Emperor's Reckoning

The teardrop tattoo on his forehead was starking as he contemplated it with his own mind. His cultivation was far superior to his common peers and only a handful of them could admit that they were better than him. However, what had transpired back in Alchemy Union still haunts him.

Azleid was seated, alone in his room. He looked at his palm slowly becoming moist from his own sweat as he remembered a few days prior.

The tremendous killing intent made his soul chained, his hairs curled, and his skin crawled. He was pretty close to the source and was on the verge of losing his consciousness. The devastating presence was like no other.

“Young master,” a call was heard outside from his room.

“What?”

“A jade light passed by and was heading toward the Sky Clan.”

“Hmm?” Azleid raised his chin, “Mavis is back.”

“We have not yet discovered it, but most likely so.”

“Understood, leave,” said Azleid before he heard the steps turn faint as they left the place.

“Mavis is back,” Azleid stood up. “I should make a visit.”

…

Sixth Heaven, Red Lotus.

The lady of the Red Lotus was taking a stroll with fellow girls giggling behind her.

“What do you find funny?” Ning asked with a smile.

“We are just trying to guess who would wed you one day,” said one of the girls.

“Yeah! Who would be lucky enough to have the hand of the Red Lotus’s beauty,” another one added.

“Maybe it’s young master Yuri? Or is it young master Harbez? There are so many!” added another.

“You guys,” Ning smiled wryly before she caught something with her glance. She looked up and saw a striking jade light piercing the sky. Her eyes squinted.

“That’s most likely, young master Mavis,” said one of the girls.

“Yeah, I’ve heard he has not come back yet from the trip! Oh, that reminds me, what did you buy there, Miss Ning?”

“Huh?” Ning looked at her before she smiled. “I wonder.”

“Teaser!”

Ning chuckled as she turned before her face turned ghastly.

The figure of the young man flashed by her mind as she gritted her teeth. The unfathomable presence as he surprised her by ascending to the highest floor despite being the lowest level of an alchemist, the way he carried himself with his group, and especially the towering auburn woman that itched her fists. (Just you wait!!).

…

The jade light streaked past the sky before crashing inside a room through a window.

“Ugh!” Mavis burped. “Wow, that sure is not the best time to use the Returning Jade Stone.”

“You tell me.”

“Eh?” Mavis turned before he saw a middle-aged man sitting with his legs crossed. He had shorter hair but the color of his hair was roughly the same as his. “Father?”

“That’s patriarch for you.”

“Hehe, sorry patriarch.”

His father took a deep breath, “So, that’s very unusual of you.”

“What’s so unusual?”

“Never mind, so I await your story.”

“Story? What do you mean?”

The patriarch unfolded his legs before he stood up. He walked toward the window with his hands behind his back, “I’ve heard that Azleid and Ning bought nothing from Alchemy Union, I take it you hogged all of it?”

“Oh, that? Hahaha!”

The patriarch frowned before he turned. “You’re not wasting our money, are you?”

“What? Wait, let me, hahaha!” Mavis clutched his stomach before he rolled around. Suddenly he felt a burst of stomach acid crawling up to his esophagus before his eyes bulged. (Shit! I can’t hold it!) he puked.

His father was dumbfounded. It was so bizarre, he didn’t expect his laugh would result in a puke. “Are you, alright?”

“I-I’m fine, it’s just that, I just ate and used the Returning Jade Stone plus the roll—?!” His cheeks puffed before he puked once more.

His father couldn’t bear looking at his son and averted his glance back toward the window. “Are you done?”

“I’m,—!!” he threw up again. “Alright, I’m done.”

The patriarch sighed, “What did you buy?” (Why did my wife give birth to a hyper-active cat).

“I-I bought nothing,” Mavis answered whilst slowly getting up.

“Hmm?” the patriarch turned. “What do you mean?”

“Did they not tell you anything?” asked Mavis.

“You know that this information is obtained discreetly, they didn’t even know that we know.”

“Then they had told no soul about it, but surely their guards spoke something.”

