With the turbulent storm gone, the gathered cultivators at the mountain's base watched the sun dip below the valley's mountain range and plunge them into darkness.
Only the subtle moonlight shed a hint of light upon the dirt road that led to Darklight City and the new Evergreen mountain.
Elenor Evergreen frowned for the umpteenth time at the empty road and tapped her foot impatiently. It had been hours since she arrived here with the others, but the Grand Elders were yet to show up and direct them.
One of her followers noticed her annoyed gaze and approached her with cautious steps. "Elenor, I am afraid there is still no news from the Grand Elders."
Elenor stayed silent for a moment, rolling her tongue between her teeth. She wanted to say many things, but they were improper to come from such a dignified lady like herself.
But she could only tolerate the cowardice of those old foggies for so long. They had feared approaching the forming Star Core due to the chance of it going supernova, but that hadn't happened.
So now Stella Crestfallen, the girl Elenor had sent that lovestruck Mike to kidnap months ago, was a realm above her. And that was a big problem.
Elenor was still stuck at the 9th stage of the Soul Fire realm. She had once been heralded as a genius throughout the sect for reaching the stage ten years ago. However, she was now in her late twenties and still showed no sign of being able to form a Star Core.
Elenor looked down at the man that had given her the bad news. "Devon, the risk of the Star Core going supernova has passed. So why are the Grand Elders not here yet? It has been hours."
Devon's expression darkened. "There are rumors that Tristan Evergreen—your Star Core realm cousin, participated in the first wave."
"So?" Elenor snapped back. She hated whenever that bastard was mentioned. He had taken the family by storm when he emerged from their formation room as a new Star Core cultivator. His presence had utterly disrupted the already tipping balance between the two families as the Evergreens became the clear dominator in the partnership.
"Well, he has yet to return alongside the twelve other cultivators that went along with him to the peak." Devon said carefully, "We believe he might have perished at the hand of Stella—"
Elenors annoyed tapping ceased, and she stared wide-eyed at Devon. "Perished?" There was a brief moment of ecstasy at the thought of Tristan's corpse, but her calculative mind soon returned.
She shook her head and chuckled, "How could Stella Crestfallen fight off twelve cultivators and kill my cousin all by herself while freshly ascending to the Star Core realm and not well practiced with her new level of power?"that she could still feel, and swung her sword at the vines.
Her sword connected, and she felt the vines she hit give way, but there were still many coiling around the man. So she blindly raised her sword and, using her spiritual sense, struck at the vines between him and the rift, but then she felt her sword being held by something.
Opening her eyes, she came face to face with the distorted godlike creature's eye that looked at her with a wrathful fury that made her want to run away. But she couldn't—vines now coiled around her sword.
Frozen in fear. Elenor's hands felt limp, and with another tug, her sword flew from her hand and went through the rift.
"Ahhhhh!" The Winterwrath man flew past her into the rift alongside a few other cultivators who failed to fight the vines.
Elenor stumbled backward and then managed to break into a sprint. The situation had changed. She needed to contact the Grand Elders immediately. Tristan had switched sides, and Stella Crestfallen was far stronger than anyone anticipated.
A new powerhouse had taken root in the Blood Lotus sect.