Grand Ancestral Bloodlines
chapter-1485

Ryu didn't slow down or relax after he entered the Legacy World. He didn't believe that the Dao Sovereign had locked onto him for long enough to tell where his exact location was, but he wasn't taking any chances. Primus had managed to sense him without Ryu even being aware of what was happening. Of course, Primus was also the stronger of the two, him being a half step into the Dao God Realm, and there was also likely some factor to play in the fact that while the Karma between himself and the Chaotic Space Dao Sovereign was strong, it couldn't be stronger than what he held with his great grandfather, but even so, Ryu had already learned not to underestimate Dao Sovereigns once today, he wouldn't make that mistake again so casually.

In all likelihood, the Dao Sovereign hadn't even been actively looking for him. What the Dao Sovereign had done just now was the equivalent of a mortal being on a stroll and catching the sight of someone he recognized in a crowd. Except for the fact the "stroll" in this case was likely just the Dao Sovereign meditating in his chambers, while the "crowd" was... the entire Eighth Heaven.

If he had been actively looking for Ryu, instead of just casually noticing his presence, he would have locked onto Ryu long ago, and he might have been able to do it so subtly that Ryu wouldn't even notice.

Luckily, Ryu's next destination wasn't the Eighth Heaven, but he did have several other locations that would be. This left him in a bit of a bind, just how would he handle this situation moving forward?

If that Dao Sovereign just sensed him popping in and out of the Eighth Heaven as he pleased, just what kind of problems would that cause for him? What if he got curious and wanted to both understand how Ryu was doing it and why?

The thoughts swirled around in Ryu's head like a raging torrent and his jaw steeled. It was no wonder people had such a hard time shattering the current ruling structures of the True Martial World. You couldn't even proceed secretly or hide, what a farce.

"It is possible to avoid that sort of detection, most powerful factions would give such methods to their young so that they can't be targeted ahead of time to pull out the weeds. But I just do not understand. You have a Half-Step Dao God as an Ancestor... no, he is close enough in your lineage to be your grandfather, your great grandfather at worst. Even if your relationship with him isn't the best, he couldn't have possibly left nothing behind, right?"

"You'd be underestimating his shamelessness," Ryu sneered.

The little woman fell into silence, not knowing how to respond and most definitely not wanting to say something doubtful of a Half Dao God. Those kinds of people could hear mere mention of them when you didn't have adequate protection, let alone an insult like that one.

She had her own protection, but she could not give it to Ryu. In fact, it was for his own good since they were traveling together like this. The Dao Sovereign that was targeting him at least didn't seem to be outwardly hostile, while his great grandfather was still looking to protect him as well. However, if she unveiled herself, the problem would be more than what her words could describe.

She hesitated for a moment and then shook her head.

Ryu felt something pressing against his soul. He raised an eyebrow, but ultimately let it in.

"[Absolute Domain]? Didn't you already give me this technique."

"I told you already that the technique is a holistic one. Less than a technique, it's more of a battle style. Even battle style might not be enough to properly describe it. Even if you wanted to breathe properly, this manual would teach you how to. The purpose of it is not to align your movement with the stars, but your every action."

"And this?"

"You aren't one of my people. You struggled even if you understood just the movement aspect of it. It didn't make sense to release the rest of it to you."

"Did I?" Ryu's lips quirked into a smile. He did struggle for a moment, but that time was minimal, he even managed to change the style of use of the technique just a small measure, making it better suited to himself. Could that really be considered struggling?

But after a moment, he felt that the little woman was actually quite serious.

"This technique has been with my family for countless generations. Any changes and alterations that could be made, have already been. While your method is ingenious, the most impressive part isn't its novelty, it's the fact you figured it out on your own. But ultimately, your use of it is still too crude.

"While I couldn't interact with you in the Heavenly Path, I could still observe what was happening. You need to put more effort into utilizing this technique. Like I said, it's more than a technique, you should almost treat it as though it were a way of life for you. If you only use it as a tool, then you won't get anywhere."

Ryu thought about this for a moment, but it was only a moment. He didn't like the idea of putting in that kind of exertion for an external technique designed for a completely different people to use.

While the little woman had been quite covert about it, she ultimately spoke too much and he was quite sure that she wasn't human.

That made things quite odd because he had never heard of her race before. There was even a point when he thought that she might be one of the branches of the Martial Gods since their Clan was made up of so many.

He no longer thought that, but that only made her even more of a mystery.

Ultimately, though, his decision had nothing to do with the woman herself. No matter how she described it, it was ultimately a technique, and if his use of it wasn't as great as she wanted it to be, then the exertion it would take to get it there was beyond the effort he was willing to put in.

But...

"And why did you send this to me just now, then?"

"This portion allows you to conceal your Karma using the same methods. It's more complicated than the version you know and essentially uses the stars as a confusion matrix of sorts."

Though he asked, Ryu already understood. As for why she would give this to him despite feeling that he couldn't even grasp one portion properly, that was obviously because she had witnessed the changes to his mind. Although she likely didn't know exactly what had happened, she likely had her guesses.

Regardless of what she knew, she likely had a firm enough understanding that this sort of task was the kind his mind was the very best at.

'Good enough.'

Ryu thought after a few minutes. The base of the technique didn't change, the hardest part was still memorizing the star maps, but he had already accomplished that. He just had to shift his thought process around their use and then...

He felt his mind shrouded by a sort of heavy curtain. He still existed within the world, but it was as though he was stretched across the stars, making his precise position extremely difficult to find for someone who didn't have an intimate understanding of the technique he was using.

He realized that this crushed two birds with a single stone. Whether it was Primus or the Dao Sovereign, they would both struggle to find him.

Of course, he still refused to underestimate these Sky Gods. He had to keep moving to maximize his chances.

The next month was grueling. Ryu lost count of how many times he had brushes with death.

In return for his efforts, he collected three more treasures. To add to his Lightning Elemental Spirit, he gained Gaia Essence, a Seed of Darkness and a Seed of Light.

Gaia Essence was a kernel of concentrated and pure Earth QI. When used for its normal purposes, when in contact with any object that contained Earth Qi, it could elevate it to a new level. For example, it could turn graphite into diamond in an instant. This same principle could be scaled even up to God Treasures if enough time was given.

It was a treasure the likes of which Blacksmiths all over would wage bloody wars over.

The Seeds of Darkness and Light were opposite and opposing one another, and both of them almost took Ryu's life, but none more than the Seed of Life.

One would have thought that a treasure as gorgeous as the Seed of Light would have been the easiest to retrieve. But when the fastest object in existence surrounded you with blades, well...

Ryu had lost more than just a single layer of skin. It had made the valley of judgment look like a joke.

Now, however, Ryu stood in the realm of another beautiful treasure that seemed to be even more deadly.

A rainbow swirl of wind sat in the midst of a hurricane, radiating some of the most gorgeous colors Ryu had ever seen.

He was certain that he had teleported to the center of this realm. How'd he end up here?

Ryu took a deep breath. 'Here we go again...'

He took a step forward and exploded forth. Hopefully his Northern Heavenly Wind would start doing some heavy lifting.

But when had things ever been so easy for him?

As Ryu did this, a legend he didn't know he was creating was beginning to spread.