Chapter 90: Such People are Useful

Chapter 90 - Such People are Useful While Lordi Payne focused on alchemy the elixir, Sun Elaine returned to her residence on Ghost Shade, her face taut with unease. With a flick of her wrist, she deactivated the defensive wards and stepped inside—only to freeze. The air turned to ice. Luca Dawnwick lounged in her main seat, one leg draped carelessly over the armrest, his sharp eyes locked onto her the moment she entered. A predator who had already marked his prey. The lilies' glow seemed to dim, the courtyard's whispers silenced under his chilling aura. "Senior Brother Dawnwick..." Sun Elaine's voice quavered, her every instinct screaming at her to flee, but his icy gaze chained her in place. Her heart hammered, fear clawing her throat—memories of his last assault, his boot grinding her face, flooded back. She forced a smile, sugary and brittle, stepping closer with feigned warmth. "A pleasant. What brings you here? I—" THUD! Her words choked off as Luca's boot lashed out, a blur of savage force. It struck her chest, sending her flying like a ragdoll. CRACK! She crashed against the courtyard gate with a sickening crunch, wood splintering, blood spraying from her lips as she crumpled to the stone. Pain seared through her ribs, each breath a knife-twist, her vision swimming. "He'll kill me—gods, he'll kill me!" Panic surged, her cunning drowned by raw terror, her body shaking as she clutched the ground. "Bitch," Luca Dawnwick growled, rising to loom over her, his face a dark storm of menace, devoid of mercy. His voice was a blade of winter, each word a lash. "I ordered you to seduce Lordi Payne. You dare slack off?" His boots crunched the stone, deliberate, closing the distance, his shadow swallowing her. Sun Elaine gasped, blood trickling down her chin, her voice a trembling plea. "Senior Brother, I-I tried!" Fear cracked her facade, words spilling in a desperate rush. "I went to Lordi Payne, I swear—just now, at the Lab Hotel on Alchemy Peak! But he... he's strange, he won't respond. He rejected me, ignored every advance, every kindness! Look! I-I'll try again, I promise! Please, just a little longer—I'll do it, I'll make him fall! Please, just give me more time—" Her hands scrabbled at the stone, eyes wide with terror, bracing for another incoming blow. Luca Dawnwick stood, his shadow swallowing her whole. His expression didn't flicker, his eyes cold as a void, indifferent and disgust to her groveling. He raised his foot again, poised to kick, the air thickening with his killing intent. And Sun Elaine flinched, bracing for another brutal strike— Then his head snapped toward the courtyard entrance, a thoughtful frown creasing his brow, as if sensing an unseen watcher. A faint sound—distant, fleeting—made his ears twitch. Then his lip curled. Without another word, he kicked her aside like discarded trash and strode out, the gate slamming shut behind him, his departure as abrupt and merciless as his arrival, leaving her broken and bleeding in the dirt. Sun Elaine remained curled on the cold stone, arms wrapped around her head, her body trembling like a leaf in a storm. Blood crusted her lips, her ribs throbbing from Luca Dawnwick's savage kick, the gate behind her splintered from her crash. Only when Luca's oppressive aura had fully faded did she dare exhale. Her face, bruised and pale, showed not too much humiliation but a wary relief. —— Elsewhere, on a secluded peak shrouded in mist, jagged rocks pierced the sky like blackened fangs, the air heavy with an eerie hush. A white-robed figure stood atop a high outcrop, hands clasped behind his back, his presence a quiet command over the desolate expanse. Enzo Dawnwick, his features sharp and unreadable, gazed into the distance, calm as a still lake. Luca Dawnwick approached, his dark cloak blending with the shadows, his earlier savagery muted by deference. He stopped beneath the rock, bowing deeply, voice steady but respectful. "Clan Brother, why stop me? That bitch Sun Elaine—she didn't even try to seduce Lordi Payne." Enzo Dawnwick didn't turn immediately. When he finally spoke, his voice was low, indifferent to Luca's scorn. "Sun Elaine is cleverer than you think." Luca stiffened. "She's of average birth, surrounded