1135 I am...
Ryu looked toward the Dao Lord's Inheritance for a long while, seemingly thinking about something. His actions almost made this so-called race to the finish line a joke. He had claimed one inheritance, meditated on it, cultivated in it, then gone to claim a second inheritance, and the formerly first place individual was only barely showing signs now of succeeding in his first.
Ryu sent a glance toward Starlight just as it seemed he was about to succeed and stepped forward.
At first, Ryu had thought about waiting for Starlight and moving forward at the same time. He wanted to see what would happen if he chose to do so for reasons he had personally. But in the end, he chose to move ahead first.
At this moment, although they would likely only be a few seconds apart, it couldn't possibly be clearer who was in first place.
But as Ryu walked down the final path and made it to the only point of the Dao Lord's Inheritance that touched the star path, ready to shatter it, he found a nigh unbreakable barrier blocking the path of his hand forward.
Ryu didn't seem to be too surprised by this result. There was no anger, no rage, his gaze didn't even flash with his usual cold light. It was simple and pure indifference. However, what was surprising was the voice that came afterward.
To this point, Ryu had claimed a lot of inheritances, but not one of them had an intact consciousness remaining. At best, there would be some lingering whispers or wills left behinds just to faintly guide the inheritance into the hands of someone worthy, but outside of that, there was nothing else.
But this shouldn't have been surprising. From the beginning, this Dao Lord had been far more hands on than the others. It was they who had shattered the original Dao Lord Inheritance that wanted to descend. It was they who had decided to add additional pressure to Ryu's walk along the star path. And it was of course they who was stopping Ryu's hand path forward.
''A moment, young one. Wouldn't it be a shame if things simply ended like this?''
A soothing voice echoed, and a chuckle pervaded the region. It was the kind of tone and echo that could make a person feeling incomparably comfortable.
This pause was enough, just long enough for Starlight, who was only a few seconds behind Ryu to begin with, to catch up. At that moment, the inheritance which had been a simple matter for Ryu to crush and accept the baptism of, gained itself a faint layer of protection. It seemed that the only path to it now was to defeat Starlight.
Once again, Ryu wasn't very surprised by this. He was certain that this would have happened one way or another.
If he was a step behind Starlight, the inheritance would have just gone direct to the latter. If he had stepped out at the same time as Starlight, then this battle would have been inevitable one way or another. Now that he had stepped out a few seconds before Starlight, in the words of the Dao Lord, it was a ''shame'' for things to end like this, likely due to the disparity of just a few seconds. But even if Ryu had beaten him by over a day like he could have, the Dao Lord would have just said that he wanted him to pass one final test.
No matter how you looked at it, this was an inevitable outcome.
Starlight looked toward Ryu's side profile. He didn't seem to have a gloating expression in his eyes at all, he simply looked with a deep, unfathomable depth of curiosity. This was clearly something far outside of his expectations, he truly hadn't expected such a thing.
''Welcome, my two potential inheritors,'' the Dao Lord said with a smile.
The Dao Lord didn't say anything about Ryu's lack of a reaction, maybe because in his eyes it was only right that a Path Extinction Realm cub obediently accept his plans, or maybe it was because he had never really taken the time to observe Ryu in the first place.
''A great strand of Karma ties the three of us together, so I will tell you both about myself before you make a decision whether to move forward or not. A master must seek out a perfect disciple, but said disciple must accept this master as well, so I will explain to you two why I am qualified.''
A threat, or at least that's how Ryu read it. Explaining his pedigree so that they could ''decide'' was practically just telling Ryu to take a look how tall the mountain before him was and to obediently turn back and stop wasting time.
''Unlike the other inheritors here, this Dao Sovereign is still alive.''
Ryu's pupils constricted. Even Starlight, who was usually quite even keeled, felt his heart skip several beats.
Alive was one matter... Dao sovereign was a completely different matter...
The Dao Lord... No, the Dao Sovereign chuckled.
''In my youth, I looked for a method of becoming a Dao Sovereign, so I travelled through the True Martial World and experienced many things. Back then, I was on the verge of death, so I chose to leave behind an inheritance in this Heavenly Path. Although I could have done so on the complete Heavenly Path, I chose against it.
''I wanted to gather up a large amount of Karma and I felt that the best way to do this was to help a lower genius rise up through the world and eventually conquer the higher Heavens.''
''By a stroke of luck, however, I was able to breakthrough in the twilight of my life, shedding the mold and even evolving my Dao Title beyond. As such, you two are very lucky. By accepting my inheritance here, you will have done the equivalent of becoming my in-name disciple. But even so, you will have more knowledge at your fingertips than even some of my inner and core disciples, as you will have the foundation that allowed me to become a Dao Sovereign!''
The Dao Sovereign allowed his voice to echo. His voice didn't seem laced with pride, but the Heavens themselves seemed to naturally lace it with a grandiose air.
''I'm sure that you will want to know my name by now,'' the Dao Sovereign chuckled.
''Hear me well, the name of this potential master of yours rings far and wide.''
''I am the Chaotic Space Sky God.''
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on (f)reeweb(n)ovel.com