Elenor Evergreen tried to calm her raging emotions as she looked out the pristine glass window, although there wasn't much to see of the vast valley or Darklight City in the distance due to the constant rising smog from the forges at the foot of Slymere City.
In the slight reflection of the glass, she could glimpse the haunted complexion that stared back at her, reminding her of the torment she had faced over the last month or so.
How foolish had she been to not foresee the betrayal of the Patriarch? Everyone in the family knew he'd permitted them to eliminate the Ravenborne family due to their Grand Elder stepping into the Nascent Soul Realm. So what's to say he wouldn't then betray them?
Her hands clenched at her sides. She had traveled to the Nightrose City to tell the Patriarch about her family's downfall, but she was told he wouldn't emerge from his closed-door cultivation. She tried to explain the threat that had befallen Darklight City, but they didn't seem to care. Laughing off her claims as those of a lunatic.
"Why should we care about a backwater mining town?" The guard had declared while sneering at her. The humiliation had been so great she had fled and spent a week or two aimlessly wandering the streets.
Eventually, she decided to return to Darklight City to see how the situation had evolved, but an idea entered her mind while on the airship. Why not ask the Voidmind family of Slymere City for help? They should be delighted to learn that Darklight City was without management, and maybe she should convince them to overtake the city.
Just the idea of Tristan Evergreen and Stella Crestfallen ruling over that city together made her skin crawl. Why did they get all the good things in life?
"Elenor Evergreen?"
"Y-yes, that's me." Elenor turned to examine the source of the voice and found a plain-looking woman wearing far too much lavish jewelry that weighed down her ears. She also had brown eyes that seemed to shift to pure black as she examined her.
From the shifting eyes alone, Elenor suspected the woman was a descendent of the Voidmind family, but likely from a side branch as she didn't have all the features that made them famous.
"Perfect, so I found the right person." The woman breathed a sigh of relief as she glanced down at the parchment in her hands. "So, just to recap your claims one last time... You say that Darklight City, managed by the Ravenborne family for many decades, has changed ownership to a joint force of the Evergreens and Winterwraths?"
"That's correct." Elenor replied, "Although there should be some more—"
"I was getting to that." The woman curtly replied, silencing Elenor. "You also claim that Tristian Evergreen, someone from your family who has somehow recently ascended to the Star Core Realm, teamed up with another girl called Stella Crestfallen... who also somehow ascended to the Star Core Realm, and together they wiped out your family?"
Elenor had to admit that it sounded ridiculous when read in such a suspicious tone. Star Core Realm cultivators were often the Grand Elders of a family or at least a high-ranking Elder. To suggest that two seemingly unknown individuals had ascended simultaneously and then teamed up with wipe out two established noble families.
"There's a lot more to the story." Elenor quickly said, "For example, the demon with a claw the size of a hallway that crushed and killed the Winterwrath Grand Elder!"
Elenor stopped speaking when she saw the Voidmind woman's judgmental glare.
"Do understand—the only reason we are entertaining your nonsense is because we received some weird reports regarding Darklight City lately." The women let out a deep sigh seeing Elenors expectant expression, "Something about a tree infestation and the sky opening up."
Elenor furiously nodded and took a step forward, "Yes, yes! The sky opened, and ash descended upon Red Vine Peak! It was followed by a presence that matched that of the Patriarch!"
The woman snorted, "Have you ever met the Patriarch? I find that hard to believe." She then waved Elenor's protests off as she noted something on the parchment with a quill dipped in ink, "So a giant demon that can crush an elder and ash was coming from the sky..."
Elenor gritted her teeth. She really didn't appreciate the woman's condescending tone.
The woman turned on her heel and began to walk toward two large obsidian doors at the end of the corridor, her shoes tapping on the white marble floor.
She then briefly stopped and snorted while looking out the window toward where Darklight City should be through the smoke. "It sure sounds like you have seen and been through a lot. Which all happened over a month ago? I wonder when these hallway-sized demons will make their way over here? They are rather slow, don't you think?"
Elenor barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes at the sarcasm dripping from every word.
The plain-faced woman pouted at her lack of reaction and continued walking toward the doors, waving for her to follow. "You can spout your nonsense to the Grand Elder. He just emerged from closed-door cultivation and is willing to humor you."
Elenor's eyes burned into the woman's back, and she ground her teeth but somehow managed to keep her cool as she followed a few steps behind. Despite being at the peak of the Soul Fire Realm, she had to swallow her broken pride for now as she didn't have a family backing and had been stuck at the bottleneck for Star Core for far too long.
