Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Since the Lightning Shrine was controlled by Ryu's Kukan Clan, they had no choice but to act as a subordinate Clan should they want to Ryu's maternal Clan if they wanted to seek the benefits being in the surroundings of the Shrine provided.

The fact that one of their youths was here and so boldly using the strength bestowed to him by his Clan made their betrayal as bright as day. And, to actually be enraged about him a mere Isemeine, a woman Ryu would have nothing but hate for if it wasn't for her now being tied with Eska's life…

Ryu was already moving before his mind even registered the flex of his limbs. Trails of violent violet lightning followed in his wake as he appeared before the young Ignis Clan member. In that moment, all the sparking lightning within he latter's eyes retreated into his body, not daring to make its presence known.

"Did you have something to say?" Ryu asked lightly.

The Ignis Clan youth, who hadn't even seen how Ryu appeared before him, was suddenly frozen in time. It was like his qi had run dry, his mind had gone blank, and his limbs lost all their strength all at once.

"Coward."

Ryu's voice pierced into his soul. He felt his Dao collapse, his gaze suddenly dimming.

He fell to the ground, his eyes overcast with despair. His road to cultivation had been cut off, just like that. Ryu hadn't even needed to lift a single finger.

The World Sea Realm experts who were sharp enough to understand exactly what just happened watched on with wide open eyes. The Overseer who had chosen this young man in particular stood in shock and horror.

"You… You…"

Before the Overseer could realize that he should be enraged, Eudo appeared by Ryu's side, suddenly worried that some tragic fate would befall him. If Ryu died to a slap by an Overseer who had lost all rationality, wouldn't that be too great of an injustice?

Eudo looked over toward Ryu's side profile as though he was looking at some sort of monster.

At that moment, Immortal Qi began to leak out of the Ignis Clan youth's body, his cultivation rapidly falling down from the Dao Pedestal Realm to the Path Extinction Realm.

"Is there anyone else with something to say?"

Ryu didn't spare the World Sea Realm expert who was still stuttering over his words a single glance. The coldness of his gaze seemed to make the already cold temperatures of the Shrine Plane that much colder, his aura simmering as though it was just a hint away from boiling.

Overseer Eudo coughed lightly, realizing that the situation wasn't particularly good at the moment. He clasped a palm over Ryu's shoulder and flashed toward the entrance.

"Go, go."

He lightly pushed Ryu forward, sending him into the wall of wind without a worry as to whether he would pass or not. Then, he turned and bowed to everyone.

"Sorry, sorry. My representative is a bit sensitive. My apologies."

"EUDO!"

The Overseer of the Ignis Clan youth suddenly roared, snapping awake from his stupor only to, with red eyes, find that Ryu was already gone. He had been so shocked by what he saw that he had a hard time wrapping his head around it. To force someone's Dao to collapse with a single word, just what kind of ridiculous nonsense was this?!

However, he didn't care about that right now. All he cared about was the fact he had lost his chance and his investment. It was already too late to find another candidate to replace this boy and even if he could, they wouldn't be nearly as good.

Existences like Arteur wouldn't participate in this. Only geniuses a step below would, which was why Overseer Eudo pounced on the chance to have Ryu who was still new and had no backing. A genius who could defeat Arteur was most definitely not among them right now, making Ryu one of one.

The result of these seemingly arbitrary rules was Overseers like this roaring old man to have to carefully select their representatives from a pool of geniuses that weren't too great but also not too poor at the same time, leaving them with limited choices.

Knowing this, it was no wonder the Overseer was so enraged. But, this also explained why Overseer Eudo was willing to offend them all just to protect Ryu. This was his chance and he refused to let it go by so simply.

No matter how laid back Overseer Eudo was, he was still a genius in his day. And yet now, just like the rest of them, he was stuck without room to improve. This wasn't something he could accept, nor would he.

"I am sorry, Mieridan. I will compensate you properly and you will have my 100% support during the next selection. You have my promise."

Overseer Mieridan's reddened gaze seemed to calm somewhat when he heard this, but his rage was still seething.

He looked down at the young man who was now listless and aimless, spitting toward the ground in a scene that was unseemly for an expert of his caliber.

"Trash."

Overseer Eudo bowed again before vanishing into the curtain, leaving everyone in a state of abject silence.

Tybalt, though, was different from the others. His gaze glowed so brightly as he looked to where Ryu disappeared that they might as well have been two torches. A faint excitement in his heart was bubbling forth as he suddenly couldn't wait to see just what would happen.

Unlike most others of his age, he knew things that he shouldn't. It made him take a unique view on life that most didn't have. And, one of his hobbies was being a bystander to pivotal points in history, something he probably gained from the non-Martial God side of his family… A side of his Bloodline that was quite unique even amongst Martial Gods and also made him a key figure to be reared…

'Ryu Tor… Ryu Tor… It doesn't roll off the tongue like it should…'

Tybalt's gaze narrowed still blazing a path through the air.