Chapter 111: Final Piece of the Board

The bloody remnants of the Ashvele envoy stained the polished stone of the Grand Hall, yet no one spared the corpse a second glance.

Aurelian turned to Rhain, his eyes reflecting a deep sorrow, and profound gratitude.

"Thank you... young man," Aurelian said. A Core Formation Realm bowing its head to a Essence Condensation Realm, an unprecedented gesture toward a junior. "If not for you, our Silvercrest Clan would have remained in the dark for another century. All of us would have reduced to cripples, and we wouldn’t have even known whose hand held the knife."

Rhain simply shook his head. "You do not need to thank me, Patriarch Aurelian. I only stepped in because Lady Liana is Seris’s friend."

Hearing this, Aurelian let out a long, heavy sigh.

He slowly walked back to his high seat and slumped into it, looking as though he had aged several decades in the span of a few minutes.

Even knowing the truth... I fear it is entirely too late," Aurelian murmured dejectedly. "The damage has been done. The toxins have already fused with our bloodlines. Worse yet, they have made us completely dependent on their cursed pill. If we do not consume their Earthfire Vein Pacifying Elixir for a prolonged period, circulating our essence causes unbearable, tearing pain in our meridians. We are trapped."

A gloomy silence fell over the Grand Hall.

But just then, Liana stepped forward, her silver eyes shining with a light of hope.

"Father, Grandpa," Liana spoke up, "It is not completely over. We still have hope."

Aurelian and Solas both looked up at her, their brows furrowing in confusion. What hope could they possibly have against a two-hundred-year-old bloodline curse?

Liana didn’t explain with words. Instead, she reached into her sleeve and presented the glowing pill Rhain had refined for her earlier.

"Take a look at this," Liana urged, handing the pill to her father.

Aurelian took the pill cautiously.

At first glance, he recognized it as an Earthfire Vein Pacifying Elixir.

But as a Core Formation expert with keen Spiritual Sense, he instantly noticed the staggering differences.

It wasn’t the pale-blue color of the Ashvele Clan’s pills.

It was a vibrant blue.

More shockingly, the sheer density of the medicinal energy rolling off the pill was astonishing.

This wasn’t an Uncommon-Grade pill.

A Rare grade Elixir.

Moreover, the purity... it is flawless!

He had never seen such a pure Earthfire Vein Pacifying Elixir in his entire life.

Aurelian looked at his daughter, utterly bewildered.

"Swallow it, Father," Liana insisted, her eyes gleaming. "Take this pill, and you will understand everything."

Aurelian nodded before tossing the vibrant blue pill into his mouth.

The pill dissolved instantly.

For a few seconds, Aurelian sat perfectly still with his eyes closed.

Then, his body jolted up.

He sprang up from his high seat, reacting even more exaggeratingly than Liana had in the private courtyard. His serene eyes stretched wide with total shock.

"This... this isn’t suppressing the Earthfire toxins!" Aurelian gasped, "It is cleansing them! It actually eradicated a portion of the fire poison in my meridians!"

For Aurelian this revelation was like a man dying of thirst suddenly finding a roaring river.

"Where did you get this???" Aurelian practically shouted, his composure entirely forgotten.

He rushed forward, appearing before Liana in a flash. "Which supreme Grandmaster gave this to you?"

Liana had never seen his father acting this uncontrolled, she pointed a slender finger directly at the dark-robed youth.

"He did," Liana said promptly. "Rhain refined it just now, right before my very eyes."

Aurelian looked at Rhain with an incredible gaze, before looking back at his daughter. "Liana... do you know what you are saying? Do you know that this is a Rare-Grade pill? A pill of this grade and purity can only be refined by a true Expert Rank Alchemist! Are you telling me that Rhain refined this?"

Hearing her father’s words, Liana was actually taken aback.

In her wild excitement over finding a cure, she hadn’t even stopped to consider the actual grade of the pill.

Her mind finally caught up.

The pill she had swallowed was Rare-Grade?

That meant Rhain, who looked less than twenty years old, was already an Expert Rank Alchemist?

Her beautiful face froze in astonishment, and she nodded her head woodenly.

Solas stood entirely stupefied beside the throne.

All this while, his attention had been only on Seris.

Her seventy-percent mastery of an Epic-Grade martial art at such a young age had labeled her an unparalleled monster.

He had practically ignored the boy standing beside her, assuming Rhain was just an ordinary companion, perhaps slightly talented at best.

But now?

He learns that this boy is an Expert Rank Alchemist!

Every single Expert Rank Alchemist Solas had ever met in his long life was a white-haired, wrinkled old man no younger than seventy or eighty years old.

Yet this youth had achieved it before his twenties?

This feat was infinitely more outrageous than a twenty-year-old Spirit Manifestation Realm prodigy!

Just where in the world is this Starfall Valley?

To cultivate such incomprehensible monsters... One is a peerless martial genius, and the other is an alchemy god!

Both of them are so far beyond the talents of Mirravele City!

Aurelian turned back to Rhain, his voice shaking. "Young friend... is this true? Did you truly refine this pill?"

Rhain met his gaze and gave a calm nod. "What she said is true. I refined it."

"And Rhain has already agreed to refine these pills for our family!" Liana added happily, her voice ringing like a divine bell in the silent hall. "He said he will help us cure the curse!"

Aurelian’s eyes reddened.

He looked at Rhain as if he were looking at a divine savior.

"Gods must have sent you to save our pitiful clan!’

