Chapter 99: Too Late for Regrets

"W-What was that?!"

"Heavenly lightning! It came from the sky!"

The deafening crash of the thunder echoed through the Mirravele Alchemy Guild.

The dense crowd of onlookers stared at the cauldron unblinkingly, as if enchanted.

"Pill... Pill Tribulation..." Belen muttered, his lips trembling uncontrollably.

He finally understood.

It wasn’t a cauldron explosion.

It was the Pill Tribulation.

A tribulation summoned purely by the birth of a perfect pill.

As the cloud of smoke began to settle, the scene within the chamber was revealed.

Unlike the basic bronze cauldron from before, Aldric’s Epic-Grade dark-gold cauldron stood entirely intact, its reinforcement arrays glowing as faint arcs of residual lightning danced across its metallic surface.

Rhain sat cross-legged before it, utterly composed.

He slowly reached forward and lifted the heavy dark-gold lid.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The moment the seal broke, seven streaks of brilliant light shot out of the cauldron like shooting stars, spinning rapidly in the air before Rhain.

It emitted a medicinal fragrance so dense that simply inhaling it caused the essence in the onlookers’ meridians to surge.

Rhain guided the glowing streaks with a flick of his fingers, sending them floating gently toward Aldric.

"Check if they are right," Rhain said, his disguised voice carrying an impatient authority.

Aldric hurriedly caught the pills in his careful hands.

He didn’t even need to look.

The miraculous process he had just witnessed, ending with the heaven-sent lightning, was more than enough confirmation.

Yet, as he lowered his gaze to look at the seven pills resting in his palms, he was still left utterly speechless.

Flawless, one-hundred-percent purity. And every single one of them bore the mesmerizing, leaf-like swirl of a perfect Pill Vein.

"To refine seven pill-veined Rare-Grade pills in a single batch... in mere minutes...’ Aldric’s mind screamed, his soul shivering with reverence. ’Only the legendary Alchemy Emperor... only an Emperor could perform such a miracle!’

Rhain tilted his head slightly, studying the old man’s frozen expression.

"Is everything satisfactory?" Rhain asked.

Aldric jolted, and hurriedly nodded his head like a woodpecker, "Y-Yes! Perfect! They are absolutely perfect, esteemed sir!"

Rhain gave a curt nod and rose to his feet, brushing away dust from his robe.

"Good. Then our agreement is fulfilled. The damage to your ceiling and cauldron has been explained, and I have demonstrated the cause. I should be free to leave now."

He turned on his heel and stepped toward the ruined doorway.

"Wait! Please, wait!"

Aldric practically threw himself forward to block Rhain’s path.

"Sir, you have honored our small Alchemy Guild with your visit today. And yet, from the moment you stepped through our doors, you have been treated with nothing but disrespect and hostility. This is an unforgivable failure on my part as Guild Master."

Aldric clasped his hands together, his posture that of a junior seeking forgiveness from a venerated elder.

"Please, allow me to personally escort you to my private hall. Let me offer you proper hospitality and a sincere apology for the terrible misconduct you have suffered today. It is the very least I can do."

The crowd packed around the doorway gasped.

Even the City Lord Cassian Valdris, or the three great Clan Heads, were not worthy of receiving such subservient, groveling words from Aldric’s mouth!

Rhain looked down at the bowing old man.

He knew exactly what Aldric’s real intention was.

It wasn’t merely to apologise, but to also build a good relationship with him.

But wasn’t the show-off of his expertise all for this sake?

Aldric wanted to use his knowledge, and Rhain needed Aldric’s aid as a backer in this city.

It would make a perfect alliance.

Rhain pretended to consider the offer for a moment.

Then he turned his head, and the expression on his disguised face was anything but pleased.

"Don’t bother!" Rhain’s voice dripped with utter disdain. "I don’t want to stay a single second longer in a place that has insulted me so thoroughly today."

He stepped sideways to bypass the Guild Master.

Aldric was terrified.

Cold sweat drenched his back.

If a supreme being like an Emperor Rank Alchemist left his guild in anger, the terrifying backlash would be unimaginable.

If the headquarters ever found out he had offended such a transcendent figure, he might not be able to keep his position as Guild Master by tomorrow morning!

"I plead with you, please do not be angry!" Aldric begged. "Our small Alchemy Guild was simply too blind to comprehend your greatness! It was our ignorance that caused such blasphemy!"

"Ignorance?" Rhain stopped.

Visible anger flashed on his disguised face as he turned back. "I was attacked twice in this building. I could forgive the ignorance of your lowly guards, but..."

Rhain’s finger shot out, pointing directly at the pale, trembling figure of Belen.

"An Expert Rank Alchemist of your guild doesn’t even know what a Pill Tribulation or a Pill Vein is. And worse, he had the audacity to call me an ignorant fool! If this is the standard of your ’experts’, then this type of people simply should not be in the Alchemy Guild."

Hearing Rhain’s words, Aldric’s head snapped toward Belen.

There was murderous fury in his eyes.

"BELEN," Aldric roared, his Core Formation aura exploding and slamming into Belen, "You dared to call our esteemed guest an ignorant fool?"

Belen’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

Aldric pointed a shaking, wrathful finger at the terrified man, "How dare you? You are the ignorant fool! Your whole family is an ignorant fool!"

Aldric’s voice grew louder, and louder, almost spitting on Belen’s face.

"An Expert Rank Alchemist who cannot recognize a Pill Vein! An Expert Rank Alchemist who has never heard of a Pill Tribulation! You are a disgrace to the title you carry!"

