The Valorian Clan charged. Ultimately, this was still their territory. They had the largest number of warriors, and though they were facing off against more powerful Alliances, they had the capital to do so… at least here.

Ryker pulled his chain back. It snapped through the air, leaving destruction in its wake until it collided with his arm, forming a tight wrap.

“Prometheus… it seems we’re going to have to show a bit of our real power.” Ryker’s voice was easily swallowed up by the battlefield. But those paying attention to him were all extremely powerful individuals, it was impossible that they didn’t hear his words.

Who was Prometheus? And why did it seem like he was talking to his weapon? Was that possible?

Ryker looked up into the skies. “Old man, hold the spray-tanned bastard back. I’ll make him suffer in a bit. Don’t kill him.”

Leopold frowned. He obviously heard Ryker’s words as well, and from them, he could tell that Ryker had seen through the secret of this as well. Did he have a solution?

“So long as no Gods interfere… This is my battlefield,” Ryker said calmly.

Prometheus suddenly began to shake and rattle.

Ryker’s aura suddenly began to grow, the Spirit Energy in his body being quickly swapped for Fire Spirit Energy. His ability to stay in the air plummeted and he began to fall to the ground, but his expression didn’t change in the slightest. In fact, his aura only continued to grow.

Prometheus had a great weakness. Unlike Queen and Phoenix, it didn’t have legacies and talents to unlock. And, unlike the Silver Mirror, it wasn’t a true treasure, so it didn’t have any built-in abilities either.

It was caught in an in-between world where it couldn’t make perfect use of its strength despite how much of it that it had.

By comparison, Phoenix was able to exhibit far more strength because they had techniques refined over countless generations, not to mention their ultra-powerful Lineal Talents that broke many of the laws of normal combat.

There wasn’t much that Ryker could do to fix this. The only path forward seemed to be to slowly deduce it all himself…

At least that was what Ryker thought was the only path until the day he entered a world with Dao ubiquitous within its laws.

When he laid eyes on the underwater hurricane, he comprehended something profound…

Talents, Lineal Talents, Legacies, Skills, Techniques… they were all just extensions of what was natural. It was a process of taking something observed in nature, and translating it to a form that could be used by the common man.

The moment Ryker saw this, he understood…

The way to fixing Prometheus’ weakness wasn’t just to hope and pray that he eventually stumbled onto some insight…

It was to take the world as his canvas, painting it with his will.

At that moment, his Pure Soul thrummed with life. Controlling beasts was often the first thing any new Mythical Master had to learn. It was difficult to both focus on a battle and direct your partner properly, especially when there was more than one of them.

Some chose to use easier vocal commands, but this was not only slower, it was less precise. All elites used soul commands, and the best of the best of them could practically transfer their thoughts to their beasts in a one to one fashion, so perfectly that there was no confusion to be had, nor would there be any lag in execution.

As someone with a Pure Soul, this came naturally to Ryker. He didn’t just transfer his thoughts, he could give information all the way down to exact muscle position, percentage strength used, and how much Spirit Energy to expend.

BANG! Ryker landed on the ground, standing between the charging Valorian Clan armies and the oncoming Treasure Guard. He faced off against the latter, his aura seemingly having finally reached its peak.

Nine points of light twinkled on each one of the approaching Treasure Guards. They might look like they were alone, but each piece of their armor was its own Contracted Mystery. They were no different from Mythical Masters that had summoned all nine beasts.

And they were his targets.

BANG! Ryker shot forward, his gaze locked onto City Lord Shah. Others might not have noticed, but his eyes were too sharp.

The moment Leopold broke the formation that linked the army, the one to suffer the worst backlash was City Lord Shah who had been the acting center of it.

He seemed to be only slightly pale, but Ryker knew that he had lost more than half his strength.

City Lord Shah noticed Ryker’s gaze immediately and his heart skipped a beat. Deep inside, he knew that it was ridiculous for him to feel any sort of fear. How much higher was his cultivation?

Yet, when Ryker suddenly closed the distance as though the gap between them was meaningless, his heart lurched into his throat.

