Chapter 165: Chapter 165: Core Palace Visit
Chapter 165: Core Palace Visit
By the time Rhain walked out of the towering pagoda of the Alchemy Division, evening had already settled over the academy.
Floating islands of the academy glowed brightly with the light of thousands of essence lanterns.
Rhain hadn’t forgotten his promise.
He had sworn to visit Seris every single day, and he intended to keep that vow without exception.
But before he went to her, there was something he needed to do first.
Rhain returned swiftly to his own private courtyard, and walked into his cultivation chamber and sat cross-legged on the floor.
With a flash of spatial light, his Epic-Grade cauldron materialized with a heavy thud, followed by the Epic-Grade ice-attributed herbs he had just acquired.
"Let’s begin."
Fwoosh!
The blood-red Red Tribulations Heavenly Flame ignited beneath the cauldron.
Because he had already elevated his Soul Power to an incredibly vast realm, manipulating the violent elemental clashes of Epic-Grade herbs had become as effortless as breathing.
He aggressively processed the ice-attributed materials, perfectly balancing the freezing essence with the searing heat of his flame.
In just a single hour, the roaring heat within the cauldron finally subsided.
He had refined exactly five batches, with seven pills in each batch.
Every single one of them was a deep blue in color, radiating an intoxicating medicinal fragrance, and freezing aura.
Though Rhain deliberately stopped himself from making a pill vein on these pills for they could attract pill tribulation.
Yet, their efficiency wasn’t low.
These were peak Epic-Grade elixirs, meticulously crafted and specifically designed to nourish and elevate Seris’s True Heavenly Ice Physique.
No alchemist in the Stormveil Academy, no matter how accomplished, could have produced pills of this specificity, and grade.
Rhain carefully collected the thirty-five flawless pills into several exquisite jade bottles and stored them in his spatial ring before standing up and walking out of his courtyard.
Night had completely fallen over the Stormveil Academy, yet the darkness was nowhere to be seen.
Countless massive essence formations and luminous pearls bathed the entire academy in its radiance making the sprawling campus shine like a beautiful jewel.
Rhain’s gaze locked onto the majestic floating islands suspended high above the central lake.
That was the Core Palace.
He soon reached the base of the island where the nearest access point stood — a sheer vertical cliff face rising hundreds of feet into the air, crowned by an elegant marble archway that marked the entrance to the Core Palace grounds.
He bent his knees slightly and launched himself upward.
The leap carried him silently through the night air.
His dark robes fluttered as he cleared the edge of the floating island and landed softly on the polished tiles of Core Palace entrance.
However, the moment the tip of his boot touched the ground, the surrounding space suddenly felt heavy.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Two incredibly oppressive auras instantly locked onto his position.
Rhain looked ahead, and saw two men standing before him.
The dense pressure rolling off their bodies clearly marked them as peak-stage Core Formation Realm experts.
The guards’ cold eyes immediately swept over Rhain, landing on the deep black robes and the Gold Badge pinned to his chest.
"Halt!" one of the guards commanded sternly, his hand resting on the hilt of his blade. "This is the sacred ground of the Core Palace. Inner Palace disciples are not permitted to step foot here unless they possess a special pass from the Dean or the Vice Dean! Leave immediately, or face severe punishment!"
Just as Rhain was about to speak, a gentle, fragrant wind blew across the pathway
Swoosh.
A beautiful figure materialized between Rhain and the two guards as if she had simply stepped out of the space itself.
Vice Dean Myrielle.
Her sapphire eyes swept over the guards for a brief second before landing entirely on Rhain.
"Come," Myrielle simply uttered a single word, and then turned around.
The two peak Core Formation guards respectfully bowed their heads.
They did not dare to utter another syllable or raise their weapons, completely retracting their auras to let Rhain pass.
Rhain gave a faint, satisfied smirk and leisurely followed Myrielle deeper into the Core Palace.
As they walked, Rhain observed his surroundings.
The interior of the Core Palace was fundamentally different from the bustling Inner Palace.
There were no massive lecture halls or crowded training arenas.
Because there were only five disciples in the entire Core Palace, the floating island was wrapped in an atmosphere of extreme tranquility and unearthly beauty.
The essence density here was so absurdly thick that it practically formed a fine mist that brushed against their skin.
Suddenly, Myrielle raised her hand and casually tossed a glowing object backward.
Rhain caught it effortlessly.
It was a crystalline jade token.
"Keep that," Myrielle said, not looking back. "If you possess this token, no guard or elder will ever stop you from entering the Core Palace again. It carries an authority equivalent to an Instructor of the Academy."
Rhain looked at the token, a trace of genuine surprise flashing in his dark grey eyes.
"Thank you, Vice Dean," Rhain accepted the token politely.
Myrielle waved her delicate hand dismissively, though her tone carried a strict warning. "Do not misuse the power of that token to cause trouble within the Academy. If you do, I will personally take it back."
"I understand," Rhain replied calmly.
They walked in silence for a few more moments before Myrielle spoke again, letting out a helpless sigh.
Seris is incredibly attached to you," Myrielle saidt, her tone carrying the exasperation of a master. "Ever since she arrived at Core Palace yesterday, she has been constantly asking about you. She has been thinking about you non-stop."
Myrielle glanced over her shoulder, choosing her next words carefully.
"I do not wish to involve myself in my disciple’s personal matters. What exists between the two of you is your own affair, and I have no right to dictate the shape of it. However, I must be frank with you — her inability to fully settle her mind is hindering her cultivation progress. For someone with a True Heavenly Physique, even a minor distraction during foundational training can compound into a serious flaw later on."
Rhain listened without interrupting. When Myrielle finished, he gave a slight nod.
"I will talk to her about it," he said quietly.
Myrielle nodded, her expression easing slightly.
After walking for a few more minutes, the environment around them drastically changed.
Lying ahead was a domain of frozen land.
The air itself was several degrees colder here, and thin veils of frost clung to the grass.
The entire environment had been specifically designed to nourish and amplify an ice-attribute cultivator’s innate essence.
At the very center of a frozen spiritual pool, sitting cross-legged on a blossoming ice lotus, was Seris.
Her silver-blue hair cascaded loosely over her shoulders, and her eyes were closed in meditation.
An aura of icy-blue light surrounded her slender figure.
With the chilling mist swirling around her flawless face, she looked exactly like a beautiful, untouchable goddess of ice descending upon the mortal realm.
As Rhain approached, the meditating girl’s delicate eyelashes fluttered. Even before she opened her eyes, a stunningly sweet smile had already bloomed across her face.
"Husband," her soft voice rang out, filled with boundless affection. "You finally got the time to meet me."
Seris opened her pale purple eyes. The moment she saw his familiar, handsome face, she entirely abandoned her elegant meditation posture.
She gracefully leaped from the ice lotus and practically ran across the frozen pool, throwing herself directly into his arms.
Rhain caught her effortlessly, letting out a low, joyous laugh as he wrapped his arms tightly around her slender waist.
"I just got a little busy with a few things in the morning," Rhain chuckled gently, brushing a strand of silver-blue hair behind her ear. "So I couldn’t come to you earlier."
Standing a short distance away, Myrielle watched her peerless disciple acting like a spoiled, love-struck kitten, and let out another helpless sigh.
Without wanting to disturb their reunion any further, Myrielle quietly turned around and slipped away, leaving the two of them entirely alone.
