Chapter 602: Elder to Junior
Theron looked over to find that the three young men who had followed after Kempe had arrived. The shortest one among them, a young man with dirty blond hair, was the one who laughed.
The other two with him were significantly taller, but their muscles were also significantly less defined than the blond youth’s.
Seemingly sensing Theron’s gaze, he looked over with a sneer, but then turned his gaze to Lyra and gave her an award-winning wink.
“The pillar was boring, so we changed it, old man. It doesn’t work linearly anymore. Instead, the power you need to reach a mark also changes every time you punch. You have to adjust in real time, otherwise you’ll never get it right outside of dumb luck.
“Oh, and the power required now is more—and it scales exponentially. Getting from 60% to 70% is harder than getting the whole of the first 50%.
“If you think you’re an expert, step up. If you can’t cut it, scurry away with your tail between your legs!”
The man’s eyes bulged with fury, but when he noticed this child actually had the cultivation of the Cloud Realm, he directly shut up. Any youth with this level of strength had backing even more powerful than that. He didn’t dare to speak at all and could only waste his remaining attempts in a vain attempt to hit the mark.
The blond youth’s laughter jeered him all the way down.
“Don’t worry, old man. If you let your daughter spend a night with me, I wouldn’t mind getting the Ageless Rose for her. How about it? She’s not exactly my type, but it’s a small effort.”
The fury the man had buried threatened to bubble up again, but before he said something stupid, it was actually Theron who spoke instead.
“Takes quite a special kind of man to change the rules without telling anyone and then gloat when they don’t follow them. You must feel pretty big.”
Lyra stood by Theron’s side, glaring at the blond young man, who was blinking in shock.
Did a… Silver Mancer just talk to him like that? He looked toward his two fellow disciple brothers as though to confirm that he wasn’t crazy. But their laughter seemed to confirm things.
“Did you hear that, Tyran? He thinks you’re being unfair.”
The father-daughter pair were quite smart, using Theron’s distraction to escape into the crowd. As for Lyra, she knew Theron’s strength well by now.
Although she hadn’t seen Theron’s battle with the Fourth Elder personally, she had heard about it on the vessel on their way here. If Theron could hold his own against a Cloud Realm expert, there was no need to worry.
Of course, she was being a bit naive. The Fourth Elder was no match for this blond young man. He was a far superior talent.
But Theron didn’t care about the difference much either.
Tyran had half a mind to rip Theron to pieces right there. But Theron was quite young, at least five years his junior—if not more. Plus, he was a Silver Mancer. It wouldn’t look good if he did this, especially since Theron was a member of the Nightingale Sect.
In fact, he had come here to lure Theron and the others into a bit of a trap. He just didn’t expect for Theron to step out first.
After a while, Tyran recovered and sneered.
“I didn’t expect a little baby boy to step out. Is this the kind of man you like?” Tyran asked, turning to Lyra.
Flustered, Lyra didn’t even know how to reply to this. But the sudden firm grip Theron took on her waist sent her into another spiral.
“You like to talk a lot, but do you ever do anything with that mouth other than harass girls you can’t have?”
Tyran’s eyes narrowed, his scythes flashing with flames as a murderous intent blinked in his eyes for a moment before vanishing. His sneer deepened.
“You, too, said a lot earlier, didn’t you? Are you claiming that now that you know the secret of the pillar, you’ll clear it easily? Last time I checked, I told that man the truth after his second attempt—he had more than ten attempts after that to adjust, and he still failed so horribly.”
“This little toy? Is it that difficult?”
Tyran raised his head to the skies and laughed uproariously. What a joke. A Silver Mancer couldn’t even push the mark to 10%, and that was the lowest allowed spot on the entire pillar.
“Truly the best joke I’ve heard today. If you can hit the mark even once, I’ll give you the Ageless Rose with both hands.”
Theron sneered. “You mean you’ll give me the prize I’ll already win anyway?”
Tyran didn’t seem put off by this. “Well, it’s not like a Silver Mancer like you can afford the entry fee to begin with. I’ll pay it for you. Consider it the act of an elder to a junior.”
Theron chuckled. But then he surprisingly turned to Lyra.
“Do you want it?”
Lyra blinked. “Want what—Oh…”
Her response was a blush down to her collarbone, her words suddenly not working.
Theron grinned in response. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Taking her hand, he pulled her to the podium, leaping up and onto it.
The large circular stage was empty of everything but the complex formation etchings beneath his feet and the pillar right at the center of it all.
“Since my esteemed senior is paying, go ahead,” Theron said.
Tyran’s eyes narrowed, but he snorted anyway and threw a bag over to the attendant managing things.
Theron was already not paying attention to him, stroking the pillar with a hand.
The mark had appeared at the 40% mark. It wasn’t at the tallest level, but it was still beyond what a Silver Mancer should ever be able to match. With the exponential rise, even a Gold Mancer would be entirely incapable.
And yet, Theron only paused for a moment and then casually cocked a fist back, exploding forward with a pivot of his foot.