Rivers of the Night-Chapter 112: Forbidden

Theron faced the same problems with Beifong’s spatial device as he did with Yonowai’s. However, this time he had far fewer worries.

For one, he was far closer to Beifong in strength than he had been to Yonowai. And second, he wasn’t worried about anyone sensing him break into Beifong’s device. Everyone knew he had it.

Though that was a worry in itself, it wasn’t something that would bear fruit in the short term. By then, he would be ready.

Theron wasn’t naive. He knew that for there to be a mission placed in Daggers of the Night for what Beifong had in his possession, and for the reward to be so steep, there were certainly far more people than just himself who knew what was going on.

He had yet to figure out if the old man was one of them, but even if he wasn’t, there were certainly others who would be.

However, as with all things, there was a balance of risk to reward he had to take.

Crack.

The restrictions on the ring split open and the contents of the spatial ring spilled out.

There were a large number of miscellaneous items. Clothes, disguise methods, weapons, beast pelts. It didn’t seem very organized at all—certainly not compared to Theron’s own spatial device.

Digging through one’s spatial device, especially without Third Eye, could cost you precious split moments in battle. Knowing exactly where everything was could save your life.

But Theron wasn’t here to judge a dead man.

’Hm?’

Theron picked up a booklet from the ground.

There were two methods of storing techniques. Jades were more common these days, but original copies were still kept in written form a lot of the time, as inscribing jades required a deep understanding of the technique.

By comparison, just writing down circulation methods and rune information was far easier.

As such, to ensure there were no mistakes involved, the main copy was always in this cruder form. But because it was far easier, stolen copies often tended to be in this medium as well.

Theron flipped open the first page.

’This isn’t among the three techniques…’

The information the Guild noted about Beifong mentioned three techniques: [Luminiscent Blade], [Moonlit Skin], and [Luminiscent Rain]. Of course, this didn’t count whatever cultivation method he used.

This, though, wasn’t any of the three, and he hadn’t used it in battle either.

’This information mentioned that he had learned the first few Silver Resonance moves of [Luminiscent Blade], but given the nature of Silver Resonance techniques, my guess is that he would need [Luminiscent Rain] active to use them to make up for the gap in Mana purity. So when I activated my Water Imbued Resonance, he lost the ability to use them.

’But this isn’t those techniques either. This should be…’

The runes were obscure, of a form that Theron didn’t understand. And the circulation pattern was complex. It was the sort of spell that would take a cultivator several seconds to cast in battle. Experience more on novelbuddy

Unless you were a Spirit Mancer of the Beast Taming or similar path, or you had other teammates that could stall for you, no cultivator worth their salt would place this as one of their main techniques.

The only exceptions would be those army veterans—graduates from the Imperial Academy’s military stream—that would tailor their battle styles to fit in with troops around them.

Theron still didn’t know what the spell was all about, but not only was it certainly not a Water Mancer technique, but even if he ignored that and circulated it, it would take him upwards of 15 to 20 seconds to finish the casting.

If he was uninjured and in Veinsong, it might take him closer to 12, but that was still far too long a period in battle. Even one second was too long in many cases—even at the Bronze Resonance.

On top of that, what he assumed was Beifong’s handwriting was far too messy. There were several places that could be misinterpreted, and half of Theron felt that that had been done on purpose.

Beifong wasn’t just courageous; he had a brain between his ears as well. He knew when to be cautious.

After almost half an hour, Theron was able to figure something out.

’Is this…’

Theron’s hand moved like lightning, snatching up something.

In the pile of clothes Beifong had, many of them were women’s garments. Some of them looked like they were used for disguise as they were far larger than the average woman would need.

These stood out because Beifong had many clothes that were appropriately sized for the average or petite woman. So unless he had such wide and variable taste, Theron’s explanation was the most logical answer, especially since many of the larger sizings all had the same measurements.

But it was among the pile of used "souvenirs" that Theron grabbed a bra embroidered with several gems.

He ripped it apart.

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Out from the gem embroidery, a small rock that looked no different from all the rest fell into his palm.

’I see… the Luminscent Moon Sect’s description of the mission implied that anyone taking on the mission should return the jade because it couldn’t be used without the cultivation method of their Sect… but did they expect me not to realize that this is the so-called "cultivation method"?’

Theron’s eyes narrowed, weighing the jade in one hand and the booklet in another.

’Could it be that they didn’t know that Beifong already stole their method? Or… did they call it a cultivation method on purpose, when in reality, it’s a Mancer Spell?’

A Mancer Spell, often colloquially referred to as Forbidden Spells, were complex methods that stood above normal spells and techniques. Often, they could only be used when given ample time, preparation, and resources.

Some of the worst of them required great sacrifice on the cultivator’s part.

What Theron didn’t know was that having the right Imbued Resonance could make casting Forbidden Spells far easier…