「The next day, at the Magic Potion Workshop.」
When Aidele slipped on the deep purple Wizard Robe, the embroidered Time Trace Badge on the collar felt a little prickly to the touch.
She couldn’t tell if the thread was really that stiff, or if it was just her own feelings.
She paced back and forth in the front hall twice, twisting the silver thread on her cuffs until it nearly frayed.
Old Finn handed her the Pass Token, giving her a second look.
"Miss, you’re breathing more heavily than usual."
"Am I? Perhaps... it’s because I haven’t seen my father in a long time."
Aidele took the Token. The cold Metal edge pressed against her fingertip, and she paused for half a second before storing it in her Ring.
She turned and spoke to Ian, who was just coming down the stairs.
"We’re visiting the Clan Leader today. You... will come with me, in your capacity as an Honored Guest Elder."
Gaga was perched on Ian’s shoulder, his black feathers showing a hint of dark blue in the morning light.
He nodded without asking any questions.
The Clan Leader’s Palace was in the west wing of the castle. Gray-white stone walls were covered in vines, their leaves etched with glowing Runes.
Twelve guards stood stiffly on either side of the main gate, the clan emblems on their armor looking cold in the sunlight.
The Guard Captain inspected the Token and infused it with Magic Power. A faint golden Time Trace Shadow appeared on the Token’s surface, flickering for three seconds before dissipating.
"You may pass." The captain stepped aside to let them through, his gaze scraping over Ian.
"As an Honored Guest Elder, don’t stray more than three steps from Miss Aidele."
Aidele pressed her lips together and stepped into the long corridor first.
Ian followed three steps behind her, his boots making no sound on the dark red carpet.
Guard Crystals were embedded in the walls on both sides every ten paces, their faint blue ripples wavering slightly as they walked past.
The air smelled of old Parchment mixed with dried medicinal herbs. The farther in they went, the stronger the herbal scent became.
After passing through the third oak door covered in Runes, Aidele slowed her pace.
She stopped before a jet-black Metal door and placed her hand in a palm-shaped recess.
Magic Power flowed from her palm. A dark red light seeped from the seam of the door, and the sound of turning gears came from underground.
The door opened.
The bedroom was very dark, with heavy curtains blocking the windows completely.
Two Crystal lamps floated in the corners, casting a deathly pale light that barely illuminated the room’s outline.
Besides the smell of herbs, there was also a faint, almost imperceptible stench of decay, like rotting flesh in damp soil.
On the bed, the person lying there was so emaciated he had lost his former shape. His cheeks were sunken, and his skin was transparently pale.
But the lines of his brows, eyes, and nose revealed a strong resemblance to Aidele.
A thin blanket with silver-thread embroidery rested on his chest, and his breathing was nearly silent.
Aidele sat down by the bed, her movements very gentle.
She reached out and held her father’s hand, which was lying outside the blanket.
His palm was ice-cold, the gaunt bones pressing uncomfortably against hers.
She held it for a long while before letting go, then carefully tucked the corners of the blanket back in.
"Father." Her voice was very low, as if afraid of waking something.
"I passed the assessment. Three Tier Two monsters in two minutes."
The man on the bed didn’t react.
Aidele continued, her tone steady, as her fingers unconsciously picked at the edge of the bedsheet.
"A few of my brothers tried to interfere, but I won. Now, some people in the family are starting to choose sides again... Fifth Sister has also come over to our side."
She paused, her gaze falling on her father’s tightly closed eyelids.
"I will definitely win."
She said this very slowly, enunciating each word clearly. "You have to wait until that day."
Ian stood in the shadows three steps away, seemingly lost in thought.
’My Spiritual Power has already formed into the finest of silks, extending silently from between my brows.’
’Inch by inch, it approaches the husk on the bed...’
The moment it touched Titus Justice’s skin, Ian’s breath caught.
’This body is wrapped in at least seven Protective Arrays of different attributes.’
’Layer upon layer, as dense as a spider’s web.’
He controlled the Spiritual Silk, slowly weaving it through the finest gaps in the Array, like water seeping into the cracks of a Stone.
The instant it entered the body,
the panel in Ian’s mind shuddered violently.
A line of dark red text appeared at the edge of his vision.
[Abyssal Aura Pollution Source detected. Pollution Level: Level Four. Current state: Latent, not activated.]
Ian’s pupils contracted. He struggled to keep his breathing steady, so much so that even Gaga on his shoulder didn’t notice.
’The Abyss... What a surprise!’
He manipulated his Spiritual Power, continuing to probe carefully inward.
The Spiritual Silk passed through withered vessels and shrunken organs, reaching the periphery of the Sea of Spirit.
This place, which should have been surging with Magic Power, was now deathly still, like a frozen lake.
A layer of grayish-white sealing Energy was congealed on the lake’s surface, fractured with countless cracks.
A flicker of uncertainty crossed Ian’s eyes. He didn’t know if he should continue.
’If it were any other aura, I really wouldn’t dare to investigate further. But the Abyss...’
His Spiritual Power selected a crack and dove straight in.
Darkness.
A pure, viscous, suffocating darkness.
Ian’s strand of Spiritual Silk moved forward slowly within it, like feeling its way through sludge in the dead of night.
After what felt like an eternity, a faint glimmer of light finally appeared ahead.
It was the last light of the Soul’s core.
Something seemed to be coiled around the faint light.
It was an inky-black tendril of Energy, its surface covered in small, fleshy nodules.
It was squirming slowly, and with each movement, it siphoned a sliver of light from the Soul’s core.
At the same time, it released an extremely faint, corrupting aura that was now seeping into every corner of the Sea of Spirit, gradually staining the entire place the color of the Abyss.
Cold, decaying, chaotic...
