In Lord Baro's study in Yellow City, the scent of old parchment mixed with heavy lamp soot dominated the air. Outside, it was windy. Although the first signs of spring were appearing on the trees, the air remained somewhat cold, and the winds from the forest beat against the city's stone walls. Inside, Lord Baro sat like a shadow among the reports piled on his desk. Despite being an Origin Heart Realm expert, his body was struggling to hide the intense stress. Deep purple circles under his eyes and graying hair at his temples were evidence of the physical wreckage the last few months had left on him. For a Lord, insomnia was rare, but his mind refused to rest while trying to untangle the web of chaos surrounding the city. More accurately, he had no choice but to keep working.
Yellow City was no longer the peaceful trade center of old. While there had always seemed to be a looming threat of war in the past, the Sages present, their backing families, and their active presence had maintained a balance. Now, that balance was gone, and Baro had become Lord. Had it ended there, Baro might have maintained peace through his dominant views, but incident after incident had erupted. The race for the False Dragon's Legacy had descended upon the city like a black shroud. Not just the fallen geniuses, but the endless accusations and compensation claims from the powerful families behind them rested on Baro's shoulders. The assassination of Sufkro Meng by an unidentified killer, the bloody scuffle between his daughter Maria and the city's young talents, the families of the dead servants, and above all, the massive massacre that occurred with Pima's entry into the city... The streets were empty at night. Though Wur's law enforcement units caught outlaws one by one, trust had been shattered. People locked their doors with three bolts and checked their shadows even when whispering. They no longer trusted the City Lord. Even his own soldiers had begun to doubt him. Violent events that wouldn't normally happen in ten years had been packed into just a few months. The spirit of the city was wounded, and the unshakable image of the City Lord in the eyes of the public was cracking.
The door creaked slightly. Maria glided in like a ghost, lacking the upright posture she once possessed. She didn't look sick, but she was exhausted. She, too, had been working hard recently, but not in administration like her father—in her own cultivation.
Baro raised his tired head and looked at his daughter. In his eyes was the cold glimmer of a helpless father crushed beneath the harshness of a Lord. He still wanted to maintain his authoritative demeanor, but he found it difficult. This time, he had made a mistake. He had fallen for Mais's bluff and allowed his daughter to be poisoned. Mais was a True Alchemist. Baro didn't know if there had ever been such a young True Alchemist—even in the 3rd Ferua. But it was real. The poison in Maria's body was proof.
"Still no progress?" Baro asked, his voice cracking and deep.
Maria didn't answer; she just shook her head slightly. The poison Mais had left was settled in her body like a parasite. Between her impressive understanding of the Fire Tao and her Fire Body, her physical form was already hot, and now with this poison, normal people found it difficult even to touch her. The Hellfire Pill. Mais hadn't even hesitated to name it. The city's most senior Master Alchemists had stayed up all night in their labs, trying the rarest herbs and antidotes, and scouring books for days. However, Mais's understanding of alchemy was far beyond theirs. They had never even heard of such a pill, let alone how to treat it. They were no match for a True Alchemist. The Hellfire Pill used by Mais was an introductory pill for the Ascended, and they were incapable of even understanding that.
Baro's anger was fed by his helplessness. For a man who ruled a whole city to be brought to his knees by a mixture prepared by a child... this was the most lethal blow to Baro's pride. He dominated Mais in every other way, yet he could not touch him. He could not.
Maria calmly pulled out the chair in front of her father's desk and sat down slowly. When the cotton parts of the chair began to singe from her heat, her spirits sank. But Baro waved his hand, and the fire went out.
"How long do you think this will last?" Maria asked. She couldn't help it. Living like this was difficult and isolated her from people. Milena was gone, and Mais had betrayed her. Her relationship with Kasuur was uncertain. Evra was no longer there. Was there anyone left she could truly call a friend?
Baro frowned and looked at the letter before him. It spoke of Hideo Yun's meeting with Mais, small details heard during the conversation, and what they might mean.
"It will end when I win."
"And if you don't?"
Would Maria have to learn to live this way? Or would Mais suddenly flee and leave her to die?
Maria couldn't help but feel tense. Her father kept saying he would put everything right and heal her... but why did it seem like he was doing nothing but chasing Mais's movements?
"Maria..."
Baro couldn't answer. Maria knew he was doing his best to heal her, but she still felt so... helpless and unhappy. Not just because of the Hellfire Pill, but because of the loneliness. To whom else could she show these feelings besides her father?
