Grand Ancestral Bloodlines Chapter 1868

[ … words ]

Ryu came to a stop. He stood tall on Lu’card’s head, but he couldn’t help but stare out into the distance. He was getting an uneasy feeling, but he wasn’t exactly sure what it was. Something about it felt off. After some thought, he shook his head. He wasn’t used to this sort of feeling. Usually, if he had such thoughts, he would immediately understand what was going on. But this time, there didn’t seem to be such a eureka moment waiting for him. Instead, there was just an endless vastness waiting on the other end.

Although Ryu didn’t understand what was going on fully, he had a feeling that it was related to someone or something extremely powerful. He could sense that something was pressing down on him. But what he couldn’t sense was what was pressing down. It was like he was staring into the vastness of a storm as a mortal, trying to find the origin of the hurricane that could wipe out his city. That was simply impossible. The problem, then, wasn’t with him, but rather with the strength of the individuals that he was facing off against. Ryu realized that this had to be his eyes talking. He had never had such an ability before, or else what happened to Hope would have never occurred in the first place. But with every step forward he took with his eyes, the more flexible and powerful they seemed to become. It was only then that Ryu understood. There were two problems his eyes faced. The first was that he had unlocked all 999 Seals too quickly. The second was that this unlocking was completed in Sacrum where the laws weren’t necessarily the best. The good news was that he had had the Shrines to support him at the time. The bad news was that there was too much to assimilate even with Rebirth activated. If Ryu was correct, then his eyes right now were akin to a cultivator that had sprinted to their current cultivation without laying a solid foundation first. That was only natural since he hadn’t even unlocked any new abilities since reaching this level. Of course, he felt that he already had all of the most powerful abilities of his Heavenly Pupils to begin with. But his recent breakthroughs taught him that that wasn’t the end-all, be-all. But all of this was also the reason why he believed in this feeling all the more. He had experienced what it felt like to be so in tune with nature and Karma while in the Holy World. So this time, even though the feeling was far vaguer, he was still able to recognize it at a glance and understand what was happening. “Hold on,” Ryu called out, stopping Lu’card and Ianjor from continuing on. “Something is fishy. How many bosses have we dealt with already?”

“We’ve killed three, subdued about fifty…”

Ryu’s eyes narrowed. Should it be so easy to subdue these beasts? Now that he thought about it, these creatures were all the cream of the crop. They were existences that had all managed to reach Sovereignty despite having no one else’s path to follow. Their Dao Hearts couldn’t be measured in gallons; they had to be measured in oceans’ worth. Such creatures wouldn’t bow and submit so easily.

Of course, Ryu knew this. This was why he had also prepared and planted slave seals within them for the time being. Even if they did have the intention of rebelling, there was little that they could do. And because the slave seal was anchored into Ryu’s inner world, there shouldn’t be any easy way for them to slip free at all.

Ryu’s brows furrowed, confusion hitting him in waves. He definitely hadn’t made any mistakes along the way, so what was going on?

‘No. I’m looking at it the wrong way. Of course, I wouldn’t have made any mistakes, I’m not an idiot. Or more accurately, I wouldn’t have made any obvious mistakes…’

If he had made an obvious mistake that he could just casually recall, then he wouldn’t be Ryu Tatsuya. The only explanations were either that he had done something wrong beneath layers of right decisions, hiding it from himself, or… there was a piece of the puzzle that he had been missing from the very beginning that made everything he had done wrong from the very outset.

‘Interesting…’

Rather than being annoyed, Ryu was actually pleased. He had known from the beginning that his wife’s troubles wouldn’t be so easy. Let alone their group of three, this Beast Domain would probably be able to be handled by Ailsa’s disciples.

Ailsa was a Cultus Faerie, and if she was in a bind she couldn’t get through herself, taking on disciples was the smartest thing to do. With her skills, nurturing even armies of elites wouldn’t be a problem. It also couldn’t be forgotten that along with being a Cultus Faerie, Ailsa was also a Quibus Faerie hybrid. She had two complete paths within her body just like Ryu did. As a Quibus Faerie, Ailsa’s ability to gather Summons and force Demons to be under her charge should be impossibly far beyond Ryu’s ability to do so. Whether it was by raising an army of disciples or followers, or by raising an army of Demons, or even by way of both, there was definitely no situation that Ailsa should be unable to get herself out of. And as a selfish measure, Ryu didn’t believe for a moment that his wife was so inferior. Ryu could defeat existences several Realms above him even in planes like the Ninth Heaven. How could Ailsa possibly be stuck in a battle of wits with regular Dao Gods? 

Ryu stood in silence for a long time, thinking harder than he could remember ever having to. It was like the world was a series of firing synapses to him as he tried to take in everything. And then, it hit him.