Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

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News of Ryu's actions were suppressed at first and only passed among the most affluent and important. The details of this matter didn't make one of the most powerful families of the world look very good at all, and on the other hand… was it necessary?

The only reason that they would even need to spread such news in the first place was if they wanted to ruin Ryu's reputation… but what good would that be for them?

Such petty tricks and inconveniences were only necessary for the weak. In truth, they were the Dao Gods of the world. They could do whatever they wanted without having to give the slightest explanation. In that case, why should they waste their time?

However, what they didn't expect was that the Chaos Plane would let go of this chance. The moment news made it back to the Ice and Darkness Fiends, it was sent back to the Dao Gods of the Fiends and they made a completely different decision.

Soon, news of turmoil, inner conflict and the scandal of Fey Dao Gods suppressing a great talent of the Human Race began to spread like wildfire.

By the tthe Dao Gods of the Real Plane saw through the issue, it was already too late to hide. Not only did the entire world now know of Ryu's feats, they were likewise aware of the Luminara Clan's attempted suppression of Ryu, and how it ended in abject defeat.

…

While all of this was happening, Ryu was still stuck in a trance of meditation and focus. He had already guessed that things would happen like this.

During his battle with Vespa and Vespera, he had sensed that there were others observing. But while they thought they were using him, he was, in fact, using them.

Ryu had ignored politics ever since he awakened in his second life. He had spent so much of his first life fighting for a chance to actually cultivate, so when he finally had sreal strength to rely on, he simply didn't care to go back to his old ways.

But now the ty of that had worn off and he had matured. In a gof politics… there were probably very few who could stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

He could grasp the hearts of the people and few general trends with far greater ease than most could ever imagine.

Something like this was far too easy for him.

This was also the reason why he attacked without giving Vespa and Vespera the chance to introduce themselves. When one was threading a needle of life and death, sometimes it was these small tidbits that would be the dividing line.

Of course, the Dao Gods could still afford to ignore him now and do as they please regardless. They were Dao Gods, why should they worry about public sentiment and where the winds were blowing?

However… all of that would change the moment Ryu cleared the first Holy World in decades.

That was because at that point, it wouldn't just be a matter of public sentiment and outrage, but an even more important matter of Faith.

When that moment came, Ryu would be far too important to even lay a hand on.

That said… Ryu was also aware that his actions this twould make it very difficult to take those steps.

For now, the Luminara Clan would likely not do much. In fact, if they did anything, it would be in helping Ryu stop others from entering.

This wasn't just because he had Vespa and Vespera held hostage, that was only a small part of it. The much more important part of the puzzle was that the Holy World was too great a natural resource. The power of a family was almost always directly proportional to the number of Holy Worlds they controlled.

The Luminara Clan would be unwilling to send in others to help support them, because at that point, the gains would outweigh the losses. If another Clan took this opportunity to entrench themselves in the Holy World, then the ones on the losing end would be the Luminara.

As such, if they were going to let anyone in, they would have to transfer one of their better geniuses from a higher Holy World. And such a thing obviously couldn't be done lightly and there would be a great amount of red tape to deal with.

It would ultimately take time. Of course, "time" would likely not be more than a few days or a week at most. But to Ryu, that might as well have been forever.

No… the location of the true danger wouldn't be the Luminara, at least not for now. The real danger would cfrom the Fiends.

Right now, they seemed to be helping Ryu, but their goal was obvious. They wanted a fissure in the Real Plane, and if they could use Ryu to do it, it would be even better because it would be akin to killing two birds with a single stone.

Not only would they deal a blow to the Real Plane, but they would likewise cripple a talent like Ryu that had caused them to lose so much. And if things worked out for them, then they might even be able to keep the Holy World on top of that.

That was why by the tthey had started to spread this information, they had likewise begun to silently make moves to send sof their better geniuses to the region…

Geniuses that wielded God Grade Fiend Qi. And one of whom wielded Ancient Qis.

It could be said that the Fiends, while they hadn't gone all out… weren't far from doing so.

Geniuses that wielded God Qis were already cream of the crop. But geniuses that wielded Ancient Qis were akin to monsters among monsters.

And now, a group of them was headed to Ryu's Holy World.

…

Ryu's eyes slowly opened, and a sharp light radiated out from his eyes. He didn't feel like he had made much progress, but he had spent enough there, consolidating sthings and solidifying his foundation further.

He knew that he only had a week or so at most, so he gave himself just three days. In three days, he would clear this Holy World.

By now, the more powerful Fiends were certainly on their way or maybe already here.

But if he was correct, even if they were already here, they would be waiting. As for what they were waiting for, that was obvious to Ryu.

They would want to blow up this matter as much as possible. As such, just heading out now and wiping everything out wouldn't be in their favor. They would likely want to wait until the Luminara sent their own people, only that way could they truly set this place ablaze.

The only question one might have at this point was why the Fiends were willing to share this pie with others, while the Luminara were so selfish. Why was Ryu so sure that things would play out this way?

Well, it certainly wasn't because the Fiends were that much better in terms of corruption. Ryu had been in their ranks personally, so he knew that they were no less corrupt than the Real Plane.

But there were two factors at play here.

First, this Holy World was in the Real Plane, and its laws were in line with that. So, the Fiends were already at a disadvantage in this place.

Second, rather than being controlled by one family, the Fiend Race side was under the control of scattered talents from two main factions, most of whom shared different family names. That being the Ice and Darkness Element Fiends.

Because of this, the Fiend Race's attachments to this Holy World and the benefits that they could receive from it were much less. As such, they were far more willing to use it as a pawn to deal a blow to the Fey and Ryu than the Real Plane were willing to do the vice versa.

In the end, this was all playing out exactly as Ryu thought it would. But before he put an end to this farce, there was still one more thing he needed to do.

It was said that this world was filled with resources, and when Holy Worlds were conquered, there were a great amount of benefits to gain based on contribution and things of the like.

However, Ryu had yet to lay his eyes on any of these benefits just yet because he was so occupied with fighting and battle.

What he wanted to know was what exactly these rewards and resources were, and if they could help him make any breakthroughs or maybe make the next steps he had to take easier.

Ultimately, Ryu wasn't a fool. He was just one person and sof his strongest abilities were useless in this world.

But he wasn't just a cultivator.

He was Ryu the Ruin Master. Ryu the Formation Master. Ryu the Alchemist. Ryu the Blacksmith.

It was about the embraced all of these strengths.