Rivers of the Night

Theron felt a great pressure coming down, and then came the violent upswell that rocked him from head to toe.

Pain.

It wasn't a feeling that Theron was unfamiliar with, but that didn't mean that he didn't feel as though his entire world was being flipped on its head.

It dug into his flesh, tore into his bone, and then began to rearrange his body as it pleased.

'NO!' Theron roared in his mind.

Finally, he understood completely.

This so-called Returning to Ancestor the Nightingale Ancestor Bird was speaking of was, indeed, referring to his Meridians. As his body was changing, he could feel the energy worming into his Meridians, trying to overwrite the changes his bloodline had made to them.

He had lost some branching paths of his Dark Mancy Meridians, and now this Nightingale Ancestor seemed to want them back and then some.

Theron refused.

Weathering the pain, he bundled himself up. He didn't have the energy or thought to do anything else. All he knew was that this last piece of home he had stored within his body… he wouldn't let anything take it.

No one.

The energy rebounded away again and again, a hot and cold streak blooming around Theron so continuously that ice began to form as fast as it was melted away.

He bit down on his own teeth so hard that any more force just might shatter them into a rain of dust and debris.

The voice couldn't help but hum out a frown.

"Why are you… resisting…?"

Theron didn't answer because he couldn't. He was too focused on protecting his body.

But while he was having a hard time even thinking straight right now, he had gained enough information from the words of the Nightingale Ancestor Bird to cling onto this hope.

If he could make the process hard enough on the Nightingale Ancestor Bird, then neither choice would be worth it.

Clearly, this being had limited energy. If Theron cooperated, it would be fine. But if Theron fought against it every step of the way, then no matter what path it took, it wouldn't have enough energy.

The pain suddenly stopped as the Nightingale Ancestor Bird backed away, realizing how serious Theron was.

Gasping for breath, Theron's body and soul both shuddered.

"I… refuse…" he finally weakly said. "I want… to keep… both…"

The Nightingale Ancestor Bird fell into silence for a long while.

"I cannot take such a risk. You may go."

After saying this, the voice fell silent. Clearly, Theron's stubbornness wasn't going to get it to make a foolish decision. If Theron was unwilling, then it would just wait for the next.

It had been waiting a long time already, why not wait for even longer? There was no rush.

Theron could feel that its decision was final. No words were going to make it feel as though it had made the wrong decision.

Truthfully, Theron didn't even want such a thing in the first place. He never wanted to be a Dark Mancer, and he felt it was hindering his path toward perfecting his Water Mana Control.

However… if he was stuck with Dark Mana for now, if he couldn't understand it as thoroughly as possible, then it would only continue to hinder him.

If his feel for Dark Mana became as good as his feel for Water Mana, though… then the day he could revert back to the state he was most proud of might not be too far away.

The first step he needed to complete was a fusion of the two Mana that didn't put him in a hospital bed, and it was impossible to do that unless he had the best understanding of both paths possible.

"Let me… prove it…" Theron wheezed out.

The Nightingale Ancestor Bird didn't reply. For a long while, Theron thought that it was over. In fact, he already began thinking of his next steps.

For now, he couldn't force the Nightingale Ancestor Bird. It was well beyond him, and something told him that he would need to at least be in the Dome of Heaven Realm before he could force it to do anything.

But he would get there eventually, and by then it would hopefully not be too late to undergo this blessing again.

Slowly, Theron began to recover and his breathing grew even.

Just as he was about to leave, the Nightingale Ancestor Bird actually did speak.

"You are a Dual Resonance Silver Mancer with a Mandate strong enough to awaken me at Quasi Gold Resonance. This talent is almost passable, but it is still not good enough to make me take such a chance.

"If you want to change my mind, it is possible. However… your Mandate is only constructed of Bronze Laws. This is not good enough. You are also already 15 years old but still not a Gold Mancer. This is also not good enough.

"Granted, from what I can tell about your Cultivation Age, it has only been a year since you began to cultivate, and this is relatively impressive. So I can give you a chance to prove to me that you are worth resting our Clan's final hope on.

"First, form a Perfect Mandate. Second, you must trigger and survive a Primal Tribulation upon stepping into Gold Mancy. Third, you must reach the Quasi Cloud Realm within another year.

"If you can do these things, I will be willing to spend this final chance on you."

Theron's eyes narrowed.

He knew what a Perfect Mandate was. It was a Mandate formed of a structure of Bronze, Silver, and Gold Laws—namely, nine Bronze Laws, three Silver Laws, and one Gold Law.

Theron already had the path to do exactly that within his body.

A Primal Tribulation, however…

If he was correct, the Primal Resonance level was beyond the Celestial level…

Imbued… Manaborn… Runebound… Arcane… Celestial…

And only then would you reach Primal.

Theron wasn't even a real Celestial right now, but somehow he had to trigger a Primal Tribulation.

No, not just trigger it, but survive it.