Grand Ancestral Bloodlines
chapter-1988

Eska was a woman who was regal and arrogant in an Empress-like sort of way. By comparison, Mae was far more motherly in nature. If one could be considered an Icy Empress, the other was more like the Mother of a Nation.

It was quite interesting to view this from afar because Ryu didn't expect to see such a thing from Mac.

Inwardly, he was actually quite thankful that he made the decision to let her grow on her own. If he hadn't, who knew if he would have accidentally suppressed this side of her?

Although this had certainly always been a part of her personality, it had never been so pronounced. Despite the fact both Hope and Selheira were years her elder, she seemed to be the most mature of them all.

He couldn't help but chuckle. Selheira was at most a few decades older than Mac, but Hope was tens of thousands of years older. This was definitely a bit embarrassing on her part.

Hope sensed Ryu's gaze and looked over with a questioning one of her own. But when she saw his teasing smile, she seemed to have pieced it together on her own and couldn't help but blush.

"What are you laughing about?" she pouted.

"My luck, of course. Look at my three beautiful wives. What else would a man need?"

Mae blinked in surprise for a moment before blushing shyly. She sensed that something had certainly changed in Ryu since she saw him last. But to her, the difference wasn't all that important. From the day he took her Primordial Yin, she had accepted that she would be his in all ways.

That decision had only gotten easier after he moved Heaven and Earth to help her family. What could she possibly have to complain about with such a husband?

When she noticed that Ryu was looking at her, she subconsciously looked away, trying to regain her bearings.

Ryu sighed inwardly. It was nice to have women who were so devoted to you. What man wouldn't like to have his ego stroked in such a way?

But there was also a problem with the sort of women Ryu liked the most. They might be with him out of a sense of duty, and their actions would never show the slightest hint of disobedience or unruliness in most cases. But... would it truly be love?

Ryu could tell that Mac had a fondness for him, and she was quite happy to have him as a husband, but it wasn't the same sort of deep infatuation that Elena, Selheira, and Yaana had, or even the Ailsa of the past. In fact, even though Hope's reliance on him had already crossed into the realms of infatuation, he felt like it was cheating a bit... after all, what choice did she have when her Fate was tied to his own?

This was inevitable.

He had never been a naive man. He didn't think that claiming a woman's body meant having her heart. It was just that in the past, he didn't really care about the distinction.

But now... he was finding that he did.

Even so, these weren't things that he could change with a single swipe of his hand. If he could, then it would be meaningless on its face. Why would he even waste his time then?

Ryu settled down, and his Dao Heart swallowed up the feelings of dissatisfaction he had. This time, however, he was sure that it was a feeling he would be able to press down on his own.

This matter was clearly his fault. He wasn't a good enough husband. Since there was no one to blame but himself, why be angry about it? He would just fix it.

So, he stopped observing and began to participate in the conversation between his wives. In fact, he even brought Eska and Isemeine out as well.

Since they were a family, it was about time everyone got to know one another.

'We're here...

Ryu looked up to the distance as he was about to speak again.

It was the Beast Domain.

Since he had 'saved' it, he hadn't been back. And honestly speaking, the volatile appearance of the Light Holy World had thrown a wrench into a lot of things.

However, it seemed to have recovered just fine. Though, now it had a "mysterious' overlord that wasn't so mysterious to Ryu at all.

ROAR!

A silver dragon soared through the air, cutting through space to appear before them in an instant.

A single flap of its wings flattened the ground below and hit them in waves.

Little Silk seemed dissatisfied with the display and flapped her own wings.

A torrent of ice began to coat Lu'card.

"Hey! Hey!"

Lu'card still wasn't a match for such a powerful Sovereign Beast and immediately regretted his actions. In the end, he had to rely on Ryu to save him from Little Silk's wrath.

"Who told you to be so arrogant?" Ryu asked with a laugh.

"Me?!" Lu'card was stunned when Ryu of all people said these words. Even the latter's wives couldn't help but cover their mouths in a light chuckle.

"It isn't arrogance if it has foundation. It's confidence at that point!

Lu'card's lip twitched, but he was also finding it hard to refute it. He had seen Ryu accomplish more ridiculous feats than he could count.

"I'm going to refine a weapon here. I need you to keep the beasts away so that I can succeed!" Lu'card frowned. "What?"

There was no reason for Ryu to do this if he was just trying to act in a small area. He had not just one Dao God following him, but two. In the far-off distance, there was still the Human Emperor who was walking on pins and needles by now.

The Human Emperor couldn't be blamed. After all, he really wanted to return to the Human Domain but couldn't because he was following Ryu.

Although logic told him that the Fey wouldn't turn on the Humans so quickly, especially since there were no witnesses to what happened, logic and emotion didn't always coincide.

"I need the whole Beast Domain, Ryu said calmly.

After speaking, he hopped down from Little Silk's back.

"Also, if any Fiends try to interfere... kill without mercy"

Lu'card's pupils constricted. What the hell was Ryu about to do?

The fact he was making such a big deal meant that he was really about to use the entire Beast Domain to refine something, but that was the equivalent of millions upon millions of miles. How could he even control such a large region?

No, more importantly than that, what weapon would even require such a large region?

"Hope, Ryu called out.

"Yes! Hope hopped down.

"If I do this on my own, it would probably take at least half a century to finish the array. I'll need your

help to speed things up"

Hope nodded.

Ryu took a breath and then closed his eyes.

A breeze flew by, and Lu'card wasn't sure what he was sensing. However, for some reason, he still felt as though he had been stripped completely naked, his flaws exposed for all to see.

Hope was the one who felt it the fiercest. Ryu was no longer using normal means to scan the region; he was using Faith directly.

Because of [Third Perspective], using Fate like this was even easier for Ryu than using Spiritual Sense would be. With his new Soul Natures layered on top of it, it was like the world was whispering into

his car.

"Alright," Ryu opened his eyes barely three hours later. "First, we'll need to extend this river from here to about here"

Hope felt a probe on her mind, and a string of Fate directed her actions.

She was surprised once again. She had never seen such an interesting method of Fate control. It was like Ryu was directing her almost like he would a corpse puppet, but since she was living, she could

obviously easily resist. However... there was no need to.

Her figure flashed.

She appeared high above a rushing river and struck down.

"Flatten this mountain... press into this fissure... suppress the cold energy here..."

Ryu's commands came out in a rapid-fire series. In fact, at one point, he even forced Lu'card to start

using his spatial control to help Hope move around even faster.

The landscape of the Beast Domain didn't seem to be changing much, and yet, after three days or so,

a subtle dividing line began to form...

On one side, everything was just a little bit brighter as though filled with life and vitality.

On the other side, there was a hint of a shadow that filtered all the colors you saw, suppressing and muting the vibrancy. Though, not to the point of making it feel like death.

And then, Lu'card cursed.

'Son of a bitch...'

It wasn't just because what Ryu had done was shocking, but because this bastard had actually taken

out the two Shrines that Fiends were losing their heads in an attempt to find.

!... Always dragging me into your bullshit...'