Chapter 264: Proving His Own Identity
Chapter 264: Proving His Own Identity
"Truth is... I am Korryn."
The bamboo grove descended into an utter silence.
Every single person present—from the Domain Master patriarchs to the High Preceptors, and even the Old Dean—stared at the dark-robed youth as if he had just sprouted a second head.
Then, the sheer absurdity of the statement crashed into their minds.
"Preposterous!" Dean Qaylus broke the silence, his brow furrowing into a deep, irritated scowl.
He looked at Rhain’s blood-stained robes and pale complexion, shaking his head. "Boy, I understand you have just survived a catastrophic battle against true Domain Masters. The trauma and the backlash from overdrawing your essence must have damaged your mind. But this is not the time or place to spout such ridiculous nonsense!"
High Preceptor Amarantha, the head of the Stormveil Academy’s Alchemy Division, stared at Rhain with a look of complete disbelief, and professional offense.
As a Grandmaster Alchemist herself, she knew better than anyone the agonizing, blood-sweating reality of the alchemical path.
’It is fundamentally impossible!" Amarantha thought in her mind, "Even if I were to lock myself in a sealed chamber, exhaust my soul power, and spend decades meticulously refining a single batch of pills, I wouldn’t even come close to achieving one hundred percent purity!’
She looked at Rhain’s youthful, nineteen-year-old face.
’To claim that a teenager achieved what centuries-old Grandmasters could not? It is as utterly ridiculous as claiming a twenty-year-old has ascended to the Monarch Realm! Furthermore, this boy’s martial prowess is already monstrous enough to crush an entire generation. Cultivating martial arts to that extreme leaves absolutely no time for alchemy. When would he have even touched a cauldron?’
It defied all logical laws of cultivation.
Beside her, Carmilla and Myrielle were equally dumbfounded.
They had witnessed Rhain’s terrifying martial talent firsthand, but alchemy? The supreme Grandmaster behind the Celestial Elixir Pavilion?
Their brains simply refused to process it.
But standing a few paces away, Liana’s emerald eyes widened in sudden realisation.
The memory when she had visited to the Celestial Elixir Pavilion along with Rhain quickly flashed in her mind.
The moment when the scarred guard who broke the legs of Core Formation experts for causing disturbances, walked directly toward them, and then bowed.
How Manager Vulcan himself waiting in the main hall, and offered a ridiculous ninety-nine percent discount so casually.
It had never made any sense before.
But now as she looked at Rhain, it suddenly began to make perfect sense.
Liana had known Rhain was an Expert Rank Alchemist because he had casually cured her bloodline curse, but an Expert rank was one thing.
The backer of the entire pavilion? The Grandmaster?
"Could it be... could it really be true?" Liana’s heart hammered wildly.
’Is he insane???’
Lyra thought mockingly.
Could that Domain Master’s strike fry his brain? He? The legendary Grandmaster Korryn? Does he honestly expect us to believe that kind of nonsense?
While Lyra openly mocked him, Elara unexpectedly remained quiet, and thoughtful.
She didn’t deny it directly like Lyra.
Her highly intelligent blue eyes stared deeply at Rhain, her mind rapidly trying to connect the dots.
Amongst everyone present, only Seris was perfectly calm.
Because she was the only one who knew the real truth.
Enough of these ridiculous things," Qaylus sighed heavily, waving his hand in dismissal. "You are clearly suffering from severe mental fatigue. Go back and rest. We will discuss your situation tomorrow when your mind is clear."
"I am not hallucinating, Dean Qaylus," Rhain replied, his voice completely unbothered by their mockery. "I can easily prove that I am Korryn."
The casual confidence in his voice caused the murmurs in the grove to cease instantly.
The Old Dean, who had been sitting quietly on the wooden stump, finally shifted.
His ancient, tranquil eyes showed a flicker of genuine curiosity as he looked at Rhain.
"Oh?" the Old Dean spoke, his voice resonating softly in the minds of everyone present. "And exactly how will you prove such an astronomical claim, young man?"
Rhain’s dark grey eyes swept over the gathered elites.
"Grandmaster Korryn is nothing but a mask," Rhain stated flatly. "A disguise I used to hide my true identity and operate freely within Stormveil City."
He slowly turned his head toward Lyra, and Elara.
"And as it happens, there are currently two people present in this very grove who have actually seen that mask with their own eyes. They can verify it for me."
Rhain raised a hand, pointing toward the two girls.
"Lady Lyra. Lady Elara."
