Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

The flurry of sword qi around Ryu only grew denser. Battle scars began to appear one after another, the once pristine and well kempt ground slowly becoming more disordered.

Ryu's steps subconsciously came to a stop, his gaze looking out into empty space. Before his feet, there was yet another deep gash, but this one was far deeper than many of the ones he had crossed until now.

The gash was a deep and long streak, but at its tips, it splintered almost like the sides of a star. A deep aura of danger exuded from it, wafting out in waves and warding off all those who wanted to get close. And yet, Ryu stood merely a foot away from it, his gaze a bit vacant.

The scenes of the battle that caused this gash replayed in Ryu's mind.

Numerous clashing entities fought all about, each wielding a sword. This was at most a small skirmish amidst the larger battle, and yet it had left behind a scar so many didn't even dare to approach.

Ryu could see the grit and determination on their faces, as well as the indifference toward both death and glory. Their only goal was to cut down the opponent in front of them and hopefully last long enough to cut down another. Every fiber of their very beings was focused on this battle here.

They quickly exchanged blows, their faces and genders obscured to Ryu. All he could see was the fleeting mark of their shadows and the depth of their mastery. The push and pull of their battle was astonishing and the painting they drew as one was gorgeous to an extreme.

The left shadow was relentless, their flurry of attacks always being led by a counter. Each combination had a purpose and was meticulous, always reserving a hint of power in case on flurry failed. The right shadow was far more defensive, willing to take on these flurry of attacks and bide their time for a strong counter.

The left shadow almost suffered at the hands of this sudden counter several times, forcing them into a more reserved position where they began to hold back more and more strength with the looming danger of a counter overhead.

Unfortunately, this was exactly what the right shadow wanted. Instantly, the initiative between the two shifted. From purely countering, the right shadow began to attack once more.

The left shadow thought that they were lulling the right shadow into a trap and this was exactly what they wanted. Forcing the right shadow to abandon their usual sword Dao just to seek a quicker victory, this was the key to claiming a win in any battle.

But, what the left shadow hadn't noticed was the fact that it wasn't the right shadow that had abandoned their Dao first, it was instead they who had.

The more the right shadow pressed, the more reserved the left shadow became. Eventually, the roles completely reversed and it was the left shadow who had suddenly become defensive, reserving strength for the perfect counter attack.

The unfortunate part was… This wasn't their Dao.

BANG!

A flurry of sword qi whipped against Ryu's face, however his gaze had become decidedly cold. The battle hadn't ended how one would expect. Just when the left shadow was about to fall too deeply to dig themselves out, the right shadow was sneak attacked and ended up with a blade through the heart. The reason the tips of the sword scar were splayed was exactly for this reason.

Ryu was disgusted. He had just been enjoying a battle and had been sinking into a deeper depth of comprehension, but now his entire mood was ruined.

The right shadow ended up taking the left shadow down with them, but the sneak attacker continued to roam the battlefield.

Ryu had chosen to pause at this scar because he could feel something special about the right shadow. Though this person's Dao didn't exactly resonate with him, he could still feel that he could learn something from it. But, he hadn't expected things to end like this.

Ryu stepped past the sword scar, heading in deeper. But, every time he ran into a scar of note, he would find the very same sneak attacker. Eventually, at the third try, he began to follow the trail of the sneak attacker instead. But, he was shocked to find that even with the abilities of his Mysteries of Heaven and Earth Pupils, it was impossible to do so.

Was this an assassin on the battlefield?

It seemed to make sense. How else could it be that this person appeared from thin air and vanished just as quickly? After so long, their aura must have deteriorated to the point that even Ryu couldn't' follow it.

This seemed like a logical conclusion, but Ryu's gaze only grew colder. He didn't care how long had passed, with the current state of his pupils, there was no assassin that could hide from him, especially not one that had appeared on this battlefield so often, they would have most definitely left a trail. And, if not that, there would definitely be a pattern that Ryu could follow.

It seemed to be that this assassin was targeting all of the most talented individuals on the battlefield. Or, at least the ones with the most worthy Daos. Every time Ryu found something worth observing, the assassin would be there without a doubt. At the penultimate moment of the battle, they would swoop in and their blade would cut down the shadow that would have won without a doubt.

However, every single time Ryu came across such a thing, his gaze would only grow colder. His disgust was no longer aimed toward this assassin. In fact, he was certain that there was no assassin at all.

His steps led him to a deep chasm, the location of the largest and most enigmatic battle scar of all. It was difficult even to see to the bottom of it all.

Ryu stood at the end, his gaze cold.

"So these are the best swordsmen in the martial world? What absolute trash."

Ryu spoke neither too loudly nor too softly. But, there was no one in the surroundings that could hear him anyway. The number that could make it this far were far too few. However, his words unexpectedly gained an answer.

"Oh? What bold words."