River knew just how dangerous it was to expose this news. The reason they had been hunted by Baron Nester’s forces was exactly because Pearl was the last remnant from the Sunborne family. What should have been a glorious inheritance for her had now become the noose that was tightly bound around her neck, threatening to take her life at the slightest slip up.

In fact, mentioning it now most definitely assured that the Baron’s forces which had surely been looking for them would soon hear news of them. River and Pearl may be forced to leave the Guest House and go back on the run.

Yet those were all things that needed to be considered in the future. For now, should the vampire stick his teeth into Pearl, all that would be pointless. Only by surviving now could they worry about the concerns for later.

Yet it was also for that very reason he claimed that he was from the family, and not her. If it was revealed that she was a descendant of that family, the vampire may decide to feast on her only to see if it could gain any of the benefits from the descendants of the one of the few who had managed to ascend.

The vampires, elves and even the human Foundation cultivator all looked at River with shock and wonder in their eyes.

"You mean..." the elf began to ask, and River nodded before he even finished.

"Yes, the senior who achieved Golden Core cultivation and ascended to the Ancient Battlefield. Coveting his secrets, my family has been whittled down to just me by the greedy, but that is all they dared to do. My ancestor left behind certain means. If his line should perish, then he will find out, even if he’s in the battlefield.

"As for what he will do at that point, I don’t know, but it’s the sole reason I have been granted this land by the Duke, and allowed to live here in peace. Pearl cultivates a technique from my ancestor. If you wish to sample it then go ahead. After that, I will kill myself when I get the opportunity. As for what my ancestor does or doesn’t do... I guess you’ll find out."

The vampire narrowed its eyes and glared at River.

"You pathetic wretch! You dare threaten me?" he roared, his aura erupting from his body.

River felt like his body was about to be crushed, and his instincts screamed at him to kneel and tremble before the mighty noble race, but he did not.

Something in the power he had gained emboldened his heart, resisted the suppression, and kept his spine straight, even with the meager power that he had. No matter how deadly the situation became, River locked eyes with the vampire. Yet the more it was like this, the more everyone believed that he truly was a descendant of the human hero!

"Enough!" said one of the elves, cutting through the vampire’s aura and calming the situation. "The Sunborne hero has a stellar reputation among the races, and fought honorably in the allied armies. This is not how his descendants deserve to be treated. I will investigate this matter personally.

"Mount Decius has declared that the descendants of all ascendants should be protected for three generations! How could the Sunborne family be decided to a single descendant so soon?

The vampire snorted at the elf’s constant interference and obsession with following the rules.

"What do you know? Three generations for humans can pass as quickly as fifty or sixty years. They breed rapidly and die quickly - perfect qualities for a vassal race. They are perfect for breeding soldiers en masse. What better quality could there be in a... vassal race?"

The way the vampire looked at River, the young man had a feeling that ’vassal race’ was not what he actually meant to say. The look in his eyes hinted more towards him considering humans as livestock.

"You’re dead," said Cliff, who appeared as an illusion standing atop the vampire’s head. "This guy has told four of his thralls to stay back and kill you once they leave this Guest House. All four of them are at the peak of the Qi training realm. You know, when you made an oath to improve Pearl’s life, I did not imagine ending it was what you had in mind."

River grit his teeth and looked at the vampire who was obviously incensed by the situation, and then at Cliff who was looking at the situation impassively.

"What would you have me do?" he asked Cliff, desperate for an answer.

Yet the illusory man was not in the mood to answer straightforwardly.

"You’re in a deadlock. No matter what you do now, it appears to lead you to death. In that case, what do you have to lose? Will you act to save Pearl, act to get vengeance on the vampire, doing the most damage possible, or act to save yourself?

"Your plan to use the backing of the Sunborne family was not bad, but it was executed poorly. Threatening your own death means nothing. The powerful have too many ways of shifting the blame onto someone else and protecting themselves. If it weren’t so, do you think Pearl’s family would have suffered their fate?"

What was the point of saying all that without giving him an answer? Internally, River was panicking even if he kept up a calm facade. His eyes wandered from the vampire, to the elf, to the human Foundation cultivator, searching for a solution. But the one person he never looked to was Pearl - Pearl, who was originally startled, but then quickly regained her calm.

It was not numbness that kept her like this - no, it was the steady return of her original character, long suppressed, that kept her calm. It was the teachings of her elders, the lessons of her family, the training of nobility.

Her brain worked quick enough, pressured by this moment, and began to connect dots that she had not paid attention to in the weeks past. An idea came to her, but she did not act yet.

Instead, she turned towards River, catching his eyes finally.

Though he was panicking now, he alone had faced the whole world for her. He was untrained, lacked experience, and had little exposure, but that could not prevent her from seeing the gem hidden underneath. In the hopeless depths of despair, when her mind was gone, when her strength had faded, and his own injuries turned him into a cripple, he still had the strength to tell her grand tales of all the adventures they would have, and how they would conquer the world. So why was he panicking now?

Naturally, because he felt she was in danger. She was his weakness - but if he was to ever achieve greatness, that was a weakness he would have to overcome.

No words were spoken, and only a look was exchanged by the two. Yet a thousand words could not have communicated as much as her eyes did in that moment.

Of course, non-verbal, mystical eye communication also left massive room for miscommunication, which is why River completely misread the situation.

"Lord Elf, the vampire is using his charm technique to seduce and hypnotise my partner! I suspect he is trying to steal my family technique!"