Chapter 157: (Interlude) New Lands

Kassandra Skyrend glanced around the main hall of the Skyrend family mansion in Darklight City. The room was sunlit by massive windows obscured from the outside by a tapestry of runic formations running along the walls. Ten-foot-tall marble sculptures of the Skyrend family's heads encircled the room, with their stone eyes pointing toward a single seat that Theron was currently occupying.

Meanwhile, Kassandra sat beside him and noticed that her brother seemed deeply troubled as he drummed his fingers on the ornate chair's armrest.

Other than Theron, there was one more person present who, despite his rough-looking demeanor, glanced between the two of them with a hint of fear.

"Roderick, you understand the plan for tomorrow?" Theron eyed the Terraforge cultivator from atop his throne.

"Yes, absolutely, and if all goes well..." Roderick replied with an awkward smile.

Theron waved the man off, "Yes, yes, your branch of the Terraforge family will win the contract for our palace in the new lands."

"Thank you," Roderick bowed slightly as he got up to leave, "Do you require anything else of this humble one?"

"Show Henry in," Theron demanded, "He should be waiting just outside with his goons."

Roderick nodded and swiftly left the room under their lingering gazes.

Kassandra felt the atmosphere in the room tense up as Theron turned to glare at her and hissed in a low voice, "You had one job, Kassandra. How did you mess it up this badly?"

"I still don't know how she did it," Kassandra insisted, "Everything was set up perfectly. The question should have been impossible, and the Qi Flowing Grass was the purest one on the market that I could find at such short notice."

"What was the question?" Theron asked.

"The question was regarding the Bodhi Heart Pill."

"The Bodhi Heart Pill?" Theron frowned, "I have never even heard of such a pill."

"Right? I deliberately went out of my way to find the most obscure pill possible, and while digging through the records, I found a single mention of this Bodhi Heart Pill and a vague description of it." Kassandra sighed, "Yet she somehow knew of a pill? From the Celestial Empire no less..."

Theron's drumming of the armrest paused, "Celestial Empire?"

"Yes, that's where the pill originates from," Kassandra answered absentmindedly.

"So she knows about a pill from the Celestial Empire and refuses to reveal her family name or origins..." Theron's glowing eyes widened, "Is this not evidence the Redclaws are working with the Celestial Empire?"

Kassandra mused for a moment before answering, "Potentially far-fetched, but the Redclaw Grand Elder did say he was more terrified of Roselyn's background than ours, which, now that you mention it... that would only make sense if she was from the Celestial Empire or a secret daughter of the Patriarch."

Theron leaned forward in his chair, his grin widening as his eyes glowed brighter, "This is getting interesting! I wonder what our dear Patriarch would do if he found out one of the noble families under him was conspiring with the Celestial Empire."

Kassandra snorted, "Obliterate them without leaving a trace."

"Exactly," Theron nodded, "If all doesn't go well tomorrow, I may need to make a trip to visit the Nightrose family."

Kassandra laughed but settled down when the doors to the room opened, and an absolutely terrified man with grey hair nervously walked in.

"Lord Theron," The man came to a stop a good distance away and bowed deeply, "I apologize for failing my duties."

Alongside Henry, there were two other middle-aged academy professors that they had bribed to fail Roselyn. Kassandra didn't even know their names, nor did she care.

"Henry, come take a seat," Theron pointed to the chair opposite him directly below an opening in the ceiling shrouded in an array formation to ensure anyone outside couldn't look in or hear what they were saying.

The grey-haired examiner glanced up at the hole in the ceiling and gulped, "M-my Lord... please give me another chance."

Theron smiled, "We are just going to have a chat. Why the hesitation? Come. Take a seat."

Henry's shoulders sagged as he trudged across the room and perched himself awkwardly on the edge of the chair. "My Lord, please let me explain!"

"By all means," Theron rested his chin on his fist as he lazily looked at the examiner with his glowing eyes, "You have one minute of my precious time."

Henry's eyes widened, and he didn't waste a moment and began to talk so fast he stumbled over his own words, "I-I had no idea how she passed the q-question nor handled the impurities. I ensured to p-provide her with the Qi Flowing Grass that Mistress Kassandra gave me this morning. I did everything as instructed, so it's not my fault—"

"None of that matters," Theron shook his head, "What matters is you failed. You have shown yourself incompetent and earned the suspicions of Elder Margret."

Elaine smiled and wanted to stab herself in the throat as she flattered him, "I am honored to be trusted by you, Brother."

