Chapter 1481 Luckily
"Is there such a need to be so harsh on him? Let him struggle while he can, a man must have his pride, after all. You of all people should understand that sentiment considering you saved this elder brother's face by handing me this throne to sit on."
Why was the Sapientia able to keep control of so many things for so long? It was precisely because hidden talents like Emytheus were all snatched up by them.
With Emytheus' pride, he would never marry into the Sapientia Family. He had every intention of surpassing the Sapientia and one day snatching Aritzia away. But, only those who were as high in the hierarchy as Aritzia and her brother Primus knew how futile such a thing was. Emytheus was doomed to fail like all those before him. His hopes and dreams would come crashing down and he would obediently enter the Sapientia Clan and be wed to Aritzia.
"… Speaking of which." Primus suddenly said after a moment of silence. "Have you already given up on the second candidate? That masked wife stealer."
"He doesn't meet the requirements anymore." Aritzia said blandly. "He should have what remains of the Elves backing him. That much became clear after his wife was exposed as the Elvin Queen. Even if the Elves are a shell of what they once were, there's no reason for our family to poke a slumbering bear for one masked wife stealer."
"Hoho, you say this, but I bet you've only given up so easily because his face is covered with a mask. How could you put in so much effort when you don't know whether your potential husband is handsome enough or not?"
Aritzia rolled her eyes. Even she found it creepy how her elder brother could make such lighthearted jokes with that stone-cold face.
"There's something more, though." Aritzia said.
"Oh?"
"Mm. I began monitoring the Water Mist Sect after Alexandria completed her celestial tribulation."
Primus raised an eyebrow. "You're not one to waste resources on useless things."
"Originally, I hadn't planned on it…" Aritzia said slowly. "… But two things spurred by decision.
"First, the Sapientia Network. Because of it, it's become incredibly easy for us to covertly monitor Clans without their knowledge. They believe that they can still control how much we know, when in fact, that isn't the case. Though, I don't dare to be so brazen with the Star, Five Blade, and Drago-Qilin Quadrants, the Water Mist Sect is merely a speck of dust in a brutal storm. They'll lose their top 9 spot to the Emperor Giant Clan soon, it's only a matter of time… "
Primus nodded slightly, waiting for his little sister to finish.
"The second reason is the true reason I decided to proceed forward. It's a mystery that surrounds the Dark Ocean. You know as well as me how many eyes have been on it… Such a den of resources is something that no one can ignore… Especially a Clan who's looking to revitalize themselves."
"You mean?" Primus' eyes sharpened.
"It's far deeper than even you think." Aritzia said. "According to our records, the patterns of attack found in the Dark Ocean are almost identical to what one might expect from Rainbow Kun Peng beasts. And…"
"The Rainbow Kun Peng were one of the primary beast companions of the elves!" The light in Primus' eyes shone through fiercely.
Aritzia smiled lightly.
"What do you want to do about this?" Primus asked. Considering his demeanor, he had suddenly flipped from doting elder brother to subordinate in an instant. It didn't even matter that he sat atop a throne looking down on Aritzia.
"We can use this to our advantage." Aritzia said softly. "According to the Sapientia Towers, there are odd energy fluctuations coming from the Dark Ocean. Though, it's hard to tell since we obviously haven't built any Towers in the Dark Ocean itself.
"However, we need to do this delicately. We can't antagonize the Elves. Civilization of the past or not, they definitely have some hidden trump cards.
"Luckily, we have the Water Mist Sect… They can be our useful idiot in this situation."
Primus snorted. "Something like this is going on in their own backyard yet they have no idea. 'Useful idiot' might be giving them too much credit."
"I actually don't believe it's all their fault." Aritzia said pensively. "About two years ago, the Sapientia Towers caught a wave of evil qi. After some investigation, it was found that it originated from the Palace Master's island… That event happened the very same day word of Anak being heavily wounded swept through the Emperor Giant Clan and the same day Clara, Ri and the masked man returned from the Dark Ocean."
Primus' eyes narrowed. "Evil qi? Are you saying that the Elves have fallen so far?"
"It's impossible to tell." Aritzia said. "We also can't use this as evidence to turn others against the Elves, or else the fact that we've been monitoring the quadrants through the Towers will turn everyone against us instead.
"However, this is still useful information. We can likely conclude that the Palace Master was coerced into hiding this secret for the Elves. Maybe she received something in exchange, or maybe she received nothing but her life as thanks. We have no way of knowing.
"But, what I can confirm is that the Palace Master has indeed been stalling. Before these events, the Mist Clan had been very eager to excavate the Dark Ocean, yet, in these past two years, there's been nothing.
"I found this odd, so I did a little digging. It turns out that recently the Mist Clan has been the victim of numerous mysterious attacks from an unknown individual. This has given them such a headache that they have no choice but to focus their efforts on dealing with that problem."
"I see…" Primus said. "So the Elves have likely enlisted the help of the Palace Master to stall for time. But, stall for what exactly? Also, wasn't the Palace Master under a tacit house arrest? How has she left her island?"