Jaana let out a small squeal as Ryker picked her up. Her blush ran down to her collarbone as she fought Ryker for control of her body. However, eventually, she had to just settle down into his arms, unable to combat his enthusiasm.

There was a small smile of satisfaction on her face as well. It was just unfortunate that the world couldn’t see such a beautiful smile as it was hidden away in Ryker’s chest.

The stadium was already filled with a mixture of chatter and other noises, but Ryker ignored it all as though his enemies were nothing but air. With Jaana in his arms, he turned toward his family.

“Grammy, it’s been a long time. Look at you, you get more beautiful with time. What’s your secret? I’m sure Jaana would love to hear it.”

Ryker’s grandmother chuckled. Ryker was still calling out to her the same way he had been when he was just a little waddling toddler.

“Ryker!” Jaana found herself blushing profusely again. This was her first time meeting Ryker’s grandmother; why couldn’t he ever be serious?

“Haha, come here, child. There’s no need to be so nervous, I’ve been hearing great things about you for a very long time. It’s just unfortunate that my health has never been good enough to see you,” she sighed lightly.

Jaana shyly left Ryker’s side and took a seat by his grandmother.

The atmosphere could only be described as happy and jovial. Even though there was a part of Ryker that wasn’t quite satisfied yet, he knew how to bide his time.

Today, he seemed to have been overly arrogant, but the fissure that seemed to have formed in the Valorian Clan was exactly the sort of image that their enemies needed to see.

Of course, this fissure wasn’t entirely fake either. His uncles had certainly tried to get him killed. Whether Leopold knew that or not wasn’t yet certain, but there was enough for Ryker to be unsatisfied with the family.

What he needed the world to think was that he was so unbridled and arrogant that he wouldn’t even listen to his own grandfather, and that much was enough for them to lower their guard somewhat.

Of course, this sort of thing wouldn’t be enough to stop everyone indefinitely… but Ryker was already on a time crunch. He had five months left to reach the God Realm and he was still a First Ascended. These people had no idea what his goals and aspirations were… so long as they misread the situation for a small time, it would be enough for him to take advantage and crush them all.

“Tell me, Ryker. When are you going to marry this lovely little girl?”

Jaana already had his grammy grinning from ear to ear. It had been a long while since Ryker had seen her with this much energy and enthusiasm, so much so that he couldn’t help but feel an extra bit of warmth.

“Grammy, you’ve only known her for a few minutes but you’re already taking her side? Did you even bring me any gifts like you used to? I feel neglected.”

Grammy poked Ryker’s head with a finger. “You’re a grown man now, what are you saying. Cease with these childish things.”

The family laughed in unison.

“Actually—” Ryker was about to speak when his eyes narrowed. He looked to the side to find that Cyprus was approaching with his entourage. “—Do you need something?”

Ryker’s voice had a biting edge of cold to it that was different from the smiling expression he had used at the brothel.

It seemed that right now, he wasn’t in the mood to play politics.

Cyprus’ gaze flickered, but his expression remained calm.

“I came here to congratulate you, of course. I, like many others, made false assumptions about your talent regressing. I have to say that today was a truly great surprise.”

“Get to the point.”

Cyprus could no longer ignore the biting cold in Ryker’s words, and his smile, too, faded.

“The death of the people of the Mystery Master Alliance cannot be ignored.”

“Indeed, they shouldn’t be.” Ryker, who had been cold all the while, suddenly smiled himself. He stood from his seat in the stands and walked until he stood so close to Cyprus their noses practically touched. “Please tell me what I can do to help. Those people attacked me without reason or cause, but I’m sure if we work together we can figure out who the culprits are and bring them to bear responsibility for their actions. That way, no one else will accidentally die at my hands. Hm? What do you think?”

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Cyprus felt a coldness enveloping him. He was six cultivation sub-realms above Ryker, and yet, for some reason, he was the one feeling a great deal of pressure right now.

Logically speaking, with Ryker being this close, he should be able to just reach out and pinch him to death. He would even have a reason to do so, as Ryker had clearly just admitted to doing the deed. But for some reason, his hand only twitched.

Ryker casually looked down at his hand.

“What is it? Parkinson’s? It would be a shame, you’re so young.”

The gloominess in Cyprus’ eyes grew, but soon it was swept away.

“I will be reporting this matter to the higher-ups.”

“Oh?” Ryker smiled. “They don’t already know? Sounds like incompetence from top to bottom.”

Cyprus smiled in return. “It also sounds like you’ve made your choice.”

“Indeed.”

“Then I’ll let you have this day. I’ll take another.”

His head leaned to the side and he was about to say something to Jaana when something occurred that forced the world into silence.

PA!

It was a loud and crisp slap, so hard and resounding that Cyprus almost fell to a knee.

“Don’t misunderstand certain things, Cyprus.” Ryker spoke slowly and calmly. “I do not fear you, I have never feared you. If you think to even look at my wife again, I will crush you where you stand. Of course, I won’t take your life just yet. That would be too easy. But your manhood… I think you can do without it. What do you think?”