"Well, with a day left to go, there's not much they could do even if they knew now, so I suppose there's no harm in letting you know the plan," Dante leaned in a little, and Elaine held her breath in anticipation, "The reason for the invasion is actually very simple—we need more airships."

"Airships?" Elaine was puzzled, "What does Darklight City have to do with airships?"

"Tsk sister, you are so short-sighted," Dante shook his head, "Have you not heard? The Patriarch has demanded an increase in airships from the Azurecrest family in anticipation of the move to the new land when the beast tide arrives."

"Okay..." Elaine frowned, "I still don't see the correlation between airships and Darklight City..."

"It's only known to the top families right now, but the new land that the Patriarch picked out is apparently already occupied by a smaller demonic sect."

Elaine's eyes widened, "Which sect?"

"Lord Nightrose won't tell anyone to avoid any family getting a head start," Dante clicked his tongue, "But what he did disclose before entering closed-door cultivation to a few families is that there will only be one trip to the new land."

"One trip?" Elaine couldn't believe it, "But there are millions of people to be moved! Even with a drastic increase in the number of airships, there would only be enough room for most of the noble families and a small group of mortals with a single trip."

Dante nodded with a serious expression, "Exactly. And those airships will be split between each of the 9 cities. Therefore, if we control both Slymere and Darklight City, we will have twice the number of airships at our disposal."

"But our family is rather small compared to the others, and so is Slymere." Elaine protested, "So what do you need more airships for?"

"If we bring an entire airship of mortal slaves, we can set up our industries and rebuild Slymere at the new location faster," Dante sighed, "But getting more airships was only one of the reasons I am here."

Elaine had been about to ask what Dante planned for the Redclaws if he were to seize control of Darklight Cities airships, but she held back because, as a Voidmind, she shouldn't care for what happens to them.

"What was the other reason for you being here, Brother?" Elaine asked innocently but shrunk back a little under Dante's intense gaze.

"Do you know about the curse on our family?" Dante asked, "The shackles that bind our blood to this lower plane?"

Elaine nodded. It was known that nobody from the Voidmind family had managed to create a nascent soul.

Dante summoned the perfect pebble that Ashlock had given Elaine to help sell her lie about being cursed, "There's no way something like this could exist except in a higher realm. It now makes sense why Uncle holed himself up in this place. He knew how to ascend all along and wanted to perfect the technique away from the prying eyes of our family."

"How do you know he ascended?" Elaine knew what had really happened to her Uncle if the words of the Ashfallen sect were to be believed. He had initially died but was then taken away to a higher realm. So in a way, her Uncle had found a way to ascend.

"Father has an artifact that can detect the presence of a person's soul," Dante explained, "There was a period where it was barely showing a reading, but that was during the time you said uncle had gone in a rift, so that made sense."

"What does the reading say now?" Elaine inquired.

Dante held up the perfectly round but dull pebble, "Nothing. The artifact suggests that either Uncle perished and his soul has moved on, or he managed to find a way to ascend. Both options are terrible news for us."

"So he really found a way..." Elaine pretended to be amazed.

"We believe so, and if Uncle returns after forming his nascent soul or whatever realm of cultivation he is in now, he can come back down here and remove Father from his seat as the head of the family and put his branch in charge."

Elaine attempted to mirror Dante's grave expression. In truth, she didn't care what happened to her Father or Brother, nor did she care if Uncle somehow returned. Her life was pledged to the Ashfallen Sect, which would remain here.

The doors to the Void Chamber suddenly opened, and Clive, the butler of this mansion, had a severe expression, "Excuse my interruption, but we have visitors."

"Visitors?" Dante frowned, "Who are they?"

"Theron Skyrend is here. He wishes to speak with you."

"Did he say what about?" Dante asked as he stood up from his liquid void chair and reabsorbed the void Qi into his Star Core.

Clive nodded, "He wanted to ask if you were the one who just attacked their mansion with a giant void Qi attack in the shape of a claw?"

Dante's eyes widened, and all the color drained from his ghoulish face, "That was not me, and Father should still be back in Slymere. Is Uncle back?"

Clive lowered his head, "It hasn't been confirmed, but if Theron Skyrend's description of the attack is to be believed, I fear even your father could not produce such an attack."

Without delay, Dante strode out of the void chamber and followed Clive down the corridor.

Elaine watched her brothers departing back and wondered how she could get the information she just learned back to the Ashfallen Sect.