Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

2017  Undefeatable Spirit

Feeling his grandfather's bow in his palms, Ryu couldn't help but smile. There was a calmness to him as he watched the trinkets on the end of it rattle above. It reminded him of his memories with his grandfather. Long ago, he had fused a substance into his grandfather's bow to give it a chance to slowly improve along with him. In that time, it had been in his Inner World, and it had undergone a great number of changes… At least on the inside. On the surface, it looked the exact same as it always had, untouched and unmoved by the world. It still had the same worn wood where his grandfather's hands once wrapped around it, it still had the same trinkets of his and his mother's childhoods hanging on the end, and it even still radiated the aura of a simple treasure. One would think that he had just taken out an antique. And yet, he looked at it with more fondness than any treasure he had. His Dao Heart resonated with it, and his peaceful state seemed to deepen. The world slowed around him as he slowly raised the bow. To one side, the three-pupiled woman's lips were still opened in a scream; below, Adlael was still caught in a daze, and above, the arrogance of the two were still shining through. He pulled back on his bowstring, his back remaining loose and almost carefree. The light and darkness of his great swordstaff's tattoos pulsed and suddenly formed an arrow. The moment it was created, the aura of the bow completely changed. BOOM! Time snapped back to attention as the bowstring was pulled back to a full moon position. With an exhale, Ryu released, the aura of a Bow God towering over Existence. Adlael snapped out of his daze, danger gripping his heart. By the time he realized the arrow wasn't actually aimed at him, his body had already been covered in a cold sweat so thick it dripped down his body. The pupils of Young Master Moon constricted, but then he snorted, slamming out with a palm. Ryu almost carelessly drew the bow again, releasing it with a breath. He had found that his Dao had a problem. He was progressing it nicely, but it didn't really have the solid foundation he was looking for. It could do too many things, and it wasn't nearly focused enough. It made him feel like it was more of a weakness than not, an amusing conclusion considering his Dao was certainly more powerful than any of the people he was facing now. His Dao had two halves: a side of Order and a side of Chaos. One side came to understand people, and the other was focused on understanding things. Together, they could impact the world a great deal… Falling Snow's gaze flashed with rage when he realized that Ryu was actually attacking him as well. Did he think that they would have to work together to deal with him?! He was certainly overestimating himself. He threw out a palm no less casually than Young Master Moon did. BANG! BANG! Ryu was already drawing his bow again, the calmness in his eyes not wavering in the slightest as he continued to fire. Adlael and the three-pupiled woman were sent flying back, though much of it seemed to be them making distance on purpose. Ryu's Heavenly Dao Tree expanded, its whipping branches lashing out time and time again as he continued to fire. Falling Snow and Young Master Moon were forced to take a half step back, their gazes flickering. They had used too little of their strength and had ended up suffering a loss. But when another volley of arrows came, they were still forced to take a step back. Ryu would never understand men like them. Did he understand their pride? Sure… but only in part. If someone pissed him off or dared to speak such a way about a woman he wanted, he wouldn't be standing in the air, pretending to be a lofty, untouchable existence. He would be killing them. Ryu had an arrogance that was self-driven. It was rooted in the depths of his heart, his soul. They had an arrogance that was externally driven. They cared about what others would think of them. And he… Simply did not. BANG! BANG! BANG! "The next step of my Dao… I will use you all as a whetstone until I can find what it is… This… is not good enough." Ryu's aura changed once more, his hair fluttering in the wind. Adlael and the three-pupiled woman seemed to realize that they couldn't continue to play it safe and tried to engage in a more meaningful way. But the woman was scared to use another one of her eye's abilities and didn't dare to casually use them, while Adlael's frontal combat capability was being completely overwhelmed by Ryu's ease at battling from a distance. "Show me something." Ryu's voice echoed again, his almost leisurely arrows piercing toward the weaknesses of his opponents time and time again. Even when they used more power than he did, it didn't seem to matter. He would target an imbalance in their footwork, a shift in their weight, a gap in their qi control. Every time he struck, it was sharp and precise. Ryu was already used to battling like this. It was the largest reason he was able to bridge large gaps in strength. But now… he was already close to these people in raw power, and his eyes had only become sharper. With such a combination, if they insisted on holding back due to pride, he wouldn't mind killing them right here and now. In his generation, and within his Cultivation Realm… Ryu feared no one, and it wasn't going to change here. An indomitable spirit rushed out from Ryu like a tide, piercing the skies above. Undefeatable Spirit. As though agitated by something, Young Master Moon and Falling Snow both erupted at the same time. This time, Ryu had truly pushed them too far.