"Are you implying that I am lying to Her Majesty?"
"Oh my, Sister Lily, what are you saying?" Selene shook her head.
"You are Big Sister Aurelia's most trusted confidante. Why would you lie?"
"Big Sister Aurelia, I think it's like this. Sister Lily has a straightforward and overly honest temperament."
"It's highly likely she fell for Alex's scheme to sow discord. That's why she completely misunderstood Little Knox."
Aurelia frowned and looked at Knox.
"Knox, is this true?"
"Exactly, exactly!" Knox nodded hurriedly.
"Princess Orchid is absolutely right!"
"That Alex has always harbored a grudge against me because I ruined his plan to form a marriage alliance with the Blackwood family."
"Knowing that I have temporarily sought refuge under Your Majesty, he didn't dare strike at me directly."
"That is why he used devious schemes to sow discord between Your Majesty and me!"
"As long as I am expelled from the Heavenly Flame Capital, his Hale family will have no more scruples. They will send men to capture me immediately and slice me into a thousand pieces!"
Lily sneered. "Is that so?"
"You certainly have a smooth tongue now."
"Why did you not utter a single word of this back at the Hale family?"
Knox put on a bitter face. "Jade Princess, I had my hidden difficulties."
"At the time, we were deep inside the Hale family's holy land. We had failed to grasp any of Alex's vulnerabilities."
"If I had exposed his conspiracy right then and there, and he flew into a murderous rage out of humiliation, how could we possibly have left alive?"
"It was to protect you, Jade Princess, that I had no choice but to endure his false accusations."
"On the way back, I kept trying to explain it to you. But you simply wouldn't listen..."
"Heh. Good. Good!"
Lily was so angry she laughed. Her entire body trembled.
"So after all that, it turns out it was my fault?"
"Your Majesty, Sister Selene, if you wish to meddle in Knox's affairs, then be my guest."
"But from this day forward, don't ever expect me to lift a single finger for him again!"
She flicked her sleeves and stormed out.
"Lily, you..."
Aurelia moved to stop her. Too late. Lily was already gone. Aurelia sighed and looked at Selene.
"Selene, what idea do you have?"
"Your Majesty, I don't think this matter is difficult at all."
Selene smiled confidently. She stepped forward and linked arms with Knox.
"Since that Alex refuses to confess to his past deeds..."
"Then we'll find someone in the know to force him to admit it."
"Oh?" Aurelia looked intrigued.
"Selene, you mean..."
"Whenever a doctor treats an illness, they must prescribe the right medicine for the condition." Selene smiled.
"To deal with Alex, naturally we must find..."
"The Duke of Hale!"
Knox beat her to it. His eyes gleamed.
"Princess Orchid, your plan is far too brilliant!"
"The Duke of Hale is crystal clear about all of the Hale family's shady dealings!"
"If we have his esteemed elder go there, there's no way Alex can deny it!"
Aurelia pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"Very well. We will do exactly that."
"Selene, go find the Duke of Hale immediately. Spend the next few days discussing this thoroughly with him."
"Once the evidence is fully gathered, you shall head to the Hale family once more."
Ten days passed in a blink.
Every single day, Alex strolled through the holy land as though he had nothing better to do. Idle. Unhurried. On the surface, at least.
In reality, he was watching the disciples. Studying them. Looking for candidates worth investing in.
Superior aptitude earned three to five hundred points.
Hard workers, the ones grinding cultivation for over a dozen hours a day, earned seven or eight hundred.
Those with both exceptional talent and relentless work ethic received one or two thousand. The bulk of his capital, placed on the best bets.
The disciples did not disappoint. Almost without exception, a breakthrough would follow within a day or two. Multiplied returns, paid back reliably.
Over ten days, Alex accumulated over thirty thousand Providence Points.
He did not rush to spend them. He held them firmly, compounding further.
In his spare time, he cultivated the Six Paths Wheel of Destruction Art without pause.
The First Chapter was the Animal Path. Theoretically simple. In practice, each different soul beast required a completely different incantation. Mastering them was no less demanding than mastering an ordinary Supreme-tier cultivation method.
After nearly a month, Alex had learned to summon exactly two types of soul beasts.
Blood-Sucking Demonic Lizard in the Nascent Soul Realm.
Hundred-Poison Life-Reaping Bee in the Enlightenment Realm.
Theoretically, at the seventh level of the Supreme Realm, Alex could summon a Beast Supreme of equal strength. But that required complete and proficient mastery of the Animal Path first. Two summons in a month. He found that satisfying enough.
On this day, at dusk, Alex walked alone to the back mountain of the Hale family's holy land.
Dragon Imprisonment Mountain.
Exotic flora covered its slopes. Demonic beasts had once roamed freely through it. In the past it had been the most convenient training ground for Hale family disciples.
Since Alex took over as head, not a single disciple had been permitted to take even half a step near it.
The reason was simple.
After slaughtering the entirety of Jade Dragon Village and refining the villagers' vital blood for the Jade Dragon Egg, the original Alex had spent a single night exterminating every last demonic beast on the mountain.
He stored the egg deep inside a cave within Dragon Imprisonment Mountain. He used the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the essence of sun and moon, and the resentful souls of the slaughtered beasts to nurture and incubate it.
Over two hundred years of slow accumulation.
The egg had long since matured. The entity inside had long since broken free of its shell.
This was the Hale family's absolute highest secret. Only the Four Great Elders knew. Not even Elara, his personal maid, had been told.
Following the guidance of his inherited memories, Alex walked toward the cave.
He took a single step inside.
A deafening roar blasted him directly in the face.
"ROAR!!"
Fierce. Overbearing. A crushing might that instantly flooded every inch of the cave.