Chapter 117: Vice Lord
Emperal looked at the woman before him in silence. Inwardly, he was a bit surprised. Three days before Emperal had entered the Inner Zone, a StormHorn Dragonkin attacked a Solmere’s firebird-blood member over a heavenly treasure.
It was a standard resource dispute, and given StormHorn’s naturally aggressive disposition, they naturally came into conflict with a Solmere cultivator.
Emperal pondered over this as he kept walking ahead. In front of him, Sarina walked with a tense posture, afraid that Emperal might attack her at any time.
"Hmm, although Soleine had briefed me about the details of the cultivators who entered, knowing from a Blood Elf is always better for real-time information."
He thought inwardly before shifting his eyes towards Sarina.
"Speak. Tell me about the Solmere cultivators and what had happened correctly."
His tone of finality gave her no choice but to speak.
"It’s their vice leader, Ryael’s response. It was a small farce at the earlier stages, but Ryael’s intervention escalated the fight."
Emperal raised his brows when he heard this. "How so?"
Sarina shook her head lightly. "Although the exact reason is unknown, we can only get the information through one of the insiders."
"I see. Alright, lead the way to the fighting zone. After all, I am curious about the Vice Lord’s actions."
Emperal spoke, making Sarina look at him strangely. But she didn’t question him. Waving her hand, a small blood thread was produced in her hand.
Emperal looked at her curiously. One blood thread suddenly split and became two. Two became four and four became sixteen.
From a single thread, nearly a thousand threads were produced.
"What a bizarre ability. Do all the Blood Elves have this?"
He couldn’t help but ask, to which Sarina snorted.
"Of course not. This ability is only for those who have a noble bloodline and above."
Emperal narrowed his eyes when he heard that.
"So she is a noble-blooded, huh. Now this... is a bit troublesome."
He muttered. Noble blood, no matter the creature, is always highly sought after. And it didn’t help that her brother is the current strongest of their clan.
A few minutes later, the thousands of blood threads slowly scattered across the ground, spreading out in different directions.
Emperal leaned against a trunk, looking at the scene amusingly. Despite their tracking abilities, the Blood Elves were known for their combat abilities, too.
It was just this bunch, the ones Emperal encountered were kind of anomalies.
Just like that, an hour flew by.
"There!"
Suddenly, Sarina pointed towards the west and spoke out loud. Emperal followed the direction she pointed.
He looked in the direction, then back at Sarina. "That better be the location. If it turns out it was your Blood Elves territory...No matter what happens, you’ll not die a peaceful death."
Hearing Emperal’s words, Sarina’s face turned pale. But nonetheless, she shook her head.
"I-I won’t dare! That really is the location of the fight with Ryael."
She spoke with a stutter. Emperal looked at her for a few more seconds before nodding.
"Alright, let’s go then."
...
Soon, they reached a wide valley. Emperal’s eyes narrowed as he watched the fight below.
There were nine StormHorn Dragonkin and only four cultivators from Solmere.
But despite the number, even counting Ryael out, the rest of the cultivator’s aura was overwhelming. The four members’ collective aura matched the StormHorn Dragonkins head on.
"Hmm, so that is Ryael, huh?" Emperal muttered as he looked at the middle-aged man below. He was tall, lean, and handsome. The pure Phoenix blood flowing through him had altered his mind and body.
He had deep golden hair and eyes like molten lava. His expression was cold as he looked at the men present.
Opposite to him stood a young man in his late twenties. He had long hair flowing down his torso, his eyes shining with battle intent.
His aura, though...it was terrifying to say the least.
Verth Shaper Stage Three.
The same cultivation realm as Ryael. Both of them had this fierce staredown. Besides Emperal, the redhead also peeked from between the rocks.
"But...a Stage Three Verth Shaper. What are they even fighting for?" Emperal couldn’t help but be confused.
After all, a small skirmish with a low-level StormHorn cultivator shouldn’t provoke Ryael into this fight. But he did.
"I am sure he has found out something extraordinary."
Emperal spoke with a shine in his eyes. It was so bright that Sarina almost cringed when she stared at him.
"Uhh, your greed is leaking! Greedy bastard."
She, of course, spoke the last words inside her mind. Emperal ignored her and looked around.
Deep down the valley, there seemed to be a small cave. And from the way these cultivators had positioned themselves, Emperal knew for sure it was where the treasure was being held.
Just as he was about to address Sarina, he heard Ryael’s words.
"You lowly Dragons, get lost from this place. My subordinate was the one to discover this first." He spoke. It was neither arrogant nor prideful. It held a... deep disdain. Disdain for the creatures standing in front of him.
The leading young man frowned when he heard those words.
"This is the EverHeart realm. Whoever is the strongest takes the treasures for themselves. Now stop crying, or I’ll pluck your chicken feathers one by one."
At the end of his words, the StormHorn leader’s lip curled upwards in a mocking smile. The cultivators standing behind him burst into laughter the moment they heard those words.
"These bastards!"
The men standing behind Ryael boiled in rage when they saw how their Vice Leader was being made fun of.
But before they could take a step forward, Ryael raised his hand.
"Don’t fall for such obvious tricks. He is trying to agitate you into fighting him." Ryael spoke, his expression as cold as ever. But despite that, there was a small frown on his face.
"That guy is strong, almost equally matched with my strength. If we go all out... There is a chance of blowing this place entirely, and I absolutely couldn’t let that happen."
He spoke inwardly. Even though this fight would have been solved using fists, Ryael chose forbearance.
And as the old saying goes, forbearance pays the debt with interest!
Clap! Clap! Clap!
"Well said, Ryael. Soleine certainly didn’t make a mistake sending you into this realm."