"From this day forward, you are no longer a member of the Mirravele Alchemy Guild! Your rank is hereby stripped, and your guild badge is to be surrendered immediately! Get out of my sight!"

Belen’s face instantly turned as pale as a dead man.

"G-Guild Master! Please! I—" Belen opened his mouth, wanting to desperately beg for forgiveness.

But Rhain didn’t give him a single chance to speak.

This was the exact moment he had been waiting for.

He struck while the iron was scorching hot.

"What was his surname again?" Rhain called out loudly, scanning the crowd at the door.

The thin, sharp-eyed attendant who had originally called Rhain an ’unranked piece of trash’ eagerly pushed his way to the front. Desperate to save his own skin and flatter the supreme expert, he bowed deeply with a sycophantic smile.

"Esteemed sir! He belongs to the Ashvele Clan!" the attendant announced loudly.

"Ah. Ashvele," Rhain nodded slowly, his cold gaze shifting back to Aldric. "As the Guild Master just said so wisely... this man’s whole family must be ignorant fools. Having such fools in your ranks will only drag your Alchemy Guild down. To preserve your guild’s reputation, you must abolish all Ashvele Clan members."

The words landed like a thunderclap.

Everyone could hardly believe their own ears.

Abolish the entire Ashvele Clan from the guild?

The Ashvele Clan had been practicing alchemy in Mirravele City for more than three hundred years! As of now, there were more than a hundred Ashvele Clan alchemists actively serving within the Mirravele branch — ranging from Novice apprentices to accomplished Experts.

They practically formed the backbone of the region’s elixir market!

To abolish them all in a single stroke was unthinkable!

Even Aldric was not expecting such an extreme demand.

A clear struggle appeared on his aged face.

Expelling the Ashvele Clan would severely cripple the guild’s daily operations and ignite a massive political firestorm.

Belen trembled as he looked at Aldric’s struggling face.

The fact that the Aldric didn’t refuse such a ridiculous proposal outright meant that he was actually considering it.

This thought alone made Belen’s blood freeze solid.

G-Guild Master!" Belen shrieked, falling on his knees. "I beg of you—"

"I was just giving a piece of advice," Rhain cut him off again, his voice indifferent as he looked at Aldric. "You don’t have to take it seriously."

Without another word, Rhain turned and stepped decisively toward the exit.

"Wait! I have decided!"

Aldric frantically lunged forward, stopping Rhain once more.

His eyes hardened with ruthless resolution.

Between a mediocre clan alchemists and the unparalleled favor of an Alchemy Emperor, the choice was obvious.

Then he spun on his heel and faced Belen.

"This is all your doing, Belen," Aldric said, his voice cold and final. "You have brought this upon your entire clan. Because of your blasphemy, from this moment on, every single member of the Ashvele Clan is permanently expelled from the Mirravele Alchemy Guild!"

Belen collapsed, looking as though he had suddenly aged twenty years.

Hs eyes vacant, as if he had lost his soul.

If all Ashvele Clan members were expelled from the guild because of him, the foundational pillar of his clan’s wealth would crumble overnight.

He wouldn’t just be fired; he would be the ultimate sinner of the entire Ashvele Clan.

He did not want to live with that eternal taint.

"Guild Master, no!" Belen wept, tears streaming down his face as he slammed his forehead against the floor. "No, no, no... Guild Master, please... our Ashvele Clan has served this guild for centuries... you cannot be so heartless..."

Aldric remained entirely unmoved, his expression as cold as iron.

But subtly, he pointed at Rhain with his eyes.

Belen caught the gesture. He immediately turned to Rhain, throwing aside every last shred of his pride.

"Esteemed sir! Merciful Lord! Please!" Belen pleaded, kowtowing repeatedly until his forehead bled against the jade floor. "Forgive me for my blind ignorance just this once! Punish me however you wish, kill me if you must, but please do not expel our Ashvele Clan!"

Rhain didn’t even spare him a passing glance.

He looked entirely past the weeping man, his gaze meeting Aldric’s.

A faint, approving smile finally touched Rhain’s disguised face.

"I have found that Guild Master Aldric is indeed a very wise man," Rhain said smoothly. "I think I would like to spend some time in your company after all."

Hearing this, Aldric was ecstatic.

"It would be my greatest honor!" Aldric hurriedly invited, gesturing eagerly down the corridor. "Please, esteemed sir, right this way!"

Rhain nodded and walked away with Aldric.

"No! Wait! Guild Master! Sir!"

Seeing the two figures walking away, Belen let out a wail of despair.

He frantically scrambled forward on his hands and knees, his pristine white robes smeared with dirt.

"You can’t do this! Please! The Ashvele Clan will be utterly ruined! I beg you! Have mercy! MERCY!"

His panicked screams sounded like that of a dying animal. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Yet, Rhain’s footsteps did not falter for even a fraction of a second.

Even Aldric didn’t look back.

A heavy, complicated silence settled over the crowd.

A titan of Mirravele City. A clan that had practically monopolized the region’s elixir market for three centuries.

And all of that had been destroyed due to a single fault.

Many looked at Belen with pure disgust and mockery, disgusted by his earlier arrogance.

A few also looked at him with pity.

They looked at Belen, and then they thought of the Ashvele Clan.

Just last night, the Ashvele Clan had lost a massive fortune at the auction, lost a high-ranking elder in the streets, and was currently standing on the precipice of a bloody, all-out war with the Solari Clan.

And now, their ultimate foundation—their alchemical legitimacy and their hundred-plus alchemists within the guild—had been entirely stripped away.

All of them had a thought in their hearts:

The great Ashvele Clan is falling!