However, she was somewhat surprised that the Voidmind Grand Elder was willing to see her, so even with the humiliation, this was a good result.
***
Elenor stood within a room of liquid darkness. Only her spirit sight gave her any hope of perceiving anything within. Elenor had no idea how they had created a pocket of void to cultivate within, but the void Qi prevalent throughout the room was suffocating.
"I have already been informed of your claims, scion of Evergreen." A tall, thin man who appeared to be made of the void spoke with a chill in his tone. "My question to you is, why here and now?"
"Pardon?" Elenor replied, unable to decipher the man's words.
The Voidmind Grand Elder patiently responded, his voice's chill becoming even more piercing, "You claim these events occurred over a month ago? I find almost all of them hard to believe."
"I understand they are hard to believe." Elenor retorted, "But you have to believe me! You ask why here and now? I went straight to the Nightrose family because of how serious the situation was, but they refused to believe me. Do you think I am so foolish to try and lie to the Nightrose family? Just send a single person to ask the locals of Darklight City or check on Red Vine Peak."
"Hmm..." The Voidmind Elder shifted through the liquid void and came a step closer, looming over her, "And what do you believe we have to gain out of this?"
Elenor gulped at the overwhelming presence, "You are a half step into the Nascent Soul Realm, right? Defeating two Star Core Realm cultivators should be effortless, and then Darklight City is yours for the taking. There shouldn't be a family managing the city right now."
There was a long silence that made Elenor wonder if she had said anything wrong, but eventually, the Voidmind Grand Elder spoke his thoughts.
"I never bothered with Darklight City as mining has never been our interest, and that old bastard of the Ravenborne family was a tricky foe to deal with, but if what you say about his demise is true..." Elenor swore she saw the void grin at her, "Then expanding Slymere's influence couldn't hurt. Although you are either misinformed or lying."
Elenor felt her heart stop beating in her chest. How had she lied?
"The Redclaws now reside in Darklight City as they invited us to participate in an alchemy tournament they are hosting, but I assumed they were working alongside the Ravenborne family..."
The void shifted again, and the Grand Elder's spatial ring, obscured by the liquid darkness of the room, glowed with silver light, and a jade talisman appeared in his hand. "I do not need to send a scout as my elder brother should still reside in Darklight City's Academy. I find it unlikely he would never contact me regarding the affairs you have mentioned, but that man has a dangerous tendency to ignore his surroundings in favor of research."
Elenor waited in anticipation as the jade lit up with a pale green light and then, after a while, dimmed. The communication had failed.
"Strange." The Voidmind Grand Elder muttered. His voice took on a strange distorted tone. "He usually responds no matter how engrossed in research he is."
Elenor felt a wave of dread and excitement wash over her. If the Voidmind Elder, that acted as the librarian for the Darklight Academy, was to refute her words, she wouldn't be surprised if the Voidmind Grand Elder killed her and stole her cultivation for wasting a single second of his precious time.
"I should have a communication jade for his assistant somewhere here."
Elenor saw a flash of silver from another void-coated finger, and another jade appeared. Inserting some of his Qi, the jade lit up just like the last one and maintained its brightness, signifying a connection.
"Elaine, are you there?" The Voidmind Elder questioned.
***
Elaine drummed her fingers on the large wooden desk that took up much of her study. Her head rested on her propped-up arm as she gazed out the window at the scarlet leaves of the demonic tree sprouting up in the garden.
It was late evening, and the Elder had yet to return from his investigation of the rifts. Which was fine, as it gave Elaine some peace and quiet from his constant mutterings about this and that. He was an odd man to deal with.
Her tired eyes drifted from the window and back to the parchments with freshly scribed measurements meticulously transcribed from her apparatus readings. A long sigh escaped her lips as she glared at the numbers and observations that made no sense.
How a demonic tree could alter its biology overnight was a cause for concern, but she needed the Elder's expertise to decipher the cryptic readings she had collected.
"If we can somehow figure out how they did it, maybe we can alter their biology to start producing cultivation resources." Elaine took off her thick glasses, laid her head on the table, and continued looking out the window.
It was a long shot, but maybe they would finally give her the resources she needed to cultivate if only she could discover something that could benefit the Voidmind family tremendously.
She may have been born a genius in research, but what was the point if she died in a thousand years? The Elder had spent centuries on individual problems. Was there any point if she only had a few hundred years to live due to her lack of progress in pursuing immortality?
Elaine breathed in and felt the Qi cycle through her body, only to sigh again as she felt how little she absorbed. The purity of her spirit root was so pathetic that she had been told that the cost of her cultivation journey wasn't worth it. Even at twenty-five, she was stuck at the first stage of the Soul Fire Realm.
