Grand Ancestral Bloodlines
chapter-1976

Ryu only really knew one way to teleport long distance, and that was formations.

No matter how high his Spatial affinity, there would be a diminishing return on time and energy the longer distance you wanted to teleport.

It was far easier to shrink the ground than it was to pierce through space. But when you shrunk the ground, you were forcefully bringing together two folded pieces of reality. The further apart those pieces, the more energy it took, and even if you had infinite energy, it would still take time.

Piercing through space was actually something that happened more on a quantum level than not. But the complexities were irrelevant to Ryu right now, because the main point was that even they would have diminishing returns.

After all, if you were piercing through space, even if it was faster than folding space, you would still run into the problem of energy and time eventually. It was a problem you would have to face no matter what.

That was where formations came in.

It was possible to use a formation to make shrinking the ground or piercing space casier, but those were lesser spatial formations.

The strongest spatial formations formed two gates, one on each side, before connecting them. That way, the issue of time was handled in advance. Then, it was only a matter of energy.

But because the connection was already formed, even the energy needed was much less substantial. However... doing this was difficult for obvious reasons. If he could draw a spatial formation for where he wanted to go, he would already be there, so why would he need the formation?

There's an argument to be made that maybe he should have tried to set up such a formation ahead of time as an escape route, but there were too many variables involved with such a thing...

The largest problem was that it would be a huge investment of resources, and it would also give the Fiends an easy path to enter the Real Plane. That wouldn't be worth it in the long run.

But now Hope was saying she actually had another method. And the more he listened, the brighter his eyes became.

'Fate can actually be used like this...?"

The explanation was simple: using Fate manipulation to strengthen the connection between two points in space.

The more complicated explanation was, of course, much longer.

But it was apparently a segment of [Domain] that Hope had been yet unable to learn, mostly because she had only just become a Dao God, and this was reserved for the highest echelons of the technique. However, with Ryu's control, they could mitigate her unfamiliarity with the technique.

There would still be a risk involved and they might end up in the wrong place. But it was a risk that was worth taking now after seeing Ryu's abilities.

"Let's do it." Ryu nodded.

Hope nodded. She knew that Ryu would agree and had already begun gathering up her Star Qi.

Ryu put Little Silk away, and the two stood in the middle of nowhere as a gorgeous cascade of starlight fell from the skies above.

Suddenly, a constellation formed, and the skies overturned with darkness.

Ryu took Ilope's hand and his eyes flashed.

His Internal Matrix thrummed and his sensitivity to Fate skyrocketed.

The difficulty of the technique stemmed from the fact that it was like the normal difficulty of [Domain] doubled twice over.

It had to be remembered that [Domain] was a pain to learn because it required memorizing all the star maps of Existence. If you didn't know the star map of your current location, you were out of luck.

Those of Hope's Race, a Race that Ryu still didn't understand quite well, had a great amount of sensitivity to Star Qi.

At Hope's level, they could practically feel the stars in their region imprint their very being onto their body. As such, Hope didn't have to put in much effort to "memorize" star maps. They practically spoke to her themselves.

However, that didn't change the fact Hope was unfamiliar with this world.

She might be able to execute her techniques, but there was no way she understood the star map of a location far away like she might in the True Martial World.

This made executing the technique even more difficult, which was another reason she hadn't. suggested using it before.

However...

With Ryu's [Third Perspective], he should be able to project himself far enough away for them to get an understanding. Then with his control of Fate, Hope could focus on the stars, and he could establish the connection they needed.

Together, they would be able to execute the technique.

Ryu basked in the feeling for a moment, trying to find the perfect location.

It should be easy. Ilis sensitivity to Fate was high enough that he was able to feel the places that he had been before.

To anyone else, even to many Dao Gods, the Fate would be too faint by now. But between him and Hope, the more they focused, the clearer that image became.

Suddenly, the technique solidified.

The stars around them flashed.

But at that last moment, Ryu's gaze flickered as though he had just realized something.

Unfortunately, it was too late....

The Human Emperor stood, gasping for breath. His breathing was labored and blood covered his body.

He chuckled beneath his breath, looking up with a dauntless expression.

He had been going all out to find Ryu, but he didn't expect that he would be ambushed like this. Though... maybe he should have.

He had been such a pitiful ant in the eyes of these people that he had been completely ignored for years. He had hoped that he could fly under the radar once again, but it seemed like he wouldn't get such a chance.

They had actually sent two Higher Gods and a Middle God after him. It seemed that he would finally be laid to rest today.

That was when there was a sudden strong spatial fluctuation that caught all three of them off guard.