Chapter 152: Success

[Aetheldawn’s Mansion.]

​"Phew."

​Asher sighed in relief as he slowly raised his palm from Sara’s body, a thick, black liquid substance trailing his fingers like an inverted thread of liquid shadow.

​"Mmm..."

​Juliana turned her head toward Sara, her heart aching at the pained expression breaking across her face as Sara bit her lip, trying to hold back from screaming aloud.

​"Almost."

​Asher announced, raising his hand higher, and with one final, smooth pull, extracted the last drop of the black poison entirely from her body.

​Juliana turned her gaze to the floating toxin in absolute shock, her eyes wide as Asher skillfully compressed the volatile liquid into a perfectly dense ball floating right above his open hand.

​"That... This is impossible." Juliana muttered, her voice trembling slightly.

​"What happened?" Asher turned to her, a bit confused by the intense terror painted across her features.

​Juliana stared at the pitch-black liquid poison with a gaze reserved for nightmarish horrors, then turned to Sara, who was still resting between them on the mattress, her chest heaving as she breathed heavily in relief.

​"How on earth did she hold such a poison inside her for three entire years?" Juliana added, her face turning visibly pale.

​"It seems you recognize this poison... What is it?" Asher asked, his eyes fixing intently on Juliana.

​"This is the Soul Annihilation Poison... It directly destroys the soul of an Awakened. Even a single drop of this substance is insanely dangerous and deadly—it can easily dissolve an SSS-Rank powerhouse into a lifeless husk within twenty-four hours. But..."

​"--Sara held this much inside her, and for a whole three years," Asher muttered, turning his gaze back down to Sara, his eyes filled with absolute disbelief.

​If this poison was truly that lethal, how was Sara still breathing? Was her Diamond Body Physique truly that absurdly durable, passively shielding her very soul from being corroded into nothingness?

​"The Soul Annihilation Poison is extraordinarily tricky to formulate. Only an SSS-Rank Alchemist could ever hope to refine such a terrifying substance, and such individuals are absurdly rare in the modern era—you might only see one born in a million years... This is also the exact reason why high-tier pills and recovery potions are insanely expensive in every auction house across the world. Anyway! The only factions that could possibly command or commission an SSS-Rank Alchemist are those with truly terrifying backgrounds."

​"You mean the Starfire family?" Asher surmised coldly.

​"I have to disagree; the Starfire family is undeniably wealthy and strong in Silverspire, but they aren’t anywhere near the stage of being able to summon or command an SSS-Rank Alchemist."

​"Ancient families," Asher muttered under his breath, the realization settling heavily in the room.

​Juliana nodded her head with a grim expression.

​"Sara, which Ancient family sent you an invitation in the past?" Juliana asked, leaning down toward Sara softly.

​Asher turned his full attention to Sara as well. If they could extract this piece of the puzzle, he would finally have a clear, actionable lead on the puppets behind her suffering.

​"What?!!"

​Juliana screamed, her loud yell catching Asher completely off-guard.

​"What happened?!" Asher asked, a sharp eyebrow raised in surprise.

​"Sara... Sara said the Pendragon. The Pendragon Ancient Family! They are the true, undisputed Rulers of the third-biggest country located in the South of the global map, officially known as the Pendragon country."

​"So they literally named an entire country after their family name." Asher slowly nodded his head.

​"Yes, the Pendragon Ancient Family is recognized as the second strongest bloodline, standing right behind the Sylvan Ancient Family. Rumors across the Awakened network say they are the true Rulers of this sky." Juliana added, her eyes flashing with deep worry as she turned back to Sara:

"I am deeply worried about this..."

​"You don’t have to be," Asher said calmly. He turned his gaze down to the swirling, lethal sphere of poison resting on his palm. Without a second thought, he clenched his fingers into a fist—and in the very next instant, allowed the deadly Soul Annihilation Poison to absorb straight into his body through his skin.

​"What are you doing?!!!" Juliana yelled in absolute horror, her already pale face turning even paler as she witnessed his insane action.

​Sara also snapped her head toward him, her widened eyes filled with sheer panic.

​{High amount of Poison Detected.}

{Poison Physique activated.}

{Calculating...}

{Gained 10,000,000 permanent Aether energy increase.}

​’Ten million permanent energy points!!! My goodness, this poison is truly absurdly powerful!’ Asher thought in awe, feeling the immense wave of refined energy rushing through his core. He turned his face toward his two wives’ completely stunned and worried expressions, his tone steady and unshakable:

​"As I said, you don’t have to be scared... With me here, we will eventually get back at every single one of those arrogant families. Our enemies just keep on growing and increasing, and right now, we aren’t yet in a state to recklessly challenge all of them at once."

​He shifted his massive frame, picking up the soft, clean towel already neatly arranged on the bedside table, and gently wrapped it over Sara’s bare body:

​"We will pay them back tenfold... Sara, I think you should go wash up and rest properly." He said softly.

​Sara held the fluffy towel tightly around her frame, giving a quiet nod of deep gratitude. She stood up from the mattress and walked toward the adjoining luxury bathroom, closing the heavy frosted door behind her.

​"Do you know anything more about this Pendragon family?" Asher asked, turning his complete focus back to Juliana.

​"The Pendragon... I don’t possess full intelligence reports on them, but I’ve heard they are terrifyingly powerful..." Juliana paused, organizing her knowledge of the factions:

"You know, each of the Ancient Families maintains personal guards known as the Chosen Knights—these guys are exceptionally powerful, far surpassing ordinary SSS-Rank Awakened. The Pendragon family commands many of these Knights, and their entire military force is notoriously dominant in aerial combat."

​Juliana paused, lost in deep thought for a few seconds before nodding her head firmly:

​"Yes, I also heard another wild rumor which claims almost every pureblood member of their main line possesses a Dragon Physique, and a tiny elite few can even temporarily transform their bodies into complete, living dragons."

​’Transform into actual, complete Dragons?! What the hell?! With such ridiculous, divine-level racial abilities, why on earth are they ranked second? Is Astrid’s Sylvan family truly that unfathomably powerful?’ Asher thought, processing the massive scale of the world’s apex powerhouses as he nodded his head.

​If the Pendragon family could truly metamorphose into dragons, their physical and elemental stats should naturally put them at the absolute peak of the world. Yet they were still fundamentally suppressed by the Sylvan family. Which meant the Sylvan bloodline possessed something that transcended the raw, apocalyptic destruction of a dragon. Asher resolved that he would never blindly mess with any Ancient Family without first acquiring a complete, flawless picture of their true strength.

​Know your enemy, and the victory is already yours.

​"Alright," he nodded his head, cementing his future strategy.

​The heavy bathroom door slowly clicked open, and Sara stepped out into the bedroom, gently wiping her damp white hair with a small hand towel.

​"How are you feeling now?" Juliana quickly jumped down off the bed, rushing straight to her side to support her.

​’Phew, everything has been taken care of smoothly for tonight... I should get some rest myself—’ Asher thought, preparing to stretch out.

​{DING!}

{Wife Sara’s Affection increased by 10%.}

{Current Affection: 70%.}

{DING!!}

{Wife Juliana’s Affection increase by 5%.}

{Current Affection: 95%.}

​"...?!"

​Asher was completely stunned in place, staring blankly at the glowing notification screen hovering in the air before him.