Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu's words didn't contain even the slightest hint of embellishment. The moment he sat down to enter a state of meditation, he knew that regardless of what happened, even if he made the worst mistakes of his life in quick succession, his mother would be able to guarantee his life.

His mother was the Saintess of the Life Shrine, and not only that, but she was now on the verge of the Omniscient Sky God Realm. With the Shrine at her back, she was easily as powerful as a weaker Dao Lord.

Of course, these were just Ryu's estimations, and he wasn't completely certain. It wasn't until recently that he could just barely make out the demarcations between Sky Gods, so trying to guess at this stuff was difficult.

Even so, even if Himari was just a True Sky God, or even just a False Sky God, just how easy would it be for her to protect Ryu now?

Even on the Ninth Heaven, one might not have a Dao Protector this powerful to enter the mere Fragmented Sky God Realm. And even if one was of such noble birth, would they be better in this respect than Ryu's mother who had the backing of the Life Shrine?

At the moment, Ryu probably couldn't die even if he wanted to. Only if something like what occurred before, with the Heaven's themselves deciding his time had come to an end, couldn't he possibly have a shot at fading into the afterlife.

Obviously, though, this danger had already passed and it was time for him to make that step.

Ryu took a breath and exhaled slowly.

Soul Quintessence.

It was a legendary Realm in Sacrum. And now, he was about to take that step.

'Little woman,' Ryu suddenly thought.

After a moment, a pill magically manifested in his hand.

That was right, he didn't have just one Dao Protector, he had two. One was his mother, with the backing of the Life Shrine. The second was the Favor Alchemy Sky God, an Omniscient Sky God who just might be the best alchemist of the True Martial World.

He was untouchable.

With a radiant smile, Ryu swallowed the pill and a rush of Spiritual Qi surged through his body. His Spiritual Sea almost immediately reached its limits, and why wouldn't it?

The pill he had just taken was designed not for World Sea Realm experts, and not even for Fragmented Sky Gods, but rather for False Sky Gods!

The rush of energy threatened to shatter Ryu's Spiritual Sea, but his Perfect Blackbody Soul took it all in. Like a cliff face that stood against the barrage of the ocean waters for thousands of years, it remained firm and unmovable.

This was the limit, the realm of absolute perfection. And now... He would step beyond.

Ryu's body trembled and he began to emit a radiant black light. Space around him warped and twisted and his forehead began to emit a concentrated beam that seemed to want to pierce through the world itself.

Himari raised her brows. She had sensed this odd, new soul of her son's the first time they met after his reincarnation. She didn't really question it. All cultivators had their lucky encounters and she didn't really feel the need to pry into his matters.

But this was extremely interesting. Her son's soul was clearly at the limits of the World Sea Realm, and yet so clearly beyond as well. It was fascinating.

She didn't believe he would need his help here, so she simply laid back and watched as Ryu took that step.

The sound of shattering echoed and the wave of black light grew fiercer.

The void itself seemed to react, and Ryu's senses changed to an entire other plane of existence.

Ryu was taken somewhat off guard, but he calmed soon afterward. That was because he understood just what was going on.

His Void Spiritual Sense had evolved. Not only was it covert, but it had actually changed its target. From the Real Plane, it moved into the void. Now, whenever Ryu spread out his senses, his Spiritual Sense would physically hide itself in the void rather than just being slightly masked.

This was a huge change. Sky Gods beneath the Transcended Realm couldn't even break the void with their physical power, let alone with their Spiritual Sense alone. Maybe only a Dao Lord would be able to do that.

That meant that Ryu's Spiritual Sense would be entirely undetectable to those below the Dao Lord Realm.

But that was the smallest matter of importance, in Ryu's opinion. He had felt his eyes sharpen just now, and he could almost taste them unlocking. His [Third Perspective] could do the same thing, and he was pretty sure that only a Dao God would be able to sense it.

What was more startling to Ryu was the fact his Spiritual Qi could now freely enter and exit the void. This wasn't just a matter of senses, but he had naturally acquired the ability for not only himself to move through the void, but even extensions of him.

He could imagine the kind of flexibility that would give him in battle. He felt that the powerhouses he would be able to overcome would be on an entirely new level.

Ryu knew that there was likely more to gain from his soul now, but this wasn't the time to care about such things. Instead, he wanted to keep up this momentum.

He hadn't focused on cultivation in years, all of that bottled up energy was now rushing out at once and he wouldn't fall off of the wagon now.

Almost immediately, his body shattered.

Himari's pupils trembled, but she maintained her calm. She could easily tell the difference between death and a Life Destruction when she saw one. After all, she had undergone Life Destructions as well. Although she looked dainty and frail, it was the blood of the Lightning Qilin that ran through her veins.

Now, though, she understood why Ryu wanted her to look after him.

What better energy could there be to use to recover from a Life Destruction than Life Qi?

She waved a hand and large pools of Life Qi rushed formed. Ryu's body became saturated with almost more energy than he could use, but his mother's eyes were sharp.

Since her little boy wanted to tease her, she would teach him a little lesson and help him at the same time.

A gorgeous smile bloomed across her cherry lips. Himari had let her husband handle Ryu's training when he was young, but that wasn't because she couldn't or that she was too soft to put her baby through such things.

No, it was rather that the two of them had decided that Ryu should at least reach Awakening before she started to torture him.

Her smile became even more beautiful.