Fast…

City Lord Shah flipped a palm, causing a rusted glaive with a jagged blade to appear just as Ryker clashed with the vanguard.

BANG! BANG! BANG! City Lord Shah’s eyes opened wide.

The Ascension Realm was demarcated not just by strength, and not just by the ascension of Spirit Energy into a liquid form…

It was also the Realm of the Domain.

At that moment, one of water suddenly violently expanded outward with Ryker as the center. It happened suddenly and violently.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Beneath the dark, swirling clouds of the Tribulation above, his storm seemed no less potent.

Dozens of bodies were shredded to pieces beneath the volatile waters, tearing and ripping them apart as though it was formed of blades.

Those that barely managed to defend found that they couldn’t escape. They were trapped within the swirling waters, fighting against the violence of their churning until they couldn’t hold on anymore.

Bursts of blood and gore began to taint the pure blue waters of Ryker’s Domain, and then this very same flesh and blood spun out of the rotating hurricane-like Domain, flying out like projectile that sliced and diced even more weak.

Ryker suddenly appeared before City Lord Shah who unless a roar, sending out a pulse of energy from his armor that protected him.

But suddenly, coated in fire, Ryker’s whip lashed out.

Fast and sudden, sharp and ruthless. It cut into City Lord Shah’s face in an uppercut motion, moving with such ferocity and power that the man was knocked off his feet and sent flying into the air. If not for a second pulse of light, his head would have exploded.

‘Dispel and a weaken.’

Ryker casually took note of this as he stomped his feet, leaping into the skies.

City Lord Shah was taken aback, but he was still a warrior. There was a glow that came from the bottom of his feet and he stomped at the air, sending him up further. At the same time, he swung down with his glaive, causing a scythe of Spirit Energy to rush at Ryker.

‘Sky walk… amplify… sharpen… That’s enough…’

Ryker’s figure flickered as he used Soar and [Divined Step] at the same time, side stepping the scythe of energy and appearing by City Lord Shah.

His wrist flickered, slapping against City Lord Shah’s armor, but a pulse of light blocked it.

Ryker didn’t seem to be moved, weaving through the skies with Soar and [Divined Step] and lashing out with one whip after another.

City Lord Shah was at a complete disadvantage, the clashes in the skies growing to a feverish pitch.

“Trash.” Ryker said indifferently.

These were the people that had been riding atop his head all his life. These talentless, insignificant ants. Every time he remembered those days, all the humiliation, all the condescending glances and glares, it made him furious.

And today, they actually dared to stand before him and attack his grandmother despite knowing that he could now cultivate.

Maybe he would forgive them and not mind the past if they left things be. He didn’t have the time to waste on such insignificant characters.

But now…

Ryker’s icy blue eyes blazed and his black hair danced in the skies.

Suddenly, his Prometheus whipped out.

Once again, City Lord Shah’s armor reacted, pulsing with a light…

That was immediately torn through.

His eyes widened in shock as his armor suddenly collapsed down one side, shattering an entire half of his ribcage and causing him to cough up blood. In that one blow, it wasn’t just his bones, but his lungs and heart beneath that were affected.

“Your nine abilities aren’t bad, but your battle skill… are you sure that you’re a Rose-Gold Innate Battle Genius? You’re pathetic.”

City Lord Shah’s eyes opened wide in both pain and fury. However, he too could remember every time he stood to the side and did nothing as his subordinates made things difficult for Ryker. Now, that boy who would come to his city to waste money on whores had somehow become a man towering over him.

Everything that Ryker had been noting before was related to City Lord Shah’s Mystery Contracts. Usually, each treasure would come with one special ability. The best of them would come with more, but that was entirely dependent on the “Talent” of the treasure.

City Lord Shah might be a shocking Rose-Gold Talent, but he was just a mere 5th Circle Talent himself. As such, all of his treasures were sustained by five Circles.

Part of the reason Ryker’s Silver Mirror could even display so much power to begin with was because he had given it nine complete circles.

So heavily injured, unable to maximize his Innate Battle Genius status, and yet daring to stand before Ryker...

