Chapter 674 How?
"… The trickiest part about making use of your Bloodline Talents is that beasts fight with their bodies but we humans love to use weapons. I can sense a familiar yet foreign Inheritance within you, so I can tell that you've chosen a different path from our Tatsuya Saintly Weapons."
Ryu opened his mouth to say something but his grandfather's smile stopped him in his tracks.
"Little Ryu, I know that you have a lot on your shoulders. I know how you feel, there was a time in my life where the only thing that mattered to me was living up to the expectations of my own father. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to reach the same height he did, but I gained so much more in return. A loving wife, a loving son, an adorable little grandson…
"In life, we all have our own paths to take. You've always been too enamored with living up to our expectations. Even at seven years old, you chose to lock yourself away in that stuffy library just for the sake of building yourself up into someone you thought we wanted you to be…
"I want you to know that no matter what you do or what you become, I'll always be proud of you. Even if you murder everyone beneath the sun, destroy the lives of countless women, and bathe the world in blood, I would still be proud of you. Isn't it my job as your grandfather to cover for you?"
In that moment, Ryu saw a flash of his grandfather's true self. He had never heard his Grandpa Tatsuya speak such crude words, but the sentiment hit his chest like repeatedly falling hammers.
No matter what mistakes he made, no matter how horrible a person he became or what atrocities he committed, his grandfather would still be on his side.
It was quite funny. It was exactly this sort of thought process that made Ryu despise the young master's of the martial world so vehemently. And yet, when it was his own grandfather that said it, Ryu felt himself tremble almost uncontrollably.
The fierce light in Saint Tatsuya's light looked like that of a true Dragon for just a moment. He grew to something much larger than a man of two meters tall and became a behemoth coated in ruby scales, his heated breath scorching the earth.
"Live life the way you want to live it. Nothing should stop you, not a single person, not the earth, not even the skies above. That's what it means to be a Dragon."
In his final moments, Saint Tatsuya's aura became towering, his smile vanishing and his momentum crushing several mountains in the distance. A pride radiating deep from within his bones seemed to wash over Ryu's body, sinking into his marrow and causing his blood to thrum.
"Let the world feel your fury… But only when you want them to…"
A gust of wind whipped by, kicking up sand that blurred Ryu's vision. By the time it cleared, Saint Tatsuya had vanished, leaving nothing but a vast, empty void before Ryu.
But only when you want them to…
The words played in Ryu's mind again and again as the trembling of his body slowly receded. A billowing heat left Ryu's mouth, sparks of fire lighting within it like two stones crashing against one another.
Ryu's trembling finally came to a stop, but he stood in silence for a long while. The wind grew still and all was silent. The Fire Shrine's qi seemed to dim as though it too was entering a state of mourning.
Abruptly and without warning, Ryu roared into the skies. A cyclone of hot, scorching air propelled forward, shaking the world to its very core.
It lasted for a just a few moments before it all vanished. Everything returned to calm and Ryu's back stood just as straight as it had before.
He looked back toward the two women behind him, both of whom had worried expressions on their faces. But, they were stunned to see that Ryu was actually smiling lightly.
"Shall we go? My Tatsuya Clan is probably the richest of the four, there'll be a lot of good stuff."
Ailsa gaze flickered, but she smiled in return, pulling Yaana who was practically spilling with tears forward.
Like this, the three walked forward together. The Shrine could have practically been its own world, but Ryu was very used to it and could navigate the region with ease.
In truth, a Shrine should have been hostile to anyone who wasn't its Saint. But, after years of experience, this time came to be known as a grace period. In addition, until the Shrine was claimed by another, it would always be docile in the presence of its previous Saint's direct descendant.
Soon, Ryu made it through the layers of worlds and appeared in a hall. Usually, this hall was quite empty with the exception of some important drawings on the tall pillars of black-red that held it up. But, currently, it was filled to the brim with treasures.
With relative ease, Ryu ignored it all, making a line toward the one treasure that made him pick this Shrine before his Grandpa Kunan and his Grandma Tatsuya.
Ryu appeared before a familiar large box made of an abrasive metal… Neutron Star Core. Within it was without a doubt the complete Origin Flame. Compared to the other treasures here, this would most definitely rank at the very top.
Ryu's muscles bulged and veins popped across his skin. A flash of scales appeared on his arms before the lid finally moved slightly. It was only after that that Ryu quickly dropped his blood, allowing the rest of the mechanism to take effect and open the rest of the way.
Before Ryu could react, the Origin Flame within shot out. Ryu couldn't even get a good look at it before it burrowed into his forehead, catching him completely off guard.
'This… Since when was this thing so eager…?'
Ryu was about to shrug this off and take it as a blessing when his body suddenly convulsed, his mind going blank. One after another, a storm of memories and understandings resurfaced, memories that Ryu thought he had already remembered well enough. But the result was something that left him shocked into silence.
"Ryu?"
Ailsa tried to call out, but Ryu remained frozen, unmoved.
Ryu's mind was in another place entirely. It had returned to the Moonlight Blossom Sect in the very same room he had been given after he defeated Zulfiqar. He had just finished his battle with his little nephews and was in a practically half dead state.
He hung on for dear life, not wanting to die in Osiris so that he didn't lose his treasures. There was also the problem of his soul potentially being damaged.
That day was the very day he lost his virginity in this life to Ailsa and it was also the first time the two dual cultivated together. The result helped Ryu to heal and managed to help him out of Osiris without a problem. But, Ailsa unfortunately fell into a coma.
In a desperate attempt to save her, Ryu did everything, but in the end, he almost froze to death, the great yin of Ailsa's almost being the death of him… Until that is, the mysterious white flame finally awakened.
In that moment, Ryu's Fire Inheritances all went through a breakthrough, all of them entering the Dominion Realms…
So why was it that Ryu's current Fire Inheritances were all still at the Ruler Realm?! How had he lost two steps of comprehension?!