Grumbling to herself, she sat up to escape her spiraling thoughts and leaned back in the chair, tapping the end of her quill on her chin as she hummed.
"Elaine, are you there?"
She almost fell backward as a cold voice filled the room.
Quickly opening a side draw and retrieving the glowing jade talisman, she inserted some Qi and calmed her breathing before replying, "Greetings, Grand Elder."
"As formal as always, I see. You should be more friendly with your father."
Elaine's face scrunched up at the endearing words in such a cold tone. If her father really loved her so much, why deprive her of cultivation resources just because it was a bad investment? At this rate, the old man would outlive her, and she would just be another one of his many children that he forgets about with time.
"Forgive me," Elaine replied, "What is the reason for your call?"
"Your uncle didn't respond. Do you know where he is?"
Elaine rolled her eyes. Of course, he hadn't called to ask about her. Why would he? "Uncle went to investigate something through a rift."
"A rift, you say?" There was a brief pause, and Elaine heard her father move away from the jade and discuss something with someone else. While waiting for a reply, she looked out the window but couldn't see the demonic tree anymore because the window was fogged up.
"That's odd," Elaine muttered as she glanced around the room and realized the whole room was filling with a dense mist. She gulped back her fear as she knew this mist was entirely unnatural.
"Father—" Elaine urgently said into the jade talisman, her fingers going white from gripping it so hard. "Are you there? Father—"
"Silence."
Elaine felt the words die in her throat as a figure appeared from the mist. She was a short woman with black hair, but her features were obscured by a white mask that glowed with demonic Qi.
How a cultivator could wield demonic Qi, Elaine had no idea. Was she facing a demon from the lower realm disguised as a human?
"If you want to live, do as I say." The words tickled the inside of her ear, and she deduced it was Qi-empowered speech being carried through the mist. "Don't make me regret leaving you alive until now."
Elaine's mind raced for a solution. A water affinity assassin that was potentially a demon was in her room. She was a 1st stage Soul Fire Realm cultivator, and although she had one of the strongest affinities, void. She didn't know many techniques, nor was she well-versed in combat.
She did have some life-saving artifacts, but she had been negligent and wasn't wearing them, as the Elder was usually right by her side to protect her.
Reluctantly she nodded very slowly toward the masked woman in the mist.
The Voidmind Grand Elder's words through the jade startled her, "So your uncle went through a rift? That might explain why my jade talisman can't reach him. Elaine, do you know the purpose of the rift?"
"Say no." The voice of the mist insisted.
"No..." Elaine sheepishly replied to her father.
"Hmm... have you heard anything about large demons killing Star Core cultivators, the heavens opening up and pouring ash down onto Red Vine Peak, or perhaps about the elimination of the Evergreen family?"
"Tell him you have heard nothing."
Elaine's throat felt dry, and her hand was trembling. "N-no, father, I have stayed inside with uncle all day."
"Elaine, you should go outside more." There was a long sigh, and Elaine hated how casual her father's voice was compared to her situation. "Your uncle is a bad influence on you."
Terrified of answering her father's small talk without being given permission by the demon of the mist, Elaine remained silent.
"Well, good talk as always, Elaine. I will be sending your brother to participate in the ridiculous alchemy tournament those Redclaws are putting on, so make sure to spend some time away from your crazy uncle and show your brother around Darklight City."
Elaine could feel the end of the conversation coming and began to panic, "Why not come right now to see me—" She yelped as the demon of the mist vanished from the corner of the room, and she felt cold metal digging into her neck, drawing a thin line of warm blood that trickled down her neck.
"End the conversation right now." The demon hissed in her ear.
"Haha, I'm far too busy for that Elaine." Her father's voice made her sick to her stomach. Couldn't he tell she had been acting weird? Why couldn't he tell she was in danger. "I can send someone to look after you while your uncle is away investigating that rift, though? It sounds like some weird things are occurring over there, even if you haven't noticed them."
Elaine opened her mouth to reply but felt the cold metal dagger dig a little deeper. "Say you have no need."
"No, Father, I'm quite... alright." Elaine stuttered, tears forming in her eyes. "I have to go now. Goodbye."
"Alright, daughter, see you soon." The jade talisman's pale green light dimmed, and Elaine felt all hope drift away.
"What a mess you have caused me." The demon sighed, "You just had to pick up the call. How unfortunate."
"Please don't kill me." She whispered, the dagger digging a little deeper as she spoke.
"That's not for me to decide." The demon said, and Elaine felt a powerful blow to the back of her head, making her vision fade to black as she fell unconscious.
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