Could there even be another outcome?

“What is an Innate Battle Genius to a Pure Soul?”

Ryker’s voice echoed across the skies as he vented his fury of several years. These people had stopped him from taking the treasure he had so rightfully earned by crushing their Innate Battle Geniuses, forcing his mother to continue living in endless suffering.

He would take his revenge back in blood.

Ryker side-stepped City Lord Shah’s glaive through the air once again. The man’s speed had plummeted again, making it even easier.

A whip cracked through the air, and a scream of pain came second. City Lord Shah’s eye was plucked out and shredded to pieces with a flick of Ryker’s wrist.

Ryker’s chain followed suit, crushing his leg, and then his whip came back with an even fiercer movement, piercing through a crevice in his knee guard with [Whip like Needle].

City Lord Shah’s cries filled the skies as his knee cap exploded with a blaze of flames.

The motions were too fluid, too fast, too vicious. Every time Ryker acted, he would either counter an ability City Lord Shah tried to activate, or deal a crushing, suffocating blow.

The battle below should have still been raging, and the Valorian Clan had certainly already clashed with the Treasure Guard...

However, there wasn’t a single soul who could completely ignore Ryker’s battle.

Every strike was like another on the hearts of the Treasure Guard, another blow to their morale, another reminder that in the face of the Valorian Clan, their best option was to tuck their tails.

“You can piss off now,” Ryker said coldly.

His arms crossed and his chain and whip snaked forward uniquely. The latter slashed City Lord Shah’s throat with such ferocity that his head was cut from his neck, and the former activated [Chain like Shield], bursting against his head.

BANG!

There was a rain of blood and a murky redness flesh from the skies in droplets of flesh and bone.

Ryker activated Soar once more, tapping at the air and landing on the backside of the Treasure Guard army.

The roars of the Valorian Clan members filled the skies, their morale reaching its absolute peak.

“Holy shit,” Isabo licked her lips. The valiant Buddha-shaped woman of the Divined Smiths looked at Ryker like she wanted to devour him. “He’s old enough, right? I can chain him to my bed now?”

The other Divined Smiths who were working on getting the Valorian Clan’s war machines up and going choked on their own spit. What was this woman talking about?

She was like ten times older than Ryker. Maybe if she was a beauty it would be fine, but it took a rare man to have such… heavy taste.

But that didn’t stop Isabo from eyeing Ryker up and down as though she might swallow him whole at any time.

…

The youths of the Glory Path hadn’t charged into the battle just yet. They were too valuable to the family so they were waiting for the chaos to settle down so that they could pick and choose the enemies.

This was war, not a game. No one would draw beautiful little arena lines for you, so this wasn’t even their intention. Seeing Ryker out there showing off, all of them wanted to charge forward. But it was their elders holding them back.

Still, their gazes were practically spitting fire.

Ryker wasn’t the only genius of the Valorian Clan! Seeing their Clan being trampled upon by enemies and their Patriarch fighting in the skies above, all of them wanted to show the world that the Valorian Clan wasn’t to be messed with.

Errelius and Soren, the eldest sons of Gefrei and Hugo respectively, were particularly itching. Their Spirit Energy was so fiery and wild that most couldn’t even stand near them.

…

Ryker looked up into the skies as though there wasn’t an army right behind him. He didn’t seem to care nor fear the idea of someone attacking him from the back…

Would they even dare?

His gaze was focused on a particular ship, his lip curled into a sneering, mocking smile.

Then, his lips moved, mouthing a word.

“Coward.”

Cyrus’ eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. At that moment, the humiliation of being slapped earlier hit him in waves.

He completely forgot about Nariel’s earlier words about waiting for the opportune time, his fury piercing the skies.

A golden pillar of light charged upward and a golden sword appeared in Cyrus’ hand.

“RYKER VALORIAN!”

The roar drowned out every other sound of the battlefield.

BANG!

Cyrus was so fast that all anyone could see was a streak of golden light as though a beam had fallen from the Heavens above.

In an instant, he had appeared before Ryker.