Ryu continued to scan the battlefield for a moment before his gaze fell onto the Dark Phoenix. This was the first time he had ever seen such a creature. Quite frankly, despite its crude words and the fact it was definitely a male, Ryu wouldn't deny that it was a beautiful beast. Just the way its body seemed to dance between corporeal and flickering flames filled one with awe.

Though Ryu had also never personally laid eyes on Ice Phoenixes or Fire Phoenixes either, his grandmother's Clans had very realistic depictions of them he had had the pleasure of looking through.

If Ryu had to choose a beast that suited him best as a mount, it would without a doubt be the beast right before him for nothing other than the fact he liked its black color. Of course, if the Dark Phoenix knew that these were Ryu's thoughts, it would have set it hostile curiosity aside for the sake of attacking with everything it had.

"Just Eighth Order?" Ryu mumbled aloud.

After a moment of thought, he felt this made sense. Lu'card had been of the Eighth Order as well, but his talent was far beyond this Dark Phoenix's. In addition, the backup of Dragons he had had with him were far beyond the entourage here.

It was clear that the Ancestral Beasts had divided their attention and power based on the location at hand. No one extremely powerful would be on the Pedestal Plane, so this was all they had sent.

Hearing Ryu's words, though, the Dark Phoenix, Er'lan, had what seemed to be a sneer spread across its black flame laden features.

"It seems that we've been gone for so long that you humans have begun to overestimate yourselves."

If Er'lan had been speaking to a normal human, he might have been correct. Even at the Eighth Order, he would have no trouble fighting a human equivalent to their Ninth Order. Or, in other words, he was at the equivalent of the Path Extinction Realm and could fight someone well into the Dao Pedestal Realm.

In his mind, Ryu was truly overestimating himself.

"Hey Ailsa, what do you think? He's not really talented enough to take as a mount, and it would be a hassle to strengthen him as a corpse puppet too. Should I even waste time?"

Ailsa, who was within the Incubator, shook her head and laughed. Ryu really didn't like to take a loss, he was obviously only saying all of this because the Dark Phoenix had called him human scum. That said, she still answered.

"The Ancestral Beasts are a treasure trove. Why waste time picking up scraps by the roadside."

Ryu laughed. "Well said."

By this point, Er'lan's gaze had begun to flicker with a red light hidden deep within their abyssal black. The aura of death that hung around him was palpable.

Without a word, he opened his beak, a beam of dark flames shooting outward at a speed that was almost impossible to track if not for just how large the contrast between the bright skies and its dark aura was.

The sound of a high pitched whistling wind grated on the ears, the world seeming to be divided in two for just the briefest of moments.

BANG!

Ryu reached out a hand, Dark Heavenly Patterns swirling about his palm as he clamped down on the beam.

It scattered before Er'lan's gaze, a sprinkling rain of black fire falling down from the skies in patches and causing an unlucky few below to scream out in horror.

Ryu didn't move immediately, instead choosing to look at his palm. But, as expected, there wasn't even the slightest blemish on it.

The Dark Phoenixes Death Flame was maybe the most destructive flame in all of existence. On top of that, its comprehension was already at the equivalent of the Monarch Realm for sure.

Ryu had immunity to flames equivalent to his own, but his comprehension had regressed so he hadn't expected to be so unmoved by Er'lan's strike. It seemed that there was something else odd going on here.

It could potentially be explained away because of how powerful Ryu's body had become. But, Ryu could tell the difference between something resisted by his raw strength versus being immune to something, and this definitely felt like the latter.

'Hm. Maybe Heavenly Patterns? Or potentially a combination of the two? Interesting, I have to test this out against more powerful Phoenixes. That Wind Dragon said that there's an Emperor Phoenix in this generation I hope they don't spend too long hiding, that definitely sounds like a worthy target.'

" You"

Er'lan's words seemed to snap Ryu awake from his thoughts.

With the chaos of the battlefield, the interaction between man and bird hadn't gotten much attention initially, but there were more and more eyes beginning to turn this way.

Er'lan was one of the more prominent figures among the beasts in this current battle. Among the chain of command, he was fringe top ten. So, it wasn't a surprise that his movement would get attention many others wouldn't.

Many frowns began to form from the Martial Gods. Looking at Ryu's white hair, they thought him to be from the Nourishing Soul Branch, but he didn't share their white eyes. In addition, he was making no effort whatsoever to try to gather up with the humans. In fact, Ryu stood amongst the beasts high in the skies as though he was on their side. It wasn't until Er'lan attacked him that the Martial Gods realized that something was off here.

At that moment, Ryu waved a hand. A majestic, silver feather bird appeared, his long and proud neck raising high into the skies as sparks of lightning danced around him.

'Oh? Is that Tribulation Lightning?'

Ryu's lips curled. He knew that Ailsa had been diligently nurturing Little Rock, Nemesis and Little Gem while he focused on other things, but he hadn't expected such a large change. He could tell immediately that Little Rock had begun to cultivate <Tribulation Nine Clouds>, a technique Ryu had previously abandoned since he no longer needed it.

'Ailsa must have found some tribulation lightning treasures among my Clans' treasure vaults and put them to use like this. My wife really is a genius.'

Ryu would take some time to praise his wife for somehow converting a human technique into something a beast could use. But, he had a battle to fight.

With another wave of his hand, Nemesis appeared, snapping his hooves along the air and causing resonating booms to shatter the ground below.

At that moment, Little Gem, who apparently didn't want to be left out, leapt out and dove into Ryu's arms. Seeing such a seen, Ryu really didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Little Gem had been born at two palm lengths, but the little one had grown to about three. She was much healthier now than she ever had been in the past and she looked like an adorable little white furball. Ryu spent a lot of time spoiling her when he wasn't busy but it seemed she had gotten bored of staying inside of the Incubator day in and day out.

Ryu chuckled and let her find a cozy place to peek her head outside his robes.

"Little Rock, this Dark Phoenix is yours. You're both of the Eighth Order, don't disappoint me."

Little Rock's proud head rose high into the skies, his sonorous call causing the battlefield to tremble beneath his presence.

"Qi! Qi!"

With a single flap of his wings, he vanished, reappearing before the Dark Phoenix in an arc of lightning with the claws of his feet already stretched out toward the latter's head.

"Nemesis, you'll be with me. I don't plan on doing anything but firing arrows and I won't be moving a single inch other than that. Don't let Little Gem suffer the slightest grievance."

The heavy snort the came from Nemesis' lips carried with it a steaming heat. Ryu stepped onto his partner's back, his feet seemingly having been anchored in place as his bow appeared in his hands once more.

"Nie! Nie!"

The Martial Gods thought they had gained themselves a sudden and powerful ally. They hadn't expected much from Little Rock, but when the clash of the two birds settled, one clearly by far and away much larger than the other, it was actually Er'lan who was forced a measure back.

However, what baffled the Martial Gods all the more was the fact that when Ryu pulled his bowstring, there wasn't a single beast in his line of sight. Instead, his gaze had landed on the Martial Gods who were currently protecting the looming wall of Shrine Mountain to their back.

Ryu smiled lightly, a menacing light in his eye. He was going to very much enjoy this.

Images of what his Clan must have gone through in his absence ran through his mind, thoughts of how much his parents and grandparents had to sacrifice just to give him a chance in the future almost threatened to make his heart explode.

In that moment, his smile faded and he seemed to have gained the face of a demon.

SHUUUU!

A single arrow seemed to blot out the skies, the raging qi behind threatening to rip the world apart.

[Sorry everyone, just one chapter today]