Chapter 9: Chapter 9
Pulling out the stopper, Caden lifted the bottle of Foundation Establishment Liquid to his nose and took a careful sniff, his expression changed dramatically on the spot, and he very nearly let the porcelain bottle slip straight out of his fingers.
"This... this is actually... high-grade Foundation Establishment Liquid! Judging by its purity, it’s almost... almost reaching the level of a top-grade product!"
Caden’s heart was churning like a sea caught in a storm, and the look he fixed upon Maren carried a trace of something complicated.
Being able to refine a top-grade product was something only the most monstrously talented alchemy grandmasters could ever accomplish.
Although the Foundation Establishment Liquid itself was only a second-grade medicine, one had to remember that Maren was a mere eighteen-year-old girl.
To reach such a level at this age, with this kind of alchemy talent, even if one looked all the way back to the most prosperous golden age of alchemy in Silver Willow Dynasty a thousand years ago, very few people could have matched her.
What a pity she was born in the wrong era. If another Heaven and Earth Upheaval were to arrive, with Maren’s talent, she might just become another figure like our ancestor Raiden Veil amidst those opportunities.
Just as Caden was lost deep in his thoughts, a cold, clear voice rang out and lingered through the main hall.
"Hahahaha! Only eighteen years of age, and yet she carries such profound attainments in the Dao of Alchemy. Had she been born in a golden age, I’m afraid she would have become another figure like Raiden Veil."
"Which eminent figure has graced us with their presence? Please show yourself and speak with this Veil."
The sudden, uninvited voice caused the expressions of every Veil Manor elder gathered in the hall to change drastically all at once.
Caden’s own heart was filled with shock, he considered his cultivation attainments to be considerable, his cultivation had already crossed into the Great Grandmaster realm. Looking across the whole of Silver Willow, apart from those old monsters tucked away in the imperial palace, there were no more than ten people in the world capable of slipping past his perception without making a sound.
What was more, the source of this voice was less than thirty meters away from the main hall, and yet he had not sensed even a flicker of it.
In other words, if the other party harbored ill intentions, he would have been killed on the spot in an instant.
Treating the moment as though a mortal enemy had just arrived, Caden stared fixedly toward the doorway, beads of cold sweat breaking out across his forehead.
Before long, two figures, one cloaked in black and the other in white, slowly emerged outside the main hall’s entrance.
"Who exactly are the two of you?! For what purpose have you come to the Veil Manor?!"
The two figures walked into the hall together. Elara, the one dressed in a white robe, spoke first. She had been the one who had spoken earlier.
"Patriarch Caden, my name is Elara, Envoy of the Demonic Cult. I have come to the Veil Manor specifically to request an item from Patriarch Caden himself."
"The Demonic Cult! You are members of the Demonic Cult!"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Caden’s expression twisted in horror, his eyes filled with disbelief. He cried out hoarsely, "If you truly are Elara, the Envoy of the Demonic Cult, then how could you possibly have slipped past the patrols of the Night Watch Bureau?!"
"The Night Watch Bureau is overseen by Mortal Supremes themselves! The very moment a Demonic Cult figure like you set foot inside the capital, your aura should have been sensed by such existences!"
A trace of mockery rose into Elara’s eyes. "Can you truly not guess the answer?"
"Without the consent of the Silver Willow Imperial Family, even if we were to mobilize the full power of our Demonic Cult, we would not be able to take a single step into this capital."
The moment Caden heard Elara’s words, his face turned ashen on the spot. Truthfully, the very second Elara had appeared, he had already confirmed her identity in his heart.
But he had refused to believe that the Silver Willow Imperial Family would actually sell out the Veil Manor like this.
Now, hearing Elara confirm it personally with her own mouth, a wave of helplessness rose up inside his chest.
Even so, Caden quickly steadied his nerves once again. Looking at Elara, he voiced the last lingering question in his heart.
"That pill is nothing more than an unfinished product. It doesn’t possess any real lifespan-extending efficacy whatsoever. Why would your Demonic Cult go to such enormous lengths to demand the Eternal Pine Pill from my Veil Manor?"
Caden was no fool. The very moment Elara had mentioned that she had come to request an item, he had already realized that what the Demonic Cult was after was the Eternal Pine Pill itself.
That same pill his ancestor Raiden Veil had once tried to defy the heavens to refine a thousand years ago, only to suffer a tragic and fatal backlash for his trouble.
After all, the Veil Manor had long since declined from its former glory. There was absolutely nothing else left in their possession that would be worth the Demonic Cult expending such enormous effort over.
He refused to believe that someone as majestic and lofty as a Envoy of the Demonic Cult could enter the capital itself without paying a tremendous price to do so!
