ryu had made it to the World Sea Realm at all, let alone so fast. How was that possible?

If it wasn't for those chains, how powerful would he be? Would he already be a Dao God in just a few handful of decades?!

The words sounded ridiculous, and even Ramon felt that he was a fool for even thinking them, but from what he knew approximately those chains, it hardly made sense for Ryu to be alive, let alone for him to be capable of cultivating.

The only way for it to be possible was if his original Fate so far outstripped the restrictions that even with it, he was able to do so much.

But it was still only just that. With those chains... touching the realm of the Sky Gods was simply impossible.