One week had gone by. Jade Skies Valley was visible along the horizon. Above the valley was why it received its name. It was said that the valley was heavily saturated with the element of the wind. This caused the clouds to become an iridescent green. They covered the valley blotting out the sky. Eventually it became known as the Jade Skies Valley.

The lunar light of the moon was shining down upon Lute. He was silently cultivating through the night as he always had. Every night, he would seclude himself and remain alert, waiting until Mirelda and Kale fell asleep before starting to cultivate.

He knew the only reason that they hadn’t betrayed them was because of the Scarlet Demon Orchid. It absorbed blood essence and Qi. In order to retrieve it, they probably planned to use his or Elias’s body to distract the flower while they grabbed it.

Knowing they had such a plan, Lute could only laugh inwardly. ‘I’m afraid that it won’t be me who is absorbed, it will be the two of you instead.’

Lute continued to cultivate, he felt as if he was on the cusp of entering into the sixth level of the Nascent Qi Realm. He was brimming with more power than ever before. Every day, his Qi was condensing into a purer and denser form. Although he progressed slower than others, he still was trudging along the path of cultivation at an acceptable speed.

However, because he wasn’t safely secluded within a safe area, Lute didn’t dare sink into a complete state of cultivation where he couldn’t sense anything other than his inner body. He remained absolutely focused upon his surroundings; he focused only on listening to the area in his immediate vicinity.

Thankfully, it paid off. Off in the distance, Lute heard leaves rustling and twigs breaking. The footsteps were quiet, almost inaudible, but he heard them. They were approaching the camp that had been set up.

Lute stood up, and under the light of the moon he quickly began to suppress his aura with Aura of the New Moon. His already faint presence seemed to vanish all together. Lute silently began to move towards the sounds. Sticking to the shadows casted by trees in the surrounding area, Lute practically vanished. Whenever he moved, he didn’t make a sound, moving through forests and mountains had become second nature to Lute, if there was any place he felt confident moving stealthily, it was here.

Entering into Lute’s sight were two figures. These people, he could easily guess who they were.

“I somewhat expected they would try this, but who would’ve thought that they’d do it so soon.” Lute muttered under his breath.

Before him were Ley and Halsten. They were just within forest, on boundary of the camp site. Lute quickly looked them over and noticed that they both had spirit armaments. Ley had two short swords and Halsten had a Broadsword. They also seemed to both have advanced since Lute had least heard. Halsten had entered fifth level, and Ley was at the fourth level of the Nascent Qi Realm.

“They haven’t advanced much; I’ve already caught up to Halsten. But, how’d they obtain Spirit Armaments while in the Nascent Qi Realm? Mirelda and Kale had them because of being servants of Lena. Elias has one because he’s a noble. But these two…. Did they get it from the Elder supporting them?”

Once he saw Halsten and Ley whispering to each other, Lute silently sneaked up behind them until he could hear the conversation.

“Are you ready? If we kill all three tonight and return with proof of the deed, we’ll surely be given bonus rewards for returning early.”

Ley spoke with a sadistic glee that made Lute sick to his stomach. The more he heard her talk, the more he felt that there was something wrong with her mentally. The tone of her voice and the way she was acting as she talked to Halsten creeped Lute out, it wasn’t what she said but rather the intonations of her voice as she said it.

“We need to hurry though, it’ll soon be sunrise. We can’t take them on if their awake. They don’t even know that we are against all of them.” Halsten said.

Lute stopped in his tracks mid-step. The information he learned from this conversation was the same as the last piece of a puzzle falling into place.

‘They weren’t siding with Mirelda and Kale, they were pretending too? These two are too stupid to think of such a plan or even profit from it. To make use of Elias and Lena’s family feud, who is the Elder behind them and are they really that calculative? What could he or she gain from this?’

Some questions were answered, but it only caused others to form? It seemed like the nobles of Fallen Tide City were going to dance in the palm of someone’s hand in the near future. The prime suspect was an Elder from Fallen Tide Hall, but what could one sole Elder have such a need for where they plotted to have nobles against each other?

‘I will need to leave that city as soon as possible. I don’t have the personal strength to protect myself from someone like this, especially because I am affiliated with the Windcross House.’

After such a thought went through Lute’s mind, his eyes flashed with a murderous glint, he slowly sneaked behind Ley and Halsten.

Unsheathing his right gauntlets blade, extending it from underneath his forearm, Lute suddenly focused all of his Slaughter Aura upon Ley and whispered into her ear.

“No one appreciates those who backstabs and betrays their allies. I will have to dispose of the trash.”

These past months, Lute had learned seven skills. One of the techniques was the Mortal Chronicle of Aura Manipulation. With unceasing practice, Lute finally was able to control his Slaughter Aura a bit. He could now focus all of it upon one person or spread it over and area. This was only a basic function he’d learned from a few months of training, however, the difference between letting his Slaughter Aura flow uncontrolled and controlled was enormous.

When he focused it all upon on person, the effects upon the target multiplied. This was easily apparent with Ley. Her entire body was drenched in sweat; her pulse and heartbeat were reaching an unprecedented speed. When she slowly turned around and saw Lute, it was as if she was a prisoner of hell looking at a demon who tortured her for an eternity.

