Divine Emperor of Death

A few seconds passed. 

The young girl looked at Clara in confusion, wondering why this woman had lied since she could not see or detect her mistress.

Indeed, they had a blood connection and if her mistress was here, she would've known about it.

However, before she could turn angry, she heard the other party speak.

"I apologize, I misspoke." Clara paused as she saw the young girl's expression relax, and only then did she continue, "Your mistress indeed knew that you would come here, so she took my token away, not allowing you to leave the Grand Sea Continent."

The young girl opened her mouth to retort but no words came out of her mouth. She lifted up her hand again and tried to say something but couldn't.

She then sadly mumbled, "But I want to see my mistress..."

'Indeed, she has been kept in the Grand Sea Continent to protect the Ruth Empire just like brother guessed...' Clara inwardly praised her elder brother's intelligence and genuinely smiled.

It was too bad that the young girl was unable to witness Clara smile as she hung her head, otherwise, even if she were to be a magical beast, she would've still been slightly taken aback by Clara's angel-like appearance.

"When did your mistress say that she was coming back?" Clara curiously asked.

She wanted to know if Princess Isabella Ruth came soon to the Grand Sea Continent. If so, she garnered that she could catch a ride and pay whatever compensation she would be asked to pay in exchange for taking her to the First Layer.

The young girl instantly replied as if she didn't doubt that the others would scheme against her or her mistress, "My mistress told me that she would come back once I reach the King Beast Stage..."

Clara's eyes turned into two tiny slits.

"King Beast Stage!? Isn't that the Eighth Stage!?'

Calming herself down, she said, "Oh, you can then strive to become a King Beast Stage Magical Beast in the forthcoming years."

The young girl instantly looked like she was going to cry.

"I... I am no longer making instant progress in my strength..."

"I used up all the spirit stones young mistress left me. As for the ingredients containing spiritual efficacy, it no longer works on me."

The young girl sniffed pitifully as she wiped her nose with her yellow sleeves.

Clara's eyes imperceptibly twitched before it normally stabilized.

"What stage are you at then?"

"Hmm?" The young girl came out of her reverie and answered, "I'm at the Lord Beast Stage..."

'Lord Beast Stage... The Seventh Stage... No wonder I felt so minuscule in front of her, even in front of her tiny stature...' Clara concluded as she inwardly heaved a sigh.

The others also had their brows fiercely tremble once they heard it.

They knew that Grand Beast Stage Magical Beasts were Fifth Stage existences and from the ancient records in the royal library, they also knew that Saint Beast Stage Magical Beasts were Sixth Stage existences.

When the female Earth Dragon told that she should become a King Beast Stage Magical Beast for the mistress to come to pick her up, they were initially confused, thinking that King Beast Stage was the Seventh Stage.

But once they heard the term Lord Beast Stage, they were able to quickly realize that the Lord Beast Stage is the Seventh Stage!

'She should become an Eighth Stage existence for her mistress to pick her up? Who is her mistress? The young girl said that her mistress was from the Ruth Empire... Does that mean that the mistress is Princess Isabella?'

These thoughts rang in their minds, making them think about what secrets did Ruth Empire hide from the entire Grand Sea Continent.

Fortunately, Clara knew that this Earth Dragon didn't possess hostility towards them since the latter belonged to Princess Isabella. 

For the same reason, she had not told the young girl that her brother had taken away the token plate, instead, told that her mistress had taken it away.

Otherwise, there was a possibility that the young girl would be angered, causing disastrous losses to the Loret Empire just from a single yet casual attack.

As the incumbent ruler, Clara didn't want to see such a thing happen, so she lied for the first time in her life!

If there was a thing that she didn't like in the world, it was undoubtedly lies! As someone who could see through lies, she hated lies with a passion!

"If you have nothing else to say, then return to the Ruth Empire..." Clara spoke as it looked like there was nothing else to converse and she didn't want the young girl to roam around since it sounded like a headache.

However...

When the young girl heard Clara's words, her lips widened as she let out a playful smile.

"..." 

Everyone instantly felt something bad about the young girl's smile.

======

Crossing deserted areas, towns, villages, cities, and even magical beast territories, Davis and the entire group of twenty-two made their way towards a location where they could treat Daniuis's injuries.

When Daniuis became awake, his Essence Gathering Cultivation dropped to the Sixth Stage, no longer hovering over the Seventh Stage as it had been before.

It had become obviously clear that Daniuis had overused his Blood Essence to defend against the five domains, resulting in his cultivation becoming weak again.

Ever since his cultivation dropped, his family were both happy and sad.

Happy that they would be able to use Peak-Level Sky Grade Medicinal Pill to heal him completely and sad that his cultivation had regressed.

However, the reality was often disappointing, and simple logic never played a role when it is needed the most.

The Peak-Level Sky Grade Medicinal Pill they fed Daniuis didn't exhibit its effects. It didn't even do anything to cure his pale countenance caused by the low blood vitality. 

They fed another Peak-Level Sky Grade Medicinal Pill with similar effects but that too failed to produce any results.

Daniuis had provided an explanation saying that once a person had regressed from their peak cultivation base, it doesn't necessarily mean that the person can use low-graded medicinal pills to recover from their injuries acquired at their peak state.

"Unlike the Initial Three Grades, the difference between King Grade and Sky Grade is too large to compensate..." Or so Daniuis said as a matter of fact.

With his vague explanation, they can only find a King Grade Medicinal Pill to use on Daniuis.

In this not so resourceful territory, where could they find a King Grade Medicinal Pill?

There were only two such places in the Tripartite Alliance Territory.

One was the Tripartite Alliance Headquarters, and the other was none other the Royal Xuan City.

Royal Xuan City is the capital of the Xuan Empire. It was where Davis made his name as an alchemist using another identity, so it could be said that he had a certain foothold in that place.

All he had to do was return, act like one of his established personas, Alchemist Scythe, and with his connections, ask around for a King Grade Medicinal Pill and purchase it. If he could do so, then healing Daniuis wouldn't be an impossible task.

He garnered that the Thousand Pill Association would be in possession of it.

If the option above failed, he guessed that he could also try participating in a reputable auction.