Chapter 216: Successful Research

The dawn sunlight filtered through the ancient tree canopies, dyeing the Illusion Forest golden; the last day of the Autumn market had also arrived.

In the makeshift stone cave, Kaelen stirred slightly and woke up. He stretched, feeling the familiar warmth from the firm arm covering his waist. Sane was still soundly asleep, his regular breathing blowing onto his nape.

Kaelen gently rested his head on his mate’s chest, quietly looking at the little mouse sleeping soundly in the crook of his neck. Ryder had ended the evolution process yesterday afternoon; however, for the boy to wake up might still need some more time.

"How is Brother Ryder, Papa?" Finnick spoke up from behind, his voice sleepy. The boy rubbed his eyes, the red plant still dangling on his shoulder. Chloe was sleeping soundly on it, her deep red tentacles drooping down like curtain strings.

"Much more stable." Kaelen nodded, rubbing his son’s head: "But it still needs some more time before he can wake up."

Finnick let out an "oh", slightly disappointed but not too sad. The boy was used to his brother sleeping soundly, and Papa had already said, as long as Ryder was stable, waking up was only a matter of time.

Right at that moment, from outside the cave entrance, a familiar voice rang out, shattering the quiet atmosphere of the early morning.

"Kaelen! Sane! Quickly come out and see!!!"

It was Draven’s voice.

Kaelen and Finnick looked at each other, stepping outside together. Sane had also just woken up, standing up and stretching. Ryder on the crook of his neck slid down; he hurriedly reached out his hand to catch him, placing the little mouse in his palm.

Sane frowned looking towards the cave entrance, where Draven was running over like flying, holding several jade-green pills exuding a refreshing herbal scent in his hand.

No more smoke. No more foam. No more pungent burning smell like the previous few times.

"Succeeded!" Draven panted heavily, stopping in front of everyone, holding the pills high as if they were the most precious spoils of war in the world: "The complete Clear Heart pill is here! This time it truly succeeded!"

Sane crossed his arms, raising his eyebrows: "Have you tried it yet?"

"Tried it! Tried it very carefully!" Draven answered joyfully, then turned his back, shouting loudly: "Dean! Come in!"

A tall, burly figure slowly walked in from the cave entrance. The Black Bear clan beastman walked in, embarrassedly greeting Sane and Kaelen. Kaelen felt extremely surprised, asking:

"When did you arrive?"

"Last night, Lord Priest." Dean spoke in a deep voice, placing his right hand on his left chest, bowing his head towards Kaelen and Sane: "I have tried taking the pill Lord Draven gave. And... I have never felt my mind this peaceful. The bloodlust, the unreasonable irritation, the dull headaches... all dissipated. As if someone had thoroughly cleansed my mind."

Kaelen stepped forward, gently placing his hand on Dean’s wrist, transmitting a bit of divine energy in to check. A moment later, he nodded, blooming a rare smile: "The demonic aura in your core has decreased significantly. The Clear Heart pill truly has an effect. But..." Kaelen glanced towards Draven once, speaking softly: "Still have to monitor further; there are many types of potions with slow-acting side effects."

Draven stood beside, coughing lightly once, turning his head away guiltily.

Dean did not know the root cause inside, only hurriedly telling Kaelen: "Respected Lord Chief, the Chief of our tribe requests to meet you privately."

Sane and Kaelen looked at each other. These past few days because of Ryder’s matter, they still had not had time to research the Lightning Guiding talisman using the new materials. Sane stepped forward, saying:

"Has your Chief arrived?"

Dean shook his head: "Not yet arrived, Sir. We want to ask your opinions first, then our Chief will come."

"How long does it take from the Golden Lion tribe to the Black Bear tribe?"

"About seven days."

Kaelen glanced at Sane, he nodded, saying: "Then there is no need to trouble the Black Bear Chief; we will personally go to your tribe as guests. We will set off tomorrow; sorry to trouble you to lead the way."

Dean joyfully placed his hand on his chest saying: "Yes, Sir, I am very honored."

Dean let his clan members return to report the news first; he himself stayed behind to monitor the reaction after using the potion. A day and a night passed, Dean’s body and spirit were still as usual, signaling that Draven’s potion had truly succeeded.

"Dean, lend me your Martial weapon to use for a bit." Sane poked his head out from inside the stone house, asking to borrow Dean’s Martial weapon.

Dean nodded, placing his hand on his right wrist. A light ray flashed, the familiar broad-bladed saber appeared in his hand. Compared to the first time everyone saw it, the saber was now much shinier - the result of being suppressed by Sane’s sword for the past few days. But after placing it back to its original place, it had been infected with a bit of demonic aura again.

