Alex dispersed the auspicious clouds beneath his feet, circulated his cultivation method, and slowly descended from the sky.
The defensive formation of the Blackwood holy land shimmered faintly, layers of spiritual light interlocking with precision.
Two young disciples stepped forward immediately, raising their hands to block his path.
"Halt!"
"Who are you?"
Alex smiled calmly and cupped his fists.
"Two young friends, I must trouble you to pass on a message."
"Alex of the Hale family has come to visit Alistair Blackwood."
The moment they heard his title, the two disciples stiffened.
"So it is Saint Lord Alex!"
Their expressions turned respectful at once.
"Saint Lord Alex, please come inside and take a seat. We will inform our Saint Lord immediately!"
Without delay, they opened the path and led Alex inward.
Shortly afterward, Alex was seated in the guest reception hall of the Blackwood holy land.
Spiritual incense drifted lightly in the air. Top tier immortal tea was placed before him.
Alex lifted the cup and took a slow sip.
His expression remained calm, but his thoughts were already aligning into order.
He had come for two purposes.
First, to formally apologize for the broken engagement from earlier.
Second, to invite Alistair Blackwood to visit the Hale family holy land as a guest.
To deal with Lily, the most suitable chess piece was Alistair Blackwood.
Although Lily bore the title of Princess of the Heavenly Flame Dynasty, she did not possess imperial blood.
She originated from the Burns family, a powerful ancient family.
The Burns family and the Blackwood were once the two Saint lineages of the Southridge Region.
Originally, the two families coexisted peacefully, each cultivating their own territory without interference.
Then one day, a junior of the Blackwood accidentally offended a senior of the Burns family.
It was nothing more than a verbal dispute. No techniques were exchanged. No one was injured.
A trivial matter.
Yet the Burns family seized upon it and refused to relent.
They demanded that the Blackwood execute their junior.
They further insisted that the Blackwood family head personally kneel and apologize publicly.
As a Saint lineage of equal standing, how could the Blackwood accept such humiliation?
Naturally, they refused.
The Burns family head, enraged by the rejection, mobilized all of his clan's elites and marched directly against the Blackwood.
Coincidentally, at that time, Alistair Blackwood had just broken through to the Supreme Realm.
When he saw the Burns family behaving with such tyranny, he emerged from seclusion in fury.
With a single strike, he killed the Mahayana Realm Burns family head.
He slaughtered the Burns cultivators without mercy and eradicated their entire bloodline.
From that day onward, the Southridge Region had only the Blackwood.
The Burns family ceased to exist.
Only one female from a branch lineage escaped by sheer luck.
That was Lily.
In the original novel, Lily was destined for the harem.
Naturally, her background was written to be tragic.
The Burns family was portrayed as innocent victims.
The Blackwood was painted as wicked and unjust.
Later, after Knox destroyed the Hale family, he found an excuse to annihilate the Blackwood as well.
Nominally, it was revenge for the Burns family.
In truth, it was to seize the Blackwood ancestral weapon.
Lily wept in gratitude and pledged herself to Knox, joining his harem.
From Alex's perspective, however, the Burns family had simply courted disaster.
A junior spoke back. That was all.
An apology and compensation would have resolved it.
Instead, the Burns family demanded execution and public humiliation.
After being refused, they gathered forces and attacked.
They were weaker yet chose to provoke.
Their destruction was self inflicted.
If the one who had broken through to the Supreme Realm had been the Burns family head instead of Alistair, would he have spared the Blackwood?
Given his temper, absolutely not.
None of this concerned the Hale family directly.
What mattered was this.
Alistair Blackwood was the one who exterminated the Burns family.
In Lily's eyes, he was an irreconcilable enemy.
At present, Lily was hiding on Knox's body, waiting for Alex to expose weaknesses.
"As long as I invite Alistair Blackwood to my house, let us see how long she can endure," Alex thought calmly.
His plan was set.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
At that moment, footsteps sounded outside the hall.
An old man with white hair and a white beard stepped inside.
He wore a cyan python robe. His white hair fell freely over his shoulders.
His tiger like eyes were sharp and spirited.
A violent aura lingered faintly between his brows.
One glance was enough to reveal that he was not someone to be provoked lightly.
This was a Supreme Realm expert at the seventh level.
The Saint Lord of the Blackwood.
Alistair Blackwood.
"Elder Brother Alistair."
Alex stood and cupped his fists with a calm smile.
"It has been many years. I trust you have been well?"
"This old man is fine," Alistair said coldly.
"Brother Alex, you have finally come."
"If you had not appeared, I would have thought you had no intention of giving me an explanation."
"Oh?"
Alex showed mild confusion.
"What explanation does Elder Brother Alistair seek?"
"Do not feign ignorance!" Alistair's voice boomed.
"Our two families formed a marriage pact twenty years ago."
"Your clan junior Isolde was promised to marry my son Ivan."
"The wedding date has already arrived."
"Not only did you tear up the marriage contract publicly..."
"...you even allowed that Isolde to bring a wild man to cause chaos at my birthday banquet!"
"Alex, if not for decades of friendship, I would never have allowed those two arrogant brats to leave the Blackwood alive!"
Alistair's anger filled the hall.
His aura surged faintly, pressing against the space around him.
Alex remained unmoved.
On the contrary, the smile on his face deepened slightly.
Alistair had a violent temper.
He was straightforward and blunt.
Such a person was easy to offend, yet equally easy to appease.
Dealing with him did not require excessive calculation.
"Ah, so Elder Brother Alistair refers to that matter."
Alex slapped his forehead lightly as if only just remembering.
"Look at my memory. I nearly forgot."
"Elder Brother Alistair, the reason the marriage contract between our families could not be fulfilled was not that I wished to break it."