Chapter 202: Crown Prince Arrives
Chapter 202: Chapter 202: Crown Prince Arrives
Chapter 202: Crown Prince Arrives
The night sky above Stormveil City shimmered with the light of a thousand stars.
Hundreds of cultivators on the streets suddenly paused, their heads tilting upward in unison.
From the northern horizon, a formation of nine colossal warships descended through the cloud layer.
Each warship was a hundred feet long, its hull forged from a golden metal that was tearing apart the darkness of the night.
Crimson banners bearing the golden sun insignia of the Solathane Royal Family streamed from every mast, snapping violently in the high-altitude winds.
As the fleet descended toward the city’s central landing platform, the oppressive auras radiating from aboard forced every cultivator below the Core Formation Realm to instinctively lower their heads.
Three distinct auras, each one as vast and unfathomable as an ocean.
Domain Master Realm.
Crown Prince had brought three Domain Masters with him.
The grand gangplank of the flagship lowered, and a young figure stepped into the moonlight.
He was exceptionally handsome, a straight nose, a strong jawline, and piercing amber eyes, and a charming smile on his lips that could easily captivate the hearts of countless maidens.
Crown Prince Lucius.
At twenty-seven years of age, he was already hailed as the most brilliant star in the Solathane Dynasty’s current generation — a prodigy whose meteoric rise had stunned the entire kingdom.
Behind him, three figures descended the gangplank in lockstep. Two men and one woman, each radiating the boundless, world-bending pressure of the Domain Master Realm.
Their expressions were impassive, their eyes sharp and watchful, scanning the landing platform and the city beyond with the vigilance of apex predators guarding their sovereign.
A figure was already waiting at the edge of the landing platform.
He was lean, silver-haired, and appeared to be in his fifties, though the ageless quality of his features suggested he was far older.
His plain robes were entirely unremarkable, but the aura contained within his frame was anything but.
Domain Master Realm.
This was Lord Soren Vaelith, Crown Prince’s permanent representative in Stormveil City.
For the past five years, Soren had quietly resided in the city, managing Lucius’s interests, monitoring the movements of the noble families, and ensuring that the Crown Prince’s invisible hand remained over the Stormveil City.
"Your Highness," Soren greeted, lowering his head, "Welcome back to Stormveil City."
Lucius’s amber eyes swept across the glittering cityscape spread out below the platform.
A charming smile touched his lips.
"It has been a while, Soren," Lucius said, his voice smooth and alluring, "Walk with me. We have much to discuss."
_______________
Crown Prince’s private compound in Stormveil City was a sprawling estate situated on a hill overlooking the entire eastern quarter.
As they entered the lavishly decorated hall, Lucius took a seat on the velvet throne at the center, resting his chin lazily on his knuckles.
"Tell me the current situation," Lucius commanded, "I traveled all this way for two very specific reasons. I want to know where they stand."
Soren nodded, unfurling a scroll.
"The first matter, Celestial Elixir Pavilion. As Your Highness is already aware from my preliminary reports, this establishment appeared in Stormveil City approximately three weeks ago. In that remarkably short span, it has fundamentally disrupted the city’s entire alchemical economy."
Soren’s eyes held a rare glint of genuine admiration.
"The pills they sell possess one hundred percent purity, a quality that no Master Alchemist in the city, and potentially no Master Alchemist in the entire dynasty, has ever achieved. The demand has been so overwhelming that even with strict daily sales limits, their weekly revenue now exceeds four hundred million Aetherium Crystals. They have recently entered into an exclusive supply partnership with the Thunderwood Noble Family, relocating to a fortified storefront in the Thunderwood Eastern Premium District."
Lucius amber eyes held a hint of interest. "And the man behind it all?"
"The public face is a man named Vulcan — a late-stage Core Formation Realm mercenary captain," Soren continued. "He operates the shop with five Core Formation brothers: Luka, Dex, Ives, Orin, and Ezra. All are seasoned veterans with long mercenary histories."
Soren paused.
"However, everyone in the city understands that Vulcan is merely the manager. The true power behind the Pavilion is the supplier, a man who calls himself Grandmaster Korryn. He appeared personally at the Pavilion once to negotiate with delegations from all three Noble Families. He rejected the Valemere and Emberford proposals outright and accepted only the Thunderwood Family’s terms."
"What do we know about this Grandmaster Korryn?" Lucius asked.
"Very little confirmed intelligence, Your Highness. He appeared in a middle-aged disguise, and my sources believe the appearance is likely false. His true identity remains unknown. However..."
Soren’s voice dropped a fraction.
"During my investigation into the second matter, an interesting connection emerged."
He set aside the first scroll and unfurled a second.
"This brings me to the second matter, and the true reason Your Highness is here in person."
Soren laid out a portrait sketch of a breathtakingly beautiful young woman with silver-blue hair and pale purple eyes.
"Seris Voss, Age eighteen. Origin: Greymist Town, a remote settlement in the Outer Frontier. Former outer disciple of a minor faction called the Azure Cloud Sect. She arrived in Stormveil City alongside a Stormveil Academy recruitment envoy approximately one month ago."
Soren looked up. "During the entrance screening, she activated the Origin Insight Tablet to ten thousand feet."
Lucius’s fingers, which was drumming against the armrest of his velvet chair, went still.
"Ten thousand feet," Lucius repeated softly. A trace of hunger flickered deep within his amber eyes.
