Amongst the sounds of coughing, the old man calmly drank his tea, as if unaware of everything around, whereas, after a while, Samuel somehow managed to stand up and return to his chair, his legs still shaky.

He looked at the cup of tea on the table in front of him in fear. Next, his eyes turned to the old man. Watching him drink the same tea calmly, he couldn’t help but stare at the teapot with suspicion, as if to burn a hole through it and peer at its insides.

He thought, ‘Is this old man playing a trick on me? Is it one of those teapots that pour multiple things? So was what I drank… poison?’

Samuel’s face paled as he looked at the cup of tea in front of him wordlessly. At the side, the old man shook his head, “Little friend, it seems the tea is not up to your tastes.”

Squinting his eyes, Samuel glared back, arguing, “Is this tea? I drank it and it immediately sucked my energy dry. I don’t have even the slightest Arcana to use, let alone Ki. And worse, when I resisted, that tea forcefully pulled that energy away! It almost crushed my throat! Instead of tea or something, is it a poison instead?”

The old man drinking the tea came to a sudden stop. He looked at Samuel. A wordless pressure made the air turn solid. At the same time, he felt his hair standing on end as a chill ran through his body.

Samuel’s brow twitched. Anger flickered through his eyes. He shouted, “Release me this instant!”

The old man’s eyes grew cold as ice as he asked, “Why should I? You keep spouting nonsense about my tea being a poison or whatnot. So why should I release you even after that? In fact, the fact that your father is William can already be enough justification for this. Don’t you know that? I warned you twice about this, yet you still act so brashly?”

The feeling the old man gave off changed. Unlike the calm elder next door, he now appeared like the forceful monastery head he should be.

Iciness in Samuel’s eyes grew, making him feel as if the world around him was twisting. His heart began beating as loud as a drum, washing away the feeling of icy stiffness through his body using his own warm blood, forcing the Ki within his body to drag and circulate along, forming a complete cycle from his head to toe and back again, filling his body with a deep sense of vitality. At the same time, the three rings on his arcana core began spinning faster, drawing out more and more arcana from his surroundings.

A piercing yellow replaced the azure within his irises. As if possessed, his eyes focused on the old man, filled with an unusually cold light.

With a voice which seemed to be made up of his own voice overlapping with a hoarse voice full of unquestionable dignity, he asked, “Why are you trying to provoke me? Are you really unafraid of the consequences? Descendant of the flame dragon legion?”

The iciness in the old man’s eyes vanished, replaced with a look of reverence. The pressure wrapping around Samuel vanished wordlessly as the old man got up before bowing deeply.

Getting down on one knee while placing his hand on another, the old man spoke, “Your subordinate, Shi Yuan Mo, One hundred and—”

The thing possessing Samuel shook his head. “Stop with meaningless etiquette. I am dead. A dead man needs nothing of that. As for being my subordinate, your progenitors already did more than enough. I can’t ask for any more.”

“T-then what should I do?” the old man asked, his voice shaky.

The thing possessing Samuel smiled. “Why force your old bones so much? Isn’t it better to just sit back and watch? Why force things to happen and force yourself into the resulting implications when they can be avoided? Nature has its natural course and those who wish to go against it must defy it themselves.”

The old man’s eyes widened. His fists clenched. However, the next moment, they relaxed. He bowed. “Thank you, sir. I know what to do.”

The thing possessing Samuel patted the old man’s shoulder. Next instant, Samuel’s body turned limp as he collapsed. His eyes rolled back into their sockets as he fainted immediately.

Picking the unconscious boy up, the old man walked towards his staff at the side. The orb on its top glowed as a withered voice rang out from the staff. “So he really is the prophesied son. It really is an honour to be in his presence. The world is about to undergo a change. It’s just we don’t know if it’s a blessing or a calamity.”

The old man nodded. “Seems that I grew too muddled to see what was in front of me. This was a good reminder. Why draw implications to myself? Why force a change if it isn’t beneficial? At the end of the day, a caged bird can’t fly.”

“You humans are all like that. After a certain age and level, you all like to court death in as fancy a way as possible.” The voice from the staff rang out once more.

The old man chortled. “Are you cursing me for being old?”

While joking with the staff, the old man brought Samuel to a room on the same level before dropping him onto the bed to sleep.

Opening his eyes, Samuel rubbed his head as a searing pain shot through his head. Looking around at the unfamiliar room, he couldn’t help but ask, “W-where am I?”

“Um… are you awake?” a girl’s voice rang out from his side, startling him.

Samuel asked, “You are… Shi Mei, correct?”

The little girl nodded before saying, “Uncle-Grandfather was looking for you. He told me to tell you to get ready for the formal meeting with the council of priests.”

Finishing her words, she turned around and left.