"Some of them are." Grand Elder Rowan nodded before shaking his head with a pitying look on his face, "The others are a greedy, misinformed lot."
Sanya nodded in understanding. Then, asked, "So, the Grimheart family is one of the former forces?"
"Yes," Grand Elder Rowan said and as if he knew what she would say next, he continued without giving her the chance, "But itâs not the Grimheart family that we are wary of. Itâs the force backing them. If we punish Micheal too severely, they would have a justifiable reason to openly attack us."
"Which force is backing him?" Sanya asked,
She knew what he said was true. While the Grimheart family was powerful with two Monarchs, the strongest being Micheal, the inner hall master, it couldnât compare to the Beast Emperor Hall that had seven Monarch, excluding Micheal. And four of them were strong enough to wipe out the Grimheart family.
"Ironcrest Fortress."
...
Sanya left Grand Elder Rowanâs cultivation chamber after a short while, her expression dark.
She felt really... stupid.
Itâs been quite a long time since she had become the elder of the Beast Emperor Hall, but she wasnât aware of reality until now. It was really embarrassing, especially because she had been handling those waves of enemies trying to encroach on the hallâs territory.
Of course, she had felt something fishy was going on, but thinking her strength could resolve all situations unless someone more powerful than her appeared, she didnât bother investigating.
âStrength is important, but it isnât everything.â She recalled Grand Elder Rowan had told her this when she entered the Beast Emperor Hall all those years ago, but she had never paid the latter half of this sentence any importance.
âNo wonder the Master held more expectations for senior sister and not for the stupid me.â
Swoosh!
She stood there in silence for several seconds, her eyes flickering. Then, she disappeared without a trace.
...
Over a week later...
Outside Maxâs cave abode...
Swoosh!
Elder Milo arrived and asked, "Has there been any improvement in his condition?"
The servant boy bowed, "Unfortunately not, Elder."
Elder Milo nodded and entered the cave abode.
There, on the bed, he saw Max lying motionless. His face still pale white, his body still thin, almost skin and bones, and several patches of his hair still grey.
"Sigh! Just what did you do, boy?" Elder Milo sighed. In the last ten or so days, he had given him all kinds of healing medicine that he could afford, but all of them had been ineffective.
When he had seen him walk out of Rimaâs room that day, he had thought he had burned his vitality to perform some sacrificial or taboo magic spell to heal her. But now he knew it wasnât as â
simpleâ
as burning vitality because if it was, the medicine he had given him would have helped him, no matter how little.
A moment later, he walked out, gave a bottle of pills to the servant boy. "Grind one down into powder, mix it in water and give it to him every hour."
"Yes, Elder." Though the servant boy felt doing this wasnât going to make any difference, he couldnât express his opinion, so he accepted the pill bottle.
...
Unbeknownst to them, Maxâs condition was no longer the same. Not long before Elder Milo came, he had regained consciousness, but couldnât wake up no matter how much he tried. It was as if his consciousness was shackled within his head and he could no longer control his body.
He didnât panic and waited. As time passed, the
âshacklesâ
began to loosen and he slowly regained control over his body. However, he didnât rush to wake up. Instead, he activated his Bloodline Sense, or rather... tried to, but failed to get any reaction from it.
Having already prepared for the consequences, he didnât panic and calmly sensed his body.
Soon, he found out:
â He seemed to have become too weak physically. His tempered body was no more. Now he only had a physique that was barely any better than an ordinary mortal.
Moreover, his entire body was numb.
â His dantian was stable, but he got a hollow feeling from it as if it was empty.
â He couldnât sense his bloodlines.
Maxâs emotions didnât ripple. As stated before, the moment he realized he could save Rima, he had prepared himself for the consequences. Well, he hadnât, he just hadnât cared because Rimaâs life was more important to him.
âThe people in those romance movies... They werenât cringe, I just couldnât understand them.â Max thought, wanting to smile, but his face was numb, so he could not.
âI wonder how dad is doing? After not hearing from me, he must have rushed over into the city and got the news of my death, no? I hope he doesnât get too depressed.â Maybe because he was feeling something he had yet to feel ever since he transmigrated over to this world, his thoughts shifted to Earth, to his father.
âI... really miss him.â He sighed, and unbeknownst to him, a tear slipped out of his right eye, sliding down his gaunt cheek.
The servant boy had just entered the cave abode to give him the last of the pills and noticed this. His eyes widened and he quickly took out his communication crystal and informed Elder Milo.
Elder Milo had given him his contact information, so he could inform him if he noticed any improvement or anything strange in Max.
Swoosh!
A few minutes later, Elder Milo rushed into the cave abode like a gust of wind, slightly out of breath.
Glancing over, he immediately saw the wet, tear trail on Maxâs cheek and heaved a deep sigh of relief. The worst hadnât happened, he could still recover.
"Elder, Is Milord Sir Maxwell waking up?" The servant boy cautiously asked after noticing his relieved look.
"Not yet." Elder Milo replied, "But his consciousness has sparked again. So, itâs only a matter of time before he wakes up."
The servant boy nodded, also feeling relieved.
Max was his first master. If he had died or become a vegetable, no one else would have accepted him and his aspiration to become stronger would have been buried. For this reason, he was among the few who wanted Max to survive and recover the most.
âBoy, I hope you wake up and recover soon, otherwise itâd be a pity...â Elder Milo thought as he gazed at Max.