Chapter 332: Shattered Pride

Chapter 332: Chapter 332: Shattered Pride

Chapter 332: Shattered Pride

The words struck the mountain peak like a thunderbolt.

"Grandmaster Korryn!" Xarion, the Patriarch of the Draventhor Imperial Family, immediately stepped forward, "Do not push it too far! His Majesty has already granted you rightful compensation! To demand the Alchemy Emperor to kneel is to shame the entire Royal Court!"

Aelthas, the Lytheren Patriarch, also frowned deeply. "Lord Marcellis is the face of our dynasty’s alchemy! If he kneels, the prestige of the Solathane Dynasty will be severely damaged! Be magnanimous, Grandmaster. Take the compensation and step down gracefully."

Even Emperor Haldrion’s benevolent smile vanished.

Even Emperor Haldrion frowned deeply, his majestic aura pressing down slightly.

"Grandmaster," Haldrion spoke up. "Please, let us leave this matter here. Lord Marcellis is an elder of the Royal Court on par with our ancestors. His kneeling would shame the Imperial Families. Let us resolve this with grace."

Hundreds of millions of spectators held their breath.

The Emperor was openly negotiating! Surely, the Grandmaster would take the out and avoid making mortal enemies of the Imperial Families!

But Rhain didn’t even think for a second.

"Grace?" Rhain retorted fearlessly. "Where was this grace when your Royal Court issued a decree to slaughter everyone affiliated with my Pavilion? Where was this grace when he falsely branded my life’s work as demonic poison?"

Rhain took a step forward, his voice booming like divine thunder across the hundreds of millions of projection arrays.

"My Celestial Elixir Pavilion lost its reputation and the trust of the people because of his false words! Now, he must take responsibility for it!" Rhain demanded ruthlessly. "KNEEL!"

"YOU IMPUDENT—!" Lucius finally lost his control, roaring as he stepped forward to defend the Royal Court’s dignity.

"HOLD!"

A trembling voice suddenly interrupted.

Everyone turned in shock.

Marcellis stepped forward. He looked as though he had aged another century in the past ten minutes. His shoulders were slumped, and his ancient eyes were devoid of their former arrogance.

"Lord Marcellis!" Haldrion frowned deeply. "You do not need to do this. Royal Court will protect your dignity."

"No, Your Majesty," Marcellis whispered softly, shaking his head.

"I lost fair and square. And I must bear the consequences of my ignorance."

Marcellis walked slowly toward Rhain.

Then, under the utterly horrified, stunned gazes of Emperor Haldrion, Crown Prince Lucius, the Imperial Patriarchs, and hundreds of millions of citizens across the dynasty...

Thud.

Alchemy Emperor Marcellis’s knees hit the polished stone floor.

The God of Alchemy of the Solathane Dynasty had actually kneeled!

A collective gasp of sheer disbelief echoed across the entire dynasty.

"I... I was arrogant," Marcellis spoke, his voice trembling, yet echoing clearly through the projection arrays. "I let my own ignorance and jealousy blind me. I falsely believed that flawless pills were a demonic impossibility, simply because I was incapable of refining them."

He bowed his head, staring at the floor.

"I apologize to Grandmaster Korryn, to the Celestial Elixir Pavilion, and to the entire dynasty. My words were a baseless, malicious lie born from my own inadequacy."

The confession shattered the last remaining idols of the Royal Court’s infallibility.

Haldrion closed his eyes, his fists clenched tightly behind his back.

The humiliation to the throne was immeasurable, but he could not act against a man who had won a fair, public duel.

Rhain looked down at the kneeling old man, his expression remaining coldly indifferent.

He had achieved exactly what he came here for.

Rhain turned on his heel, preparing to leave the mountain peak.

"Wait!"

Marcellis cried out suddenly.

Rhain paused, glancing back over his shoulder.

Marcellis had not stood up.

Instead, the eight-hundred-year-old monster placed his hands flat on the stone floor and pressed his forehead firmly against the ground in a formal, deeply sacred kowtow.

Rhain’s eyes narrowed slightly. "What are you doing?"

"Grandmaster Korryn," Marcellis pleaded, his voice breaking with overwhelming reverence. "I have spent my entire life as a frog at the bottom of a well, believing I had seen the whole sky. But today, you have allowed me to see the true vastness of the heavens."

The old man pressed his forehead to the floor once more.

"Please... I beg of you! Accept me as your disciple!"

The hundreds of millions of people watching across the thousands of projection arrays completely forgot how to breathe.

What were they witnessing?

Alchemy Emperor Marcellis!

The eight-hundred-year-old monster who sat at the untouchable apex of the Solathane Dynasty’s alchemical hierarchy!

If he were to simply announce that he was looking for a disciple, every single Grandmaster Alchemist in the entire dynasty would crawl on their hands and knees from the borders of the dynasty all the way to the Royal Capital just to beg for a chance to sweep his floors.

Yet, this very same man, a living deity of alchemy, was currently pressing his forehead against the cold stone, desperately begging another man to take him as a disciple!

"Am I dreaming?" a rogue cultivator muttered, slapping his own face so hard it left a red handprint.

"Alchemy Emperor... is begging to be a disciple?"

"Grandmaster Korryn is truly a god descending upon the mortal realm!"

The Royal Grandmasters standing at the edge slumped onto the ground, their minds completely shattered.

Lucius staggered backward, his handsome face twisting into an indescribably ugly expression.