“They did,” the patriarch turned. “But I find it hard to believe that it’s true. They must have started to learn that we are ‘eavesdropping’ on them.”

Mavis shook his head, “I was there, father, the First Hall of the Alchemy Union was destroyed, furthermore with a single fist.”

“What?” The patriarch had his eyes widened. “A single fist you say?”

“A single fist, father,” Mavis nodded with a grin.

“You don’t look like you’re joking,” muttered the patriarch. “Who is it?”

“His name is Lyon,” Mavis crossed his arms, “I must say, with his strength, he’ll be known in no time.”

“Lyon…” His father frowned. “I’ve never heard of him, does he not afraid of offending the Alchemy Union’s massive backing?”

“Not a single shred of fear father,” he shook his head, “In fact, he is the very opposite of that.”

“Hmm…” his father sat back down before contemplating. “Who is he?”

“That’s the thing, I have no idea,” Mavis shook his head. “He sort of comes out of nowhere.”

“Hmm… Do you think it’s worth checking him out?”

“Worth it? Of course! However, I doubt we could,” he shrugged his shoulder as he shook his head before a sigh.

“You doubt?” his father squinted his eyes. “What makes you think that he could evade our espionages?”

“They don’t need to evade,” Mavis shook his head before he opened his narrow eyes and spoke coldly, “They would simply end them.”

His father furrowed his brows before he slightly leaned forward, “Who are ‘they’?”

“His subordinates, I have my gut telling me that they have higher cultivation realms than their boss, yet they listened to him! Furthermore, I once hear them calling him ‘Emperor’.”

“Emperor? How old is he?”

“Roughly the same as me, though, I’m not certain,” Mavis shook his head. “However, that’s not all, his wife was also called ‘Empress\'”

“An emperor, and an empress,” his father muttered. “Then, what other information that you managed to dig out of them?”

“He had a light attribute and is a dual-type cultivator, he could transform through a blessing of mythical creatures, further enhancing his prowess tremendously.”

“Blessing? Which beast?”

“Devil Ape.”

“?! What?!” his father stood up, “Are you certain?! Then, is he from Hell?”

“No, I am fairly certain that he is not, due to the mana surrounding him,” Mavis shook his head. “However, that’s not all, I saw two other beasts as well, though, I cannot discern what they are.”

“How bizarre,” his father sat back down, “What kind of individual is he? Does he look like a threat to us?”

“As long as we don’t offend him,” said Mavis before he grinned. “Though, I make friends with him.”

“Good!” his father nodded, “That’s a good step that you take, if he is as you elaborate, then it would be best to take the future more carefully.”

“But that’s not all, father. He is quite a vulgar man and loves beautiful women, he would even flirt with other women right in front of his own wife.”

“Sounds like a bastard, go on.”

“Yet, they didn’t fight over it, though, one of them seemed to roll her eyes every time he did so,” Mavis laughed.

“I see, he has more than one wife then, do they call them both ’empress’ or is it just one of them?”

“Just one of them.”

“En, is there something more you want to add?”

“There is, in fact, this one might surprise you even more,” Mavis grinned, “The man is superbly powerful but his wife, she is definitely knowledgable.”

“Sounds like a match made in Paradise.”

“That’s not what I meant, I mean the knowledge that his wife has. She even knows the true origin story of the Sky Clan, and briefly talks about our Sky Scripture.”

“What did you say?! What does she know?!”

Mavis shook his head, “I don’t know how deep but she knew about how the Sky Clan was not used to be a Sky Clan, it had a different name.”

“What’s her name?”

“Cecile.”

“Another foreign name,” the patriarch looked away to pacify his nervousness. “I never thought that unknown outsider would know that origin story. Then, about the Sky Scripture, what does she say.”

“She didn’t talk much about it, she just mentioned if I knew it.”

“Everyone knows the Sky Scripture is our ultimate weapon,” said the patriarch before he furrowed his brows, “Interesting, so she doesn’t know that it’s popular, but know our little story.”

Mavis nodded before he added, “They also mentioned Paradise.”

The patriarch of the Sky Clan raised his brows.