Primus stood in silence. Even now, he didn't quite understand what had happened. Even after several moments, he still didn't. But if it was so easy to see through, then how could it have fooled him in the first place?
For the first time, he felt a hint of seriousness. This wasn't because he had failed to stop his great grandson, but rather an understanding of what it meant for Ryu to be able to outsmart and out think him. Simply put, if Ryu could do it once, he could do it again. And in a situation where his Karma hinged on Ryu's cooperation this was...
Very bad.
At that moment, Primus suddenly grinned.
It had been a long time since he had felt any sort of blood boiling conviction. His opponents were too weak, and this was part of the reason he was going to force his way into the Ninth Heaven. He never thought that this feeling would actually come from someone who wasn't even in the Sky God Realm yet, let alone his own descendant.
Primus laughed, his laughter echoing throughout the world and reverberating. Compared to the commotion that Ryu's breakthrough had caused, this was simply on an entirely different level. Just his laughter alone increased the temperature of the Sixth Heaven by as much as ten degrees Celsius across the board, and it didn't even seem like he had done it on purpose.
Without another word, he walked away and flickered and vanished. The next thing those present felt was a surging aura that tore the skies open.
The gazes of the Sky Gods present constricted. That tear... it was definitely leading up to the Seventh Heaven, but how could it possibly be so easy to open such a path without a Spatial Soul Nature... unless?!
Half-Step Dao God.
They all turned a deathly sheen of pale. It was only the change of a few words, and yet it felt to them that they were being suffocated. The gap between what they thought Primus to be and what he actually was was so enormous that it drowned them. Suddenly, they felt that it was more reasonable that he had entirely ignored the face of the Nine Powers.
Silence fell as Primus disappeared, the atmosphere slowly alleviating.
Eska looked at her hand. It was badly mangled, but that odd milky energy surged and quickly healed her, leaving her gaze flickering once more. She could feel that this energy wasn't simple... it was actually increasing her talent, and that was just the effect of a single drop. Ryu had practically filled her up with a river of this qi, just what was it?
She wanted to investigate more, but she knew that this wasn't the time. She looked up to find that Aika had appeared before her, a look of curiosity and hesitation in her eyes. After a moment, Aika sighed. What was she doing? When had she lost all of her backbone?
"About Ryu.."
Eska looked down toward Aika. She wasn't very tall, at least nowhere near as tall as Selheira or Jojo, or Ailsa for that matter, but compared to the petite Aika, she was still more than half a head taller. She could tell at a glance how powerful this woman was, so she was respectful, but there still wasn't even the slightest hint of subservience in her eyes.
Eska's eyes twinkled. "Lord Husband's relationship with his Ancestor is complex. The Saintly Weapon Sky God did not appear when Lord Husband's Clan was destroyed, and as such he had held a grudge."
Aika and the gazes of several others flickered when they heard Eska's form of address for Ryu. Although they had somewhat guessed it, it still hadn't quite clicked until this moment. They had still felt that it was too ridiculous for such a perfect woman to be in the hands of a brat. Though, they could only refer to Ryu as a brat with a clean conscience now only because he had already vanished.
As for the rest of Eska's explanation, they seemed to "understand". Unfortunately, their deductions were wrong, although reasonable to make.
They believed that Primus felt some guilt about not being present to help his Clan, and as such wanted to take on his last remaining descendant to nurture and guide him.
Indeed, the guidance of a Half-Step Dao God was far better than one might expect from the Complete Heavenly Path. Why would Ryu even care to enter if he wasn't holding a resentment against his great grandfather?n.-0ve1b1n
Eska didn't explain anything further, but everyone latched onto this story, and they felt that Ryu was even more untouchable than they had presumed in the past. A Half-Step Dao God in his lineage was already enough for Ryu to be untouchable, but for this Half-Step Dao God to feel a great deal of guilt and responsibility toward him...
Well, in that sort of situation, even the Nine Powers would be hesitant about exactly how they approached Ryu, even if they had a resentment against him. This was the reality. No one wanted to deal with a lone wolf who was so powerful, especially when he felt that he had nothing else to lose.
Of course, Eska had purposely chosen these words. Not only were they the truth, but they gave herself and Ryu a shield of protection that would last for an extremely long time, at least on the Seventh Heaven. She could clearly sense the change in demeanor immediately.
Asce's expression darkened for an instant before he slowly recovered and returned to his usual self. Such a thing wasn't enough to throw him off of his game entirely.
"I see. So a doting Ancestor procured a wife for his descendant, is that it? I sympathize with you, fairy."
Asce's words were quite melancholic, but also laced with daggers. It was a bit below him to attack someone younger in this way, but with the way he veiled his words, they didn't sound wrong to those who heard them at all.
Eska looked toward Asce with an indifferent glance.
"Lord Husband does not speak of his family matters. I learned about this matter at the same time as you all. I chose Lord Husband on my own. Please mind your words."