That was right. Not only had River never hosted one of the noble races, he’d never even met one! In fact, even Pearl had never met someone from the noble races before. Although her family used to have a prominent background, that was only among humans.

As a vassal race, the nobility or high and mighty among the humans had to remain humble in the presence of the noble races. Thus, at least in her household, there was no tradition of venturing to the other races. It was best to stay within their own domain, where they were respected and admired, rather than travel far away only to be looked down upon.

River rushed back into the Guest House to prepare. He quickly informed Pearl who went into the kitchen and began to cook, not even bothering to wait for them to order. They had only a few options anyway, so they might as well present whatever they had.

Soon a small group entered the Guest House, giving the seating area a cursory glance before taking a seat. They did not specifically act arrogantly or made a display of their status - they were simply dismissive of their environment. None there had a cultivation level worthy of note, and they weren’t expecting excellent service either. It would suffice for their brief respite.

River, who stood in the hall to welcome them, tried to guess what races they were. The two tall, fair guests were clearly elves. Whether it was their pointed ears, their physical appearance, or the subtle smell of the forest that wafted from them, they all helped to make identifying them easy.

Besides them, he also identified two figures the sight of whom filled River with a hint of dread. Whether it was their pale appearance, their red eyes, and the gentle, suppressed aura around them, all of them pointed to a single race: Vampires!

Among the noble races, Vampires were among the ones who most often targeted humans. In fact many even believed that if it weren’t for the protection of the Giants, who were closely allied with humans, the Vampires might have long annexed all the human territory within the rivers.

Fortunately, Giants were among the stronger of the noble races, so their protection had ensured the livelihood of a vassal race like the humans for many years.

Besides the Elves and Vampires, who appeared to be the main members of the group, there were other vassal races in the group as well, such as fairies, gnomes and halfings. A large group of human soldiers also followed, though they stayed on guard and did not take any seats.

"I got the latest reports from the 54th river. They’re saying an army of Abyssals has been detected in the darkness of underwater caves. The armies are spreading thin, and we don’t have anyone to tackle the underwater caves, but leaving them alone is also not an option," one of the Vampires said.

The Elf looked at the Vampire with disdain.

"Do you intend on using this as an excuse to conscript more soldiers from the Duke? You’ve been mingling with those human princes, haven’t you? I don’t care what they’ve promised you, I’m going to compromise myself. The humans have always been punctual with their tributes, and so the Elves harbor no ulterior intentions towards them."

Standing in the back, River felt the urge to tremble. Was this the kind of conversation he should have heard? Were the princes trying to harm the duke out of competitiveness for the throne, or some other interest?

Within the Land of a Hundred Rivers, humanity only occupied a small territory between rivers 61 and 62. They were ruled by a single royal family, who then governed its lands using nobles and noble families. The competition between them was intense, since only the royal family was given pills to break through to the Golden Core realm by the noble races, and it was usually reserved for whoever was ruling at the time.

River glanced around, and saw that the Foundation level cultivator was smiling at him awkwardly, but ignoring the conversation. There was truly nothing they could do.

They continued to talk amongst themselves about various matters, each one concerning great and grand affairs far removed from Rivers’ life, and yet still somehow affecting them.

Soon enough, the kitchen door opened and Pearl emerged carrying a large tray with several vegetable dishes and omelettes, as well as a large jug of milk.

River quickly stepped forward, helping her set the food on the table in front of the noble races. The Elves had merely glanced at the food without much of a reaction, but the Vampires seemed entirely disdainful.

Suddenly, one of them reached forward and grabbed Pearl’s hand as she was setting a plate near him. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Your cultivation... is not bad at all, and your body is exuding a truly delectable aroma. What technique do you cultivate, I wonder?" the Vampire said as he observed Pearl’s arm as if appreciating a delicacy.

Everyone in the room froze, especially River whose mind began to panic. The Vampires and Elves were all in the Foundation realm - far, far beyond anything he could handle. What... what was he supposed to do? Did this vampire want to feast on Pearl?

He’d heard rumors that anyone fed on by a vampire either dies or becomes a thrall!

He had an urge to suddenly call out to Cliff, that enigmatic teacher of his, but he remembered that time and time again Cliff had mentioned that he was unable to act to save them.

His eyes wandered from the vampire to the human Foundation cultivator, but found that the man looked away in shame. He could not do anything.

He grit his teeth and forced himself to calm down. The situation wasn’t out of control just yet!

The Elf looked at the Vampire with disgust, but did not ultimately speak up.

Pearl slowly felt herself losing her mind, falling to the Vampires charm as she looked in his eyes, when River’s voice suddenly broke the silence in the room.

"She is, naturally, cultivating a technique from my family," River said, his voice loud yet calm as he looked at the Vampire. "That would be the Sunborne family."

River did not feel bad about claiming to be from Pearl’s family. The Sunborne family wasn’t in the best of circumstances these days - mostly because everyone thought that the family had gone extinct, and they were largely correct. Pearl was the last descendant of her family - a fine thanks to the heroes of old.