Chapter 112: Shifting Tides

Five days passed.

Just a short span of time, but it was enough to cause a monumental shift of power.

Following Rhain’s devastating revelation, Aurelian had immediately swallowed his pride and secretly met with the Solari Clan Patriarch.

When the Solari Clan learned of the Ashvele Clan’s two-hundred-year-long, generational poisoning of the Silvercrest bloodline, they were utterly thrilled.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend—and the Silvercrest Clan now possessed a hatred for Ashvele Clan that burned just as fiercely as their own.

Silvercrest Clan and the Solari Clan had officially come to a quiet agreement.

Weapons for pills. A simple trade, deeply rooted in their mutual hatred for the Ashvele Clan.

They were like two starved wolves, baring their fangs and practically salivating at the thought of tearing the Ashvele Clan to pieces.

Yet, they did not attack immediately.

City Lord Cassian was not a fool.

Sensing the shifting undercurrents, he had deployed his elite Silver-Armored Guards across the major districts, monitoring the estates of both the Solari and Silvercrest Clans with unprecedented vigilance.

Any blatant military mobilization would be met with the full, devastating wrath of a Level 7 Core Formation expert.

Both clans were forced to bide their time.

But the patriarchs knew with absolute certainty that this wait could not last long.

In less than a month, the Stormveil Academy would descend upon Mirravele City.

Once the Academy’s envoys arrived, the Ashvele Clan would use every connection they had to push Orion into their ranks.

If they succeeded, destroying Ashvele Clan would become fundamentally impossible.

A great war between the three clans was inevitable!

___________

During these highly volatile days, Rhain remained secluded in the tranquil Moon Courtyard of the Silvercrest estate.

Rhain spent the majority of his time sitting before his cauldron, methodically refining massive batches of Rare-Grade Earthfire Vein Pacifying Elixirs.

With the pure, untainted pills he provided, Patriarch Aurelian and Solas had already begun the slow process of purging the hereditary curse from their core members.

Because of this, Rhain’s status within the Silvercrest Clan had ascended to that of a literal savior. Even the highest-ranking members would respectfully bow their heads if they happened to pass by his courtyard.

When he wasn’t refining pills, Rhain spent his hours sitting under the shade of a large spirit-willow tree, calmly sipping tea while supervising Seris and Liana.

Under his casual, yet impossibly precise pointers, both girls were improving at a monstrous pace.

Swish—! Swish—!

In the center of the courtyard, Seris’s delicate figure danced gracefully through the air.

"Hundred Flowers Sword Art!"

With a gentle thrust of her Frost-Bite sword, one by one, dazzling, icy-blue sword lotuses bloomed into existence.

Seventy... Eighty... Ninety...

Ninety-eight perfectly formed lotuses, each lined with a transcendent silver glow.

"Almost there," Rhain spoke approvingly, taking a slow sip of his tea.

In just a few short days of relentless sparring and Rhain’s flawless, pinpoint corrections, Seris had pushed her comprehension of the Epic-Grade martial art to the very brink of one-hundred-percent perfection.

Standing on the sidelines, panting heavily with sweat beading on her flawless forehead, Liana watched the ninety-eight icy lotuses with a look of awe and despair.

"She is a monster..." Liana muttered, leaning against her silver longsword for support.

"Stop staring and fix your stance, Liana," Rhain’s calm, authoritative voice drifted over. "Don’t force the essence into the hilt. Channel it through your shoulders first, then let the momentum carry the blade. Try it again."

Liana closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in, and then adjusted her stance, circulating her silver essence exactly as he had instructed.

Whoosh!

A pristine, blinding arc of silver sword light erupted from her blade, crashing into the stone tiles with twice the destructive force she had managed previously.

Liana froze.

She stared at the deep fissure in the stone, and an incredulous smile stretched across her face.

"Ah...’ Liana thought, looking at Rhain with widened eyes. ’So that is why Seris said she had everything because of him.’

He wasn’t just an Expert Rank Alchemist.

His martial comprehension was utterly inconceivable!

He could glance at a technique he had never seen before, instantly dissect its foundational flaws, and offer a correction that felt like an epiphany sent from the divine.

It felt like having a martial god personally steering her path.

Rhain merely shook his head and turned his attention back to his own internal state.

Over these past few days, his raw cultivation level hadn’t risen.

He was still sitting at the sixth level of the Essence Condensation Realm.

But his gains were far from small.

Because he had spent the majority of his time refining pills for the Silvercrest Clan, his control over the Red Tribulations Flame had vastly improved.

He could easily summon a microscopic spark to gently light a candle... or unleash a blazing inferno capable of burning a massive mansion straight to the ground in a single breath.

And surprisingly, the constant, refinement process had yielded another unexpected benefit.

