'It was brief but I guess it's all the time I can enjoy as a soul remnant...'
The others also came closer out of concern for their savior.
"Is the divine benefactor alright?" Alistair asked.
"Was he perhaps exhausted earlier? But did he not break a sweat when he dealt with those two Malevolent Magnates just now?" Kris inquired curiously while piggy-backing the unconscious Leila
"I believe that it may not have been due to the battle. There must be something else at play here." Michael deduced.
The white-haired Dylan's body dropped to the ground. The godly aura in his body faded as his long white hair gradually reverted back to being a long black fair. His face had also restructured itself and became that of the younger Dylan's face.
This naturally shocked everyone who had just interacted with the white-haired "Dylan".
"N-no way! It's that kid that Leila kept on following? He's the white-haired immortal?!" Kris' expression genuinely looked like cartoony the way his eyes bulged out and he shouted.
Strangely, his large outburst of voice did not even wake up Leila who was fast asleep in his back.
"The kid devoid of Innate Energy...? How is someone devoid of Innate Energy-" Michael was flabbergasted by this revelation.
Then, he suddenly looked back at what had just happened and realized, 'I never felt any Innate Energy from him when he was in hit white-haired form earlier. It was more so just his aura was fundamentally too profound and divine that I could feel my soul being compelled to worship him...'
"I believe that he may very well be a reincarnation of that godly being..." Alistair suddenly spoke with a proposition in mind.
"A reincarnation, milord?" Michael looked at Alistair for a moment. After a brief deliberation, it did in fact make more sense to him.
"I have long believed in the concept of reincarnation. We live in a world of Innate Energy and Mystical Beasts. Such things are not an impossibility to the various techniques that have been cultivated, developed and researched since time immemorial."
"Within the continent, we have the esoteric Church of Nirvana at the very center who is said to have had mastered the concept of Samsara. While I am not fully privy to what their cultivation technique, it is rumored that their main line of succession actually underwent reincarnation..."
"This..." Kris was dumbfounded by this information. For a cultivator as young as he is, all this information was overloading his brain.
"..." Victoria was silent. Hearing the conspiracy that Alistair had proposed, she believed it made sense but she was also from the central plains. So, she knew more than Alistair who had never been there.
She thought, 'But, I have never heard of any prominent figure from the Church of Nirvana that had white hair... Although that may be because I have not been that interested in their history, maybe I should take some time to inquire about them when I return home...'
She had been the last person to have a conversation with the white-haired Dylan so there was something tell her that there was a disconnect somewhere.
Then, it clicked, 'Additionally, his main power seems to be that "Cosmic Energy" he used. I don't think that's the type of energy that the Church of Nirvana cultivates...'
'There is still a possibility of possession...' Victoria also considered other possibilities.
She then remembered, 'But he seems to also identify quite fondly with his other self...'
"City Lord, are you saying that he could be part of that so-called Church of Nirvana? Would that mean that he is from the center of the continent?" Michael extrapolated a few points from the exposition that Alistair.
"I believe that this must be the case... Even if it is not, he must be a reincarnation of a distinguished immortal from the past. We will inquire about the boy's past when he wakes up. For now, let us take him to my manor." Alistair said with a serious look.
'If we are able to build a cordial connection with him, then if in the future he grows exponentially strong, the Soaring Cloud City would surely benefit from it and we might even rise in terms of rankings...' Alistair immediately calculated.
If he were to invest in Dylan's future and have him grow right now, then he would surely remember this favor once he regains his previous life's strength or quite possibly surpass it.
Although Alistair was mainly considering helping Dylan, he also considered the possibility of eliminating him. But he could not commit to it after witnessing the terrifying power that version of Dylan posseses,
'While he may still be a threat to us, I also cannot risk attacking in fear of the retaliation of that white-haired immortal...'
"Apologies, City Lord. But the great one has left a favor for me to fulfill. I must take him to a specific location he told me, should this happen. I believe that it would be best to respect the wishes of the great one." Hearing Alistair's plans, Victoria remembered the favor the white-haired Dylan asked for her to do.
"Oh, I see. But would it not be safer if we would escort him to my manor. We can provide him with the utmost best hospitality considering how much he has done for the City. We can provide him with the best medical care as well!" Alistair tried to convince Victoria.
"While I believe the great one will appreciate your concern, I think his wishes would supersede any of our concerns. It would put me in a difficult position should I not fulfill the favor he personally asked of me. Do not worry, I will tell him to personally visit you once he regains consciousness. With regards to his safety, I will be staying with the great one, City Lord." Victoria explained her side and reassured Alistair.
"That would be... great. Thank you very much, princess. I look forward to when you can come by the City Manor." Alistair could not refute what Victoria just said.
