Inside the imperial palace, following the sudden appearance of lightning from underground, Emperor Durand decided to send a knight order, led by General Giovanni De Calin, to investigate the location. Despite sensing that sothing was wrong within the city, he tried to calm his mind, while also grappling with the concerns over Hector’s condition.
Hector lay in his bedroom, already in the midst of treatnt by the imperial physician. His condition was worsening, his body growing increasingly pale. The physician had administered the strongest antidote pill he possessed and tried to channel his healing technique, but the poison was so potent that neither the pill nor the technique had much effect.
"Your Majesty, this poison is unlike anything I have encountered before. However, there is one distinct pattern I can identify—it’s poison crafted by the devils," the physician said after attempting to heal Hector.
"When I used my healing technique, I could sense traces of hidden devil energy resisting it. Based on my observations and the poison’s lethal nature, I suspect it was created by combining multiple toxic substances. Given the skill required to craft such a poison, one even Your Majesty could not detect, I believe this is the work of Wei Zhi, one of the Seven Devils of Annihilation."
Emperor Durand frowned and clenched his fist, deeply infuriated that he had let his guard down despite being wary of potential threats. In the end, he had overlooked one of the most common rules in the cultivation world: to remain vigilant even with those closest to him. He knew this well, but after living for so long among his trusted companions, he had co to believe he could entrust his back to them.
Hearing that Wei Zhi might be the one who created the poison, he knew he needed sothing stronger to heal his son or soone with the capability to remove the poison from Hector’s body. To him, that person was the one who had even managed to dispel his own curse.
Although Aldrian claid he was not a physician, Emperor Durand knew from his experience with Aldrian’s thod of dispelling the curse that his energy was among the most powerful for healing he had ever encountered. Having experienced the healing techniques of many renowned physicians and felt their energy, he could tell that the energy within Aldrian was unlike anything he had ever known. He believed that this energy could even purify the poison within Hector.
Emperor Durand, who had been waiting for Lorenzo’s report, finally received a signal from his communication artifact.
"Your Majesty, I have t with the one residing inside Sir Aldrian’s mansion, Sir Xin Haotian, and from what he said, it seems Sir Aldrian left earlier and has not returned yet."
Hearing Lorenzo, Emperor Durand touched his forehead in frustration. The timing was truly unfortunate. Why did Aldrian have to leave just when sothing like this was happening inside the palace?
"Is there no one who knows where young Aldrian went?" Emperor Durand asked.
"There is no one who knows Sir Aldrian’s location, but after this, I will look in places he might have visited. I will report as soon as I find his whereabouts, Your Majesty."
"Alright, keep searching for him. We really need his abilities."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After cutting off the connection, he suddenly received another signal from a different communication channel and switched to it. This one was connected to General Giovanni, and the emperor knew that the general wanted to report his findings in the city.
"Your Majesty, we found sothing unbelievable! There is actually a large underground base beneath the capital! The lightning that appeared ca from the underground secret base, and from the traces we’ve examined, it looks like there was a battle between Emperor, King, and, uh, Marquess stages. The lightning seems to be one of the techniques cast by one of them."
Emperor Durand frowned, then he realized that the Marquess stage was ntioned in the report. Aldrian had gone to an unknown location, and soon after, sothing happened in the city. When Aldrian healed him, he knew that Aldrian was at the low Marquess stage. Could this Marquess stage be Aldrian?
"Your Majesty, there are many shocking things we found here. We discovered nurous artifacts and even large quantities of explosive powder! We calculated that these amounts could even spark a short-term war, and we found many dead devils. We are still investigating this matter."
"What?" Emperor Durand widened his eyes.
"Where did all of these things co from, and how did they slip under our surveillance?"
"I will see it myself right now. This is a serious matter. Keep investigating, General."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Emperor Durand then looked at Hector and his wife, Empress Claudia, who was with their son, trying to ease Hector’s pain, but it was no use. He wanted to shout in frustration because these situations had occurred at the sa ti, but he cald his mind again and began to plan his next step. If the traces from the battle in the underground base truly ca from Aldrian, then perhaps he could find him.
He then left the room and moved outside the palace. He wanted to see for himself the underground place that had been built right under his nose, undetected.
-----------------------------
At Aldrian’s mansion front yard, Lorenzo had arrived earlier. He was inspecting the corpses of the assassins when he found sothing that truly puzzled him. So of the characteristics of these assassins, were familiar to him. They were mbers of the Southern Silent Daggers, a secret group of assassins affiliated with the imperial family.
The Doria imperial family has a secret group used for espionage and assassination, tasked with carrying out missions from the imperial family. These individuals can only be activated with an order directly from the emperor. The real question is, why are they here, and why are they attacking Aldrian’s mansion? This doesn’t make any sense.
His face turned solemn; there were missing pieces here. While he was thinking, Xin Haotian, who stood not far from him, was also checking his surroundings.
But then he frowned when he sensed soone approaching the mansion. The man wore a robe that covered the top of his head, but Xin Haotian could see a strand of long black and white hair. His face appeared to be that of a normal middle-aged man, unmarked by any stains, and he concealed his aura and cultivation. However, Xin Haotian’s danger sense tingled as he looked at the robed man—sothing he seldom felt.
Lorenzo also noticed the sudden arrival of the man and frowned. His senses also detected trouble from this individual. The man stopped walking as he stepped into the mansion area and looked at Xin Haotian and Lorenzo.
"Oh, to think the guardian knight of the first prince is here. This is quite a surprise for ," the man said.
"Is this the place where that alchemist resides, the one nad Aldrian? I don’t want to spill unnecessary blood right now, so can you please let et with him? I’m pressed for ti, so you better call him right now."
"Who are you?" Lorenzo asked. As for Xin Haotian, his face remained calm, but he had already considered many possibilities for striking this man if he decided to attack.
"You don’t need to know. Really, there’s no need to ask unnecessary questions. Just call Aldrian here and let take him with . My mood isn’t good right now."
"He’s not here," Xin Haotian said with a steady expression.
"Is that so?" the man said, but then, suddenly, he disappeared and reappeared in front of Xin Haotian, attacking him with a palm imbued with purple fire. Xin Haotian, with his quick reflexes, unsheathed his sword and blocked the attack. Lorenzo, shocked by the sudden assault, instantly distanced himself and took a defensive stance with his sword.
The man looked at the sword in Xin Haotian’s hand and smiled at his disguised face.
"I see. It’s truly another surprise that the Sword Saint is also here. The guardian knight of the First Prince and the Sword Saint—Aldrian surely attracts many people."
The purple fire in his hand grew in intensity as he grabbed the sword and then struck Xin Haotian with his other hand, delivering a palm strike that emitted purple fire.
Xin Haotian’s body suddenly illuminated with light, montarily blinding the man’s eyes. The light he emitted wasn’t rely a distraction or a ans to blind his opponent—it was the sacred light with its own concept, capable of affecting the very soul of the opponent. This was the light of the God of Light, as the na of his cultivation technique suggested.
In that split second, the man loosened his grip on the sword, and that was enough for Xin Haotian to seize it. With the speed of light, he created so distance. The man’s strike only hit air as the light faded, but he simply sighed.
"Truly, the Sword Saint’s Light Laws are sothing special. Even I was stunned for a split second there," he said.
Xin Haotian looked at the man with a calm expression as he spoke.
"That is one of the Sky Flas, the Purple Fire of the Northern Volcano. So, you have refined Sky Fla inside your body. From your characteristics and the devil energy I can sense, there is no mistake—you are the Envy Devil."
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