Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

\'It\'s about time,\' Ryu thought.

They had traveled quite a distance into the rainforest and most everyone was drenched in sweat but lanjor, Empana, and, of course, Ryu and Mae. This was because of none other than Little Silk.

As they had moved, wasting time, Ryu wasn\'t entirely idle. He was analyzing the water vapor around him, something that came like second nature due to his Cosmic Seed. Unfortunately, because his Dao Heart was shattered, his progress was limited as though his talent was sitting behind a filter of some sort.

Even so, his speed was blazing, so much so that it was hard to imagine what it would have been like had it not been filtered like this. He grasped over 90% of the secrets in just an hour and was already able to direct Little Silk to undo it and cast a cooler domain around them. By the end of the third, he had grasped 100% of it and felt like a fish in water.

Suddenly, he flipped a hand over and revealed his Matrix before swiftly putting it away. Then, he urged Little Silk to turn and shot in a certain direction.

The others looked toward one another and were about to move forward swiftly. However, they stopped, looking toward Empana first after a moment of hesitation. The Lizard Demon Race wasn\'t made up of fools, they realized that their actions before were questionable.

Empana inwardly shook his head before shooting after Ryu. Only then did the others follow.

\'This entire rainforest should be a formation of twisting water vapor. There\'s a minimum of three sources, likely up to 12 in total. They can only be located in hyper specific areas and this one should be the closest.\'

Not even a dozen minutes later, Ryu and the others appeared in a particular region. It was a rare section of the rainforest that was clear of tall, thick trees. In fact, it was the first time they had come across such a place.

Not only was it a clearing, but the vegetation in the immediate area looked as though they had been burnt to a crisp. But oddly enough, the humidity in this region was the lowest they had come across as the others finally felt as though they could breathe properly.

In the center of it all, there was a hole, one so black that its bottom couldn\'t be seen at all. It was as though all light that tried to enter was refracted away.

\'So there are six... What an odd number...\'

Ryu could tell immediately by the sight of what was in front of him.

The others couldn\'t tell, but Ryu knew that this place was the location of a geyser. It would erupt at intervals and feed into the loop of water vapor that weighed down on the rest of the rainforest. There should be five others of this particular geyser and they should take turns erupting.

These geysers should be the clue to exiting this place, but they should also be the hidden danger of this region. If they were here while it erupted, they would likely end up just like the dead, burnt plants in the region.

But this was also a clue.

Outside the immediate region of damage, the trees and plant life were particularly vibrant and beautiful. In the Ruin Master profession, this sort of setup was known as Life-in-Death, it was a concept quite commonly used in the formation profession.

Hiding the key to life in the most dangerous region.

If another Ruin Master came across this region, the first thing they would do would be to go and find all the others so that they could calculate the order of eruption and which one would be the safest to enter. However, for Ryu, after studying the water vapor\'s flight patterns, he already knew when they would erupt and which was the safest to enter.

That said... the others didn\'t need to know this.

Ryu "took note" of this area and then led everyone to the next geyser, and then the next one.

The precision with which he did this made the others relax as they felt that he was doing his job properly. After Ryu had long since proven himself, even Leah hadn\'t said anything to him in a very long time. They all only followed along obediently. It was only Empana and Ianjor who seemed to continuously look toward Ryu as though they were trying to figure something out.

And then it happened.

Ryu briefly explained what he had done in the last hour and how he would now bring the others to the safest geyser to enter. The diea of having to enter these dangerous locations shook everyone present. They realized just how much they were putting their lives in Ryu\'s hands.

However, just when they had begun to access the geyser, the others appeared once again.

Empana\'s gaze flashed. He didn\'t know how, but he was almost certain that Ryu was doing all of this on purpose. But what he couldn\'t understand was how precise he was. Was it really possible for a person to do this? And what was his purpose?

Beaten and haggard, Norrian and Ralora appeared with their people around the clearing. Anyone with sharp eyes could tell that they had suffered greatly.

Empana\'s brows furrowed and he suddenly became even more confused. This sort of destruction couldn\'t just come from Little Silk\'s silk threads, so what had left them in such a state?

Ryu smiled and didn\'t say anything. He had uttered this rainforest was dangerous... when had he said that the geysers were the only danger?

Norrian and Ralora had lost so many people to Little Silk, and then they lost even more people entering this rainforest. Without a choice, they could only collaborate or else they felt they wouldn\'t stand a chance.

Who knew they would find Empana\'s group completely unscathed?

Their eyes spitting fire. landed on Ryu\'s body simultaneously. They were practically fire.

"Kill them all!" the two roared.

This time, there was simply no avoiding the battle.

Surrounding, Empana braced himself, his stare turning malevolent.