Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu raised an internal eyebrow. Vie was much too strong currently compared to what he should be. It hadn\'t been that long...

His eyes narrowed. That was right. There was a time stretch between the Nether Plane and the True Martial Plane. There had been one back in Sacrum as well, but the reason he didn\'t really consider it was because he didn\'t know if it translated to this world as well. He hadn\'t thought much about how many changes had taken place because he pretty much expected these sort of large, broad turnovers to occur. But he realized now that he had been neglectful.

Vie had already cultivated to the Middle of the World Sea Realm, and he was side by side with two Peak World Sea Realm geniuses of his Sect. They were working well to deal with the Bronze Protector Spirit, so focused that they didn\'t immediately notice Ryu. Then again, they couldn\'t be blamed. Ryu had gotten into the habit of using his Void Spiritual Sense when he could, so most wouldn\'t notice his presence unless they laid eyes on him directly. And sometimes even that was impossible if he chose to travel through the void.

It could be said that he would already be among the best killers of True Martial World, at least at his cultivation level, so long as he had the thought to do so. However, in this situation... he didn\'t really feel the need to hide himself.

He took a strong step forward and the three young men realized that he was here. They frowned when they recognized Ryu, not having thought that they would be in such a situation. Usually they would disdain a Lower World Sea Realm expert, but it was hard to do so after learning his background. As for Vie, who understood even more about Ryu, his reaction was even more serious than the others.

The last time he had met Ryu, he had been at the peak of the Dao Pedestal Realm while the latter was in the Path Extinction Realm, yet he had lost handily. Now that they were in the same Realm, he had thought about revenge, but now... he didn\'t even feel the confidence to stand before him.

Much of the matters that had happened back then were muddied in Vie\'s mind due to the existence of Starlight, but matters that were directly related to himself, like how he had to pretend passing out to escape from the embarrassment of his loss, were fresh in his mind.

His anger almost took hold of him, but then the roar of the Bronze Protector Spirit shook him awake and he quickly turned back.

The Bronze Protector Spirit was ironically a golden bear with a circular patch of glorious white fur right on its belly. It was quite a beautiful creature... when it wasn\'t roaring at you, and the fact that it was slightly illusory only made it more mesmerizing.

The cultivation of the bear was at the Peak of the Eleventh Order, the equivalent of the Peak of the World Sea Realm, but this was less important than the pressure it gave off. All of the Protector Spirits had this exact same cultivation, however their strengths weren\'t even remotely the same.

The trio of glaive wielders had chosen to work together regardless, not only to bolster their teamwork, but also to minimize the risk while they gauged just how difficult the task ahead would be. In this time, they had realized that a single distraction could be fatal.

The eldest of the trio looked back for a moment. \'You two stay focused on the bear, I\'ll go deal with him and chase him away. If I can kill him, I will, but I want the façade of the benefit of the doubt in case I fail. Stay sharp.

Vie and the other hesitated, but then they nodded in understanding.

Suddenly, the eldest vanished, his glaive streaking forward and appearing between Ryu\'s brows. His killing intent was restrained and quite subtle, making it difficult to pick out. Ryu understood what he was trying to do immediately, and he even found it to be a bit amusing.

His fingers reached out.

PENG!

The sound of Ryu\'s fingers pinching together was akin to a hammer forging a piece of hot metal. The eldest found himself frozen, his momentum entirely incapable of moving any further.

Ryu\'s body alone was only a small measure from the Sky God Realms. In fact, it could be said that he was even a half step as he had technically completed what amounted to 10 Life Destructions, one more than the supposed absolute limit.

Against weak World Sea Realm experts like this, he didn\'t even have to circulate his qi. The gap caused by that half step was enormous.

The eldest\'s expression changed and he tried to retrieve his blade. Unfortunately...

SNAP!

Ryu twisted his wrist slightly and the rigid blade of the glaive shattered, crumbling to pieces that fell to the ground.

Ryu looked down toward the fallen pieces with a hint of melancholy in his eyes, almost as though he lamented destroying such a weapon and wanted to apologize for it. The eldest, though, was far too shocked to be enraged by Ryu\'s clear and obvious mocking. Soon, though, he would have hoped that that mocking expression would have stayed.

Ryu looked up, his gaze flashing with cold. "Trying to kill me, hm? Do you think your petty tricks can fool my eyes?"

Ryu grasped at the air and the fingers of his hands vanished into thin air.