Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu met the gaze of the Crystal Dragon, feeling something stirring inside of him.

It was submission.

He could feel his Fire Dragon Bloodline withering away as though it wouldn't be satisfied until he bowed he scraped.

Ryu ignored it, looking at this Crystal Dragon for a long while. Their gaze only met for a brief moment as the creature was simply too fast, but for Ryu, it might as well have been an eternity... not because he was trembling in fear, but rather because his eyes seemed to want to burn the image of this beautiful creature into his mind.

It truly was the most beautiful beast he had ever seen.

It was only after it had flashed into the mountain range that Ryu turned his attention to his Bloodline and shook his head. In the past, he would have probably gotten angry, but he didn't really see the point right now.

Seeing what Selheira had to go through, he understood that humans with Beast Bloodlines were actually better off, at least in part. There were still a lot of shackles that Ryu had to deal with, but rather than his Bloodlines because the only path for him to take, they were just supplemental. Compared to Selheira, he was actually in a far better state.

Plus, he didn't care how agitated his Bloodlines were. They were under his control and nothing else could dictate their actions.

If he had wanted to, he could have triggered an activation of his Bloodmancy and any effects similar to what had just happened would have been fully under his control.

He didn't because it would have been a waste of his effort.

Ryu suddenly looked over to find that Selheira had tears streaming down her cheeks. In line with her race, they sparkled like little droplets of gems.

"There's no need to cry," Ryu said lightly. "Just take it as revisiting home after a long while, a reprieve from your hardship. The rest of it will fall into place with time."

Ryu wasn't actually all that worried about Selheira's path. He only ever casually used his Dao to help enhance those around him when it suited his plans, but given that he would take Selheira as his wife in time, it wasn't too big of a deal for him to put some real effort into helping her improve.

"Isemeine, go into my Golden Moon World for now. There's an unconscious woman in there, see if Eska knows anything about how we might be able to help her."

Ryu hadn't asked his father because he knew Titus was the furthest thing from a Mental Realm expert. In fact, Mental Realm cultivation had been banned during his reign, so he was making up for more lost ground on that front than even Ryu was.

Eska, however, had trillions of years of experience in dealing with souls. Even if she didn't have the strength to change things right now, she would more than likely know exactly what was wrong and exactly what steps he would have to take to fix it.

"Completely shameless. You have three women with you now, you're going to visit your in-laws, and yet you somehow managed to sneak in another one."

Ryu shook his head and smiled. "Be gentle with her and don't do anything stupid. She will probably be carrying my child soon."

These words caught the attention of all of them. Ryu could even feel that Eska was at attention through Isemeine.

So, he gave them an explanation of what was going on.

"Oh, so you didn't fuck her," Isemeine spoke, sounding genuinely surprised.

Ryu was speechless. What was that supposed to mean? Did he look like a man that bedded anything with two legs?

"Yes." Isemeine nodded, reading Ryu's thoughts.

Ryu shook his head, not bothering to argue. He had lost count of how many supreme beauties he had killed.

Selheira wiped her tears and laughed, pulling on Ryu's arm and resting her cheek on his shoulder.

"Husband deserves all the women in the world."

Isemeine gagged. "Oh god, I think I'm gonna throw up. I'm going now, no need to torture me on the way out."

...

Little Silk descended and soon it was just Ryu and Selheira standing at the entrance of the crystal mountain. There was a huge archway before them and the air was filled with a delicate scent that was just a few strokes away from intoxication. The smell almost assaulted the mind, forcing you to rid yourself of anxiety and rage. It almost begged you to give yourself over to tranquility.

Selheira's feet seemed rooted in place and her body started shaking. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to take another step.

"If you don't want to enter, we don't have to. I can easily think of another way," Ryu said lightly.

If he had known that Selheira would have such a fierce reaction, he wouldn't have accepted her offer. He didn't want her to think that this was his only path. With or without this, he would have found a way. Wasn't it just going to the Ninth Heaven? Who could stop him from achieving his goals?

"I..."

Selheira didn't expect herself to have such a fierce reaction, but even the smell was making her feel disgusted.

This gentle and coaxing environment was like the worst sort of nightmare to her. It was like the murderer of her parents was trying to whisper sweet nothings to her. It made her skin crawl with a grotesque stickiness that filled with waves of nausea.

"Okay, let's go," Ryu turned around and pulled Selheira away. She couldn't even respond properly, but clearly she didn't want to enter. Rather than waiting for her to give the answer she obviously didn't want to, he would make the decision to leave for her.

Selheira pulled back against Ryu's hand, but the hesitation was clearly painted all over her face. Ryu could even see the regret taking root for the fact she had stopped him at all.

It was then that another shadow was cast from the skies above.