Ryker looked up as though he could see right through the ceiling. His mind was spinning with several thoughts.

This commotion was basically impossible to hide at this point. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have allowed it to happen here.

A Mythics breakthrough was fine enough. But a God Realm breakthrough was something entirely different. It was impossible for such a thing to be simple.

There were only two or three dozen God Realm existences across this galaxy, period, and most often, those that tried to breakthrough ended up dying.

Unfortunately, the danger of the breakthrough was only one factor. Or, more accurately, the danger of the breakthrough itself was only one factor because there was still the external troubles to worry about.

How could other powers allow a new God Realm existence to appear so casually? Usually, those with overt conflicts with the God Realm-apparent would attack just as overtly to stop it. But that didn’t mean that there might not be many others that acted in the dark.

There was a silver lining, and that was that usually these things would have to be prepared for in advance.

It was impossible for others to be ready for his grammy’s breakthrough because everyone thought that she had already exhausted all of her potential. There was no way they would be watching for this event.

Unfortunately, that cut both ways.

Ryker and his family also weren’t prepared for this. That meant that things could become very troublesome, very quickly… especially since there were a large number of existences that were nearby all thanks to him.

How many people had come for his Glory Path Challenge? Now, they wouldn’t have to cross countless star systems to get here, they were likely only one or two teleportation jumps away.

It only took Ryker a second to organize his thoughts. In fact, a wide grin spread across his face.

If they wanted to come, let them come. He hadn’t killed enough yet.

Ryker gave his father a look. “Dad, you take mom. I’ve got—.”

“No, that’s unacceptable.”

Ryker shook his head. There was no time to explain. Rather than arguing with his father, he swept his grandmother up into a princess carry. Her brows were frowning as she was clearly not prepared for such a breakthrough right now either.

“Rest at ease, grammy. I’ve got you.”

There was a reason that Ryker’s father reacted so fiercely. It wasn’t just because there would be a large number of people targeting his grandmother, making her the center of danger, but it was because of the danger of the breakthrough itself.

Becoming a God meant going against the laws of the world, and that meant facing off against what they knew were the Tribulations. The Tribulations would target anyone who was too close by.

Of course, there were special methods of sneaking by these restrictions and providing aid or harassment. Now that Ryker thought about it, he was pretty sure that this was only possible because the laws of this world were forcefully erased and broken. He bet that in the outside world, Tribulations were perfect and whole; there were likely no such loopholes.

Regardless, because they hadn’t had the chance to prepare, they didn’t have such methods ready. That meant that if Ryker was too close to his grammy, he would end up targeted by the Tribulations as well.

What Helios didn’t know was that Ryker was shrouded in the Daos. He was 90% certain that he could hide from the Tribulations even if he was standing right next to his grandmother.

“Trust me, old man. Let me see if your bones have gotten brittle yet.”

Ryker’s laughter boomed across the Valorian Clan as he shattered the large window of his parents’ room.

For some reason, when he heard these words, Helios relaxed. Since Ryker had everything in hand, he would focus on his wife.

“Come, Jaana. I have a medicinal bath I prepared for myself for an attempt to break into the Peak Mythics Realm. We will use it for Joanna instead.”

“Okay.” Jaana nodded.

The two began to work together to undress Ryker’s mother before moving her toward the bath house.

The current Joanna was simply too weak. Even if her spirit was ready for such a breakthrough, her body wasn’t.

This medicinal bath was the only way to save her life. They needed to shore up her weakened foundation as quickly as possible.

Right now, Joanna’s soul was her strongest aspect.

What many didn’t know was that it was because she was saving him that Joanna had ended up progressing her troubles. This was why she seemed to be in an even worse state than her own mother.

Joanna had always been a better talent than himself. She was an 8th Circle monster, but not just this… she had a Resplendent Soul, a soul only a step below that of the very best Pure Soul.

Her soul would certainly not be the bottleneck holding her back. So long as they gave her access to enough energy, she would be able to deal.

Of course, these weren’t things that Ryker knew. In fact, his parents had purposely hidden this fact from him, and most of the world didn’t know for that matter.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Because Joanna had ended up losing a few of her Contracted beasts in that confrontation all those years ago, even Ryker hadn’t seen through the fact she was originally an 8th Circle Talent because she had suffered terrible backlash.

But now… it seemed that there was a chance for this genius to return.

Helios took a deep breath, clenching his fists tightly.

He was just two steps from the God Realm. When that day came, everything would be settled. That he swore to himself.

…

Ryker shot into the skies, a whirlwind of Wind Dao swirling around him.

His injuries still weren’t healed from his battle with Phoenix, but now that he could access and circulate the Dao freely, his body had been quickly recovering for the last day or so.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

He shot higher and higher into the skies until he stood amongst the clouds.

The thunderous booms of thunder echoed, and sparks of raging lightning suddenly took shape.

‘Lightning?’

Ryker’s eyes narrowed. It seemed his grammy was going to make this a bit difficult on him.

The affinity of the Tribulations was dependent on the affinities one gained from their Contracts. Lightning wasn’t the default; instead, it had only appeared because one of his grandmother’s beasts should have a strong affinity for it.

Seven points of light began to hover around his grammy’s dantian.

‘Seven contracts?’

Ryker had never seen his grandmother’s beasts before, and that was despite begging and pleading when he was much younger.

Now that he understood more things, he was sure his grandmother had her reasons. In fact, they should be the same reasons he had never seen his mother’s beasts.

With the state their souls were in, it was likely that they had no confidence in controlling their beasts properly. If they summoned them, their beasts were more likely to rampage than not.