He bowed again, this time, it was a deep, reverential bow.

"Rhain, if you can truly do this... if you can save my daughter, my father, and my people... our entire Silvercrest Clan will be in your eternal debt! I swear it upon my soul, I will do anything you ask! Even if it means going through mountains of swords and seas of fire, risking my very life!"

Solas stepped forward, placing his hand over his heart and bowing just as deeply as his son.

He was completely willing to submit to this young man if it meant saving their descendants from the Ashvele Clan’s vile poison.

Rhain looked at the two bowing Core Formation Realm experts.

"I appreciate your sincerity, Patriarch Aurelian," Rhain said, sounding both compassionate and troubled. "I do wish to help the Silvercrest Clan completely eradicate this curse."

He let out a slow sigh.

"But there are some obstacles that I can’t overlook."

Aurelian and Solas immediately raised their heads, their expressions turning anxious. "What problems? Do you lack materials? Our clan will empty our treasuries to supply you!"

"Materials are not the main issue," Rhain shook his head slightly. "The problem is that am just one person, Patriarch."

Rhain looked at them with a solemn expression. "Alchemy is an incredibly exhausting task that drains both essence and soul power. Even if I push myself to the limit, I can hardly refine a few batches of these Rare-Grade pills every day."

He swept his gaze across the vast Grand Hall.

"It simply won’t be enough for your whole clan. Each member would need a huge number of these elixirs over a sustained period to completely purify their meridians of the accumulated Earthfire toxins. Moreover, the number of required pills would only rise exponentially for the older members who had used the Ashvele Clan’s poisoned elixirs for decades, and those with higher cultivation realms."

Rhain’s gaze drifted to Solas.

"For someone like Patriarch Solas, who has consumed the Ashvele Clan’s pills for over a century and has Core Formation Realm... he would need to consume my pills daily for at least a decade before the toxins are entirely eradicated."

"And it does not end there," Rhain continued ruthlessly. "Your clan requires massive quantities of medicinal pills for everyday cultivation, healing, and breakthroughs. Now that the Ashvele Clan has severed your supply, my few daily batches will not even make a dent in your clan’s overall requirements."

Rhain crossed his arms, delivering the final, indisputable truth.

"Silvercrest Clan needs Alchemists right now. And not just any random Alchemists. You need Expert Rank Alchemists, and you need at least a dozen of them to sustain your operations and mass-produce the cure."

Aurelian fell entirely silent.

More than a dozen Expert Rank Alchemists?

In all of Mirravele City, there were only two powers that possessed such a staggering number of high-tier alchemists.

Ashvele Clan.

And Solari Clan.

But Silvercrest Clan had never maintained a good relationship with the Solari Clan. At best, it was purely functional

There was a reason behind this.

Solari Clan had only risen to prominence a century ago.

But Silvercrest Clan had been purchasing pills from the Ashvele Clan for far longer than that.

When the Solari Clan rose to power, Silvercrest ancestors deliberately chose not to switch suppliers, fearing it would worsen their already established relationship with Ashvele Clan.

Solari Clan, in turn, never took the initiative to bridge the gap.

As a result, they had existed in a state of cold indifference for decades.

They were neither friends nor enemies.

Aurelian frowned deeply.

Would the Solari Clan even agree to help them in such desperate times? Especially when the Solari Clan was currently locked in a brutal, all-out war with the Ashvele Clan?

But as Aurelian weighed the impossible odds, a grim realization settled over him.

They didn’t have a choice.

Aurelian slowly turned his head, looking back at his father, seeking his final opinion

Solas met his son’s gaze.

He stepped forward and placed a heavy hand onto Aurelian’s shoulder.

"Everyone has to change with the times, Aurelian," Solas said solemnly. "Ashvele Clan has forced our hand. We are now in a situation where remaining neutral is no longer an option. If we must ally with the Solari Clan to save our bloodline, then we will ally with them."

Aurelian nodded heavily.

He took a long, deep breath.

"I understand, Father," Aurelian said firmly. the aura of a decisive Patriarch returning to his bearing. "I will make an appointment with the Solari Clan Patriarch... today."

Standing quietly on the side, Rhain merely offered a supportive nod.

The final piece of the board had been forcefully dragged into the mud.

Aurelian turned back to Rhain.

"Rhain," Aurelian requested earnestly. "With the city currently in such a volatile state, it is simply not safe for you and Lady Seris to stay in some public inn. I formally invite you to reside within our Silvercrest estate. As long as you are under our roof, I promise you will not face the slightest hardship or lack for anything. You will be treated as our most honored guests, and our clan’s resources will be entirely at your disposal."

Rhain pretended to think for a while.

In truth, residing within the very heart of the Silvercrest Clan perfectly aligned with his overarching design.

It would give him unfettered access clan’s future plans.

After a brief moment of silence, Rhain agreed. "I accept your hospitality, Patriarch Aurelian."

"Excellent!" Aurelian’s face broke into a relieved smile,. "Liana, arrange the Moon Courtyard for our esteemed guests immediately. Ensure they are given the utmost respect by all clan members."

"Yes, Father!" Liana replied quickly, looking delighted.

"Come on, let’s go! I’ll show you to your quarters!" Liana urged, happily taking Seris’s hand.

With that, Rhain turned and left the hall.

The fire he had just ignited within the Silvercrest Clan would roar uncontrollably in a while.

It won’t stop until Ashvele Clan is burnt to ashes.