Emperor Haldrion’s majestic face visibly twitched.

The Imperial Patriarchs—Xarion, Aelthas, and Skyran—stared at the kneeling figure with dumbfounded expressions.

Even Rhain felt a flicker of surprise.

He had never expected an eight hundred years old Alchemy Emperor to completely throw away his dignity and beg to become a disciple.

Rhain looked down at the trembling figure of Marcellis.

For a brief moment, he actually considered it.

Having the Royal Court’s supreme alchemist as a subordinate would instantly grant him an untouchable status.

But Rhain’s rational mind immediately poured cold water over the idea.

He cannot accept it.

First and foremost, he was not a true Alchemy Emperor.

He didn’t actually possess the knowledge required to guide an eight-hundred-year-old monster who was already an Alchemy Emperor.

He simply had nothing to teach him.

More importantly, Marcellis was an ancient, cunning fox who had lived for nearly a millennium.

If such an experienced man stayed by his side day and night, it would only be a matter of time before Marcellis noticed the discrepancies.

He might even see through the disguise and uncover that "Grandmaster Korryn" was actually the nineteen-year-old wanted fugitive, Rhain Voss.

Finally, Rhain had no intention of remaining in the Imperial Capital.

He had to return to Valdris City.

"Stand up," Rhain’s majesty voice echoed with indifference.

Marcellis slowly raised his head, his ancient eyes filled with hope.

"Grandmaster... will you accept me?" Marcellis pleaded.

Rhain simply shook his head.

"No."

The single word dropped like a second nuclear bomb onto the mountain peak.

"I will not accept you as my disciple," Rhain stated bluntly.

The collective sanity of the Solathane Dynasty shattered once again.

HE REFUSED!!!

He actually refused the Alchemy Emperor!

"He rejected him without even thinking about it!"

"He just tossed aside the greatest alchemist of the Royal Court like a piece of worthless trash!"

The entire dynasty was struck dumb by the sheer arrogance of the rejection.

To turn away a supreme asset like Marcellis without a second of hesitation—what kind of impossibly high standards did Grandmaster Korryn possess?

Kneeling on the ground, Marcellis’s shoulders trembled.

But he did not look angry or humilated.

Instead, a look of realisation appeared on his face.

"I... I understand," Marcellis thought, a miserable, self-deprecating smile brushing his lips. ’How could a supreme existence like him ever accept a vile, jealous old fool who tried to destroy his life’s work?’

Marcellis firmly believed that Rhain was refusing him as a punishment for the malicious slander he had endorsed against the Celestial Elixir Pavilion.

It was his karma. And he had to accept it.

"I understand, Grandmaster," Marcellis bowed his head one last time, his voice hollow with regret. "This old man was unworthy."

Slowly, with the help of his trembling Royal Grandmasters, Marcellis stood up and retreated.

Rhain withdrew his gaze from the old man.

He turned his head to look at Vulcan and others.

They were in a miserable state.

Their bodies were covered in severe burns, and their auras were dangerously weak after forcefully absorbing the fourth strike of the Emperor’s Pill Tribulation.

Rhain felt a trace of genuine gratitude.

They had put their lives on the line for him.

"Vulcan," Rhain ordered. "We are leaving this place."

"Yes, Master!" Vulcan coughed, struggling to push himself up.

The remaining men weakly supported each other, preparing to depart.

But just as Rhain took his first step toward the edge of the mountain peak—

"Grandmaster Korryn, please wait."

An authoritative voice halted his footsteps.

Rhain paused, turning his head.

Emperor Haldrion had stepped forward.

The supreme ruler of the Solathane Dynasty stood with a polite smile gracing his regal features.

"Grandmaster," Haldrion spoke, a warm, perfectly diplomatic smile on his face. "You have traveled a vast distance to grace our Imperial Capital with your presence. To let you depart immediately after such a monumental duel would be a grievous failure of our hospitality."

Haldrion gestured gracefully toward the distant, towering golden spires of the Royal Palace.

"It would be a great shame upon the Solathane Dynasty if we did not offer you the utmost respect. Please, allow the Royal Court to host you and your brave subordinates. A grand banquet is already being prepared in your honor."

Haldrion’s eyes shifted to the bleeding, struggling Domain Masters.

"Your men are severely injured from the Heavenly Tribulation. Allow my royal healers to tend to their wounds."

Rhain could clearly see what the Emperor was doing.

Haldrion was desperately trying to salvage the Royal Court’s face after their greatest alchemist had just been publicly humiliated.

More importantly, Haldrion wanted to bind him to the capital, to pull the unfathomable Grandmaster Korryn into the Imperial Family’s sphere of influence.

Rhain’s eyes narrowed slightly.

It was an impeccably crafted invitation.

If he refused now, after the Emperor had already conceded the duel, retracted the decree, and offered to heal his men, it would make him appear unreasonably hostile and arrogant.

More importantly, Rhain looked at Vulcan, Luka, Dex, and the others. They were in critical condition.

They needed immediate rest in a peaceful environment.

Furthermore, stepping into the Royal Palace would give him the perfect opportunity to scout the stronghold of his greatest enemies.

Rhain looked back at Emperor Haldrion.

"Since His Majesty is offering such profound hospitality," Rhain replied "it would be rude of me to refuse."

Rhain gave a faint nod.

"Lead the way."

Haldrion’s smile widened into a look of satisfaction, "Excellent. The Royal Court is honored."