Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Chapter 2045 Disbelief

Sarriel was in slight disbelief at her inability to deal with Ryu. These defenses weren't normal, and there was definitely something off about them.

Although she was suppressing her own cultivation to the Lord Realm, it had to be understood that there were very few Lords across Existence that could match up to her at all.

The things that she had learned during her time in the True Martial World made her realize that just bringing her Clan back wouldn't be so easy.

As much as it looked like she was ambitious, she had thought her only enemy in this life were the Martial Gods, only to realize that the so-called Martial Gods weren't nearly as simple as they seemed on the surface.

This was a realization that Ryu himself had made on many occasions. It was simply too difficult to take the strength that the Martial Gods displayed on the surface at face value. Their true abilities ran much deeper than maybe anyone knew.

In life, Sarriel only wanted two things. The first was revenge against the Martial Gods, and the second was the restoration of her Clan.

It might have seemed like she wanted to rely on a man to do so, but the reality was that both wishes required one. How was she meant to restore her Clan if she didn't have a man worthy of her to use their seed by her side?

And since she didn't want her children to experience the same heartache she had, the man also had to be strong. If he wasn't, and all the trouble she got into ended up getting him killed, how would she face her children? How would she face herself?

This was all to say that she had very focused intentions with her cultivation, and she took meticulous care to take one step at a time, excavating all of the potential she could. And in practice, that had worked out greatly for her.

This meant that not only was she near the limits of what was possible for the Lord Realm, but her weapon likewise reflected that since it was an extension of her talent. The number of Body Realm experts that could face off against even a normal Lord Grade weapon with their bodies alone were an infinitely small percentage of a small percentage.

Usually, Body Realm experts would still be forced to use treasures of their own. Even if they relied on close combat techniques, there were still hand wraps, gauntlets, and armors they could use to help amplify their powers and meet such Lord Grade weapons head-on.

But Sarriel's blade was not only not just a normal Lord Grade weapon, it was a weapon so powerful that it sliced apart reality itself.

So how could Ryu possibly defend against it without, well... actually defending against it at all?

He didn't use qi, and he couldn't even react to the weapon or brace himself. Normal tactics like qi skins or solidifying muscles at the target area weren't even being used. Granted, Sarriel also hadn't used her full power either. But it was a joke that she had to against a defenseless opponent that she was already beating the crap out of.

It didn't make any sense.

Ryu suddenly regained some of his senses and looked down to find the small punctured hole in his chest quickly mending itself.

It wasn't that he wasn't trying to regain control of himself. He was pushing his mind to its limits, and his Focus Qi was flying away much faster than he could even begin to create it.

But nothing at all was working, and he also wasn't under the illusion that he could keep blocking Sarriel's blows like this.

He was already seeing the benefits of his completed Body Realm technique even without it quite being complete yet, but Sarriel was just using normal casual attacks and he was certain that he had yet to see her truly go all out.

Ryu's grip on his great swordstaffs grew stronger as he took deep breaths. By this point, his body was steadily growing so powerful that even these inhaled breaths caused the ground to quake.

Some of the pain from his bones being etched with tattoos forced him to grit his teeth, but he soon settled down into an indifferent expression as Sarriel seemed to also

recover.

The three Sarriels gazed toward Ryu as though they were trying to figure something out for themselves, as though their eyes were capable of seeing through the world itself.

"You have a lot of nerve..." the cold and arrogant one spoke.

This was all she said as she surged forward again.

Ryu found himself pincered from three sides at once. His mind spun, trying to figure out how to handle this situation.

He had brought out all the stops, but...

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Ryu unleashed a barrage of attacks, two that sent a pair of Sarriels flying and the last of which sent him into a deadlock with the third.

The air vibrated around their crossed blades, and then, as expected, Ryu lost himself in time.

Sarriel's gaze sharpened, but it was too late to pull back her force.

Ryu was sent flying back as his body went lax.

'He's doing it on purpose, Sarriel realized.

If they were in the middle of a clash like this when he lost consciousness, it would be much harder for her to follow up and deal a lethal blow to him.

By the third time this happened, Sarriel found herself getting frustrated, caught between her pride and a willingness to end this battle as quickly as possible. However, Ryu's lapses were also getting longer and longer rather than shorter. She realized that whatever he had done to himself, he was no closer to fixing. In fact, he was only getting worse as time progressed.

But likewise, the effect his body had on the world was also increasing. Not only was Ryu frozen in time, but so too was the immediate space around him.