Ryu's Great Swordstaff descended from the skies. His attack was so fast and swift that the feather haired young man didn't even realize he died until his consciousness had long since faded.
Ryu looked down at the corpse beneath him expressionlessly.
This feather haired young man was from another special race of humanoids. Their elaborate hair that seemed fit to be the crown of a bird's head was a trademark of their lineage.
These feathered people were known as Pavo Race. Whenever they entered their battle state, their feathers would flare out and act as beacon for qi. Just like how Ryu could absorb qi through his skin, they could absorb it through their hair.
However, not only was Ryu's surface area obviously much larger than theirs, his absorption rate was far faster and, he wasn't limited in the same ways.
When the Pavo Race absorbed qi, it would automatically be catalyzed and purified into Spiritual Qi. It was this that gave them their strength and made them great Mental Realm Masters.
By now, a clear pattern was starting to form. First the Rune Giant Race, now the Pavo Race. Both of them were great Mental Realm Masters and they had all been gathered here.
Just with a quick sweep of the crowd, Ryu could easily pick out many more of such special races, all perfectly tailored to use Spiritual Qi to the most optimal degree.
"Who's next." Ryu asked plainly.
The crowd was stunned. The Pavo Race young man was definitely not the strongest among them, not even close, but Ryu had cut him down far too easily.
But how could he not? While everyone else was carefully conserving their qi, Ryu didn't care. He went all out in a single burst as though he didn't care about the qi scarcity in this place in the slightest.
And why would he?
He was Ryu Tatsuya, wielder of the Chaotic Silk Meridians in their truest form. No matter what kind of qi he absorbed, it would be catalyzed into Chaos Qi, even if that qi was Nether Qi. When it came to reserves and stamina in this place, he was unmatched.
"Just a reckless fool. What are you trying to accomplish here, exactly?"
At that moment, another young man stepped forward. Considering the looks many gave him, it was clear that his standing was far above the Pavo youngest.
Unlike the others who looked like extraterrestrials to Ryu who was very used a human dominated worlds, other than his slightly greyer than usual skin, this young man didn't seem to have anything particular that stood out about him.
However, Ryu's eyes were instantly drawn to the twin skulls he used as ear pieces, especially the rubies these skeleton earrings used for eyes.
This young man was indeed human. But, his background wasn't simple, not by a large measure.
He was the very first Ryu had come across that spoke the dialect of this current Era. However, this only made Ryu take him more seriously.
Those skulls, a total of four total, were the mark of the Avangard Clan. If there was any Clan synonymous with Necromancy in the Martial World, there were three.
The Avangard Family. The Delliard Family. And, finally, the Mophesta Family.
Those four skulls and the eight rubies they used for eyes… This young man wasn't just a member of that family, his status was also not small.
"The Avangard Clan." Ryu swept his gaze over the young man from top to bottom.
The young man's pupils constricted. Ryu was the first person in this plane to understand his origins. This realization alone made the young man feel that maybe Ryu wasn't as rash as he seemed. Those with the knowledge to recognize him shouldn't be many.
"900 000 000 years ago, a man should have come to one of your three families for entry into the Nether Realm. Was it yours?"
The young man's eyes narrowed. "There are many people who come to our families for this purpose. This was also long before my time. How would I know this?"
"Because his name was Titus Tatsuya."
The city suddenly trembled. Dust fell from the ceiling of the castle, the steady violet moat outside rising up in a tidal wave that almost swallowed the gate whole.
The pupils of the young man constricted into pinholes, his heart trembling outside of his control.
It was only at that moment the young man realized something very important. Just now, this young man had spoken the name of the Avangard Clan as though it was just another simple existence.
To put this matter into perspective, the Avangard Clan was no weaker than the Tatsuya Clan. In fact, if their alliance with the other two Necromancy families were taken into account, they were even faintly superior.
Yet, Ryu was able to instantly speak their name without feeling any sort of pressure at all.
"Who… Are you?"
The young man's expression became dignified, his gaze narrowing. He stood before Ryu with his chest broad and his back straight, his strength primed and ready.
The others within the crowd were stunned, not because of Ryu's words, but because of the young man's actions. This was because he was none other than one of the two tigers that had already been acknowledged within this castle.
He was Zanlis Avangard, a power that none of them dared to slight.
Zanlis' aura continued to grow, his momentum slowly inching forward as though to swallow Ryu whole.
The greater it grew, the more clear his cultivation became. However, in the end, just like Sarriel, it stabilized at the Half-Step Path Extinction Realm.
Ryu didn't believe this was a coincidence. He could already tell that Sarriel could breakthrough whenever she wanted, yet she hadn't. Now, there was Zanlis, another one who could clearly proceed whenever he so chose, yet he hadn't either.
To the current Ryu, whether it was battling Sarriel or Zanlis, it was impossible under normal circumstances. He had to put his life on the line to battle just two 3rd Stage Immortal Ring experts that shared their level of talent, but Zanlis was six sub stages above that, plus a half step.
Though Ryu had grown more powerful after dual cultivation with Ailsa, if he could leap so many stages of power so quickly, he might as well go off to seek revenge for his family right now. At this point, he was still far from this stage.
However, even now, Ryu's aura suppressed Zanlis' own.
For one, Zanlis didn't have a Small Realm. Even most geniuses of the Path Extinction Realm wouldn't have one. And secondly, Zanlis would never be able to match Ryu in pure, unmitigated confidence.
Ryu didn't care if Zanlis was ten times more powerful. It wouldn't matter. Especially in this world.
Ryu was certain that he could outlast Zanlis, and that was all that mattered.
Zanlis frowned. He didn't want to battle Ryu. Everyone knew how bad a decision it was to battle in this place. But, why did this person not understand a concept so simple?
"Are you going to answer my question, or not?" Ryu asked coldly.
As for Zanlis asking him who he was, he didn't care to answer. As far as Ryu was concerned, responding to his question with another was nothing short of Zanlis looking down on him. When Ryu was already sensitive, talking about matters related to his father, his fuse was even shorter than it was normally.
Zanlis' gaze narrowed. "… There was such a case 900 000 000 years ago."
"And?" Ryu pressed.
"I do not know. He never returned. After so long, there's only one explanation."
KACHA!
The stone beneath Ryu's feet shattered. If it wasn't for him and Nemesis stepping into the air, they would have fallen at least a meter down into the crater. But, just this simple act seemed to throw the entire city into another uproar.
What was flying, exactly? In its simplest form, it was a communication with the energies of the world in exchange for buoyancy. It could even be considered to be the infancy stages of controlling atmospheric qi, but not as true or exaggerated as what an Immortal Ring expert was able to accomplish.
Why else would it have been so difficult for Niel to fly outside of the Moon World's atmosphere? With how volatile the qi became, controlling it to have this effect became many times more difficult.
Because of this, for those here, flying in the Nether Realm was absolutely impossible. In fact, this was the case for most of the creatures as well unless they had wings and could accomplish it physically as opposed to relying on energy.
This simple act by Ryu had more of an impact than any strength he could display. And, the fact his steed was able to accomplish the same feat left them at a complete loss.
Ryu took deep breaths, his qi having becoming a raging torrent.
For people, often times, even if something is subconsciously known, it's easy to ignore until you see the evidence before you. For Ryu, it was the same. Whether it was about his family or Elena and even Nuri, he had an irrational optimism.
But… could his father really survive 900 000 000 years in the Nether Realm? Even the most optimistic version of Ryu said no.
Ryu looked up into the sky.
"From this day forth, this city is mine and those of you here will be under my command. Those who violate this single rule will die without recourse."