Rivers of the Night - Chapter 670

Chapter 670: Shattered

The world of Melani seemed to have awakened something within Theron.

What was the difference between Dome of Heaven experts and others? Honestly speaking, Theron didn’t know. What he did have, though, were the cobbled-together testimonies of the Cloud Mancers that Patriarch Nightingale had taken control of, as well as his own observations about Matriarch Hall’s strength.

But that wasn’t all. He had also been in the presence of a Haven of Dark Mana—a pure representation of control, substance, and the very essence of this mysterious realm.

Nobility.

There was something about Dome of Heaven experts that made them breed awe in all those who saw them. It was a heavy aura that made one shudder and want to kneel. Unless they suppressed it, even a casual everyday stroll would leave weaker cultivators bowing at their feet.

This seemed like a fine enough realization, but it didn’t explain anything.

Where was this feeling coming from? Why was he so good at resisting it? And what did this have to do with the soul and the ability to replenish it?

What really triggered Theron, other than the words Melani had just spoken, though, was the realization that… her soul wasn’t nearly as strong compared to his own as it should have been.

When Theron faced off against the Nightingale Ancestor’s soul, he felt like an ant that could be crushed at any time. The only reason the Nightingale Ancestor Bird didn’t break free immediately was because it knew that if Theron sensed this, he would do everything in his power to kill Macie.

While it was true that the Nightingale Ancestor Bird could break free, even for it, it wouldn’t be immediate.

When Theron chose to use the Dagger Call Platform against Melani at the same time, it was a completely desperate play. He wasn’t actually expecting a result that would be all that great. He just wanted to buy a small amount of time, thinking that if he just held on long enough, he could gather enough Mana from her palace to escape.

What Theron didn’t expect was for it to be so effective. In fact, if not for the fact he had to keep the Nightingale Ancestor Bird in place at the same time, he could likely suppress the Matriarch even more—maybe even to the point where he could directly restrain her.

This was entirely unexpected.

That was when Theron found another tidbit of information that was crucially important.

The Matriarch’s Soul wasn’t two tiers above his own like he expected. There was only a half-tier of difference.

Theron’s Soul was in the Quasi Cloud Realm, while the Matriarch’s soul was only in the Cloud Realm.

This changed absolutely everything.

It didn’t take Theron much effort to bridge the rest of his thoughts from that point on.

In the Cloud Realm, Mancers could fly because their ability to communicate with Mana was on another level. They could climb onto it, making it tangible, and move their body in relation to it as though they had truly become one with the Mana around them.

What these people were mistaking for a result of the Dome of Heaven Realm was actually just one of the many byproducts of their soul gaining this same exact character.

Until now, the soul had felt so very intangible to Theron. He could trigger it, using it like a fuse or a lighter to explosively increase the power of a strike or maybe a step—but actually feeling it? Molding it? Strengthening it?

All of that had always happened through other means.

His bloodline was what advanced his soul for him, using his emotions as fuel to grind away at it with either oppressive heat or the deepest depths of cold.

As the two worked together, feeding into one another, they pushed and pulled until his soul became more pure, and then purer than even that.

It was something that Theron had never been able to control personally…

Until now.

His soul was what he used to comprehend his Mandates. His Mandates were their own Laws—a Dome of Heaven crafted by themselves, for themselves.

When they took shape, they became the very bridge to the Heavens that he needed.

Theron had seen people do something similar already, taking their Mandates and Laws, fusing them into their Echoes, and forcing them to manifest in this way.

Theron had never done it personally because he didn’t understand the methods and, quite frankly, didn’t need to. Before he took any action, he wanted to understand it as thoroughly as could be.

But if he was correct, he had a feeling that people had to use their Mandates this way because their souls lagged so far behind their Mancy Realms that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to help their Echoes break through the threshold of Gold Mancy without this path.

That was to say that people were using a method designed to help their real soul reach Cloud Mancy to help their external souls reach Gold Mancy.

It was a waste amongst all wastes.

But now, he knew exactly what to do to complete the bridge.

His Echoes had long made it to Gold Mancy because his soul had made it to Gold Mancy. They hitched a ride much the same and took the step along with it without him having to waste his Mandates on such a thing.

And now…

His Mandates returned to where they should rightfully be.

The grinding of hot and cold, the twisting of sun and moon.

An aura the likes of which forced even Melani to take a forceful step back erupted from Theron, and it was like he had become the truest God amongst them all.

Melani’s knees trembled and she nearly fell. Her Dome of Heaven was completely swallowed up by Theron’s, suffocating her to the point she couldn’t breathe.

For a moment, she wondered if it would be possible to use her Mana even if the Dagger Call Platform wasn’t there.

And then the sound of glass shattering echoed.