She began to tremble in complete fear, powerless to do anything. Comparatively, Halsten wasn’t feeling any effect of the Slaughter Aura because it was all focused on Ley. Instead he was just spooked that someone had appeared behind him in the dead of night, and he hadn’t noticed them at all until they were only a few feet away.

Halsten quickly revolved his Qi and brandished his Spirit Armament Broadsword. He attempted to lash out at Lute, but it was too late, Lute was far too close.

Lute swung his left palm and made direct contact with the flat of the broadsword, he then sent his Qi outwards, exploding it. The broadsword, with Halsten holding it went flying into the forest.

As Halsten was standing up and about to charge Lute once again, Lute towered over Ley. She was trembling in fear. Below Lute in cultivation, she felt complete despair as if she was immersed in a sea of blood. She was paralyzed. Lute showed no mercy though, he utilized the already extended blade from his right gauntlet and slashed with his blade that seemed invisible because of the dark of night.

Lutes blade flashed once under the lunar light of the moon before it stabbed into Ley. Her lung was pierced. But before she could even scream, Lute had already flicked his wrist and sheathed the blade underneath his forearm once again. Then he mercilessly slammed his right fist into her gut, forcing all the air out of her lungs. It was as if Ley was body crushed by a Vicious Beast. She crumpled to the ground, many bones in her body had snapped in half or shattered.

From the hole in her lung and the shattered bones due to Lutes’ fist, Ley died without being able to put up a fight. She wasn’t even able to retaliate because of the fear or scream because of Lutes’ actions. He’d successfully kept Mirelda and Kale from waking up.

Lute turned around to face Halsten; he then began to focus all of his Slaughter Aura upon him as he said in a voice so cold it seemed to pierce into the depths of Halsten’s Soul, “One piece of trash disposed of, one more to go.”

Lute began to casually walk towards Halsten. A devilish smile was apparent on his face. He kept unsheathing and sheathing the blade from his forearm as he approached Halsten.

Halsten felt the same fear that Ley felt. He trembled, and kept looking at the blade extending from and then sheathing itself within Lute’s robes every time he flicked his wrist. However, due to an instinct for self-preservation, Halsten brandished his broadsword.

Although he was trembling, he attempted a war cry to bolster his courage as he swung at Lute with all his might. However his mind was still in disarray and didn’t even think of attempting to use his arts or techniques.

Lute raised his left arm, covering it in Qi. The broadsword collided with the blade that was on Lute’s forearm as he blocked.

It felt as if Halsten swung at an immovable mountain. Lute didn’t even budge after Halsten used his full strength in that attack. This only caused the fear he felt due to the effects of Slaughter Aura to amplify.

Lute once again had the same devilish smile from before on his face. His eyes flashed with a cold glint. With a speed that Halsten couldn’t comprehend, he suddenly shoved Halsten backwards.

Before he knew it, Halsten’s throat was being held by Lute’s right hand and in danger of being crushed. For Lute it would be as easy as the parchment he drew on for his Rune Mastery classes.

With a flick of his left wrist, a blade extended from Lute’s left forearm. Pointing the tip at Halsten’s neck, Lute began to speak.

“One trash is already disposed of; now if you want to live, answer my questions. If you lie or don’t answer me, you might find yourself starting to lose limbs and organs….one…..by….one.”

Halsten slightly gulped as Lute squeezed his throat.

“W….What do you want to know.”

“Who is the Elder that you work for? Why did you attack Seren, and why are you after Elias?”

Easing the pressure that he was putting on Halsten’s throat, Lute started counting backwards from ten until Halsten began to panic and answer his questions one by one.

“I serve Elder Temporal; he’s the one that lets us get away with killing people. Usually he tells us who to kill. We targeted Seren because he told us to. That is the same reason we are after Elias, he told us to. For reasons I don’t know, he plans to uproot the nobles.”

Lute nodded as he pondered over what he just heard. He now knew the name of the person behind everything, and that they had a plan for all the nobles and possibly any prominent person in the city.

While he was thinking, Halsten interrupted him, breaking off his train of thought.

“S…So…Can I….Can I be freed, I gave you what you wanted, I’ll never bother you again.” Halsten said fearfully.

Lute’s eyes flashed with a cold glint, “You’ve outlived your usefulness. Garbage is still garbage; it needs to be disposed of.”

Halsten’s eyes showed utter despair, he couldn’t even cry out in pain or fear as Lute crushed his neck with little to no effort.

Lute cleaned the blood off of his blades, stored the Spirit Armaments in his spatial ring, and then began walk back towards the camp after dragging Ley and Halsten’s bodies far into the forest to be eaten by the Vicious Beasts.

“The midnight chores are finished, I gathered some useful information, and all in all it was a successful night, there won’t be any surprise of new people showing up.” Lute said in a satisfied mood as he once walked back to the campsite.

Lute then looked at Mirelda and Kale when he returned; his eyes once again depicted a ruthless nature within them. “Soon it will be your turn. You’ll regret not making sure you know your opponents true strength before simply dismissing them from your thoughts and sight.”