"Confirmed by Vice Dean herself," Soren stated. "Academy’s Heavenly Physique Resonance Crystal subsequently verified her nature. She possesses a True Heavenly Physique of Ice Attribute."
Lucius leaned forward, his amber eyes now fully alert, burning with a light that was both calculating and deeply covetous.
A True Heavenly Physique.
______________
Few people in the Solathane Dynasty truly understood how Crown Prince Lucius cultivated.
His meteoric rise was still a secret, a disgraced prince who transformed into the kingdom’s brightest star.
Ten years ago, Lucius had been the laughingstock of the royal family.
At seventeen years of age, he had been at the Essence Awakening Realm while his brothers were already pushing toward Spirit Manifestation.
Court officials whispered that Lucius was a stain on the royal bloodline.
His brothers openly mocked him.
Even the palace servants treated him with contempt.
Then, everything changed.
The precise details were known only to Lucius himself.
Ten years ago, during a period of solitary exile from the capital, he fortuitously encountered a mysterious senior who bestowed upon him a profound, nameless Dual Cultivation Technique.
The technique was demonic in its efficiency, the higher the realm, or the greater the innate talent of the woman he slept with, the more explosive his cultivation speed became.
He could absorb their pure essence and talent directly into his own body.
Over the last ten years, relying on this dark art, he had surpassed every single one of his brothers.
Today, at merely twenty-seven, he stood proudly at the seventh stage of the Core Formation Realm.
King Solathane had been so astounded by his miraculous rise that he had officially crowned him the heir an year ago.
This was the very reason Lucius had originally set his sights on Lyra Emberford.
Lyra was a supreme prodigy, heavily suspected to possess a dormant Heavenly Physique.
But Lyra was the pearl of the Emberford Noble Family.
The political variables, her fiercely protective clan, and her own pride made acquiring her incredibly complicated.
Though, the most important reason was her mysterious father whose power was unknown, but widely accepted as the most powerful person to ever walk on Solathane Dynasty.
But now?
A confirmed True Heavenly Physique had appeared out of nowhere.
And she had none of Lyra’s protections.
She came from a backwater town in the Outer Frontier.
She was, in every conceivable way, the perfect target.
_____________
Lucius’s amber eyes lingered on the portrait sketch of Seris, and a predatory smile spread across his handsome face.
"A True Heavenly Physique, from a nameless sect in the Outer Frontier," Lucius murmured, "The heavens have truly been generous."
Soren continued his briefing. "There is one complication, Your Highness. She is married."
He laid down a second portrait sketch — this one depicting a young man with dark robes and sharp, dark grey eyes.
"Her husband is named Rhain Voss. Age Nineteen, also from Greymist Town, also a former member of the Azure Cloud Sect. He arrived alongside Seris and was granted Inner Palace status at the Stormveil Academy."
"A husband?" Lucius’s eyebrows rose, but then he simply laughed, completely unbothered.
He waved his hand dismissively, "Then I will simply make her a widow first. Once he is dead, she will naturally need a new shoulder to lean on. Disregard him completely."
Soren’s brows knitted together in a frown.
"Your Highness, I would not normally raise concerns over a mere Outer Frontier youth. However, there is an additional layer of complexity."
Soren pulled forward a third scroll.
"During my investigation into Rhain and Seris’s backgrounds in the Outer Frontier, our intelligence network uncovered an incredibly bizarre series of ’coincidences’."
Lucius’s eyes narrowed. "Go on."
"In the city of Mirravele, the largest settlement in the Outer Frontier, a figure calling himself Grandmaster Korryn appeared approximately two months ago. This same Grandmaster Korryn, along with a man matching Vulcan’s description, orchestrated the complete annihilation of the Ashvele Clan, a three-century-old faction. What is truly fascinating is that the Ashvele Clan was the mortal enemy of the Azure Cloud Sect—the exact same sect that Rhain and Seris belong to."
"Furthermore, the timing is too perfect. Grandmaster Korryn vanished from Mirravele City at the exact same time Rhain and Seris departed for the Inner Province. And immediately after they arrived at Stormveil Academy... the Celestial Elixir Pavilion opened its doors."
Lucius’s charming smile slowly faded, replaced by a solemn expression.
"So, a mysterious Grandmaster Alchemist destroys the enemies of a man and his wife in one city, then follows them to another city and establishes a pill empire. That is a remarkable number of coincidences."
"Too many to be coincidences, in my assessment," Soren confirmed. "Rhain, Seris, and Grandmaster Korryn are almost certainly connected. The nature of that connection, whether the Grandmaster is a patron, a relative, or something else entirely remains unclear."
"Interesting," Lucius murmured. "Very interesting indeed."
He rose from his chair, pacing slowly toward the window that overlooked the glittering expanse of Stormveil City.
If he killed Rhain blindly, he might accidentally provoke a Grandmaster Alchemist capable of commanding multiple Domain Master Realm experts.
He needed to be very careful about this.
"Send a formal missive to the Celestial Elixir Pavilion," Lucius commanded, "Tell them the Crown Prince requests a private audience with Grandmaster Korryn."
"It will be done, Your Highness."
Lucius turned back from the window, his amber eyes burning with a light that was equally charming and menacing.
"As for Seris, and Rhain..." Lucius whispered, "I find myself very eager to meet them. Personally. Tomorrow."