Grand Ancestral Bloodlines
chapter-1842

1842 Never Again

Ryu's hands moved. He knew quite well that there was no other way for him to maintain his focus in this situation without using hand seals.

Each sign came in an avalanche, and it made the pressure coming from above feel heavier and far more majestic.

Ryu could tell with a glance that he was certainly not the first person to name a technique in this way, but he couldn't help but be curious about who, other than himself, would dare to take such a name.

He had chosen this name very carefully, even down to the language that the words were from.

The mention of One in this context didn't just evoke the number, but the entire concept of Three Begetting All Things. It held the meaning of the cycle of life within it, and it was also arrogant beyond measure… especially when you were using the One to describe yourself.

Above was the simplest word of the three, and it was one that even a child would be able to understand fully. Ryu could have chosen a far more complex word, but in the end, he had decided against such a thing.

Sometimes, there was beauty in simplicity, especially when you were using simplicity to link two layers of complexity.

The first layer of complexity was the word One… and the second was the word All.

All in this context referred to a cycle just like One did, however, it referred to the inverse of that Cycle.

From One to All… and then from All to One.

Two layers of complexity linked together by a single bridge of simplicity.

This not only encompassed the meaning of Three Begetting All Things, but it also encompassed the path of cultivation, the slow, winding road one took, from the complexity of understanding to the simplifying of it, and then once again to complicating it.

This was a cycle that every cultivator went through, and several times in their lives at that. Much like the chicken and the egg, it was hard to tell just which came first, or in this case, which was more important.

When you started your path of cultivation, you would start with the simplest concepts. From the [Basic Stances] to the [Martial Forms].

As you grew, you would begin to add your own style to these things, or begin to incorporate more complicated techniques.

By the time you reached the World Sea Realm, you would likely have reached the peak of your complexity, but then you would have to begin to prepare to create your own Dao Methods. And then, once again, you would be sent back into a land of simplicity…

However, these Dao Methods would be a distillation of everything you had ever learned in the path of cultivation, everything you had ever seen, everything you had ever thought…

Could they really be considered to be the same sort of simplicity you began with?

Of course not.

Then, once again, you would start on the long, winding path to true Godhood, layering your Dao Methods, increasing their complexity, until you reached a state where your word was power…

Simplicity once more.

But was that really the end?

Ryu had seen all sorts of monstrous existences that made the Dao Gods he was used to seem like pitiful creatures in comparison.

What stage was his master at? What about those hidden monsters of the Martial Gods? What about…

The Phoenix Sky God?

Were they still at the same layer of simplicity that all other Dao Gods took advantage of? Was that really, truly the case?

Ryu didn't believe so.

Ryu seemed to have chosen the name of this technique casually, but it invested quite a great deal of brain power and it encompassed all his greatest understandings of Ruin Mastery and the beauty of language.

For someone else to have thought of the same things… he knew that this individual must be a true master.

However, whether they were such a true master or not had little to do with Ryu. If they wanted to stop him from using this name… that was impossible.

A spark of arrogance reignited in Ryu's heart.

There was no one in this world capable of making him despair aside from himself. He had waded through this darkness purely because he had lost confidence in who he was, in who Ryu Tatsuya was.

Someone's outside interference could never apply enough pressure to bring him to this state.

And now that he had seen a small ray of light on the other side…

There was no one capable of stopping him.

His mind became more and more focused every time he completed a hand seal. The movement of his hands and arms left a blur in the wake of his soul. Black arcs cut through space as he shattered the realm's capabilities.

Soon, he was sharp-minded enough to not need to form hand seals anymore, but he didn't stop. He entered a flow, a rhythm. Everything was under his control and soon, even his true body began to form hand seals along with him.

BOOM!

The world shuddered and cracked along its edges.

Ryu knew that this meant that he had reached the very limits of what the True Sky Gods of this Realm could theoretically handle, but he didn't stop.

Faster.

Faster.

Faster.

He didn't want to admit it to himself, but he felt that if he slowed down here, if he took his foot off of his own neck, he just might slip back once more.

He could never allow that to happen again. From today onward, he, Ryu Tatsuya, would only walk forward.

Nothing else mattered, nothing else was of importance.

He would climb to the top of that hill until he could say with the greatest assurance that nothing was capable of stopping him… not even the Heavens themselves, and most importantly…

Not even himself.

In this world, he would be King.

Never again.

Never again.

The world shuddered.