Chapter 723 Tracking

Along with the festive ambiance that hung in the air, the hall was seated full of Chu Clan elders.

"Darren, come and sit with Elsa in the high seat!" Reed ushered with a cordial smile.

"No, I cannot accept your offer. Everyone seated here is either my senior or my elder brother. How can I take the high seat when all these respectable people are present? They deserve that high seat rather than me. Besides, according to the rules, I think you should be the one to sit in that place, Uncle Reed," Darren refused immediately. He insisted that Reed should take that seat of honor.

"Reed, stop making Darren uncomfortable. Let him sit wherever he likes," the guard of the Martial Skill Library uttered grimly to Reed and motioned Darren to sit.

Receiving the request, Reed bowed and didn't say anything. Thus, at length, everyone took their seats, and the feast officially started.

"Where are the Chief Elder and the other two elders?" Darren asked, suddenly noticing their absence in the hall.

"Those old bones haven't been informed yet. They are living too far off in the mountain that the messages need to take a longer time to reach them," the guard of the Martial Skill Library informed. As he was about the same age as the three important elders, he just called them casually and did not bring up their names in a formal manner.

"Okay, then we'd better leave them alone and keep them from any unnecessary trouble," Darren said with a nod.

"How is everything going during my absence?" after a short pause, Darren inquired again.

"It's quite peaceful. Our Chu Clan has now become the most powerful clan in the entire Doriath. In the last several years, our power has spread all over the country that even if we had claimed to take the mastery, I dare say that no one would have stood up against us." Moving his line of sight from left to right as if looking for something, the guard of the Martial Skill Library lingered for a while and then continued, "But Reed preferred to stay quiet and stay low. From his point of view, our disciples' training and healthy growth are far more important than declaring the throne."

Darren was delighted with what the guard of the Martial Skill Library had said. He realized that after that incident in the past, his uncle had become rational and sophisticated.

"My uncle is right in that respect. It matters little how much power one has when there is no healthy and harmonious life," Darren consented and turned to Reed, his mouth curled in a content smile.

"Darren, I'm glad that you agree with me," Reed smiled, feeling rejoiced by Darren's recognition.

Soon after they had casually chatted for a while, the family banquet officially began. Time slipped away swiftly as they enjoyed their talks and all the food and drinks that had been set for the feast.

The evening drew on, and the celebration nearly came to an end. People began to rise from their seats and headed for their own quarters. After everyone had gone, Darren and Elsa got up and returned to the courtyard that had once been so familiar to Darren.

"Darren, is this where you grew up?"

Elsa asked, looking around the neatly cleaned courtyard and the great phoenix tree that shadowed over half of the yard.

"Yes. My sister and I grew up here," Darren related softly and went to put his hand on the tree. A feeling of sadness overwhelmed his mind. He wondered how the time went by swiftly and how those hard yet happy times had become remote and unfamiliar to him by now.

"You must have been so close to each other. Where did your sister go then?" Elsa asked as she came closer to him.

"Her soul has been seriously injured and she is now receiving treatment in the Ancient Void Battlefield. I assume it will be two or three years before she finally wakes up," replied Darren, looking dejected and concerned.

"Why? What happened to her?" Elsa exclaimed. Worry clouded her beautiful, delicate face as she looked up at Darren with concern.

"It's a long story. Let me explain to you briefly."

Under the phoenix tree, with the warm and soft wind gently blowing over their faces, Darren told Elsa briefly of what had happened to his sister before. Brief as the story was, it still cost Darren quite a long time to finish. By the time he finished speaking, the darkness had already enclosed the world, and there was no other sound around but the sound of their warm breath.

The night was warm and cozy. Elsa nestled herself in Darren's arms and enjoyed the very moment of being with him alone.

"It is fortunate that my sister had come through a hard time and had the chance of being treated in the Ancient Void Battlefield. Recovering is just a matter of time, so I won't worry about her much. Think abou

access to so many resources of our Space-time Palace. Shouldn't you be returning them if you are to discard us?" he roared, a raging fire in his eyes. The blue-skinned man was exceedingly enraged by now that it seemed that any moment soon, he would launch an attack towards either Darren or Elsa.

"I will return the resources you have used on Elsa. But if you come to harass us again, then I won't mind killing every single one of you!" Darren warned coldly. The frustration that he had was slowly reaching its limit.

"Ha-ha, who do you think you are? Do you know what you are talking about? Since Elsa joined us, she has occupied four years of our time and space turbulent flows of a hundred times' power. How can you expect to pay us? Do you have anything worth the price?

But frankly speaking, even if you offer to provide a time and space turbulent flow of your own, we won't accept it. Elsa's cultivation base must be returned, an eye for an eye, and the process is simple. I only need to gouge out half of her heart and remove 80 percent of her meridians."

Laying the terms, the blue-skinned man grinned hideously. He knew by now that what he wanted to happen was understood by Darren. Judging by the expression on Darren's face, however, the blue-skinned man knew that he had won the argument. Darren was obviously angered and seemed to be overpowered by that anger.

"Oh, if that is the only way, then please just do it!" Darren voiced, in a tongue that sounded light but piercing.

The blue-skinned man was stunned. A sudden shiver went through his veins as if he was put naked outside in the chilly winter.

"I meant to send you to hell!"

Whoosh.

With one swift move, the blade and sword intents roared off and detached the blue-skinned man's head within a second.

Prior to the blue-skinned man's beheading, at the sight of the impending attack, Elsa didn't try to stop Darren because she had no special relationship with the people from the Space-time Palace. She only agreed to join them at that time because they had firmly persuaded her to do so.

During those hundreds of years in the time and space turbulent flow, she was left to herself in that dark space. Her longing for Darren grew as time went by for hundreds of years, and during which, all she had felt was loneliness and pain.

"Darren, I guess we can't stay in the Chu Clan any longer, or we'll get them into trouble. The Space-time Palace will come for revenge very soon," looking up at Darren, Elsa said ruefully. She knew deep inside her that the next days that she would spend together with Darren would never be the same again. The Space-time Palace and the blue-skinned men were not the kind of people one would wish to be enemies with.

"Yes, we have to leave right now. Besides, I just found out that this blue-skinned man was not the only one who bothered me these days. I suspect that they are already on the way," Darren pointed out with a frown.

The imminent danger gloomed his heart. A peaceful life had once again become a distant dream to them. Gone were their dreams of one quiet and normal life—shattered, crumbled to pieces, and drifted with the air.