by worthless admirers," Enzo Dawnwick turned, continued, robes whispering against the stone. "She was never meant to understand the larger game. Yet she pieced together your ties to me, Chen Huant's death, and Lordi Payne's role in the Bloodline dispute." A pause. The wind hissed between them. "She doesn't want to drown in this quagmire. So she half-heartedly obeyed you—risking your wrath rather than deeper entanglement." Enzo's tone held no admiration, only clinical observation, as if dissecting a tool's worth. "Greedy. Ambitious. Shameless enough to endure humiliation. Such people are useful. Keep her alive." Luca scoffed, his face twisting with disdain, indifferent to Elaine's fate. "Clan Brother, you overestimate her. She's a low-talent whore, toying with trash clowns for scraps. What's the difference between her and the mortal prostitute girl in the secular brothel." Enzo Dawnwick regarded this younger clan brother with a steady, unyielding gaze, his voice calm but weighted with the way one might observe a restless child. "This affair is nearly concluded, Luca. Cease squandering your energy on trifling plots like these. Your focus must be singular—your ascension to Foundation Establishment Stage. That is the path to true power, not these petty games." Luca Dawnwick bowed, respect overriding his former contempt. "Aye, Clan Brother." He straightened, frowning, confusion flickering. "But if Sun Elaine failed—Lordi Payne ignored her, and that Hugo was way too weak to act against Lordi... Then How do we explain this matter to Bloodline Lord Miu?" Enzo's gaze drifted to the mist, indifferent to the question's weight. "His Honor has his own designs." His voice was smooth, untroubled, like a blade resting in its sheath. "We don't speculate—we obey." Luca nodded solemnly, then bowed deeper this time, assuming Bloodline Lord Miu had deeper backup schemes. "Aye, Clan Brother!" As Luca bowed in obedience, Enzo Dawnwick maintained his mask of calm authority. Yet behind his impassive gaze, Enzo's mind churned, a bitter truth swirled—they were all just like that wretched gold-digger Sun Elaine, scrambling to survive between greater powers. "How ironic," Enzo mused silently. That woman dances between our Wraithbone and Deathveil's schemes, dodging their wrath, praying to survive without knowing how she'll die. While we Wraithbones, too are trapped—a pawn in the sect's brutal hierarchy, caught between Successor Lith and Successor Chou's war. Miu Tyanh's personal feud against Kinson Wexford, Deathveil's Bloodline Lord, had shackled their entire bloodline to the weaker successor's cause, a losing bet from the start. Successor Chou's outmatched, always has been—Fairy Lith crushes her in every way. Recent events played through Enzo's mind: The brief hope when rumors claimed Successor Lith, returning from Deerspring Town, was said to be gravely wounded, her cultivation root shattered—Chou's faction had rejoiced prematurely. Now came the crushing news: not only was Fairy Lith unharmed, but she'd achieved a breakthrough, her cultivation power not only intact but sharpened by a breakthrough. The implications were clear as winter frost, like a blade to Wraithbone's heart, dread gnawing at Enzo's core. A political death sentence, now that Lith faction's star was ascendant again. Sect Law Article VII: Any Sect Successor reaching Nascent Soul Stage would be crowned Holy Sovereign. Should Fairy Lith, her highness, ascend first... Enzo Dawnwick's jaw tightened imperceptibly. She'll claim the throne of Holy Saintess, become the young overlord of the entire Abyss Pit Sect. With Fairy Lith's grudge with Successor Chou, she will bury her enemy—and us. Not all of Successor Chou's supporters would perish, but their futures wither like plucked flowers, their influence gutted. Thus, Enzo Dawnwick had no intention to crush Lordi Payne completely outright. Just a gesture, A token effort satisfied Miu Tyanh's command—why risk his own neck? After all, Lord Miu's brother was dead, not his. At Enzo's behest, the plot against Lordi Payne faded, left unresolved, a loose thread in the sect's web. —— Far away on the Alchemy Peak, in the Lab Hotel's D-Grade lab room, Lordi Payne toiled in seclusion. He ate, slept, and worked within