Chapter 1219: Offering Choice
Aldrian already appeared in the sky above Akares World. He observed the land below him where a massive city stood. The enormous city was where the main Valroy family lived inside their grand mansion on the northern side of the city.
Now why did he decide to come here?
He decided to take care the Valroy family and everyone already under Avergis’ influence while he was still dealing with this matter. With Randolf inside his palace, he could more easily "convince" the Valroy family regarding Avergis.
What he told Randolf about the cause of the problems surrounding his system and family was, of course, not true. The real reason those problems appeared was because the First Heaven had already become his domain.
He had already sealed the entire First Heaven so nothing from outside could enter, including any connection from those invading gods.
He only told Randolf what he had in mind to plant a seed of doubt inside him.
He, of course, would not know what happened in the higher heavens since he had never tried to ascend, and there was no one capable of descending to explain the situation.
He only made deductions regarding the conflict between Tarius and Avergis based on his own guesses after what he did in the central region of Heaven.
By creating a rift between those two gods and considering Tarius’ temperament, he expected the conflict to escalate into a battle between gods. With their gods fought, their followers would naturally follow their lead and clash against each other as well.
He would make Randolf doubt his own god and turn the situation in the higher heavens into something far more lively once he ascended.
If Randolf remained adamant in his faith toward his god, then there was nothing else he could do other than use force to make Randolf obey.
For example, he could use illusions or hypnotic techniques on him.
However, the only thing he was wary of if he used that method was the system inside Randolf, or rather, Avergis himself. Although he had already cut off the connection between the First Heaven and the outside, there was no telling what kind of reaction the system would show if he used hypnotic techniques on Randolf or tried to destroy the system itself.
The fact that Randolf could still open the system screen was proof that Avergis’ influence still remained inside him.
The existence of the system was closely related to the gods, so there was no harm in being careful about it. The only time he had directly come into contact with another person’s system was when he tried to look into Zhang Haoran’s memories.
He knew his own system could break through another system’s defenses, but he still did not want to recklessly underestimate the systems belonging to other apostles.
He did not know whether every system was the same or if Randolf’s system contained surprises he was unaware of. Maybe Avergis had his own preventive measures that did not exist within Tarius’ system.
Who knew?
Aldrian stopped thinking about it for now and spread his domain sense throughout the Valroy family’s mansion. After a split second, he sensed the strongest figure there, the patriarch of the Valroy family, Patriarch Elliot.
He was inside his study, sitting behind a table filled with several scrolls.
Patriarch Elliot seemed to be in a difficult situation. His expression showed a deep frown while reading the scroll in his hand.
"Bastard, how dare they remove our influence from the Southern Continent?" he muttered in a furious tone. His usual calm demeanor could not be seen at this moment.
"Fuck, if only we could solve this strange problem." He sighed.
"I wonder if Randolf can at least bring good news after this. I’ve only been receiving bad news lately."
"You will receive it, Patriarch."
The sudden foreign voice inside the room instantly jolted him from his chair and made him take a wary stance. He then saw Aldrian already sitting on one of the sofas, which truly shocked him.
Not only did he recognize who was sitting there, but he also could not understand how Aldrian had appeared without being detected!
And why was he here when his son was supposed to be meeting with him?
"Your Majesty Aldrian?" Patriarch Elliot said. He slowly relaxed his posture. He did not know why Aldrian was here, but he did not want to offend him with an excessive reaction.
Although he understood from Randolf that this man was their enemy because of their god and the most dangerous obstacle to their plans, he still had to maintain politeness and amicability.
Offending the most powerful figure in the entire star cluster was the worst possible situation, especially at a time when his family was already in its worst condition.
"My apologies, Your Majesty, but you truly surprised me. I never expected you to visit my humble home, much less appear here without any sign." The patriarch spoke with a smile.
Aldrian also showed a smile.
"Well, I like doing this kind of thing, so I’m the one who should apologize instead."
"I do not dare ask for your apology, Your Majesty. I think that is too grand for me." Patriarch Elliot said while approaching Aldrian and sitting on the sofa across from him. He wanted to ask a maid through voice transmission to serve them tea, but Aldrian’s voice interrupted him first.
"No, you don’t need to do that, Patriarch Elliot. I’m only here for a short time, and I want to talk to you about something."
Patriarch Elliot was stunned. He wondered what Aldrian wanted to discuss, but then he remembered what Aldrian had said earlier.
"Ah right, what did Your Majesty mean earlier? What will I receive?"
"I heard you were hoping for good news. Well, I brought you good news, but that depends on your answer." Aldrian replied.
Patriarch Elliot narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean, Your Majesty?"
"I already know about your family’s condition and the cause behind it. I also have a way to solve it, as long as you follow my suggestion," Aldrian replied.
Patriarch Elliot widened his eyes in surprise. He suddenly forgot about Aldrian being his enemy, and his heart turned joyful. Without much thought, he quickly spoke to Aldrian.
"Your Majesty, may I know what it is that can solve my family’s problem?"
Aldrian kept his smile.
"That’s easy. Just stop cultivating with your current cultivation technique and return to using your family’s old cultivation technique. With that, you will never experience this kind of problem again. You also have to stop using anything that came from your so-called god."
Patriarch Elliot was stunned. His heart turned cold, and at that moment he finally understood something.
"Where is Randolf?" he asked with a slightly hostile tone. He also started circulating his energy.
Although he felt weakened because of the strange effect, it did not stop him from preparing himself to attack.
"He is fine for now, Patriarch. You do not need to worry. He only needs some time to calm his mind, and at this moment I gave him a nice place to do that," Aldrian replied. He looked unconcerned even though Patriarch Elliot was already preparing to attack.
"But I don’t know if that will still be the case if you try to attack me after this. In fact, the moment you attack me, I will assume that you are ready to let this family fall much faster."
Patriarch Elliot’s heart shook, and the flow of his energy immediately became chaotic. He began to hesitate, and his determination to fight slowly withered away.
The thought of the Valroy family, which had stood for millions of years, falling during his era was already enough to make him want to give up.
He knew Aldrian could truly make that reality happen if he wanted to. Combined with the family’s current condition, the fall of the Valroy family would become inevitable.
Patriarch Elliot gritted his teeth to calm his chaotic mind when he heard Aldrian speak again.
"I don’t want to cause bloodshed here. I have already shed enough blood for now, and I want to leave this place peacefully if possible. What I want from you is simple, Patriarch. Forget about your god. Leave everything related to him. That’s all."
"Your family might decline in overall strength because many cultivators will have to lose the cultivation they built through the new cultivation technique. Some might even die because of it, but that is still far better in the long term because at this rate, your family is walking toward certain doom."
"You can choose the other option, which is to keep your faith in this god of yours, but that will only lead to the much faster destruction of your family. So you understand what I mean, right?"
"So the choice before you is simple. Either leave your god or continue walking down the path toward your family’s destruction."
Silence filled the room.
Patriarch Elliot’s gaze darkened as he desperately tried to think of a solution. He did not want to abandon his god because of the many miracles shown through Randolf, miracles that allowed the Valroy family to soar higher than ever before.
Higher than in any previous era.
However, he could not help but feel that Aldrian’s words made far too much sense, to the point that his heart wanted to instantly agree with him and abandon his god.
He did not know why he felt that way, and that alone made him uneasy. He tried to calm his mind, but both his heart and thoughts kept leaning toward what Aldrian suggested. His logic was gradually filled with that choice, making him feel that it was the best possible option.
With his mind filled with uncertainty, he could not help but choose the option that offered the greatest chance of survival at this moment.
"I... I... choose to leave my god," he said after a moment of contemplation.
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