Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

The arrival of Ryu caused many to freeze up. He seemingly appeared out of thin air and without even the slightest noise. In fact, many didn't even notice that he had arrived until several seconds had passed and only because of the reaction of others.

After a moment, their hearts skipped a beat when they came to recognize exactly who he was. They had all been there over a month ago when Ryu killed that member of the Demonic Flame Sect with just a single arrow.

Among this crowd, though, there were three who didn't react like this.

The first was, of course, Fairy Mae who maintained the same extremely cold expression she usually wore. She looked completely unlike the other members of her Sect who were all like succubi in human skin. There didn't seem to be anything "bewitching" about her until you took a closer look at her and felt your mind sinking into an endless depth.

Of course, the number of people who would dare to stare at this ice beauty for so long were few and far between, so it was difficult to notice.

Ryu had a feeling that this was done by her entirely on purpose, as though she was shielding her true charm for whatever reason.

Regardless, Ryu, who was using his Void Spiritual Sense to observe her, didn't feel this very strongly. With his current soul strength, if she was actively hiding her true methods, then it was all the more impossible for her to think about affecting him.

The second person who didn't react like the others was Aantha, yet another member of the Bewitching Charm Sect. Unlike Fairy Mae, she was as coquettish as they came, the deep v-line of her dress revealing two plump mounds that seemed as though they might spill over any moment now.

She was quite the enticing woman, although a few shades beneath Mae, she more than made up for it in outward charm and revealing clothing.

When she saw Ryu appear, rather than fear and apprehension, she looked as though she had found a new toy, her eyes sparkling as though she might want to strip Ryu down and devour him right this moment. However, even so, she didn't move from her location which happened to be right beside the third individual who didn't react as expected.

This third individual was a young man who visibly frowned when Ryu appeared, however rather than this being out of fear, it seemed to be because of everyone else's reaction to Ryu.

Ryu somewhat recognized this young man. He was one of the three who stood at the helm of the Sentient Sword Sect behind Enren. He was probably a Sovereign Class genius, albeit one a small measure weaker than their head disciple, so he had his own pride. And, quite obviously, he didn't fear Ryu in the slightest.

"This Ruin has been claimed by me, it's best you leave."

The words of the young man seemed to still be within the boundaries of cordiality.

For one, Ryu was an unknown and it was inadvisable to fight him so blindly. Although he didn't fear Ryu, he also didn't want to risk getting injured in the middle of the wilderness, especially when there was such a good opportunity before him.

Most powerhouses in the Heavenly Path had a tacit understanding not to target one another until the final phase began, only then would the tradeoff and risk be worth it.

Secondly, he had a decent impression of Ryu if for nothing other than him killing a genius of the Demonic Flame Sect. His Sentient Sword Sect and that Demonic Flame Sect had been at war for far too long. As the saying went, an enemy of an enemy was a friend.

Still, neither of these two things were enough to make him compromise on his stance. He wanted Ryu to leave, plain and simple.

Although it was fine for Ryu to come here out of curiosity, he had already seen enough. Plus, he didn't like the way Aantha and even Mae were paying so much attention to Ryu. He planned on tasting the both of them personally once he got the chance and didn't want to have to deal with competition along the way.

Ryu, though, didn't even glance of him, sweeping his Spiritual Sense through the surroundings and rotating the Matrix in his left palm.

'It'll happen soon…'

If he had a choice, he would just boot all of these people out, but it seemed that he had already missed that chance. It wasn't something he could help, though, since he wasn't the one who found this place first.

The young man of Sentient Sword Sect, Sengun, frowned before he noticed that Ryu was blind. But even after making this observation, a flicker of fury danced within his irises. So what if he was blind? That didn't mean that he was also deaf. He should have heard his words just now quite clearly.

Just when Sengun was going to draw his sword, a flash of light appeared in the surroundings, enveloping them all.

Their visions blurred and their minds shook. It took several moments before they all could see once again, and once they, they found themselves in a vast field.

The field was well trimmed and had several tall stones strewn across it. A heavy fog hung in the air, making it difficult to see further out than just about a hundred meters even with their sharp vision.

They all appeared in a group in the very same positions they had been in no more than a few seconds ago. However, of them all, Ryu had already begun to walk, his senses half focused on his surroundings and half focused on the Matrix in his palm.

Sengun's expression flickered when he saw this.

He hadn't been paying much attention before, but when he saw the Matrix in Ryu's palm, he suddenly felt that he recognized it.

The Matrices he had heard of were all in the shape of cubes so he hadn't recognized it immediately. But could it be that Ryu was a Ruin Master?