Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

"This isn't the place for you," a growl came from the side.

Large numbers of beasts soared into the air.

With the previous Titles, there seemed to be some jockeying for position, some silent communication made through eye contact and the like.

But the beasts did no such thing. The moment they saw a Title they liked, they all shot forward at once.

The only ones that didn't react were the top-flight Beast Princes and Princesses.

Why would they need a Title to tell them that they were a Beast Heir? Just the act of being crowned by their Ancestors alone was worth just as much as this Beast Heir Title.

However, those of them who were their subordinates and the like couldn't possibly sit idle while things went on. And they certainly wouldn't be able to survive anyway if they allowed a human, of all things, to gain the Beast Heir Title.

The one that spoke was a growling dragon, scales of black and brown coating him from head to toe. There was a vicious scar running down the length of his snout that made it look as though he had lost his mouth at some point for not knowing when to shut it.

Or maybe that was just Ryu making up such a story because he found the dragon's words annoying.

Sarriel rolled her eyes. Sometimes she wondered if this guy knew that he was speaking about himself when he said things like this, or if he just did it on purpose to piss everyone off.

She had seen battle-hungry people before, but Ryu was the first person she had ever met who actually went out of his way to make an enemy of everyone and everything.

It was almost impressive.

Almost.

The numbers continued to increase, and soon hundreds of wild beasts had filled the skies with their auras.

This time, Ryu couldn't just blitz his way to the Title because there were too many creatures that were physically too large to make it through.

Fairness wasn't something the Title Stele was known for, so not everyone was equidistant from the Title they wanted. Ultimately, some would end up closer than others.

The only saving grace was that no one could escape back to their Pillar from the Title—not until every other fighter for the Title had given up their right to fight for it, or simply died.

The odds of the former happening were quite low for obvious reasons. Unless you were able to display absolute power and might, most here would just try to use numbers to their advantage and hope to squeak out a victory.

Quite frankly, Ryu found it a bit pathetic. If you couldn't fight for the Title under your own merit, then what was the point in having it?

Of course, that wasn't to say that he was crying foul. He didn't care one way or another. In fact, having things like this made them far more interesting.

It was just that he didn't understand how someone could have a Dao Heart weak enough to willingly rely on such a thing in the first place. How did they sleep at night? He bet not well.

"Die."

Ryu yawned.

"Hm?"

His hand was halfway to his mouth when he felt something odd.

"Oh… Well, that's a little interesting, I guess."

Ryu was finding much of his body suppressed, including his Bone Structures.

He found that particularly odd because he had used concepts of Dao Bones and his White Phoenix Spiritual Foundation to complete his Bone Structures.

Dao Bones were special etchings that only the most talented of beasts would have. So, Ryu half expected that the Title Stele would register almost all of his talent as that of a beast.

But it hadn't.

"You're angry with me? Who would have thought that such an ancient treasure would know how to throw a tantrum. It's unbecoming."

The Title Stele wasn't a fool. It knew that Ryu was taking advantage of a loophole to gather up all of its talents. It seemed that it had finally decided to retaliate a small bit.

Sensing Ryu's aura suddenly begin to plummet, roars filled the skies.

Subordinates of the Dragon Prince and Princess were the first to react, the most aggressive of them opening their maws and unleashing vicious breath attacks from above.

Ryu looked up to find a rainbow of qi descending on him from above.

In his life, Ryu was very used to the Fire Dragons ruling everything. But from what he had seen, this Dragon Prince he had yet to exchange a single word with was actually a Golden Dragon.

Ryu looked off to the side to find the Dragon Prince curled on his pillar, his enormous body wrapping around it, his chin resting as though in a nap.

At the very least, there was one other person here who knew how to relax.

The Dragon Prince never seemed to react to Ryu's antics, and even now, he didn't seem to care about the outcome.

But that didn't mean Ryu wasn't fascinated by him.

Just what was a Golden Dragon? What did they represent?

He had vaguely heard of legends of Golden Dragons before, but they were all symbolic. They were worn by Emperors, and their strength was usually decided by their five claws.

Well, this Dragon Prince had six claws, and his wife had lavender scales for some reason.

This Golden Dragon wasn't the only oddity here either. Ryu was very used to the Lightning Qilin being rulers of the Qilin, but this time it was actually a Fire Qilin.

His gaze shifted to the Qilin Prince, and he was wide awake, unlike the lazy Dragon Prince. His fiery ruby scales glistened beneath the rain of attacks, tufts of hair that danced around his hooves and mane billowing in the wind.

Ryu and the Fire Qilin's gazes met, the fire in the latter's light almost making Ryu feel the heat even at this sort of distance.

'Fascinating… fascinating, indeed…'

This rain of attacks was just as peculiar. There wasn't a single Fire Dragon here. He sensed an Earth Dragon, a Wind Dragon; he even sensed a Lightning Dragon mixed in there, all of them breathing down their rain of fury.

But it all almost felt… out of place.

Ryu was suddenly swallowed up by the breath attacks, or so it seemed.

He appeared high in the skies, somewhere out of range, only for a Roc to suddenly slice through the air toward him, a wing as sharp as a blade, carrying the speed of the fastest creature of the skies, manifesting at his waist.

Ryu's eyes narrowed. 'Fast…'

He turned to his Spacetime Soul Nature, but he hadn't even finished the thought when a Phoenix appeared high above him, its cage forming a claw that struck downward.

If it was just a claw, it would be fine. But it was actually a strong spatial restriction.

A Spatial Phoenix?

Looking at the silvery flames that coated the creature's body, Ryu was a bit speechless again.

What was the point of all of this?

Back in his day, Ancient Beasts were given assignments by the Heavens, and they stuck to them. If Ancient Beasts could just represent anything, then what was the point of all the—

Ryu's eyes widened. 'It can't be…'

In his distraction, the Roc wing sliced into his body, nearly splitting him in two. Without the strength of his Bone Structures, blood spurted.

Sarriel rushed to cover her cherry lips, a string of curses coming only to be muffled by her palm. She didn't know what Ryu was distracted by, but didn't this idiot know that there was a time and a place for everything?!

The Phoenix claw never stopped coming above for even a moment. Space became more and more constrained, and Ryu quickly realized that even his Spacetime Soul Nature was being suppressed.

This was the Beast Heir Title fight. His eyes, his Bone Structure, his Qi, his Meridians, his Spiritual Foundations… they had no place here.

It was either he fought like a beast or he died like a human. No… even death like a human wouldn't be up to him.

However, Ryu himself was still in a bit of a daze.

'Are the plans of the Phoenix Sky God really that deep? There's just…'

Ryu's gaze shifted, and his eyes landed on the Phoenix Princess, wrapped in a rainbow of colors. She was absolutely gorgeous, but most importantly…

Absolutely nothing like what a Phoenix should be.

'These idiots have forgotten what it means to be Ancient Beasts of their Races… Unbelievable…'

Ryu raised a hand as scales slowly coated his forearm and palm.

CHI.

He caught the Phoenix claw out of the air, holding the Roc wing to his gaping wound with the other.

Sparks flew, and the air whined.

It seemed he would have to remind them of what the True Ancient Beasts were like…

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