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Noble sacrifice

Upon hearing Elias' bold words, everyone, including the patriarch, was shocked.

Ascending manifestations were fundamental to cultivation, and every cultivator would eventually need to ascend their own manifestation upon reaching the limits of their current rank in order to progress further.

To achieve this, cultivators required both materials and formulas for ascension. However, simply possessing these resources didn't guarantee success; as the manifestation's rank or strength increased, so did the likelihood of failure.

After hearing Elias' words, everyone understood what he intended. He wanted to ascend a manifestation using this rank 5 material!

It was clever, and nobody could deny that. If the material is used in the ascension, it would cease to exist and be used as catalyst. Even if it fails, it will ultimately destroy it and save the clan.

However, this plan was also extremely reckless. Ascending a manifestation was extremely safe at a low rank, but using a rank 5 material as a catalyst for a rank 2 manifestation was nothing short of suicide.

The patriarch's gaze quickly regains his composure. "Elias Xiawen, as much as I appreciate your efforts, sacrifice and ingenious plan, there are some problems with it. You know you'll need a complete formula for an ascension, right? A formula using a rank 5 material, no less. Even in the entire clan, there is no such thing."

However, Elias quickly responded, "I know one. There was one stored in my family's secret vault. I learned it secretly." Elias replied smoothly as if he had prepared this question in advance.

All elders and even the patriarch were shocked upon hearing this. A formula using a rank 5 material was no joke and, if successful, would create a dreadful manifestation.

They'd all seen the power of a rank 5 material— just the aura was enough to lead to their ruins. The thought of a manifestation with the full power of a rank 5 material made some elders go pale.

Liandor's face twisted in anger. "You bastard! That's a lie! There's no such formula!" he hissed, his fists clenched. If the Xiawen family truly had the formula to ascend a manifestation using the rank 5 soul flame, they would have done it long ago, no matter the price.

But Elias only shook his head upon hearing Liandor. "It's pointless to hide it now, Grandpa. Our family needs to step up and deal with the consequences and sins, and as a proud member of the clan, I am ready to sacrifice myself!" he replied with a shrug.

"You... This bastard is framing me! He isn't even from the clan and was a bastard of my son's wife!" Liandor yelled as if trying to convince others.

"Framing? No, Grandpa, I am not. I'm just telling the truth." Elias replied, his voice a bit lethargic, and even a few drops of tears dropped from his childish face.

After a long, thoughtful pause, one of the other elders, elder Xiaren, broke the silence with a dark, accusing realization: "Perhaps the Xiawen family truly kept this formula hidden to reach a high level of manifestation one day, to overthrow the clan itself. Why else would they hold onto something so dangerous?"

The place fell into a tense silence as the other elders exchanged uneasy glances, whispering among themselves. Even Liandor's political allies didn't dare to help Liandor as the idea was disturbingly plausible.

What other reason could the Xiawen family have to keep a flame powerful enough to bring ruin to the clan if not for some hidden scheme?

Liandor's face tightened in shock and anger. He knew this elder was a political rival, always itching for a way to undermine him—but to make an accusation like this when the entire clan was at risk?

Liandor knew cultivators were very pragmatic people, but this was a new level of shamelessness!

The patriarch looked sharply at Xiaren, reading him with narrowed eyes. He could see through the attempt to frame Liandor, yet couldn't deny that the suspicion had a twisted kind of logic to it.

Liandor was absolutely furious. In his long life, never had he been so infuriated with someone.

Although he was angry, he was still a rank 3 cultivator and was rapidly deducing why Elias was framing him. In his mind, this young child couldn't possibly be the overmind behind this plot against his family. Someone must be behind him; from the looks of it, it was probably Xiaren!

'They must be using Elias as a pawn to take me down.There's no other explanation. How else would a child escape from the main building otherwise? Someone must have helped him!' he thought with a hateful stare at the young child holding the core of the soul flame.

Since he met with Elias, his family has suffered. It is as if Elias is some kind of walking disaster. If he knew that taking Yui and Elias into his family would bring so many catastrophes, he wouldn't ever have done so.

As if the patriarch could read Liandor's mind, he also wondered how a child could escape from the main building, which was the safest place in the whole region. He had a nagging feeling that something was wrong but couldn't quite know why.

One elder, deep in thought, suddenly stiffened and, in an attempt to support Liandor, said in a doubtful voice. "But for you to attempt an ascension..." he began, "you'd need to be a rank 2 cultivator. Even if you were truly a rank 2 cultivator, do you really have such thing as an ascension formula for a rank 2 manifestation using a rank 5 material? Such thing even exists?"

Elias met their stares with confidence. "I recently reached rank 2 and yes."

Silence filled the air. Disbelief flashed across several elders' faces, their eyes darting toward the patriarch, who wasn't ready to take Elias's word alone. "Can you prove it to us?"

Elias's response was immediate. "I can't right now."

After a long silence, instead of doubting Elias, the patriarch immediately discarded this question and answered, "Understood."

This shocked once again most of the young elders. One of them was not convinced.

"Patriarch, we can't trust him! He's a kid, and he could be lying." one of the elder said

The patriarch only sighed and answered, "Even if he was, what can we do then?"

"This..." the elder could not answer. Now that they thought about it, their hands were indeed tied.

If Elias was lying, they were all doomed. The soul flame's aura alone would soon draw rank 4 beasts, creatures even the patriarch couldn't fend off. This was without even considering any hidden powers the flame might possess. Escape was not an option either; the surrounding mountain range was treacherous and full of dangers. They were cornered with no clear way out.

But what if Elias was telling the truth? It would at least offer them a sliver of hope. They could demand proof of the formula, but even then, there was another challenge. Only a rank 2 cultivator or higher who had not yet merged with their full number of manifestations could attempt the risky ascension.

Theoretically, an elder could step forward, willing to sacrifice themselves and become a hero immortalized by the clan. Many would see such an honor as worth the risk. However, the reality was that most of the surviving cultivators were either too severely injured or had already merged with the maximum number of manifestations they could possess.

In this moment, Elias was not just their best option—he was likely their only chance for survival.

After a few moments of silence, the patriarch's face softened with an edge of regret and respect. "Then, Elias, I promise you'll be honored eternally as a hero of the clan." He turned to the elders. "Gather the materials he needs. I will ask all cultivators to gather around him and protect the ascension." he said as he turned around toward the clan's main building.

Little did they know, Elias of course didn't intend to sacrifice himself at all.