His soul power had noticeably increased.

The heavy mental strain of alchemy was acting like a whetstone, slowly sharpening his spiritual foundation.

’Not bad. It’s a very solid foundation.’

[Ding!]

His train of thought was interrupted by a mechanical sound.

[Daily Sign-In available. Would you like to sign in?]

Rhain set his teacup down.

’Sign in.’

[Sign-In successful!]

[Congratulations! You have received the Rare-Grade Item: Soul-Nourishing Jade Dew.]

[Item automatically sent to System Inventory.]

Rhain’s eyebrows raised slightly.

A Soul-Nourishing Jade Dew. A supportive liquid that could passively nourish and stabilize one’s soul power.

"So far, these daily rewards are quite useful.’

He was about to inspect the item further, but then, a sudden vibration caught his attention.

Buzz!

The sharp intrusion came from inside his spatial ring.

Rhain flipped his palm, and a small token materialized in his hand.

It was the communication token Aldric had given him back at the Mirravele Alchemy Guild.

Aldric had explicitly told him that the token would only react once he had completed his assigned tasks.

"Well, that was faster than I thought."

Rhain stood up from his chair.

It was time to go and meet his disciple.

"Rhain?" Seris paused her training, her pale purple eyes looking at him curiously. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes. I have an errand to run," Rhain replied smoothly. "Keep practicing. Don’t slack off just because I’m not watching."

"I won’t!" Seris promised with a firm nod.

Rhain offered a faint smile before turning around.

___________

Rhain stepped out of the towering gates of the Silvercrest estate.

But the moment his feet crossed the threshold, three pairs of eyes locked onto him from the distance.

Two of them wore the deep green robes of the Ashvele Clan, radiating the dense, oppressive auras of the seventh and eighth levels of the Spirit Manifestation Realm.

The third man, sweating profusely wore the distinctive silver-trimmed uniform of the Silvercrest Clan.

"That’s him," the Silvercrest man whispered nervously. "The boy who exposed the pills.

"So that is the little bastard," the Level 7 expert hissed, his hands clenching into tight fists. "Because of him, our clan’s centuries of planning were completely exposed. Now Solari and Silvercrest dogs are united, ready to tear us apart at any moment."

The Level 8 expert muttered darkly. "Follow him. Knylee has clearly ordered to kill him as soon as we get the chance. I want to cut him into pieces."

The Level 7 expert tossed a pouch of Aetherium Crystals to the trembling Silvercrest informant. "Get out of here. Keep your mouth shut."

Without wasting another second, the two Ashvele elders suppressed their auras and began to secretly tail Rhain through the bustling streets.

Unfortunately for them, trailing someone with an awakened Spiritual Sense and the Eyes of Truth was an utterly futile.

Up ahead, Rhain continued his leisurely pace.

He had noticed them the second they locked their killing intent onto him.

’How annoying,’ Rhain thought, not even breaking his relaxed stride.

He didn’t speed up, nor did he look back.

He simply continued his leisurely walk until he reached a crowded intersection, then casually turned the corner.

The moment he slipped out of their direct line of sight, Rhain triggered the Faceless Emperor Mask resting on his face.

In the span of a single breath, his youthful features melted and reformed into the unremarkable face of a middle-aged merchant.

His dark robes shifted into ordinary merchant attire, and his cultivation aura was entirely erased.

Seconds later, the two Ashvele experts rounded the corner, their eyes darting frantically across the sea of faces.

"Where did he go?!" the Level 8 expert growled, pushing past a group of pedestrians. "He was just right here!"

They aggressively scoured the street, their Spiritual Senses sweeping through the crowds for several seconds.

But there was no trace of the dark-robed youth.

Cursing bitterly under their breath, the two experts finally gave up the search and vanished back into the alleyways to report their failure.

Standing casually near a fruit vendor’s stall, Rhain watched their retreating backs with chilling indifference.

He picked up an apple, tossing a copper coin to the vendor, his mind spinning with rapid, analytical calculations.

"Were they following me because they finally figured out I was the one who killed Hayden? Or just because they know I am the one who caused the Silvercrest Clan to break ties with them?’

Rhain took a bite of the apple and came to a logical conclusion almost instantly.

’It has to be the latter.’

If Ashvele Clan truly knew he had incinerated a Level 2 Core Formation expert, they absolutely wouldn’t have dared to send two mere Spirit Manifestation clowns to tail him.

"Just a minor nuisance, then.’

Rhain didn’t mind their petty surveillance in the slightest.

Ashvele Clan was already a dying beast, lashing out blindly in the dark.

Without sparing the failed assassins another thought, Rhain merged back into the bustling crowd, making his way directly toward the towering white pagoda of the Mirravele Alchemy Guild.