All eyes immediately shifted to the two young women.
The Old Dean looked at them, his gaze gentle but carrying an unquestionable authority.
"Is this true? Have you two met this Grandmaster Korryn in person?"
Elara immediately stepped forward and bowed gracefully.
"Yes, Old Dean," Elara confirmed, her voice steady. "Lady Lyra and I had the great fortune of negotiating directly with Grandmaster Korryn in the VIP room of the Celestial Elixir Pavilion."
"Excellent," the Old Dean nodded. He turned his profound gaze back to Rhain. "Proceed."
Rhain simply stood in the center of the grove.
He merely raised his hand and brushed his fingers lightly across his own face.
Swoosh—!
The Epic-Grade Faceless Emperor Mask activated.
In the blink of an eye, the handsome, sharp features of the nineteen-year-old martial prodigy rippled and melted away like a reflection on disturbed water.
The youth’s untamed hair darkened, his jawline broadened, and his aura shifted from an overwhelmingly fierce warrior to a dignified, composed, and unfathomably deep presence.
When the ripple faded, standing in Rhain’s place was a middle-aged man with sharp eyes, a calm bearing, and an aura of authority.
The High Preceptors, Carmilla, and Qaylus stared at the middle-aged figure in stunned uncertainty.
None of them had ever met the mysterious backer of the Celestial Elixir Pavilion, so they had absolutely no way of knowing if this was truly what Korryn looked like.
But just as Qaylus was about to question the validity of the disguise—
"IT’S HIM!"
A shrill, almost hysterical scream ripped through the serene bamboo grove.
Everyone jumped, their heads snapping toward the source of the shriek.
Lyra was standing frozen, her crimson eyes stretched so wide they looked as if they might tear.
She pointed a trembling, bloodless finger directly at the middle-aged man standing before them.
"IT’S HIM! THAT’S GRANDMASTER KORRYN!"
Lyra’s mind was practically exploding.
In her entire, pampered nineteen years of life, she had only ever been utterly, soul-crushingly humiliated twice.
The first time was when Grandmaster Korryn had brutally rejected her family’s generous offer, casually swatting her away like an annoying fly and completely disregarding her talent and status.
The second time was when Rhain Voss had shattered her Domain, suppressed her Heavenly Flame, and forced her to her knees in the dirt of the Grand Colosseum with a blade to her throat.
And now, looking at the face before her, the devastating truth crashed down upon her sanity.
The two men who had inflicted the greatest humiliations of her entire life... were the exact same person!
Double humiliation!
"It... it was you..." Lyra stammered.
Beside her, Elara Thunderwood exhaled a long, shuddering breath.
"It is true," Elara confirmed to the silent, petrified crowd, her voice carrying a tremor she couldn’t suppress. "That is the exact face of the man we negotiated with. He... he really is Grandmaster Korryn."
The bamboo grove descended into another stunned, dumbfounded, and speechless silence.
A nineteen-year-old youth.
The strongest martial prodigy of the generation.
And the greatest Alchemy Emperor the Solathane Dynasty had seen in centuries!
"Monstrous..." High Preceptor Aldren breathed, shaking his head. "He is not human."
But even in the face of two eyewitness confirmations, Dean Qaylus’s stubborn rationality refused to fully yield.
Qaylus took a rigid step forward, his sharp eyes narrowing at Rhain.
"A disguise artifact is incredibly rare, but not impossible to acquire," Qaylus stated strictly, though his voice lacked its previous dismissive edge. "Just because you possess an artifact that can change your face to mimic Grandmaster Korryn does not prove you possess the heaven-defying skills of Grandmaster Korryn! Anyone could steal a face!"
Rhain looked at the skeptical Domain crowd.
Instead of arguing, a confident smirk brushed past the lips of his middle-aged disguise.
With a thought, the Faceless Emperor Mask deactivated, restoring his youthful, handsome features.
"If stealing a face isn’t enough proof for you, Dean Qaylus," Rhain said, his dark grey eyes gleaming with a challenging light. "Then I will simply refine a flawless pill right here, right now, in front of all of you."
Qaylus exchanged a look with Old Dean, both showing the same uncertainty in their eye.
"If you can refine a flawless pill before our very eyes," Qaylus declared, his tone turning incredibly solemn, "then there definitely cannot be a stronger, more irrefutable proof than that."
"We agree," the Old Dean added softly, an anticipating look appeared on his face which hadn’t been there in the whole century. "Let us witness this miracle."