Grand Ancestral Bloodlines
chapter-1982

Ryu seemed entirely uninterested in the Human Emperor's breakthrough. He never got excited about the strength of others. The only strength he cared about was his own.

That said, he had helped the Human Emperor out for two reasons. One was because he had falsely accused the man before. He had thought him to be a coward, but the situation was much more complicated than he knew.

He tended to do that a lot. He didn't give people much leeway for their mistakes. His only exception was his wives, but even that seemed to have its own tipping point... one he hoped he would never come across again.

That aside, the man had proven that not only would he help him if given the opportunity, but had even gone a step further and actually done it.

Although it was his fault that they were in so much danger to begin with, he also put his life on the line for Ryu's sake. And Ryu could respect that. He would always respect that.

As for the second reason, it was because having a Peak Dao God by his side would make many things easier. It would also shift the balance of power.

The gap between Dao God tiers was such that the Human Emperor might as well have entered an entirely new Realm.

Also...

Ryu didn't believe that the Human Emperor even understood just what kind of potential his Dao held.

Of course, there would definitely be a large number of Human experts who wanted him dead. After all, a title like Human Emperor was absolutely shocking. It was a huge deal that he had even managed to survive the Dao God Tribulation with such a title.

But Ryu didn't care about any of this. Like he had said, the only power he cared about was his own. After he left this world, he would likely never think of the Human Emperor again.

When he sat on that mountaintop...

The race he started as would hardly matter.

Ryu bent down and pressed a palm against the mutilated corpse of the Middle Dao God. He wanted to test something.

'Hm...'

Long ago, he had realized that the best way to upgrade his Realm Heart was to absorb Godhoods. He had killed quite a number of Sky Gods by now and he just did it subconsciously at this point. But. he never really felt much of a change.

This was why he was so shocked when his Realm Heart revealed such an absolutely broken ability. Being able to take an entire Holy World and force it to perfection... not just of this world, but Existence itself! Ryu didn't have the words to describe just how ridiculous such an ability was.

But even if he could thank his Spiritual Foundation for displaying such might and mutating his Realm Heart, he felt that something was missing.

The problem wasn't with the ability. But...

Power couldn't come from nowhere. There had to be a limit somewhere, and even back when his Beyond Perfect Extreme Spiritual Foundation duplicated the Divine Chains of the Martial Gods, it

was only in part, forming illusory Divine Chains and not the solid state of the real ones.

So what was up with the difference?

As much as he wanted to embrace this new power and strength with open arms... something about it. all was fishy and almost too... taboo.

Star River's lip twitched when she saw Ryu's actions. It was like she was watching the past replay itself, and the pain of losing all those powerful corpses was coming back to bite her.

However, something told her that the Human Emperor wouldn't mind. She would give up a million corpses more for a chance to break into the Peak Dao God Realm and an upgrade to her Dao. No, she would actually do it for either one. Without the slightest hesitation.

Unfortunately, this wasn't her party to crash.

Ryu absorbed the Godhood and frowned as he stood in contemplation.

Star River's eyes widened. 'Did he just absorb a Dao God's Godhood?!

Realm Hearts were so rare that she couldn't even begin to wrap her head around how that might be possible. The idea of a Realm Heart didn't even cross her mind.

'Odd...' Ryu thought to himself.

It felt no different than usual. It vanished into a seemingly bottomless hole.

He didn't usually think much about it because it was only natural. A Realm Heart was the seed of an entire world. There was absolutely nothing that a single Dao God could do against it. It was only natural that it just vanished.

But now, he was starting to feel like there was something off.

Ryu began to communicate with his Dao Heart. He realized that there was a deeper connection between him and his souls now, a mutation triggered by him becoming unconscious.

He wasn't sure if that would make much of a difference now. After all, he had always had a strong connection with this Spiritual Foundation... it was his Spiritual Foundation.

As expected, nothing much happened. His Dao Heart just told him the same thing he had sensed himself.

Nothing was wrong.

... No... something is off...

Ryu frowned, his mind churning. He wasn't used to not figuring things out immediately.

Various ideas came to mind, but he dismissed them one by one, not one of them seeming like the truth.

Then there was the most boring conclusion of them all... that nothing was wrong and that he would just have to be patient.

His Spiritual Foundation and Dao Heart had set up shock in his Realm Heart. It was under his complete control and its former soul had basically become one with him.

If there really was a problem, he would have sensed it long ago.

It was less so that there was a problem, and more so that...

'Oh...'

Ryu's gaze flickered as he realized something.

"This might be a problem, but it could also not be... it could be a boon, but it could also not be... no

wonder I couldn't sense it...'