the room, leaving him completely unaware of the Dawnwick brothers' shadows or their schemes. The room's stone walls glowed faintly, the hum of Kinson Wexford's superior Dao furnace filling the air as he refined Bone Tempering Pills. Lordi Payne flexed his fingers, sensing the stagnant swirl of spirit energy in his meridians—still lodged stubbornly at the peak of the sixth-layer Qi Refinement Stage. The room smelled of herbs and molten metal, a testament to Lordi Payne's month-long seclusion. Lordi Payne sat cross-legged before the furnace, sweat beading on his brow, as the AllFullOS System chimed, its mechanical voice cutting through the silence. ~ Ding! System Notification Chime ~ [AllFullOS: Version 1.0.0] > Cultivation session status: COMPLETE > Host control: RESTORED > Thank you for using the All-Smart Full-Host Cultivation SystemTM (AllFullOS v1.0.0) > Feedback request: - We value your opinion! (No, really, we do.) - If you are satisfied with our service, please give us a five-star rating. > Tap to Rate: [☆☆☆☆☆] Lordi frowned, flexed his fingers, sensing his spirit power—still stubbornly locked at the sixth-layer Qi Refinement peak, unchanged despite weeks of grueling effort. He tapped a curt three-star rating, exhaling sharply. Barely progress. Again. [AllFullOS: Version 1.0.0] > [★★★☆☆] > Submitted. Thanks for your feedback. "The gap to seventh-layer is a chasm," Lordi muttered, voice low, tinged with frustration. His mind traced the arduous path here: - 30 premium-level Bone Tempering Pills to climb from fourth to fifth Layer. - Absorbing the Dao Flame's power from the Ice Pith Fire fusion to breach the sixth Layer. Now? More than three hundred legendary-level pills consumed, one full month of nonstop alchemy and relentless cultivation... only to hover at the threshold. The furnace's glow seemed to mock him, its heat a mirror to his simmering impatience. "Two more days," Lordi rose, stretching stiff limbs, then wiping sweat from his brow, calculating. "maybe three, and I'll break through to seventh-layer." he reasoned, voice steady but edged with urgency. "But my spirit stones are bleeding dry. Time to visit Senior Brother Wexford—offload these pills for $tones." He patted his storage pouch, heavy with stockpiled elixirs. Work hard, pay the debt, stay safe. —— Hours later, Withered Orchid Villa. The lovely villa was buzzed with life, its jade-tiled roofs gleaming under the noon sun, surrounded by blooming orchids that filled the air with a heady, sweet scent. The villa's halls glowed with polished amber wood, their warmth a stark contrast to the Lab Hotel's cold stone. Kinson Wexford greeted Lordi at the entrance, his presence radiant, his dark robes crisp, his aura thrumming with robust vitality. A spark of joy danced in his eyes, his smile wide and genuine, a far cry from their last meeting's restrained courtesy. "Yo! Junior Brother Payne!" Kinson's voice was warm, ushering Lordi to a cushioned seat in a sunlit chamber. His mood was infectious, his energy almost tangible. Before Lordi could speak, Kinson leaned forward, grinning. "I was about to summon you. If you don't come today, I will send disciples to find you in one or two. Here—your share." With deliberate motion, Kinson drew a single gleaming spirit stone from his storage pouch. He slid it across the polished wooden table, and the $tone came to rest beside Lordi's hand. Huh? Just one? Stunned for a moment, Lordi Payne blinked. His confusion lasted only until he lift it, feeling the thrumming density of its energy. Unlike the dull glow of common spirit $tones, it's spirit energy dense, almost pulsing like a captured star. Kinson chuckled, reading his expression. "That's a C-grade spirit $tone, Junior Brother. One C-stone equals ten thousand D-grade stones." He leaned back, casual but proud. "Your sect-issued pouch wouldn't hold 10,000 D$t—too bulky. So, I converted it for you." Awe washing over Lordi Payne. "My thanks, Senior Brother Wexford!" he said, voice quick with gratitude. His mind raced, fingers trembled around the crystal. "Legendary-level Bone Tempering Pills fetch this much?" The math staggered him. His 30% cut of their venture had yielded 10,000 D$t in weeks. Holy mother abyss! That's faster than robbing a vault!