"Before my father passed away, he personally placed this Rakshasa Demon Umbrella, along with the future and destiny of the Hale family, into my hands."
"Although you are my elder, you have absolutely no right to interfere in the Hale family's decision-making without authorization."
"And you certainly have no right to abolish my position as Saint Lord. Do you understand?"
Cold sweat beaded on Daven's forehead. He nodded tremblingly.
"Second." Alex continued.
"Isolde's Seven Orifices Divine Heart was originally a treasure forged using the family's resources."
"She colluded with a wild man and publicly threatened to sever all ties with the family."
"That is why I expelled her from the clan and reclaimed the Seven Orifices Divine Heart."
"As for Saintess Iris's Jade Sword and Purification Bottle, and the Jade Princess's Heavenly Spirit Flame Lotus, they actively offered them to this seat. I did not forcefully plunder them."
"If you do not believe me, you can go ask them yourself."
Daven opened his mouth. No sound came out.
Not only because the Rakshasa Demon Umbrella was pressed against his throat. More so because the coercive pressure radiating from Alex was like a formless giant hand gripping his neck in a death choke.
"Daven, you just said you wanted to settle accounts with me, right?" Alex sneered.
"Then I will properly settle the old accounts from all those years ago with you right now."
He turned his head toward Selene.
"Princess Orchid, do you remember how Daven managed to become a Duke of your Heavenly Flame Dynasty back then?"
"Of course." Selene nodded.
"Back when Her Majesty first ascended the throne, a massive drought struck the land and the people lived in hellish misery."
"It was the Duke of Hale who brought out two hundred thousand spirit stones to help Her Majesty weather the crisis, which paved the way for the Heavenly Flame Dynasty's prosperity today."
"Correct, exactly." Alex smiled faintly.
"Then, do you happen to know where those two hundred thousand spirit stones came from?"
Selene looked suspicious. "This... this Princess does not know..."
"Then I will tell you."
Alex's voice turned cold.
"Those two hundred thousand spirit stones were stolen from the Hale family's vault by him, Daven Hale, exploiting his status as Grand Uncle!"
"At the time, a massive drought plagued the world, and the Hale family also suffered its ravages."
"Those two hundred thousand spirit stones were the Hale family's entire life savings."
"Because these spirit stones were stolen by Daven, over thirty family disciples who fell severely ill had no spirit stones to buy medicine, and were left to die untreated."
"Another two hundred family disciples were in secluded cultivation, but without spirit stones to purchase Origin Transforming Pills, they suffered Qi deviation and had their cultivations entirely crippled."
"To help the family survive the crisis, I was forced to lead all the disciples of the clan out to take on mercenary missions just to earn meager amounts of spirit stones."
"I led three thousand Hale family disciples out of the estate, and ultimately, only half returned."
"Five hundred disciples encountered unforeseen disasters and perished during those missions."
"A thousand disciples literally worked themselves to death taking on five or six missions a day."
"If it were not for the absolute unity and shared resolve of the entire clan, the Hale family would have faced extermination right then."
"And the sole instigator of it all was Daven Hale stealing those two hundred thousand spirit stones!"
Cedric, Tobias, and several veteran members of the clan instantly revealed expressions of deep indignation.
They had all lived through that great drought a hundred years ago.
They knew exactly how desperate it had been. Because of the worldwide drought and withered crops, resource prices had skyrocketed to astronomical heights.
In a single day, the Saint Lord had hunted down four Beast Venerables with Supreme Realm strength, yet only managed to exchange them for a few Spirit Healing Pills to treat the injured.
It was precisely because of that disaster that everyone in the Hale family resolved to swear fealty and follow the Saint Lord to the death.
That was why, no matter how much the Saint Lord later spoiled Isolde or exploited their resources time and time again, they never once thought about betraying the family.
Selene's expression was complicated. Her face looked incredibly ugly.
She never expected it.
The two hundred thousand spirit stones Daven Hale had presented were actually stolen.
The Hale family's life-saving money.
If Her Majesty had known, she absolutely never would have used them.
This was basically equivalent to the entire Hale family using their lives, blood, and sweat to help the Heavenly Flame Dynasty survive the crisis.
Feeling the hostile glares from the Hale family disciples, Daven's face changed slightly. Fine beads of cold sweat dotted his forehead.
Knox stepped forward and helped him up. He turned to look at Alex, his tone cold.
"Saint Lord Alex, a full century has passed. Why must you bring up these ancient events?"
"The Duke of Hale stealing your spirit stones back then was naturally wrong."
"So right now, we will simply return these two hundred thousand spirit stones to you. Won't that settle it?"
Alex froze slightly.
Then threw his head back and burst into laughter, as if he had just heard the biggest joke in the world.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Brat, where exactly did you find the face to say something so incredibly naive?"
The surrounding Hale family disciples couldn't hold back. Loud, mocking laughter erupted through the hall.
Knox felt his face burn. He said angrily, "What, am I wrong?"
"Right, you are extremely right." Alex tilted his chin up slightly, mocking him.
"You ignorant, wet behind the ears whelp, your age puts you in the generation of my grandchildren."
"Having never experienced that natural disaster, how dare you spout such arrogant nonsense here?"
"Can the two hundred thousand spirit stones from back then even be compared to two hundred thousand spirit stones today?"
"How can they not be compared?" Knox argued stubbornly.
Alex let out a scoffing laugh.
"Suppose you are in a desert, on the verge of dying of thirst. I give you a bottle of water and save your life."
"After you leave the desert, you hand me the monetary cost of a single bottle of water and tell me we are now even."
"Do you think that is something a decent human being would do?"
"To put it another way: the reason you managed to trick Isolde into following you with such dead-set loyalty..."
"...is because when she was trapped in a desperate situation, you gave her a simple bowl of white porridge."
"According to your logic, Isolde never needed to repay your grace. After she escaped danger, she could have just bought a bowl of white porridge, handed it back to you, and the two of you would be entirely even. Is that right?"