Ian’s Spiritual Silk halted at a safe distance as he perceived a terrifying truth.
The tip of this Abyssal Tentacle hadn’t pierced him from the outside.
It had... grown out from within the Soul’s core.
Like a seed that had sprouted in his very bloodline.
’I’m afraid someone planted a seed of the Abyss in Titus Justice’s Soul... a long time ago.’
Now the seed had taken root, just waiting for the right moment to completely devour this body and turn it into a puppet of the Abyss.
Ian carefully retracted his Spiritual Silk. The entire process took less than three seconds.
When he looked up, Aidele had just finished her last sentence and was quickly wiping the corner of her eye with the back of her hand.
It had been slightly damp, but the moisture was gone in an instant.
"Ian." She turned her head, her voice taut with a barely perceptible tension.
"Can you... can you see anything?"
Ian shook his head as possibilities flashed through his mind.
’First, I can’t reveal the existence of the panel. That’s a secret even Gaga doesn’t know.’
’Purification right now? With my current Level Two Initial Stage strength, even with the panel’s covert help, the success rate is less than ten percent.’
’Besides, it would definitely alert the person who laid the Curse. It might even trigger a backlash from the Abyssal Aura and shred Titus’s Soul to pieces.’
’Maybe when I reach the Level Two Late Stage, or after "Frost Ash Beam" achieves another Limit-Breaking?’
’By then, my "Entropy Change Domain" will be stronger, and my chances should be much better.’
’I need to let Aidele win the succession first, get access to the family’s resources, and buy us some time.’
"Your father’s life isn’t in immediate danger," Ian said slowly.
"But his coma... it doesn’t seem to be an ordinary bloodline Curse."
Aidele’s pupils constricted abruptly.
Her fingers, clutching the bedsheet, tightened fiercely. "You’re saying..."
"You must have had your suspicions for a while. Someone is indeed trying to harm him."
Ian’s voice was extremely low. "And this person is within your family, with the authority to be in frequent contact with him."
Aidele trembled, and her face went deathly pale.
Countless faces flashed through her mind: Edmund’s sullen expression, Edwin’s hypocritical smile, the insatiably greedy curve of her third brother Adrian’s lips.
And those old monsters from the Elder Council who almost never left their quarters...
Only direct family members and the Core Elders could affect her father’s bloodline.
Any one of them could be the culprit.
She took a deep breath, her chest heaving noticeably, and only calmed down after a moment.
"Let’s go." She stood up, her back ramrod straight. "We can’t stay here too long."
The way out of the Palace seemed exceptionally long.
The Guard Captain’s gaze scraped over Ian again, this time with scrutiny.
Aidele walked through the corridor without a sideways glance, her pace a little faster than before.
She didn’t slow down until she had passed the final security line and stepped into the courtyard outside the castle.
A large patch of Silver Star Grass grew in the courtyard, its silvery-white leaves gleaming faintly under the sun.
In the distance, some Apprentices hurried past, discussing their latest lessons in hushed voices.
Aidele stopped by the edge of a flowerbed, her back to Ian.
"My father... can he still be saved?" Her voice was so soft it was almost carried away by the wind.
"Perhaps," Ian replied ambiguously.
"Even if it’s possible, my strength is too low. And you need to win the succession."
Aidele didn’t turn around.
She stared at a stalk of Silver Star Grass in front of her, watching the morning dew collected on the edges of its silver leaves slowly slide off and drip into the soil.
Then she gave a heavy nod, the motion large, as if trying to convince herself.
"I will win."
On the way back, the two walked in silence through the district outside the family castle.
Shops on both sides of the street were beginning to open. The aroma of toasted bread wafted from breakfast stalls, and a few early-rising vendors were unloading their goods.
As they passed the third intersection, Ian suddenly spoke.
"Before your father’s incident, did he come into contact with anyone unusual? Or go to any particular places?"
Aidele’s steps faltered.
She turned her head to the side, her eyelashes casting a small shadow in the morning light.
From this angle, Ian could see the bloodshot veins in her eyes. She probably hadn’t slept well last night.
"I don’t remember much else. I rarely saw my father, but I think a few years ago..."
She frowned in thought, her fingers unconsciously stroking the surface of her Dimension Ring.
"He went to the family’s Secret Vault once. He said he needed to look into something left by our ancestor and stayed inside for two whole days."
She paused. "After that, his condition started to seem off. At first, he was just tired occasionally, but then he gradually became dazed and disoriented, until half a year ago... when he fell into a total coma."
The family’s Secret Vault.
Ian committed the name to memory.
Gaga, on his shoulder, seemed to sense something and gently pecked his ear.
"Ian," Aidele called out suddenly, a hint of hesitation in her voice.
"Hm?"
She turned her head to look toward the end of the street, as if making small talk.
"You... I see that you’re always either in Cultivation or doing Alchemy. Doesn’t it get tedious?"
After asking, she casually smoothed out her wind-tousled hair.
Ian thought for a moment. "No. I have Gaga to keep me company, so it’s fine."
Gaga puffed out his chest proudly and made a pleased cooing sound.
Aidele was silent for two seconds, then the corners of her mouth curved into a very slight smile.
"I see."
She said softly, then quickened her pace, moving half a step ahead of Ian.
"Then let’s hurry back. We still have to screen new distributors today."
Her shadow stretched long in the morning light, her deep purple Wizard Robe swaying gently with her steps.
Ian watched her back as Gaga tilted his head on his shoulder, Ian’s calm profile reflected in his pupils.
"Ian, Aidele is so strange today, gaa!"
"Is she?" Ian said as he walked. "I didn’t notice. She’s probably just in a bad mood."
"I’m the smartest Raven! I feel like... she still had something else to say."
"That’s just your imagination."