Chapter 2086: Blood Crystal Life Potion

House Grantt was currently situated on one of the most fertile plains in Ashenreach. The surrounding region was rich in underground resources and bordered by several exceptionally vast magic beast forests.

As Sein’s own family, House Grantt now directly controlled at least seven empires and human kingdoms of varying sizes throughout Ashenreach.

As for the smaller kingdoms and factions that fell within its sphere of influence, there were simply too many to count.

With the Divine Tower of Ashes at the heart of the region, more than thirty human nations in the surrounding territories were now under House Grantt’s influence to varying degrees.

Even foreign Land Knights or Sky Knights hoping to establish kingdoms of their own in Ashenreach would usually pay a visit to House Grantt first.

Sein’s rise had indeed lifted the entire House Grantt along with him.

As long as his Divine Tower of Ashes remained firmly rooted in this region, House Grantt’s prosperity would endure.

That said, no established family or faction could rely entirely on a single person forever.

Having one powerful figure at the top was not enough. There also needed to be another figure capable of holding things together when necessary.

Only a family or faction with such a structure could be said to have a truly solid foundation.

For House Grantt, Julius was that figure.

If Julius succeeded in advancing to Rank Four, then even if something happened to Sein again, whether he disappeared for another thousand years or met with some unforeseen accident, House Grantt would not collapse overnight.

The first Rank Four knight in the family’s history... For nearly a thousand years, this had become something of an obsession for House Grantt.

Julius had only one chance left. If he failed again, the family would have no choice but to throw its full support behind Isaac’s attempt to advance to Rank Four instead.

In terms of raw potential, Isaac was undoubtedly superior to Julius. He had also reached the Demigod Realm far more quickly.

Even so, both Sein and most members of House Grantt still hoped Julius would be the one to succeed first. He was, after all, the founder of House Grantt.

To the countless descendants who had come after him, there was a special meaning in seeing the man who had founded their family become its first Rank Four knight and lead House Grantt to even greater heights.

Sein’s reasons were much simpler. Compared with Isaac, he naturally cared far more about Julius and Kelman.

To Sein, Isaac was little more than a distant relative he barely knew.

On the journey back to House Grantt, Sein thought things over and ultimately decided to bring only Sev with him.

Originally, Sein and the others could simply have taken an airship or flown there themselves.

Sev, however, showed a rare streak of stubbornness and insisted on carrying Sein back personally.

Although its body had aged and its feathers had lost much of their former luster, the old owl remained an imposing sight whenever it revealed its true form.

Standing upon Sev’s broad back, Sein passed through layer after layer of clouds. Below them, lush forests, sprawling plains, and stretches of farmland gradually came into view.

Looking at the familiar scenery, Sein suddenly said, “I just remembered the first time I returned to House Grantt. It was only the two of us back then too.”

Sev let out a hoot as it flew, seemingly reminiscing about those distant days as well.

A smile appeared on Sein’s face as another memory surfaced. “I also remember you getting knocked out of the sky by a Quasi Mage’s spell back then,” he said.

Hoot. Hoot.

A spark of liveliness flashed through Sev’s aged eyes.

***

House Grantt’s sprawling estate, along with its enormous white jade lion statue, seemed even more majestic than Sein remembered.

Calling it an estate hardly seemed appropriate. It was practically a castle.

There were now more than ten thousand people carrying the bloodline of House Grantt.[1] Even so, more than a hundred thousand people lived within the castle grounds. Most of them served the members of House Grantt.

No matter how Sein looked at it, the enormous white jade lion statue before him bore a certain resemblance to the Reverse Winged Lion King.

What gave him pause was that the unruly magic beast itself did not possess even a tenth of the noble bearing exuded by this enormous statue.

Sev eventually descended and landed right on the tip of the lion statue’s nose.

As Sein arrived at House Grantt, at least two hundred lion-type magic beasts came charging out from within and around the estate, each carrying a knight on its back.

