Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu felt it before he saw it. The first time he went to the Ninth Heaven, he was buried deep under layers of ocean, so insulated that he couldn't truly feel the Ninth Heaven, and that was a good thing too. Back then, had he appeared within the majesty of the Ninth Heaven, he would have been crushed to death. Ryu knew this, but when he really experienced it himself, he realized how large the gap was.

The Eighth Heaven was nothing compared to the Ninth Heaven. In fact, it felt like the gap between the Eighth and Ninth was even larger than the gap between the First and Eighth. It wasn't a matter of qi quantity, but rather that it felt like this was the first world Ryu had ever stepped into that was truly... Complete.

When Lysander broke through the final layer, the breakthrough Ryu had been trying to suppress rushed through like a wild roar through the skies. He sucked in the qi in the surroundings so greedily and wholly that a vortex formed. The clouds above swirled beneath the spinning suction force and Ryu was forced to open his mouth wide and roar to the skies.

Ryu felt like he was standing on top of the world. He couldn't even quite see the world around him clearly, it was too obstructed by the rolling qi in his [Ephemeral Tapestry], flooding the world with colors.

Lysander was speechless. He had noticed that Ryu's cultivation was a bit odd, but there was something about this boy's body that made it very difficult to read what was going on inside him clearly. Now, he realized what it was.

He had never heard of someone pausing such an important breakthrough before, but seeing what was going on here, he had an inkling as to why this was.

Ryu literally couldn't complete a breakthrough on a smaller Heaven, at least not without absorbing energy for days on end. Even when he first broke into the Sky God Realm, he had the help of the Shrines.

The requirements of the Beyond Perfect Extreme Spiritual Foundation were truly excessive, a bottomless, insatiable pit.

Ryu's hair fluttered wildly, his silvery eyes glowing so bright they almost looked blue.

The feeling was absolutely intoxicating...

And then Ryu sensed it.

His Beyond Perfect Extreme Spiritual Foundation trembled and he felt his talents being pulled along. Ryu hardly realized what happened at first, his thoughts filled with the sense of intoxication. But then he began to feel his Inheritances and his comprehension of the Dao skyrocketing.

Ryu didn't even really understand what was going on. The feeling was so clear and yet so vague at the same time. Even though it was happening within his own body, it was almost like he was observing it happen to someone else.

Lysander's gaze flickered, his own confusion deepening. Then, he smiled bitterly and his large head shook from side to side.

Down below, there was the land of Dragons. This was really the only place that he could come with any ease.

The Ninth Heaven was divided into nine perfect pieces, one to each of the Nine Powers. If he suddenly appeared in one of the others, it would lead to more trouble than not. And, unfortunately, even in this case, there would still be a lot of issues.

The Crystal Dragons had been banished, although he had the ability to come to the Ninth Heaven whenever he wanted, that didn't mean that he should. It would lead to a clash that he wanted to avoid.

Almost as though to confirm this, the temperature seemed to skyrocket.

No matter how grand Ryu's breakthrough, he was still only entering the False Sky God. Although it was far more substantial than it should have been, it wouldn't be enough to alert true experts. At best, they'd think some Transcendent Sky God was finally becoming an Omniscient Sky God.

However...

Let alone someone breaking the veil of the Ninth Heaven, the appearance of a Dao God like himself would never be missed.

ROAR!

Lysander looked up and sighed.

To the weak, it looked like nothing more than a streak of red through the skies. However, to him, he could see it quite clearly...

If the Dragon could have been called rugged, it would have been.

Dragons usually had gorgeous scales and a majestic temperament, but this Dragon was nothing like that.

Its scales were dark. Though red, they seemed to have somehow been stripped of all their light, replaced instead by an exuding darkness.

One side of its head carried a ghastly scar, one that somehow seemed both fresh and healed at the same time. This scar ran through an eye that billowed with a dense black fog, while the other eye was a slit orb of crimson, one that was the only point of light on the creature's entire form.

Its belly wasn't ruby like the rest of it. Instead, it was covered in a layered, leathery blackness. Even its wings were filled with scars and holes, its roar causing the entire Ninth Heaven to tremble as the clouds above were replaced by rolling plumes of fire beneath its presence.

Pyrothos the Undefeated.

Beneath the sudden appearance of the mighty Dragon Emperor, the Land of Dragons fell into silence. They cowered in the burrows and shrunk their bodies. It felt as though the entire land was covered in the shadow of this creature.

Lysander sighed. This was a problem. The concentration of Fire qi in the region had increased to the point that Ryu would burn himself up if he suddenly started wildly absorbing any and all energy that came across him.

"LYSANDER!"

The guttural roar collapsed mountains and Lysander had no choice but to reach out a claw and press down. A crystalline energy rippled outward, forming a barrier that blocked much of Pyrothos' voice and repelled some of the fire qi, allowing Ryu to finish his breakthrough.

Unfortunately, Pyrothos was incapable of seeing that action as anything less than a challenge.