"What is rescuing the Empress? It is eradicating the treacherous, wicked, and petty people who commit treason and rebellion. And it is protecting the safety and life of our monarch, Her Majesty, to prevent the world from falling into great chaos."

"Aurelia is the Heavenly Flame Empress. If she dies, the world will inevitably fall into dispute once again. I took out that pill to gift to her and save her life. Is there something wrong with that?"

Alistair and Malakai instantly revealed resentful expressions, secretly gritting their teeth.

There was actually nothing wrong with these words from Alex.

On the surface, they indeed formed a three-family alliance for this very reason, and even elected Alex as the Alliance Leader.

But in reality, they were all too clear on exactly what each other was thinking.

As old foxes who had equally cultivated for thousands of years, who could truly be foolish enough to act as loyal subjects willing to shed their blood and lay down their lives for the Heavenly Flame Dynasty? Besides, the Emberhal family had their own internal strife, with the younger brother and older sister fighting for the imperial throne.

What did that have to do with their Saint Lineage families?

The reason they led their elite disciples to gather here, contributing both manpower and effort, was nothing more than to snatch a larger piece of the pie for themselves during the great chaos of the Heavenly Flame Dynasty.

But right now, Alex was using the high-sounding reasons they had proclaimed when raising their armies as an excuse to fob them off.

This caused a strong sense of anger to arise in both their hearts, feeling as if they had been completely played.

"Saint Lord Alex, this isn’t right, is it?" Malakai said in displeasure.

"Before coming here, you clearly had your Saint clan’s Second Elder, Adrian, tell us that coming to the Heavenly Flame Capital this time to help the Heavenly Flame Empress kill the rebels would yield massive profits."

"It was precisely because of this that our two families pushed aside many important matters and led all the elites of our clans to come with you to rescue the Empress and protect the state."

"But now, the rebels have been killed, the treacherous thieves have been eradicated, and our two families have suffered two to three hundred casualties among our disciples, yet we are returning empty-handed like this. Please tell, where are the profits you spoke of?"

Alex smiled faintly, saying unhurriedly. "Saint Lord Malakai, what are you in such a rush for? The Heavenly Flame Empress has already said that once she recovers, she will invite the three of us to the Heavenly Flame Capital for a banquet gathering. At that time, she will commend our merits in protecting the dynasty and grant us rewards."

"Furthermore, our three great Saint Lineage families are all a part of the Heavenly Flame Dynasty. Over the years, we have also received quite a few favors from the Heavenly Flame Empress. Now that she is in distress, shouldn’t we lend a helping hand if we can?"

After speaking these words, even Alex himself couldn’t help but repeatedly cry out in his heart about how awesome that felt.

No wonder those sanctimonious, hypocritical righteous factions, who normally had no real abilities whatsoever, loved nothing more than using all sorts of etiquette and principles to morally kidnap others.

This trick of moral kidnapping was truly awesome.

"Good, well said!" Malakai was so angry he actually laughed instead of flying into a rage, nodding continuously.

"Saint Lord Alex, I truly never saw it before, but you are actually such a great loyal subject who worries for the nation and its people."

"I am nothing more than a petty person who covets profit, unworthy of associating with you. Farewell!"

With that said, Malakai directly turned around and headed east. The Sol family elders and disciples had no choice but to follow him.

Alistair looked at Alex with a complicated expression, also revealing a look of disappointment. He sighed and shook his head.

"Brother Alex, your foolish brother led the disciples of my entire clan to support you entirely out of trust. But for you to speak like this is truly too disappointing. In the future, if there are matters like this, there is no need to notify your foolish brother."

With that said, Alistair also waved his hand, leading the Blackwood family crowd and heading west.

The originally mighty contingent instantly lost two-thirds of its people, appearing somewhat cold and desolate. Seeing this, Alex sighed slightly in helplessness.

"Forget it. Those who wish to come may come, those who wish to leave may leave. It cannot be forced."

From the exact moment he redeemed that Golden Fragrant Silver Ring Pill from the Providence Mall and handed it over to Selene, it was already destined that he would offend Alistair and Malakai.

Originally, Alex’s thoughts were exactly the same as those two: first quell Albert’s rebellion, then wait for the Heavenly Flame Empress to die of illness.

That way, the Heavenly Flame Dynasty would be a host of dragons without a head, and various princes would come to compete for the imperial throne.

Their Saint Lineage families would naturally be roped in by the various factions, thereby securing a massive portion of the profits.

However, if the Heavenly Flame Empress’s illness was cured and she continued to command the dynasty, then this empire would remain as stable and peaceful as always.

Under a stable situation, what profits would they have left to seek?

Alex knew that under the circumstances of so straightforwardly losing their profits, no matter how he explained it, Alistair and Malakai wouldn’t believe him.

Therefore, he couldn’t be bothered to over-explain or try too hard to urge them to stay.

And the reason he changed his mind was naturally because the system notification stated that Aurelia had already been completely subdued by him.

Alex still hadn’t figured out what this so-called "subdued" meant.

Was it simply that she had trust and a favorable impression of him? Or was it like how she treated the protagonist Knox in the original novel, no matter what he did, she would swear loyalty to him unto death, unchanging until the very end?

If it were the former, it wouldn’t be of much value.

But if it were the latter, then there was massive potential!