From Secret Clan to the Divine Dynasty

The atmosphere in the hall grew more solemn.

Everyone's gaze turned to the elderly scholar, over eighty years old, radiating an academic aura.

Though advanced in years, with a slightly bent back, his murky eyes still held a glint of sharpness.

Every member of the Fischer family was well aware that he must have committed some sin to have been brought here by those Purifiers.

For most of the family members, it was actually their first time learning of the Purifiers' existence.

Their feelings were complicated, none of them held a good impression of those who wielded significant authority and acted in secrecy, whose main job was to report on others.

Although many knew in their hearts that such people existed, for the Fischer family and the Dawn Church, it seemed to be an inevitable presence.

But due to an instinctive psychological defense, everyone felt uncomfortable at the mere sight of them.

Scholar Straitor glanced at Byrne and calmly nodded, "It's been a long time since we last saw each other, Byrne. I didn't expect you to have aged so quickly."

"Heh, anyone who didn't know better might think you and I are of the same age."

Byrne remained silent for a moment, took a deep breath, and spoke in a low voice, "Our relationship is not just that of a teacher and student, but also of pen pals for decades. Mr. Straitor is a well-known philanthropist and scholar, and his character is there for all to see. Surely you've made some mistake."

Christine in her wheelchair shook her head, then turned to look at everyone:

"Mr. Straitor used to be Uncle Byrne's teacher. He has maintained a good relationship with the Fischer family for decades, and everyone here has had some interaction with him. Mr. Straitor originally lived in Fein City, but moved to Phelps Port in the Southern East Coast Province over thirty years ago."

"Then he began a series of evil acts."

Her tone was very calm, as if she felt not the slightest indignation toward Straitor's evil deeds, merely stating them objectively as evil.

"Thirty years ago, he founded a secret society mainly comprising illegal Extraordinary Exponents called the 'Sage Academic Society.' Most of these extraordinary people were Spellcasters, not Bloodline Knights."

"Their ultimate goal was to create the legendary Philosopher's Stone."

The majority of people present didn't understand what the Philosopher's Stone was.

They looked at each other in bewilderment while Byrne furrowed his brows, as many things came rushing to his mind.

Christine continued, "In this process, Mr. Straitor trafficked numerous people, all for the ultimate goal of alchemy, the perfect Philosopher's Stone."

She paused for a moment and added, "By the way, accompanying Mr. Straitor is a low-level Transmutation Spellcaster of the Mental type, his colleague, very adept at trafficking people."

Scholar Straitor suddenly spoke up, "A perfect Philosopher's Stone does exist."

"We found a centuries-old parchment that was authored by the legendary curator of the Sapphire Ancient Library."
Continue your journey on empire

The Ancient Library?

At the mention of the Ancient Library, everyone was momentarily taken aback.

The six Ancient Libraries, each with tens of thousands of years of history, were legendary entities, supposedly established at the very advent of Claud World civilization to collect nearly all extraordinary things such as "Extraordinary materials," "Mysterious rare artifacts," "Extraordinary Bequests," "mysterious creatures," and even "Extraordinary Exponents" themselves.

They were said to be mysterious organizations born at the beginnings of civilization, with long histories even predating the great churches, handed down through generations to this very day.

Straitor continued, "The curator of the Sapphire Library had conducted many experiments a thousand years ago, confirming the existence of the Philosopher's Stone but unclear about its composition."

"And according to the contents revealed on that parchment, the curator of the Sapphire Library once reached worlds beyond Claud, and in those other worlds, he saw the true, perfect Philosopher's Stone—the ultimate goal of alchemy! The world's most beautiful substance! Capable of fulfilling all of mortal desires! Far more valuable than a human life!"

His tone stayed as calm as possible, yet there was a burning passion in his eyes.

Upon hearing this, everything became clear to everyone present.

Mr. Straitor must have used many living people for his experiments, resulting in a considerable loss of lives.

Yet, everyone was skeptical about his ability to create the Philosopher's Stone, something that only existed in legend.

Christine spoke, "To gather funds, Mr. Straitor and his Sage Academic Society began to amass great wealth through the trafficking of people, victimizing not only many natives of the White Sea but hundreds of Cyart people from the East Coast as well!"

There was a moment of silence; trafficking the natives of the White Sea typically went unregulated, but undoubtedly, trafficking one's countrymen was a heinous crime!

Being the organizer, Straitor deserved to be executed publicly by the church!

Christine paused briefly, then looked at Byrne.

"In that Sage Academic Society, there were many of Uncle Byrne's classmates and friends."

While Chris was nominally the head of the family, he was not present here.

Everyone turned to Byrne, who effectively managed various affairs.

Even if everything about it was illegal and immoral, if he decided not to pursue those people, the matter could be glossed over.

Because he had power on the East Coast.

Byrne took a deep breath and his eyes filled with disappointment as he looked at his teacher.