Under the command of the Emperor, Kairos was escorted to meet the Royal Palace Guards, where he directed them to the location where they sunk the Phantoms' corpses.

He obediently handed them the perfume which could ward off the toxins in the swamp and divulge the location of the perfumer who could continue to provide a supply. He thought to himself, how the fate of the perfumer has changed because of this day.

He had to be very careful with every word he says to the Emperor.

The whole time, during the audience, Kairos did not mention a single thing about them swiping clean the Phrixus' royal treasury. The news of them cleaning out a nation's funds would only bring the greed of many, and even in the best cases, they will have to hand the valuables they took over to Emperor Galahad.

Afterwards, Kairos excused himself from the palace. The search of the corpses would still take a while to finish before they could verify his word.

Before the group left Saint City, Kairos paid a visit to his employees at the local magistrate dungeons.

When Xuan Xian and the others saw him, a sense of relief entered their hearts.

If the young master has returned, then we will be let out soon!

Such a thought ran through the minds of many of them. There are a few among the staff that do not know Kairos well and did not place such a hope upon him. After all, he is only a 13 years old boy.

However, for most others, they have absolute confidence in him, because they either met Kairos directly and seen his brilliance with their own eyes or heard of all the boy's achievements through their own children or friends.

"Y..young master!" Several of them called out to him when he came next to their cells, escorted by Serge.

As a local guard, and one of the most successful tax collectors around, Serge is in fact highly favoured by his superiors. Using this favour he had brought Kairos in when usually a person will need to apply for a visit and wait a few days for their request to be processed.

Having profited several times because of Kairos, Serge actually did not want to imprison the boy's employees, but nevertheless, he could not bend the rules.

He looked at Kairos with concern, then said, "Don't worry young master, even if I can't get them out, they will be treated well while they are in here."

"Yes young master, don't worry about us, we old fellows are fine anywhere." Someone said.

The others quickly joined in, trying to alleviate the grimness that had appeared on Kairos' face, "With so many of us here, it's not even cold at night."

"We also get to take a break from work. It's like a vacation."

"They actually serve us meat in here. Can you believe it?"

The guys spoke up one after another to ease Kairos' unhappiness. Surprisingly, he quickly recovered enough to smile, but it wasn't because of their words. Looking at their appearance, he could determine that they indeed received the maximum care within Serge's power.

He nodded at Serge, thanking him, then promised everyone, "We'll get you out soon. Just hold on for a bit longer."

Then, he turned and left for his manor at Rutea village, his eyes blazing with anger.

Awaiting the royal guards to confirm the rumours of the Phantom's eradication, Kairos is left with some time to cultivate. However, a thought surfaced and left him curious.

Walking through the halls of his manor, Kairos descended a set of hidden stairs down to a secret compartment.

This place he has come to may not be the crux in solving his immediate predicaments, but it would hold a great deal to decide their future steps.

Within that hidden room, Kairos walked to an unassuming wall at the corner.

He tapped the stone and unveiled a trap door.

"Hmmm, father's friend did an impressive job on building this" Kairos mused.

He noticed the bareness of the secret compartment and promised himself to properly furnish the place to provide a proper cover before opening the trap door.

The moment he unbolted the door, Aisa excitedly jumped out of his robe pocket and bounced in ahead of him.

Following behind, he entered a huge basement, as large as his manor and almost as deep as the building is tall.

It is a secret compartment behind a secret compartment. And within this place, a swarm of colourful dragonlings, slightly over a hundred in number, flew about freely. And in their midst, Aisa is happily chasing after those closest to her.

When he entered the room, the dragons that saw him, could not help but excitedly cooed and dove towards him. In a sense, he is the one that gave them life, and they see him as their parent.

These tiny celestial beasts are the ones that Kairos had sent into each of the weapons he sold. But when blades broke, the dragons will escape from it and search for Kairos.

However, Aisa had been sending them back with a mental image to the manor, whenever a new dragonlings arrive. With their speed, they travelled quickly across empires without being seen by anyone, and have since lived in the basement of Kairos' house.