Cyprus’ eyes widened as he stared into blank space. His mind couldn’t seem to process what had just happened, and in that instant, a violent sort of golden energy erupted from him.

“Ryker. Valorian.”

His words clapped like thunder and he suddenly struck out with blinding speed.

Ryker sidestepped it as though he could see through the future itself.

PA!

This time, the slap was even harder. And, people could see very clearly that Ryker’s palm had passed through Cyprus’ layers of protection as though they weren’t even there.

Cyprus failed to stop himself from falling to a knee this time. He had never been so humiliated in his life.

Ryker squatted down to his position on the ground. By this point, Cyprus’ ears were ringing, and a clever use of [Soul Ripple] at the instant of his slap had ensured that it would be at least another few seconds before he regained his bearings.

“Your Mystery Master Alliance should count out its final days to the best of its abilities. The day you chose to cross me was the worst mistake of your lives.

“Actually, maybe not. I might have been too caught up in other matters to care enough to deal with you even if you came to try and kill me.

“But you actually stood in the way of my mother being healed. Did you think that made you a big man? What? Did you want Jaana to come and beg you for the treasure?”

These words seemed to have gotten through to Cyprus a bit, and his eyes slightly widened. Just how much did Ryker see through?

“But it’s honestly not your fault either. You certainly don’t have enough cache to force such a thing, which means that someone backing you must have pushed it through.”

Pat. Pat.

Ryker patted Cyprus’ face a few times. “I bet it would make that person very angry if I killed you here, no? But where would the fun in that be?

“I can already see the laundry list of excuses. ‘It was a sneak attack,’ ‘he only has one Spirit Beast, if Cyprus could summon his, it would be over,’ the same bullshit I’ve been listening to for years.”

The crowd felt their hearts shiver. Ryker had, indeed, only used a single Enlightenment Realm summon. What could he really do against a full slate of Mystic Realm Spirit Beasts?

No, more accurately, the talents that Ryker had defeated just now didn’t have even a single 7th Circle Talent among them, but Cyprus was an 8th Circle talent. The gap was just…

“You’ll always find your little reasons. I don’t mind it, honestly. Whatever helps you sleep at night. But if you even look at my family, I’ll make certain that there’s more than just humiliation waiting in store for you.”

Ryker stood to his feet and swept a gaze over Cyprus’ entourage. Everything had happened so fast that they didn’t even have a chance to do anything before it was already over. And even if they had been faster, it would have been too easy for Ryker to use Cyprus’ life to threaten them.

He swept a gaze over Nariel, the Spiritual Pattern genius, and chuckled.

“The best Spiritual Pattern genius of your generation? What a joke.”

After this, Ryker took his family and left. The rest of this affair had nothing to do with him at all.

By the time Cyprus had fully snapped out of the struggling grasp of [Soul Ripple], Ryker was nowhere to be seen.

He roared into the air, his eyes completely bloodshot.

If it wasn’t certain before, this time it was. He would never allow himself and Ryker to exist under the same sky.

Nariel clenched his fists, staring toward the location Ryker had disappeared in.

**

“Can you really?”

Ryker’s mother and grandmother looked at him speechlessly.

In reality, Ryker’s grandmother had come today not because of Ryker’s challenge, but instead because Joanna had been worried about Ryker.

If Ryker pushed himself too far, he could very well end up like his grandfather.

Ryker’s maternal grandfather had died long ago because he had pushed himself too far. The only reason his grandmother had lived until now was because she had never stepped across that line. And yet, even she was struggling to keep her life intact.

Before, Ryker had just left his mother with a soul cultivation method, but now he said that he had a perfect solution?

“Just trust me.”

Helios and Jaana stood to the side, not sure what to expect. They were both nervous, but what none of them expected was for Ryker to just touch their foreheads, activate [Soul Ripple], and then back off.

At first, it seemed like nothing at all had happened. But then the somewhat murky gaze of his grandmother became tens of times as bright.

It wasn’t as obvious for his mother because she was still on the younger side. Yet, Helios could swear he saw some of her wrinkles disappear.

“Is… is that it?” Jaana asked softly.

No one replied, and Ryker only gave her a wink.

There was a sudden rush, and then Ryker’s grandmother’s aura plowed forward.

BOOM!

‘Shit.’ Ryker winced.

His grandmother was breaking into the God Realm.

Grammy was shedding her old age right before their eyes, and at the same time, Joanna, who had been stuck at the Elevated Realm for years, suddenly pierced the veil to enter the Mythics Realm.

That was all well and good… but Ryker wasn’t prepared for such a thing to happen. He didn’t expect that being suppressed by Corruption for so long would have such a result.

This wasn’t a commotion that could be hidden at all.

A Mythic and a God were breaking through in the Valorian Clan at the same time.