"You shut up, muscle brain. I am sorry about her attitude, but Alex, what he said is true.


    You may not know this, but right now, it can be said Edward is our n leader. Since he''s disappeared now, we need to know what happened to him.


    Of course, you don''t need to tell us now. I understand it''s a family matter, but can you promise to tell me after you''re finished? I will wait for you outside."


    "Thank you, ra. I appreciate it."


    Stel still couldn''t ept the situation. He wanted to say more, but ra had already pulled him out of the room, then closed it behind them.


    "Just what are you thinking? I don''t get it. If Edward were still here, I''d understand why we need to think twice, but now…"


    "You saw my fight with him; do you think you can win? There''s also MingYue here. I somehow feel she''s on a simr level with Alex."


    "Even with the two of them, I still don''t get why we need to amodate them like this."


    "Just think of it as Edward''s wish. Don''t you still owe him?"


    "That… is different. Not like I nned to kill that boy."


    "And you think Alex won''t try to kill you? Have you seen what he''s capable of?


    Also, the incident in the Midnight n, I just got information it''s rted to him. So what''s wrong with taking one step back?


    It''s not like he doesn''t want to tell us; he just asked for privacy to be with his family. How hard is that?"


    "You and your irrefutablemon sense. Sometimes I wonder if you''re immortal or not."


    ra snorted. "The other immortals just forget they were human once. Honestly, I''m starting to think emotion is necessary for us to reach the next level."


    "How can it be rted? We learn to ignore our emotions as we make our breakthrough, pushing forward to focus only on cultivation."


    "And this is why I won''t bother to exin it to you. You''re stupid! We''re not ignoring our emotions; we''re trying to control them. Just be patient; if this is proven true, you''ll be my first guinea pig."


    Stel''s lips twitched, but he didn''t retort. It wasn''t the first time he''d be ra''s guinea pig; he was fine as long as the risk was eptable.


    And now the reward was reaching a new realm, one that was unattainable by anyone before. Whatever the risk was, he felt it was worth it.


    "Did you get the idea from Edward? He said he had given you enough clues to move on."


    "Nope, Edward gave me clues on my alchemy to enhance someone''s potential. This one was because of my talk with Alex. Anyway, just shut up for now." ra replied while thinking. ''Humanity''s best talent is its adaptation, but doesn''t this alsoe from our emotion?


    We use our emotion as fuel for our ambition to do something that should be impossible.


    Many fail in the journey, but some seed, pushing humanity to new heights.


    The cycle continues over and over.


    If this is the basic human trait, then does it mean I need to tie my emotion to my being?''


    As she thought about this, inside, Alex was having a deep discussion with Emily and Luca.


    He started with how Edward had already nned for everything, and now the soul had already left his body, before exining further the basis of his reasoning.


    Emily sobbed at his exnation, the hope to meet her father squashed once more. She walked to the ice while looking at her father''s face.


    Meanwhile, Luca, through all this, kept looking at Alex, "Is that all? You''re not hiding anything?"


    "No, Mom. As I said, Father is still alive, and he wille looking for us soon."


    Luca''s eyes flickered. She stood up, then walked toward Alex. Her gaze never left his face. "Who are you?"


    "What do you mean, Mom? I''m your son."


    Emily, who had been sobbing, stopped hearing Luca''s question, "What do you mean by asking that, Mom? Are you saying Alex is an imposter?"


    "Honestly, I don''t know. My heart tells me the one standing here is my son, but my eyes tell me he is not," she said with a voice tinged with sadness and pain.


    The tone made Alex''s eyes flicker, but unfortunately, it onlysted a moment. "I still don''t get it."


    "The son that


    I knew wouldn''t talk like that, and your smile is fake. Alex, you''re like apletely new person.


    At first, I thought it was the effect of bing a vampire since MingYue''s personality is also quite cold and detached. But then I remembered how long you''ve been one and how MingYue became emotional about her parents.


    This means something else is the cause, and you haven''t told me that, Alex."


    Her tone then turned stern. "Alex, who told you you could lie to me? Tell me what happened to you now."


    "Don''t worry about it, Mom. I''m really alright. We should worry about Father for now. I''ve already thought of a few ns we can go for this."


    Luca took a step closer, then embraced Alex, pushing his head over her chest. "Can you hear my heartbeat?


    As long as I''m breathing and living, you and Emily are my priority. This is what your father and I decided, and also why I stayed this long before looking for him.


    Now, tell me what happened."


    BA-Dump, Ba-Dump, Ba-Dump.


    The heartbeat was like a concert of music that made Alex''s heart feel a throb, like something was pulling on its string, but the shell was too strong.


    "It''s really nothing, Mom."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Luca pulled back, looking straight into his eyes, "Then tell me everything that happened the moment you came to this world. And no lying or hiding anything."


    Alex paused for a moment. His logic told him it was still better to hide many parts, but somehow his lips moved and told everything.