Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Elena was still processing what Ryu had just said when he had already taken her hand and appeared high in the skies with her by his side. He teleported out of the restrictive, twisting gravity as though it hadn't existed at all, a bright smile on his face.

The angrier he was, the more irrational his wife would think he was being. And if she thought he was being irrational, then how could she trust in his judgment? If there was no trust in his judgment, when would she ever be able to be at ease?

The Ryu Elena knew was a loose cannon. It could be said that the only reason he had lived for so long in the first place was because his family was the most powerful in Sacrum. Who would dare to touch him? Least of all Primus' great grandson?

The Ryu of now... was still a loose canon.

The difference was that his power was his own. Well... his own and that of his master's. What could he say? It was nice to have a backer.

He had known long ago that the Martial Gods would definitely follow his master's warning. It wasn't just about how powerful she was, or how powerful her husband was. Though, they were both surely the best of the best. He knew well that there were tiers amongst Martial Gods with certainty.

But no. The real reason he trusted in this warning so much, and the reason his master trusted in the fact this warning would work so well were two reasons.

The first was the pride the Martial God society was built upon.

But more importantly that something so flimsy was the fact that, for a long while now, Ryu had felt that the Martial Gods were hiding their strength for some purpose.

These were things that he had started to piece together after he met Hope and more so after he learned about the Taboo Powers. They were restricting themselves for some reason, and that was the real truth behind Ryu's confidence.

They wouldn't offend his master right now because they couldn't afford to.

Fading and Radiant Star were both the last hopes of their world along with Hope. Their strength was akin to the pinnacle of what a world that stood toe to toe with the True Martial World would be, and there were two of them.

No matter how powerful the Martial Gods were, they didn't have an endless swarm of Dao Gods, and even if by some shocking truth they did, they wouldn't dare to reveal now of all times.

So when Fading Star had warned them not to send anyone above the Omniscient Sky God Realm...

She knew that they would listen.

Standing there in the skies, Ryu looked down on the trio of Omniscient Sky Gods. Each one stood on flying treasures, ones far more agile than what Ryu had seen Mordecai use previously. It seemed that they had come prepared with the knowledge that his ability to fly was beyond their own.

However, looking at them, Ryu couldn't help but sneer. If they were so worried about his flying advantage, they should have sent a Holy Wing at the very least.

As for this display?

He wasn't moved in the slightest.

Mordecai had been about to say some words when the world's color changed.

"The True Martial World is truly filled with nothing but fools," Ryu spoke evenly, the world quaking as though it rested in the palm of his hands. "To rank my eyes seventh..."

Ryu's laughter filled the skies, booming with a cadence that caused the clouds to rumble.

There was no doubt about it. If even killing an Omniscient Sky God with False Sky God cultivation wasn't enough to increase the rank of his Heavenly Pupils, it could only be said that the others were at least close to this level of effectiveness.

Well, there was another explanation, and that was that these people were smart enough to know that he hadn't relied on his eyes alone to accomplish this feat...

But did it matter?

He would sit upon the pinnacle of the world... in all aspects.

His Heavenly Pupils should never be second to anyone.

"[Rob the World of its Color]."

BOOM!

Restricting qi? He could do that too.

At that moment, the entire world became a painting of black, white and grey. Those stuck within its grasp couldn't even sense their own qi, let alone those in their surroundings. Their strength plummeted and when they looked high in the skies, they could see the only man and woman, seemingly in the world, who had any color to them at all.

Ryu retracted a fist and suddenly punched out.

The expression of the three changed as they realized that it wasn't just that Ryu had stolen all the qi in the surroundings, but he had also somehow concentrated it all onto himself.

They had miscalculated.

According to their understanding of Heaven and Earth Gate, it could be, at the very least, months before Ryu could use it again. They had already believed that they were sending more than enough at him.

The last time Ryu had fought was months ago, so they thought it made sense that he had been able to use [Earth Gate] once more, but they had forgotten something...

Who said that Heaven and Earth Gate were the only powerful abilities of his eyes?

Was it because his eyes supposedly had such a long cool down that they thought it could be ranked seventh?

Naive fools.

"[Lines of Fate]."

Ryu's aura flourished and white scales appeared across his body. High in the skies, his Birthed Phenomena took shape, a silvery white star hovering to its back.

With his wife's hand in his own, he took a step and then punched out again just as the three managed to resolve his first.

Every time he unleashed an attack, a streak of color would return to the world, and every time he took a step, the three would take another back.