Chapter 961: Treatment P1: Too Late for the Hybrid Alliance?

Shamrock Sanctuary. Emerald Cove Island.

Hour of Dragon. (10:00 AM - 11:00 AM)

The doors to the reception hall opened quietly.

Aksai stepped inside.

His gaze immediately fell upon the three women waiting for him. He walked toward them with a calm smile.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting."

Zinnia immediately stood up.

"This servant greets Lord Turtle."

Aksai gave her a small nod before commanding.

"Zinnia, please go ahead and find Jasmine right away. You can receive further instructions regarding the arrangements from her. Also, make sure to collect the special gift I prepared for you from her as well."

Zinnia nodded.

"Understood, My Lord."

She offered a respectful bow before leaving the reception hall.

Aksai’s attention then shifted toward the remaining woman.

Selene stepped forward and bowed.

"Lord Turtle, allow me to introduce myself. I am Selene Bloodmist, an elder of the Blackblood Demon Sect. I am responsible for accompanying Young Mistress Humeyin."

Aksai smiled and gave her a simple nod.

"Welcome to Emerald Cove Island, Elder Selene."

He then gestured toward the round table in the center of the hall.

"Please, let’s sit."

The three began walking toward the table.

As they walked, Aksai turned toward Humeyin.

"How have you been feeling? I hope the journey here wasn’t too troublesome."

Humeyin shook her head gently.

"It was no trouble, Lord Turtle."

Selene immediately pouted.

"That’s not entirely true."

Humeyin glanced at her.

"Elder Selene..."

Selene ignored her and looked toward Aksai.

"The Young Mistress had to adjust her attire several times during the journey. At one point, her skin even began glowing like radiant molten glass fresh from a furnace."

Aksai’s expression became slightly more serious.

"We had no choice but to use a palanquin for several days," Selene continued. "Naturally, that made the other members of our convoy suspicious about her identity and condition."

She sighed.

"I had to cover for her with a mixture of truth and lies. Fortunately, they accepted my explanations, and we managed to travel here without exposing the Young Mistress."

Selene then gave Aksai a pointed look.

"So, Lord Turtle, I hope you intend to make the journey worth all the trouble Young Mistress went through."

Her tone became slightly sharper.

"And cure her."

Humeyin lowered her head slightly.

"Elder Selene..."

Aksai simply smiled and made no promise.

Instead, he reached the table and gestured toward the chairs.

"Please, sit."

He walked around the table and gently pulled out a chair for Humeyin.

Humeyin sat down.

"Thank you."

Aksai nodded before taking his own seat.

Selene sat opposite him.

Once the three were seated around the round table, Aksai glanced at the tea set that had already been arranged there.

He reached for the teapot.

"Since you’ve travelled such a long distance, let’s have some tea first."

He calmly began preparing the tea.

A strand of Spirit Flame hovered beneath the small jade teapot, its pale glow gently licking against the bottom.

Unlike ordinary flames, it produced no smoke and gave off only a faint warmth. Aksai carefully controlled its intensity, allowing the water inside the pot to heat gradually.

Thanks to the mutated Verdant Elder that has a tail of a fire snake, Aksai’s control over the fire-element abilities had improved by a level or two. Especially after the Qi Shell Integration.

It was a pity that his body cultivation path had not progressed much after he left Martial World Sharang, making it difficult for him to upgrade his synchronicity with his Aether Beast and its abilities.

Selene watched him for a while.

Then, unable to hold back her curiosity any longer, she was the first to speak.

"Lord Turtle, there is something I would like to ask."

Aksai glanced at her.

"Go ahead."

"The alliance you proposed to my Sect Master..." Selene paused briefly. "The alliance between the Purple River Sect and the Blackblood Demon Sect, with you acting as the mediator between the two sides. Is that arrangement still on the agenda?"

Her tone was calm, but it seemed that she had already suspected that something was amiss. One had to know that Selene had taken a rather unusual route to reach Aksai’s island in order to ensure Humeyin’s safety.

Although Humeyin’s convoy entered the mainland from the Wild Devil Lands through Haan Di, she did not travel to any of the five kingdoms.

Instead, she entered the southeastern mountain range that bordered the Kaan Kingdom and traveled south all the way to the Southern Shiju Mountain Range. From there, the convoy entered the Dadangar Sea and traveled northward to reach Emerald Cove Island.

This was a route known only to the Blackblood Sect. It had been kept hidden so that the five kingdoms could not do anything to prevent the unidentified core demonic cultivators from entering the mainland and the sea.

As such, Humeyin’s convoy remained oblivious to the chaos currently unfolding on the mainland. Even Selene found it difficult to obtain updated information within such a short period of time.

Unaware of the royal faction’s open confrontation with the regional sects, Selene was still optimistic about the alliance.

Thus, before Aksai could answer, she continued.

"And another thing."

Selene’s gaze shifted toward the windows of the reception hall.

"Why has Emerald Cove Island suddenly become so... restless?"

Humeyin remained silent beside her.

Selene narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Even the local cultivators can sense that something is wrong. Yet none of them seem to know what is actually happening."

Aksai smiled.

There was no warmth in that smile.

"Your abilities as an intelligence operator are quite impressive, Elder Selene."

He lifted the teapot slightly and poured the hot water into it.

"You noticed all that despite only arriving recently."

Selene didn’t take the compliment.

"So I am not wrong?"

"No."

Aksai shook his head.

"Emerald Cove Island is indeed going through some radical changes."

The Spirit Flame beneath the teapot flickered softly.

"I simply chose to keep those changes hidden from the masses for as long as possible."

Humeyin quietly listened.

Aksai’s expression gradually became more serious.

"You might not have noticed the current state of the mainland because of your sect’s secret route but unfortunately, things have gone far beyond what I expected."

He paused.

"Much further than when Haitin and I last discussed the alliance."