Nearly half of those lions even had wings growing from their backs.

Together, these lion knights formed the honor guard House Grantt had assembled to welcome Sein.

The Reverse Winged Lion King’s reproductive ability was truly astonishing.

Sein had yet to father even a single child, while the Reverse Winged Lion King was rumoured to have already spread its seed across more than ten magic beast forests.

The carefully selected lion knights before him generally possessed the strength of Quasi Knights, with some having even reached Rank One.

Their presence alone was enough to demonstrate House Grantt’s current strength.

Jefferson Grantt, the current head of House Grantt, had originally planned to hold a grand welcoming banquet for Sein.

Unfortunately for him, Sein had no interest in attending such an event. He had it cancelled outright and, accompanied only by Sev, headed straight for the secluded retreat of his great-grandfather, Julius.

A vast rock garden had served as Julius’ secluded retreat for nearly a thousand years.

Upon arriving, Sein made his way directly toward the very centre.

There, sprawled lazily across a broad expanse of white jade, was the Reverse Winged Lion King.

The enormous lion still measured more than ten metres in length, but after so many years apart, it had clearly aged considerably.

The once-mighty magic beast had grown so thin that it was almost skin and bones, while its fur had become dry and somewhat dishevelled.

After using the power of its blood pact to replenish Julius with a large amount of life essence, the Reverse Winged Lion King had also entered the twilight of its own life.

Yet the Demigod-level lion seemed surprisingly carefree about it. There was not the slightest trace of gloom or despondency on its face.

Upon seeing Sein and Sev, the Reverse Winged Lion King lazily raised its head.

“I heard those little ones had just gone out to welcome you. I didn’t expect you to get here so quickly.”

By then, Sev had already shrunk its wingspan back down to about a metre. It landed on the Reverse Winged Lion King’s somewhat gaunt shoulder.

The enormous lion turned its head to glance at Sev, then let out a low whistle in greeting.

A gust of warm breath rushed from its nostrils, ruffling Sev’s feathers.

Sev answered with two soft hoots.

An old lion and an old owl. The two actually made quite a pair.

Sein first took a moment to examine the Reverse Winged Lion King’s condition. He peered closely into its eyes for quite some time before drawing a vial of blood from it on the spot.

After checking its condition, Sein took out several Blood Crystal Potions his mentor had left him and quickly used them to concoct a few vials of a diluted version of the Blood Crystal Life Potion.

He handed them to the Reverse Winged Lion King.

“If the concentration of Blood Crystal essence is too high, it’ll do you more harm than good. This dosage should be about right. Try these first,” Sein said as he patted the lion’s mane. “They should help restore some of your vitality.”

The Reverse Winged Lion King gave the vials a deep sniff. Its eyes immediately lit up as it stared at the potions in Sein’s hand and licked its lips.

“Good stuff.”

After taking care of the Reverse Winged Lion King, Sein turned his attention toward the enormous rock garden behind it.

A dimly lit stone cave stood at its centre.

That was where Julius was. Even from outside, Sein could already sense the faint aura emanating from within.

Sein patted one of the Reverse Winged Lion King’s massive paws. “I’m going to check on Great-Grandfather.”

“Go ahead. He’s right inside,” the Reverse Winged Lion King replied indistinctly, having curled its tongue around the potions Sein had prepared.

It paused for a moment, but did not bother transforming into human form just to take a few potions.

Instead, it simply rolled the vials into its mouth, slowly chewed through the test tubes, and swallowed everything.

As Sein disappeared into the stone cave, the Reverse Winged Lion King continued chewing and glanced at Sev, who was still perched on its shoulder.

“I’m just trying not to waste anything,” it explained.

Sev answered with another soft hoot.

1. Author’s Note: Of course, the descendants of powerful families generally did not have particularly high birth rates. To preserve the quality of their bloodlines, their primary marriage partners were often chosen from other noble houses with similarly strong bloodlines. ☜