Rivers of the Night

The Fourth Elder appeared high in the air. Though he did well to hide it, Theron could still see how ugly his expression was beneath the façade.

Even if he had planned all of this, he would have never expected Theron to kill both the Seventh Core Disciple and the Eighth Elder in a single strike each.

Not only did this make Theron stronger than he had planned for, it also meant that Theron wasn't nearly as tired either.

In his original plan, he had hoped that Theron would be on his last legs so that he could send in Kaelen to handle things. But that had obviously not worked out.

Now, he had no choice but to step in personally to oversee that these matters ended properly.

Luckily, the death of an elder was enough of an excuse to step in.

To no one's surprise, even with all of the chaos, not a single Elder had died—not a Peak Elder, not an Outer Elder, and certainly not a Core Elder like the Eighth Elder.

This was unprecedented.

No one had dared to go so far, but Theron hadn't even hesitated.

The only silver lining was that the Eighth Elder hadn't used even 20% of his strength. He hadn't brought out his Echo, he didn't use his bow and arrow, and he was so stricken by grief that he clearly wasn't using his brain well enough.

If the Eighth Elder had used the most basic advantage of a Cloud Realm expert—flight—there was no way that trick would have worked against him.

As for the death itself, the sharpness and durability of a Peak Treading Cloud Resonance Treasure was such that the defenses of a Touching Cloud Realm expert would be pierced through like wet tissue paper.

What the Fourth Elder hadn't realized yet was that Theron had already fully refined the Nightingale Spear. He believed that since Theron was falling through the skies, he didn't need to worry about the weapon's weight. Maybe he also happened to have a spatial device capable of storing it.

The truth would be quite the terrible revelation for him.

And that truth came abrupt and fast, landing as the result of a casual swing of Theron's wrist to rest the spear's body on his shoulder.

Bylo's pupils constricted into pinholes.

That was impossible. Even the Patriarch shouldn't be able to refine that spear. How had Theron done it? What was going on?!

The words the Fourth Elder was about to speak were caught in his throat.

This was a problem, another huge hiccup.

In the worst case, the Fourth Elder would have to kill Theron, but he wouldn't absolutely do it if he didn't have to. However, if things were like this, Theron's refinement would make the spear even more difficult for him to use.

If it was heavy in the hands of a layman before, it would only be more so now.

Suddenly, the Fourth Elder was at a crossroads. Should he push it and kill Theron after all the people he had already offended? Or should he cut his losses right here and now?

He needed that spear. It wasn't a matter of power, nor was it to sell it for money. He had been researching a breakthrough, and he felt if he could just get a few days with the spear, he would finally be able to break into the Third Resonance Touching Cloud Realm. Although this wouldn't be enough to catch up to Matriarch Macie completely, it would at least put him on par with the First, Second, and Third Elders.

What the Fourth Elder never expected was for Theron to not give him a choice.

The sense of danger overwhelmed the Fourth Elder, his Third Eye practically flickering warnings at him as he felt foreign fluctuations in the air.

He hurriedly tilted his head to the left, but the spurt of blood was bright against the dimming lights of dusk.

The Fourth Elder stood frozen there, his hand slowly reaching up to his neck. He felt a slight sting as his fingers pressed against something hot and moist.

He pulled his fingers back until he could see his own hand.

Blood…

His blood?

Theron stood down below, his spear already back on his shoulder as though nothing had happened.

"Awake now?" Theron asked.

Bylo's pupils constricted.

"I'm sure you had a fun time setting all of this up, but if you think I'm going to let you retreat just because you want to now, you're sorely mistaken. You can either die now, or die later. The choice is yours."

Without a word, Bylo slowly took out his spear. And then came a shudder in the air, an Echo of darkness swallowing up what remaining light there was.

Wings spread behind Bylo's back, but Theron was keenly aware that the feel wasn't the same as when he faced Blackmaul. This was a different bird of Dark Mancy—similar, but inferior.

And suddenly it made sense.

Was this why the Fourth Elder was taking this risk?

Theron could already feel that the Fourth Elder wasn't a foolish person given how much he planned. Now, everything seemed to have perfectly slipped into place. The last piece of the puzzle was in Theron's palm.

Bylo raised his spear first and then pointed it down toward Theron.

The Path of Cultivation was a bumpy one, and unless you were willing to take chances, you would never get anywhere.

And luckily for him, this child had given him the perfect excuse. He had yet to say a word, but Theron had tried to take his life first.

However, he didn't reply with condescension.

He could see it in Theron's eyes, and he heard it through his words. Theron had known he was behind this. It was the first thing he had said, but he simply didn't care.

Theron wasn't afraid of him. He was giving him a reason to attack.

While the Fourth Elder had spent the last near three months luring Theron into this trap, the moment Theron appeared, he had somehow become the hunter.

They both vanished at the same time.