Ryu’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t respond. This much should have been obvious, no? If not for this, they wouldn’t be making all of these moves.

The reason why Ryu killed himself in his first life was because he sensed the shifting of Fate. As for what triggered him to look into such a thing when he never did, it was the conversation he had with Elena on Shrine Mountain the day of his thousandth birthday.

Back then, Elena had mentioned that her Holy Wing Clan had gained as many as nine Holy Wing Saintesses in the last several thousand years. The moment he had heard this, Ryu knew that this number was far too large for it to be a simple coincidence.

The births of such talents require a large amount of Fate. If it was just one extra, it could be passed off with a shrug. But, to have nine in the span where having even one would look like a great boon was absolutely ridiculous.

It was this thought that triggered Ryu and pushed him to observe his Fate Star, something he could count on a single hand the number of times he had done. He had almost always cut himself off from one of the most powerful abilities of his Mysteries of Heaven and Earth Pupils because he hated it so much.

When Ryu observed Fate that day, he realized that the Fate of the Tatsuya Clan which should have been burning brightly, was being continuously siphoned off and weakened. It was then he understood that the time that was left wasn’t great and that he had to make a decision…

Luckily, the current Ryu didn’t feel like he needed to continue hiding away from this ability of his any longer. It could even be extremely helpful in his future path.

The ability to read Fate Stars, known as Mysteries of Heaven and Earth, was the most fundamental of Ryu’s pupils, which made it all the more ridiculous that Ryu never used it.

Observing a person’s Fate Star was like peering into their soul. It would allow Ryu to do everything from something as simple as telling if a person was lying or not, all the way to seeing if they had some unearthed potential that could be made use of.

It could be said that such an ability was one a King or Emperor would kill for, it was just too bad that Ryu had no interest in ruling over people or taking on such responsibility. Even now, he didn’t feel himself to be a good leader.

Of course, there were drawbacks to Mysteries of Heaven and Earth as well. Those who were powerful and, or, sensitive, could feel that something was wrong, almost as though they had been stripped naked before a person they didn’t trust. It was also possible to ‘fly too close to the sun’ and end up with a temporary blindness in both eyes.

For now, Ryu could only observe those who fell within range of the Immortal Realms because that was the level his pupils were at now. But, that didn’t mean that they’d be useless.

Another ability was seeing the link between Fate Stars. This meant that as long as a Sky God had even the smallest connection to someone weak enough for Ryu to observe, it would be possible for Ryu to gain an inkling of their life.

Through such a link, Ryu could even find the exact location of a person or being with a single look as though a chart of the entire world was at his beck and call. If he was so inclined and if he learned certain Fate Cursing Arts, he could even use this connection he could see with his eyes to harm people.

Author’s Note: I definitely didn’t wait all this time to explain how this ability worked so that you all wouldn’t kill me for having him never use it. Definitely not. *Struts away*

As she was his own wife, Ryu could observe Elena’s Fate Star with little to no penalty to himself despite her cultivation. Likewise, he could also find her location and even experience what she was feeling. Though, he could just as easily do this through her soul as well.

However, strutting off to Elena’s location as though he had the power to deal with his enemies right now would be nothing short of foolish.

That said… There were countless other ways to use this ability that would help his strength increase at an even faster pace. It was about time he took his Ruin Master profession more seriously. Now he was definitely powerful enough to explore ones he had always dreamt of.

“The Martial Gods have four branches, and from my understanding, their goals aren’t necessarily aligned.

“The ones you have met until now are the Berserk branch and the Heavenly Dew branch. As of now, the Berserk branch is greatly focused on our Shrine World for reasons Isemeine doesn’t quite know. But, from her understanding, they feel that the Shrines will offer them a path toward what they really want: domination of the Real Plane.

“The Heavenly Dew branch isn’t actually very interested in the Nether Realm even though it seems like it. It was only a coincidence that Isemeine took up a mission to guide those here. The truth is that this trial is actually being run by the Silver Touch branch.

“If the Berserk branch is known for their berserk state and the Heavenly Dew branch is known for their healing factor, the Silver Touch branch are the branch of Martial Gods capable of turning their Spiritual Qi into Vital Qi and their Vital Qi into Spiritual Qi.

“Their abilities are quite fearsome. They can ingest the Vital Qi of their victims. Using their Bloodlines, they can absorb the talents of their targets and thus strengthen themselves.

“By proxy of this ability, they can replenish their stamina, whether in body or soul, by devouring the people around them.

“While the Berserk branch is focused on the Shrine World, the Silver Touch branch wants to build the perfect Spiritual Qi Bloodline. Toward that end, they’ve gathered so many here together for the sake of their goal.

“However, what is curious is that the Three Pupil Clan of the Moon World you came from has been gaining a silent support from the Silver Touch branch. It seems they are very interested in what the third Pupil with evolve into when nurtured….”