The duo had planned out ticulously and extensively. The location for their trap had been picked out so that the Baron would not be able to escape, ask for reinforcents, and so they would not get caught.
With the help of Pearl's formations which were prepared in advance, they would have a trendous advantage. Moreover, they weren't acting alone. The duo had worked with many different races in their search for treasures, and had encountered the many grey areas of society.
While they did not personally allow such things to lead them astray, they made many contacts to easily dispose of their acquired treasures without attracting attention. Moreover, they had been preparing for this for a long ti.
They had researched the Baron, found his enemies, and had allied with them without exposing their own identities.
They had even consulted Cliff in the plan - though Cliff was very specific in his answers, only giving them the specific guidance they asked for without alerting them to any possible flaws in their plans. They were already used to this type of behavior from him.
Cliff had already inford them that learning through their own efforts was the best way to grow. While he would guide them, and aid them, he would not resolve all their difficulties. If, even with all the help that he was already providing, they couldn't even overco simple obstacles, then they would be unworthy of his guidance.
Despite all that preparation, when they actually ambushed the Baron, the fight was a lot more difficult than expected. The Baron was wearing armor that should not have been available to soone at his level, protecting him from serious injuries. Sothing that valuable had to have co from the hands of one of the noble races. Beyond that, his skills and cultivation level were a lot higher than he had shown on the surface. He also had multiple contingencies on his person, both to escape from traps and to target enemies. If River didn't specialise in the use of shields, making his defensive abilities far higher than normal, he would have been gravely injured! Heck, he might have even died!
Similarly, Pearl found it much harder to defeat him than expected. Ever since she had embarked on the path of cultivating her body and spirit simultaneously, she hardly ever found any challenging opponents among the vassal races.
While she was still not quite up to the standard of the noble races, she was still quite strong. Even so, Baron Nester proved that he was not soone who boasted an empty title. The man was cunning, deceptive and powerful.
In the end, they only succeeded due to their extensive preparation.
Yet their goal was not to kill Nester out right, which is why they had settled for severely injuring him and capturing him. They needed to question him to learn about whose orders he had been acting under.
Yet sothing unexpected happened when they started to question him.Nester began to laugh at them mockingly, as if they were the ones who had fallen into a trap. He revealed that the whole reason he had not caught them after all this ti wasn't because he was incapable of finding them, or because he was distracted. It was simply because he had been ordered to put them in a desperate situation, and observe how they acted afterwards.
He revealed that the master behind him suspected that the Sunborne family controlled a legacy which contained the secret of immortality itself! The reason the family had been oppressed to this extent was to observe its remnants and find out which one of them might be harboring that secret!
That's how Pearl learned that, in fact, her whole family hadn't been destroyed. Certain key mbers had been allowed to escape, and live in dire situations all the while being observed.
A few of them proved themselves competent, cultivating and finding opportunities for themselves, but only Pearl and River had exceeded expectations by rising above the rest and even achieving the Foundation realm so quickly! It was obvious that the Immortality legacy resided with them!
No matter what they did from now on, they would be hunted down and captured for that legacy!
With those final words, Baron Nester's body blew up, marking River and Pearl with a secret technique using his own blood so that they would never be able to escape their tracking!
Or, at least, that was the original intention. Pearl's cultivation technique would, over ti, erase the tracking mark on her over ti, while River's paladin powers would purify the tracker on him too.
The end result was stunning and confusing. Immortality - the very concept to the two of them was a re legend, an impossibility told to children in fairy tales. Who would be crazy enough to actually believe in such things?
They looked at each other in disbelief, but that obviously wasn't the right spot to discuss these matters.
They quickly retreated, and all their allies departed on their own, leaving no traces behind of their involvent in such an endeavor.
It was only after returning to the Guest House that they had ti to reflect on this matter. By then, enough ti had passed that they got over the shock of the revelation.
Naturally, the first thing they did was discuss the matter with Cliff. Although they didn't know how strong he was, as a suspected Golden Core cultivator, he might be exposed to more secrets than them.
"Of course Immortals exist," Cliff said with a hint of disdain in his voice. "What do you know? This type of thing is only a secret among the human race and other vassal races, I suppose. All other noble races are more or less destined to beco immortals even if they don't want to.
"Their powers will grow with ti even if all they do is eat and sleep. Of course, actively cultivating and working will reduce the ti taken to achieve such a cultivation, not to ntion there are differences in power even among immortals.
"If they laze around too much, they will beco the worst among immortals when they eventually reach that realm. At that point, wouldn't it be a huge sha to finally beco immortal, only to be killed because of how pathetic their strength was?"
River and Pearl looked at each other, their expressions filled with a mix of shock and doubt.
"You… you're talking as if you've seen immortals before," River said hesitantly, to which Cliff snorted.
"What do you an 'seen'? Child, when I road the lands, the immortals would line up for miles rely for a chance to et . More immortals have died by my hands than you've seen mortals. rely achieving immortality is not enough to qualify one to attract my attention. You have truly spoken like a frog in a well, trying to comprehend the heavens."
River suddenly felt the urge to roll his eyes again. Cliff was truly used to boasting without restraint. But he restrained himself, only because he wasn't so sure if it was only a boast.
Baron Nester said that whoever targeted Pearl's family did so because they suspected that the family contained an immortal legacy. Looking at how things were going, that really was true! Moreover, it seed that legacy ca in the form of a necklace, and Cliff.
The question was… what could they do now? They weren't sure if the hidden mastermind was watching them now, or if he or she was far away for so reason. Chances were that they weren't able to monitor Nester all the ti, or there wouldn't have been a need for Nester to mark them.
In that case, their next objective was clear. They needed to remove the mark as quickly as possible, and then raise their strength!
For River, raising his strength had beco very easy - all he had to do was help Pearl. Moreover, the action of helping take down Nester had given him feedback as well, bringing on the verge of reaching strength equivalent to a Foundation realm cultivator. According to Cliff, once he reached that level he would get the title of Knight Paladin, or a Templar Paladin based on which direction his power grew in. He would just have to wait to find out what the differences were.
Over the next few weeks they decided to lay low while they recovered from their wounds and planned for the future, but events did not play out in their favor.
The Armored Wyvern attacked the battlefield again, causing a forced conscription among the humans. Pearl, as a Foundation realm cultivator, was forced to go. Since River wasn't going to let her go, he also volunteered to join the army.
Thus, in an unexpected twist of fate, they found themselves on the battlefield, marching to fight against an army of orcs and goblins. Fortunately, that provided them with a unique opportunity to fulfil quests related to the battlefield.
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