Now, it had been decades since the last time his grandmother had summoned her beasts, and it seemed that she had also lost two of them.

This made things more troublesome. If his grandmother couldn’t enlist the help of her beasts in this battle against the Tribulations, she would be in danger.

Ryker looked up, the first hint of solemness appearing between his brows. He had felt Leopold’s strength just hours ago. If the strength of this Tribulation was anywhere near that, it would be extremely difficult.

There would have been a chance if it was any one of the affinities he was close with, but Lightning… he didn’t have a lightning beast.

There was a flash of determination in Ryker’s eyes.

“Grammy, you can’t die here. Understand?”

His frail grandmother was still quickly absorbing her God Spirit Energy. She was becoming more youthful and exuberant, and seemingly realizing the precarious position she was in as well, she was moving as fast as she could.

Ryker’s voice felt like a soothing ale on her aching soul, focusing her.

Seeing that his grandmother had settled down somewhat, Ryker nodded to himself.

“Queen.”

A gorgeous little Cyprus Seaking appeared. She understood Ryker’s will and expanded using her special in-born talent. Then, she took Ryker’s grandmother onto her back.

With his hands freed, Ryker immediately slapped his palms together, unleashing a roar.

A great amount of the Dao of Space concentrated around him, and then…

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

One after another, the teleportation platforms of Planet Valorian shattered.

Even if they were going to make their way back, Ryker wasn’t going to allow them to do so with ease. If they wanted to kick up a storm, they’d have to taste his boot first.

This would delay outsiders for a moment, but there was very little that he could do about those that were still here, namely…

The Valorian Clan.

By this point, all of the most powerful existences of Planet Valorian had begun to make an appearance. Dozens of Mythics, and of course… Leopold.

Leopold had thought the commotion of today was over, but the last thing he expected was to sense a God breaking through. When he saw that it was actually Ryker involved in this matter again, he didn’t quite know what to think.

The Patriarch of the Valorian Clan frowned. Ryker only gave him a glance and then directly ignored him as though he didn’t care what he did.

Technically speaking, the Valorian Clan and the Adonis Clan weren’t exactly allies. In fact, last he checked, the Adonis Clan hated the Valorian Clan mostly because of Ryker’s father.

Still, it could be said that right now their relationship was neither hot nor cold.

If it was a normal expert of the Adonis Clan that was taking this step, Leopold would be on the fence as to what to do.

But this wasn’t just a normal expert. Ryker’s grammy was technically his family as well, and right now, Ryker clearly had the intention to protect her.

Confusion colored his heart.

This matter would bring a great calamity down on the Valorian Clan because they weren’t prepared at all. Was this done on purpose as a punishment to the Valorian Clan?

Leopold frowned. Logic said that it wasn’t possible for Ryker to just allow someone to enter the God Realm. Plus, why would she be willing to be used like this?

It should just be a coincidence, but everything about his grandson’s disposition and glances made him feel uncomfortable.

Ryker had never had reverence for him, but it seemed to have only become worse these days. If Ryker was normal, he wouldn’t care, it was beneath him to care. But Ryker’s abilities…

Just now, Ryker had somehow wiped out all the teleportation platforms of their planet in a single sitting. How was that even possible? He still didn’t understand it. Just what had he experienced?

And what was the beast? With Leopold’s understanding of the world, how could there exist a beast that he had never seen before? And why was its aura so shocking?

Ryker’s two uncles and their families were gritting their teeth when they got to the scene, but none of them dared to move. How could they make such a blatant assault against a family member when the Patriarch was here?

All the while, Ryker ignored them all.

Buzz. Buzz. SPARK.

Like firecrackers popping in the air, the Lightning Type Spirit Energy in the surroundings continued to increase.

But Queen continued to use her new ability to divert it, controlling the concentrations of moisture in the air to spread it away. All the while the Tribulation had slowed considerably because it just couldn’t sense its target clearly.

Ryker was deftly using his Dao to confuse it and shroud it, but he wasn’t pushing too hard. If he made the Tribulation disappear entirely, it wouldn’t be good for his grandmother. Instead, he had to control it such that it remained for long enough for his grandmother to consolidate and build up her foundation after years of neglect. Only then would she have a good chance at making it through the rest on her own.

The hours began to tick by, but as Ryker delayed the Tribulations, the thicker and stronger it grew. Down below the Valorian Clan only grew more solemn.

And then the balances tipped.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Across the horizon, one ship after another began to appear.

Almost immediately, Ryker recognized the emblems of the Mystery Master Alliance and the Spiritual Mark Alliance.

His deadpan expression gained a savage grin. He could practically taste the blood in the air.

He bet that now… no one would be able to stop him from killing.

He was going all out.

“QUEEN!”

ROAR!

Despite her youth, Queen’s roar caused all the water of the planet to resonate. Ryker’s complete Dao of Water path had practically given a tiger wings. On top of that, she had fused both branches of her Clan’s path into a single body.

She was a proud Empress of the Seas despite only being in the 3rd Enlightenment Realm now.

“This will be your first battle. Watch your master closely, there’ll be a lot of this in the future.”

Ryker waved a hand and Prometheus’ body appeared.

BANG!

The chain became several kilometers long, slicing the ground into the distance in two.

Ryker waved out his other hand and his whip appeared, crackling with the Dao of Space.

To his back, the Silver Mirror slowly rose.

Ryker’s power caused the Valorian Clan to tremble.

Just how much of his strength did he hide?

“COME!”

The Daos of the world swirled around Ryker, and for a moment, it felt as though the Tribulations above had shrunken back for a moment.