The patriarchs somehow subtly brought Dennisa and Roy to the Spring River villa without anyone's notice as they didn't want any rumors spreading. The last thing they wanted was their reputations to be smeared.
They made Roy and Dennisa put cloaks over them to hide their hideous figures, and as they saw Alchemist Azrael entering and closing the door behind, they made Roy and Dennisa pull down their hoods.
Before they could say anything, Damien snorted as he glared at Dennisa and Roy, "Hmph, it seems like your children exactly did what I told them not to do, especially after I warned them. How disappointing…" Damien let out a sigh of disappointment, and this made the patriarchs grit their teeth as they themselves were disappointed and angry with how things ended up.
Valentina's eyes flashed as she inwardly smiled, seeing the plight of Dennisa and Roy. They were dressed in some gloomy cloaks as if they were sinners and their faces looked extremely revolting that she didn't even feel like taking another glance.
She couldn't understand how Damien did all this when he was with her the whole time.
The more she was exposed to such mystifying things Damien could do, the more she was amazed and proud of him. It only made her realize again her soulmate was the brightest star among all others.
Most of all, she felt very happy knowing that he was doing all this for her. She could feel his love through his actions themselves without even having him express it in words.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})However, Herwin Clive said with a firm expression while trying to hold in his anger, "But Alchemist Azrael, our children, are not to blame. Some despicable person planned all this as we found that our children were drugged and made to do acts against their own will."
Thinking about the person who plotted this, they felt like ripping them to pieces till they are satisfied. They couldn't even guess which person would dare to touch or harm their heirs. And if some supreme existences had some enmity with them, they would be the first to know, and even if they didn't know, they knew such exalted existences wouldn't resort to such underhanded ways as such ways were beneath them.
Damien's tone didn't change as he said, "Then it was their fault indeed for trusting their servants. I am sure someone close to them must have drugged them."
"No, it isn't our servants. After all, they all are Zirians, and the cursed seal on them allows us absolute control over them. They wouldn't be able to betray us even if they wanted to." Harvey Rivers said confidently.
Damien now remembered why Triton said to him that he could see for himself the plight of Zirians in the mansions of these bigshot families. Damien could imagine the kind of ordeals the Zirians would be undergoing in their houses.
Harvey continued, "So the only suspects we could think of were Luke and Neo as they were present in the same room when this happened. But the strange thing is that they both were already dead, which makes us think that someone else is behind all this…" Harvey let out a frustrated sigh as he couldn't remember the last time anyone tried to harm him or his family and succeeded at it.
He and Herwin obviously had many enemies, but they would all inevitably die before they could even come miles within them. It wasn't anything new to them. But this was the first time someone succeeded in dealing a huge blow to them.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Herwin couldn't keep up his bearings anymore and said in a helpless tone, "Alchemist Azrael, we came to you in hopes that you could somehow treat them. We had heard how much of an extremely talented physician you are, and people even sing praises of your medical prowess. Surely, there must be a way for you to treat the backlash of your own pills."
Herwin nervously looked at Alchemist Azrael as he anticipated his response. Since he couldn't even see his face, he had no idea what he was thinking. All he could see was an ominous mist that seemed to shroud him in eternal darkness.
Damien sighed and said, "Unless you have a way to reverse time, there is no way to help them since the backlash is too severe to treat with my current alchemy prowess. I at least would need to concoct a Rank 6 Supreme Tier Pill to heal them. And as you all know, Rank 5 is the best I can do for now. I am sure I would be able to concoct Rank 6 Pills one day, but who knows how long it could take? If I face any difficulties in my soul cultivation, it could as well as take a couple of dozen years."
Herwin and Harvey's expressions fell as they realized that their only hope was snuffed out as well. They felt their heads spinning, thinking how many years they would have to keep their heirs hidden from the outside world so that no one would know about the abominations they had turned into.
Even a stray dog would feel pity seeing what they had turned into.
Roy and Dennisa, who were keenly listening to Alchemist Azrael's words, felt their heart-shattering the more they heard him. They felt that the only hope they were desperately holding on to turned out to be a great disappointment.
Herwin's fist trembled as he felt a heavyweight bearing upon his heart, thinking that the future of his family was in great danger. Even Harvey felt the same as they both knew that Roy or Dennisa wouldn't even have the heart to continue their cultivation anymore, and an inner demon might as well take root in their hearts, impeding their cultivation, making them unfit to pursue the Ethereal Way anymore.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Their other children were all good for nothing without 1/5th of the talent of Roy or Dennisa. To whom would they entrust their centuries-long of precious heritage and die in peace?
They were sure their power would slowly crumble down as centuries pass, and their enemies would also gain more guts and try to attack their weaknesses.
With a bitter expression, Harvey again asked Alchemist Azrael in desperation, "Senior Azrael, please...surely you are the most talented alchemist in the world...is there anyway, no matter how small the chance is, to help our children? You were able to even heal Luke, who was half-dead already."
Damien chuckled inwardly, seeing that the grand and lofty patriarchs of two of the top five families were nothing more than desperate grandpas begging before him.
Without even raising a finger against them directly, Damien reduced such powerful existences to a miserable state.
Damien rubbed his forehead as if he was trying to think of something to help them. He let out a weary sigh as he said, "There is actually one way, and it has a 50% chance of saving them, but even if they are saved, there's no telling if the symptoms won't rebound or even make it worse later."
The patriarchs and Roy and Dennisa's eyes lit up as if they got a final chance to hold on to a life-saving rope.
So what if it was just a 50% of chance that their heirs would get saved?
They already were crestfallen, thinking that their future seemed bleak and their prodigal heirs might even commit suicide because of inner demons.
Besides, they were too old to hold on for a few more centuries and strengthen their family's heritage. Even if they tried to have more kids, what's the guarantee they would turn out to be prodigies like Roy or Dennisa? And having too many kids could only give way to more infighting and power struggles that could weaken their family further.
Herwin's features slightly relaxed as if he was able to breathe more comfortably now. He said in an eager tone, "We are willing to take that chance. It's absolutely better than nothing. If we do nothing, our children are doomed anyway. At least, this way, we would have some hope. Please do tell us, Senior Azrael. What is the way?"
Damien said in a solemn tone, "This solution depends solely on a certain person, and she is the only one who could help."
The eyes of both the patriarchs intensified as one of them asked eagerly, "Who is that person?"
Damien sighed as he turned his head to look at Valentina.
The patriarchs followed his gaze and saw Alchemist Azrael looking at Valentina, who had quite a surprised expression as if she couldn't believe how all this finally connected to her.
"Your disciple?" They asked with baffled expressions as they never thought that Valentina was the only person in the world who could help them.