If the task was personally assigned to her by the great one, then there is nothing else that he can do. Additionally, he could not even go against the wishes of the princess of the Cross Clan.
This situation left Alistair rather helpless since he no longer had any leverage to impose any further.
Victoria bowed to Alistair and thanked him, "Thank you very much for understanding, City Lord. I will never forget the assistance that you have all provided. If there is anything I can do for the Soaring Cloud City, I would do it with the utmost of my abilities."
"For now, I shall give you these. These are some healing pills. My apologies, I don't have any True Restoration Pills with me but I hope this will help with everyone's recovery." Victoria gave individual pills to Alistair and Michael heal their external injuries.
Their eyes widened as they identified the pills.
'These are Iron-bone Recovery Pills and Jade Cleansing Pills!'
'These can only be made by high ranking Master Alchemist or Grandmaster Alchemist!'
Each of these pills would cost a fortune in the Market right now yet they were just given two of them per pill!
The Iron-bone Recovery Pill can generally help with the recovery of external would and also strengthen the bones of the cultivator while eating it. This was perfect for the external wounds that was caused by Yumi and her undead beast.
The Jade Cleansing Pills is a purifying agent. It expels intermediate poisons and corrosive Innate Energy through the pores or black blood. These would be helpful on wounds that were corroded with the Darkness Energy from Byron.
Of course, these two pills cannot compare to the effects of a True Restoration Pill like what Kaiden took.
The True Restoration Pill stands as a pinnacle of alchemical mastery in the mortal realm, renowned for its ability to completely reset a damaged body to its absolute primal state.
Unlike standard medicines that merely patch wounds and leave structural weaknesses, this elixir operates on a miraculous physical level. Upon consumption, a gentle light-green spiritual light envelops the cultivator, initiating hyper-accelerated cellular recreation like what happened with Kaiden.
Severed limbs unspool from the stump as bone, nerve endings, and flesh weave themselves back together from scratch, while shattered internal organs are flawlessly reconstructed as dead tissue is purged from the pores.
Simultaneously, it also has the effect of purifying corrosive energy like Byron's Darkness. With the contamination cleared, the medicine deploys pure Innate Energy to seamlessly reweave snapped meridians and patch fractures in a cracked core, instantly halting the catastrophic leakage of the cultivator's power.
But of course, it cannot fully heal expended life energy like what Kaiden did.
"Thank you very much, Princess!" Michael quickly thanked Victoria
"These are just what we needed! You are a godsend!" Alistair similarly expressed his gratitude.
"Please excuse us!" They both immediately went into their cross-legged positions and meditated after ingesting the pill so they can heal themselves.
The reason why they hurriedly went to their cross-legged positions and heal themselves is that if a cultivator gets corroded with a strong foreign Innate Energy like Byron's, it would cause some hidden troubles in the future.
That is why it was important for them to immediately try to purify that corrosive Darkness Energy while it was still early. They initially planned to wait until they were in the City before doing it.
But the sooner, the better for situations like theirs since no cultivator would want to risk their cultivations getting unstable in the future.
"Amazing! These two pills are working wonders!" The two rejoiced as they felt their bodies heal appropriately. Aside from the fact that their bodies will fully recover after ingesting, it seems that they could also use this to slightly progress their cultivation.
She turned to Kris and also gave him a pill, "I can sense that you just broke through and this may actually help you."
"Thank you very much, Princess!" Kris also rejoiced when he received another fortuitous encounter just now.
He recognized the pill that was given to him. This white-colored pill was called the Tranquil-Flow Realm-Consolidating Pill. It instantly slows down the rushing and explosive flow of new Innate Energy, forcing them into a steady, orderly, and harmonious rhythm.
This was perfect for Kris since his newly formed Golden Flame Energy felt extremely explosive and volatile.
To be able to give out such high-value pills like it was nothing, the level of wealth that the Cross Clan princess has could not be understated.
But it seems that Victoria herself doesn't know how valuable the pills she gave to them were since she had plenty of pills and elixirs that are on the same tier or of equal and greater value than the ones she gave out.
"I shall now take my leave, everyone. I wish that you are all able to recover to your fullest." Victoria said as she bid them farewell.
With her swiftness, she was able to quickly reach Dylan's dilapidated house in no time.
Awkwardly, Kris stood there, carrying Leila on his back,
"There's no way I can leave here without asking permission from the generals, right?"
"..."
Of course, he was met with silence since the two generals were focusing on healing and her sister was unconscious.
"Welp, it is what it is." Kris could only shrug as he waited for his esteemd senior to recover.
Amidst the waiting, Leila had muttered something ever so softly that Kris thought she just mumbled,
"Dy...lan..."