"What are the estimates regarding the grade of the pill?"
Baro scowled, rubbed the back of his pen against the letter, and leaned back. He let out a tired sigh.
"I want to believe that little demon is only a Low-tier True Alchemist. That would mean, at best, the pill he made is a mid-grade Origin Heart Pill."
"At most?! That is an Origin Heart Pill!"
Alchemists were ranked from bottom to top as: Apprentice, Artisan, Master, and True. However, the grade of the pills was only counted from the Sage Realm upward, because only a pill containing Tao could truly be considered a pill. High-level Master Alchemists might produce a low-grade Sage Pill if they were lucky. The peak of Master Alchemy—Absolute Master Alchemists—could, in a miraculous moment, produce a mid-grade Sage Pill. It was a very low probability, but such pills were not entirely impossible for Master Alchemists.
In contrast, even the worst True Alchemist, when producing pills in bulk, would find their lowest results to be High-grade Sage Pills. Because it was mass production, there might be a few mid-grade pills, which was the dream of Master Alchemists.
If they focused on a single pill, Low-tier True Alchemists could produce low-grade Origin Heart Pills. Those slightly more talented could produce mid-stage pills, but a high-grade Origin Heart Pill required one to be a Middle-tier True Alchemist.
And was Mais a Middle-tier True Alchemist? Neither Maria nor Baro believed that. It had been so little time since Mais had even become a True Alchemist. Based on what accumulation of knowledge could he have reached such a level? This tier system had been developed by the Alchemist Guild because alchemy realms were much, much harder than cultivation realms. The exam for a Low-tier True Alchemist to become a Middle-tier True Alchemist was incredibly rigorous. Hundreds of years might not even be enough, and for some, the Low-tier was their limit—though even that was enough to earn the respect of Province Lords and become wealthy.
Furthermore, a Middle-tier True Alchemist could produce Ascension Pills. Mais was only a Sage, and he was blind. Despite all his talents, his potential was limited, and his cultivation and age made things even more difficult.
All these factors placed a limit on Mais's pill. Still, to stop him, the presence of another True Alchemist was required, and such alchemists were not easy to find. Do not be misled by finding a 10-year-old True Alchemist like Mais; he was a true anomaly in this regard. No one could treat him like a child when it came to this.
"So, what is he doing these days?" Maria asked eventually. How to get rid of an Origin Heart Pill was a question mark, but the answer lay not with her, but with another True Alchemist.
At that point, though Baro was tired, his eyes flickered back to the letter. Thinking about what was described in the letter made him angry again.
He dug his fingers into the hard wood of the desk. "Tenma Yun..." he muttered. "How does a simple figure, a retired veteran of Wur's army, suddenly reach the Sage Realm? I thought he would just grow old and die." Tenma's sudden rise and the conversations revolving around Mais led Baro to a single conclusion in his mind: betrayal. The fact that Tenma was formerly in Wur's army should have meant he remained loyal to Baro; but now, with his son engaging in such talks by Mais's side, Tenma's betrayal was more than just adding another Sage to Mais's side. It was causing his own army to harbor opposing thoughts toward him.
Maria felt as though she understood what was happening. Perhaps they had underestimated Mais too much.
Baro, with the massive power given by the Origin Heart Realm, was still the greatest authority in the city. Though there were other Sages in the city, none could stand against him. However, Mais was not fighting with physical strength, but with knowledge and silence. What truly frightened the Lord was that Mais had left the city some time ago, and Baro had only realized it after Mais returned.
What if one day he left and did not return?
"Moura..." Baro said through gritted teeth. Not a single report had come for weeks from Moura or the three-hundred-man unit he had attached to Mais as agents. Baro had sent Moura and the unit at that time to know Mais's plans in advance, to watch his every step. But now, a whole army seemed swallowed by those dark forests outside Yellow City. Not a message, not a messenger... Mais had taken the dagger Baro sent him and melted it into the darkness.
As Baro looked at Maria's pale face, he tried to suppress the storm within him. "We are wasting time with ordinary master alchemists," he said with a determined voice. "I will find a True Alchemist from beyond the borders of this city to heal you. No matter how clever Mais is, he will pay the price for underestimating the resources of an Origin Heart Lord."
When silence once again fell over the room, the scent of that cold war hanging over Yellow City was now more distinct. As Baro angrily crumpled a map on his desk, he wondered where Mais's next move would break out. This invisible clash between the two powers seemed destined to cause a lot of pain, regardless of who won.