Sane placed the Martial weapon on the table, Kaelen gently pasted the talisman on the saber body. Sane said to Dean:

"Transmit your martial power into this paper piece."

Dean hurriedly followed. Only seeing the talisman suddenly light up, then emitting "Crack... crack crack..." sounds.

Silver-purple lightning sparks began to appear on the talisman surface. They ran along the cinnabar lines, spreading across the saber body like blood vessels.

The saber trembled violently, emitting "humming" sounds as if resisting. But in just a blink of an eye, all the blurry black streaks inside the saber body were shattered into thin smoke strands, rising up then dissipating into the air.

When the talisman burned into ashes, the saber in Dean’s hand had completely changed. It was no longer a dull, heavy saber like before. The saber body now shone brightly as if just reforged, reflecting the morning sunlight into sparkling light rays. The black mist layer originally covering the saber blade had completely disappeared, revealing the original silver-gray color of the metal.

Sane picked up the Martial weapon on the table, placing it at eye level to admire.

"Succeeded. However, we still have to see how long the talisman’s preservation effect lasts."

The root of the demonic aura did not lie in the Martial weapon itself but in the place where it was originally rooted, therefore they needed to see about how long it would take for this Martial weapon to be infected with demonic aura again.

"Tsk, if it could be kept by one’s side like a normal weapon, it would be great." Kaelen clicked his tongue full of regret. A Martial weapon after use must be placed back to its original position within five days; otherwise, it would become a pile of trash.

"There is no other way, we have to accept the makeshift solution. Alright, rest for a bit then return to the Golden Lion tribe. This afternoon we will set off to the Black Bear tribe."

That afternoon, when the sun began to tilt towards the west, the final stalls of the Autumn market were also dismantled one after another. The people staying behind were busy packing their belongings, preparing to set off to return. The bustling atmosphere of the past few days gradually subsided, making way for the tranquility of the late afternoon.

At the guest housing area of the Golden Lion tribe, Sane and Kaelen were bidding farewell to the people of the four tribes together with everyone. They had stopped at this place for too long, and now was the time to prepare for the next journey.

Jasper hugged Kaelen, crying and sobbing loudly, seemingly a bit reluctant to leave these friends. The people of the four tribes also sniffled, reluctant to part. Lorenzo patted Sane’s shoulder, saying:

"Wait until I finish arranging the affairs in the tribe, I will come find you."

Sane nodded, wanting to speak then stopping. Time was too rushed, they also had not had time to resolve personal matters.

Dean had already stood together with the White Bear clan Sub-Beast at this time; it seemed he had accepted Dean’s confession. The White Bear clan Sub-Beast had always kept his eyes glued to Siley from earlier until now, making Dean feel extremely jealous.

"Why do you keep looking at him constantly? What is so good to look at about that cold-as-stone face?"

The White Bear clan Sub-Beast wrinkled his nose, pointed at Siley, and whispered to Dean: "No, I do not like him. But Dean, do you think that boy looks like a pervert? The way his two eyes look at that young beast egg is like wanting to eat it raw, disgusting to death."

The White Bear clan Sub-Beast thought he spoke very softly, but no matter how soft the voice of the Bear clan was, it still carried the volume of a normal person’s moderate voice. The words he just said fell into everyone’s ears without missing a single word.

Everyone’s gazes looking towards Siley were full of complexity; some people also carried a bit of strong prejudice.

Lorenzo and Jude flushed completely red, looking at Sane’s family a bit confusedly. It was still fine before, Siley only cared for Oliver like a normal young beast egg, but these past few days the boy’s emotions had gradually headed in a negative direction; the two of them were afraid Sane and Kaelen would not be able to hold back and beat this nominal son-in-law to death.

Sane and Kaelen looked at each other once, Kaelen clenched his fists, deciding to clarify everything:

"It is not as everyone thinks, that is the negative influence of the Supreme Mate Contract. I already discovered it two days ago, also already finding a direction to resolve it, it is just that time is too rushed so I still have not been able to carry it out."

Hearing that, Dean hurriedly said: "Your matters are more important, how much more time is needed? I will send a letter back to the tribe, reporting the news back to the Chief."

"Not too long, three days is enough. Thank you for sympathizing." Kaelen emotionally thanked Dean.

How could Dean dare to accept these words of thanks; after all, the Black Bear tribe was the one needing to ask a favor of others.

The Crimson group and Dean’s couple moved locations from the Golden Lion tribe to the Silver Snake tribe.