As celestial beasts, they did not need to consume food, but eating will strengthen them. Unfortunately, there is nothing for them in this place. Moreover, the spiritual energy in the Mortal Realm is measly, causing them to be much smaller compared to the twin dragonlings that are on Kairos' person.

He marvelled at the unbelievable amount of dragons flying in this area, knowing how kings would kill for just one of them.

For now, he has no plans to use such a large fleet of dragons.

"At least Aisa has found playmates in the manor."

My new pets?

"No."

Kairos went back upstairs and informed the others of the dragons that has come to live in their abode. At first, the others were excited on hearing that more has appeared, but when they saw a ridiculous number of dragons in the basement, no one was able to speak.

The sheer number of dragons in the room, and their presence as celestial beasts rooted the group to the ground.

For Kairos, he had an easier time, having been used to Aisa, a primordial dragon, snuggling against him all the time.

But the others couldn't help feeling overwhelmed.

"They... they've made a nest here?" Tommy was the one that spoke first.

The boys had all asked Snow about dragons after Aisa appeared, and they already have a basic understanding of these magnificent creatures. But Tommy being the one who talked to Snow the most actually has the most knowledge on dragons than the rest of them, and he knew the implications before his eyes.

These divine beasts are similar to Aisa who is a Primordial Dragon, being one of the three progenitor forms of all True Dragons. The Serpent-type, the Winged-type and the Brute-type.

However, unlike Aisa who controls the laws which bind the Holy element, these dragonlings created from Kairos' Ki do not have such ability and are called the Ancestor Dragons.

Tommy knows precisely, just how special Aisa is, that made Snow swear fealty of her entire clan to Kairos.

She had told Tommy privately that there are only sixteen Primordial Dragons in existence, and each controls one such 'law' of a different element. They can neither be destroyed nor replaced, as long as the Heavenly Laws remains.

The Wyrms, Serpents and Wyverns spotted in Saint Empire are creatures born with diluted draconic blood, the descendants of True Dragons.

The Wyrms are 4 legged wingless creatures, which boasts of powerful strength and stamina. The Dragon Horse and the Land Wyrm that the boys have met before are both from the Wyrm family, the Brute-type.

The Serpents have elongated bodies, and they can roam in any sort of terrain. These creatures slither through Magma Rivers and winter oceans alike. They often are controllers of nature's elements, and some even have powerful venoms feared by all.

The Wyverns are creatures with both feet and wings, descended from the Winged-type True Dragons. Most of them only have a pair of wings, though a powerful and rare variant, called the Drake, has 2 or more pairs of wings.

Besides being the progenitors of True Dragons, the nest of these dragonlings will turn into a treasure trove as they grow larger. Every scale they shed, every old claw they replace, and every tooth they drop, have immeasurable worth.

And when the Ancestor Dragons grow bigger, they would be able to spare droplets of lifeblood. At that time, a single phial could create a Triple S cultivator immediately, an item that is rare even in the Divine Realms.

.....

A few days later, the Emperor had confirmed the truth behind Kairos' words, and as promised, he officiated the rewards that Kairos and his group will receive.

Each recipient will be awarded their titles, land, symbols of power and some treasures, at a later date.

To celebrate this, Kairos scheduled for a conferment party a week later, barely enough time for the nobles to respond. He daringly invited all the nobles, major or minor, that resides close to Saint City.

But because of the three families: the Steel Rose family, the Devilheart family, and the Hope family, many nobles were concerned for accepting this invitation. It is clear that these three families with power, fame and wealth, are far from friendly with the newly created Astroire house.

These nobles have already forgotten that merely months ago, they had tried fervently to invite him to their homes after seeing the Star Rune Weapons the boy created.

However, Kairos could understand their change. The three families are far too dangerous for any noble to tactlessly offend.

When the Devilheart family declared their disapproval towards attending the ball, many noble families decided to boycott.

In response, Kairos invited the three families to the party, much to the surprise of everyone.

Compared to the Astroire house, any of them have a far richer history and greater depths of power. Therefore, just as Kairos expected, they accepted the invitations, not daring to risk being ridiculed by the other nobles as cowards who turn down the offer of a young noble house which they deemed inferior.

With the trio attending the ball, those families that previously remained neutral changed their minds to participate as well, and quickly filled Kairos' guest list.