1129 Dream Flame
BANG!
The inheritance shattered into countless motes of lights, its core surging down toward Ryu and enveloping his body.
In such a state, Ryu should have struggled to withstand the pressure of the inheritance. His body looked like it could collapse at any moment and his blood fell in heavy rivers. And yet, just like before, after a few moments, the pressure vanished, and with a breath Ryu seemed to swallow up every ounce of qi in the surroundings.
Right then, the wounds accosting Ryu suddenly began to glow, healing swiftly. His body radiated out with a strong pulse and his gaze sharpened. He didn't look like a person who had just fought against the will of a Dao Lord at all.
Ryu didn't bother with anyone else, his eyes closing as he focused on the inheritance in his mind. As far as he was concerned, this was no longer a battle of him and the other geniuses, this was a battle of him and the Dao Lord.
A pregnant silence echoed over the star paths. Ryu's roar seemed to replay in their minds again and again, their blood still running cold. All they could see was his back view, and yet it radiated to them a pride that was nigh suffocating. They couldn't bring themselves to look away and their previous disdain felt like chains dangling from their bodies, wrapping around their throats, wrists and ankles and even stopping them from breathing properly.
Mae blinked as she looked toward Ryu's back, her crimson irises reflecting his figure like the still surface of a lake. Her skin began to vibrate and her tail almost stood out as straight as an arrow and her wings quivered. Right this moment, she felt hot, too hot. The heat she was radiating affected her surroundings, even causing a few around her to flush red. The endorphins and hormones that suddenly appeared in the air fillted it with not only a hyper fragrant scent, but it also made those that interacted with it find it difficult to control their inner thoughts properly...almost as though they had inhaled an aphrodisiac.
If there wasn't such a large distance separating her and Ryu, she probably would have pounced on him, disregarding the situation.
Made suddenly howled into the skies.
Ryu, who was focused on the inheritance, felt a wild pulse spread through his Mental Realm. His usually calm Spiritual Sea, filled with a dense black liquid, began to roll and waves began to stack and grow as though they wouldn't stop until they formed towering tsunamis.
Ryu's mind retreated from his focused state for a moment, frowning.
He could feel it. Mae's Primordial Yin, which had been calm until now, was suddenly rampaging. No, maybe rampaging wasn't the right word. It was more like it was hyper excited and it almost refused to calm. What was more odd was that it seemed to derive pleasure from wreaking havoc.
Ryu was speechless, what did all of this mean?
In the distance, Mae's body erupted with flames, her water inheritance having been completely suppressed. Her tail danced with them, and the black steel feathers of her wings did as well. Her clothing was almost entirely burnt away beneath the passion, but the strong flames made it impossible to see anything. Even if one tried to reach forward with their Spiritual Sense, they would find that even it was being burnt away.
It was clear that Mae's flames weren't only physical manifestations of qi, they were also soul attacks that could burn one's Mental Realm to ash.
In an even further distance, Aantha, who was comprehending her own inheritance, looked up and clicked her tongue.
''...It's been so long since the last episode... Welp, good luck brother-in-law, you can only blame yourself for being too cool...'
Aantha had thought that this was an inevitable outcome after seeing Ryu in action just now. In the end, she couldn't really warn him about this, he would be just as ill prepared, if not more so, had she tried.
Mae was what one might call a... Sadist. The way she showed her love was through pain. The more harm those around her could withstand and still stay by her side, the more they loved her. At the very least, this was how she saw the world.
When she was young, she aimed all of this toward her parents. When Aantha was born, she too had to deal with this sort of baptizing. It was only after Mae's talents were suppressed and she was sent down to the Second Heaven that this had come to somewhat of a stop.
Mae had awakened the greatest talent of the Dream Asura Race, the Soul Flame, sometimes known as the Dream Flame. It burned with a fiery passion, and due to that, the passion of those who had awakened it were likewise just as fiery. Much like Ryu's Rage Flame, it fed of the natural emotions of its owner. The difference was that while Ryu's catalyst was fury, Mae's catalyst were positive emotions.
In such a state, Mae would ironically try to breed negative emotions. This sounded counter intuitive, but the only way to dim the Soul Flame was by lessening her passion, and the only way to lessen her passion was to harm those she loved. This irony of ironies led to her brewing the personality of a sadist. Whenever she had such an episode, she wanted nothing more than to torture the target of her affections until they bled head to toe, only then would she nurse them back to health.
Of course, most often, this led nowhere. Mae's parents were far more powerful than herself, after all. And Aantha had always had protection of others when they interacted. Ryu, though, would be the first to experience this, and he didn't have the same advantages.
...
Ryu calmly watched the rippling waves in his Spiritual Sea. It seemed that Mae wouldn't be satisfied until she swallowed up everything, he could even faintly sense her intentions.
