Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu tilted his head to the skies, a smile on his face as he felt the beams of the sun's rays. There was something especially peaceful about the feeling in his heart right now.

He hadn't even looked around the world he was in just yet because, honestly speaking… it didn't matter to him in the slightest what it might look like. It didn't make a difference.

He was finally here. He finally got to do the things that he had dreamt of ever since he was nothing more than a child who still had to grab onto his father's robes to not get lost in a crowd.

This was it.

His eyes sharpened as he roared to the skies.

At that moment, a figure that was across from him shattered into a rain of flesh and blood. They had just been about to launch a sneak attack against him, only to find themselves torn to pieces.

Ryu wasn't even targeting them on purpose. But… weren't they a little too foolish to try and stand across from him right now?

Part of being a strong cultivator was knowing and understanding your own limits, and who you could or couldn't provoke.

Clearly, this man had thought himself better than he was. Even after seeing the situation in the outside world, maybe he thought that he could still deal a swift blow to Ryu, or maybe he thought that this was his best chance to get a leg ahead.

The Title Stele challenge was open to all cultivators. Technically speaking, no matter what cultivation realm you were in, it was possible to enter, from the depths of mortality to the heights of Godhood.

The problem was that those who had already Titled themselves could not enter, and one of the main requirements for becoming a powerful God in the first place was to take this exact sort of action.

In addition, it could be said that in this Title Stele world, cultivation didn't matter very much at all. That was because the currency in this land wasn't qi, nor was it the strength of one's body or soul, but rather Fate.

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Ryu turned his gaze toward a stele floating off in the distance. It was so far away that it was nothing more than a black line in his vision, barely discernible at all, even with his level of eyesight.

It was even further from them than they had been in the expanse of darkness earlier.

Obviously… that was their destination.

The Title Stele world was split into nine perfect regions, and from each region, only nine would gain the chance to move forward.

Whether one could make it through would depend on this.

A string of white formed from the dead participant, streaming toward Ryu and entering his body.

He felt a seal on his cultivation loosen somewhat, rattling about in his body.

Well, it wasn't truly a cultivation seal. It oddly felt like he still had access to all of his strength somehow, but that he also couldn't exhibit.

'Control, is it? The world isn't listening to me. Instead, every time I try to exert influence on it, it fights back. The more Fate I gather, the looser its restrictions become and the more dominating my strength will become. Or rather… the more dominating a form it will return to.'

The difference didn't seem important, but it made all the difference in the world. That was because they weren't necessarily starting from zero. If anything, they had all been nerfed by the exact same amount. However, the levels they had fallen to were anything but equal.

But this subtlety was also the reason why those above the Lord Realm were at a disadvantage and often didn't bother to enter.

Although the amount of control stripped from you was the same if you were of the same cultivation realm, for those at higher realms, the suppression was more devastating.

For the truly powerful, the Ancestors amongst Ancestors, the Progenitors amongst Progenitors, this suppression was even more exaggerated.

If you already had a Title, the suppression might even outright kill you before you could do anything.

This aside, from Ryu's understanding, the Title Stele should separate them by potential. The odds that the true powerhouses would meet so early on was… unlikely.

At least for the others.

Ryu, though, was a special anomaly. That was because although his Fate Star had begun to spin once more, what it hadn't been able to do was return to its peak potential.

Because of that, Ryu's Fate was probably counted among the small fry, so he wouldn't be granted a region of his own like the others. In all likelihood, there was someone else who was designated as the King of this Hill by the Title Stele.

Now, it seemed he would have the fun of being able to find this person.

Ryu grinned. He preferred it this way. If he was stuck battling small fry until the end, where would all his fun come from?

That said… battle wasn't the only thing to benefit from here. Still, without an adequate amount of Fate, it would be impossible to make it to the next regions further ahead.

However, Ryu wasn't worried about this in the slightest.

Since he had wrapped himself up for over two decades… it was about time he let loose.

He finally cared enough to look at the world around him. It was a bland stretch of forest, the splatter of blood and organs coating the otherwise calm atmosphere.

There was more than just one dead too. It seemed that he had killed as many as three with his roar, and there were no doubt many more coming here for that goal precisely.

"Well, come on, then."

Ryu roared to the skies again. Several figures rushing to this location just to check it out found themselves exploding into blood mist.

Tens of kilometers away, hundreds, even thousands. They didn't seem capable of protecting themselves despite the distance.

Ryu rose into the skies, his aura beaming.