The Old man in black was completely dumbfounded by the strange event. A terrifying pressure descended on them some moments ago, and now, not only did it disappear without a trace, but he suddenly felt like a weight was lifted from his body with the disappearance of the pressure.
A confused voice asked, looking at the other old men, seeing the same baffled expressions.
They weren't the only ones with this stunned expression, every single member of the McCall Family that were in the Manor wore this same expression as they all felt the pressure come and go in a short few seconds.
The entire McCall Manor was in a state of confusion as everyone stopped whatever they were doing and started discussing what just happened.
In the open field where the affinity stone laid, Grey stood there a little longer after Void had kept the core. He once again placed his palm on the stone, and this time, he didn't sense any added energy.
'That should fix them.'
Grey genuinely felt pleased with himself for helping the McCall Family. From his conjecture, the reason the McCall Family has been unable to produce a Sovereign after so many years isn't because they didn't produce the talent, but due to their cores' energy being siphoned by the Magical Beast's core hidden beneath the affinity stone, they've never been able to have enough essence to touch the threshold of the Sovereign Plane. As long as the Magical Beast's core is no longer taking the essence from the cores of the McCall Family members, they'll naturally be able to produce Sovereigns.
Of course, the only way he could confirm everything is by checking the members of the McCall Family to see if their cores still had strings attached to them. He vanished from where he was standing.
Inside the McCall Manor main hall.
The six old men were still wondering what happened when Grey's figure suddenly appeared. They were shocked by his sudden appearance, but quickly calmed down after seeing that he was the one.
"Come." Grey cut off the Old man speaking, motioning for him to come close. The old man walked over and Grey placed his fingers on his wrist, after a short time he retracted his hand.
"It's as I expected, the string has been destroyed." He nodded in satisfaction.
The Old man in black looked at Grey, shivering, he asked in a low voice, "Is this the reason we haven't been able to have a Sovereign?"
Grey nodded to the Old man and explained his theory to him. Hearing his words, the Old men felt like it was most likely the case. They all knew that without sufficient essence, even the most talented Elementalist will never be able to break through certain cultivation Planes. There are some talents that have been stuck in a particular cultivation stage for ages due to lack of essence.
The Old man in black who was standing slumped to his chair, his hands were shaking, and from his breathing, it's clear to see that he was trying to keep his emotions in control. The Old man in black wasn't the only one trying to keep his emotions in check, the other five Old men were visibly shaking, and even their breaths were rushed. Their faces were showing hints of red from the excitement, these Old men could barely contain their emotions.
"Hahaha." One of the Old men burst out in a maniacal laughter, but the joy and excitement couldn't be hidden. It was none other than the Old man in blue.
Grey didn't say a word, he looked at the Old men who could barely contain their emotions. The only person who had already regained his calmness was the Old man in black who stood up and walked straight to where Grey was standing. Without a word, he bowed his head.
"Thank you, thank you for helping my McCall Family. You're our benefactor, and if you ever need our help in the future, you only need to say a word and we will come running."
The other five Old men had already regained themselves from their state of excitement the moment the Old man in black started speaking, they rushed to his side and bowed to Grey.
Grey hurriedly used the wind element to keep them upright, "It's nothing serious. Without your help my Ancestor's legacy would've been lost, this is the least I could do."
Grey turned to the Old man in black, motioning for him to go ahead with whatever he wanted to say.
"The pressure we felt a while back, was it from what was attached to the other side of the string?" The Old man in black asked after a while, he knew he shouldn't ask, but this is something that has caused harm to the McCall Family for hundreds of years, he was a little curious to know what could cause such harm to their Family for hundreds of years.
Grey didn't see any point in hiding it, so he told them about the core that was attached to it, and the strange fact that the core was gaining sentience.
Hearing that a Magical Beast's core is what was attached to the end of the string, they all wore perplexed expressions as they fell deep into thoughts, trying to wonder who would've done something to the McCall Family.
They didn't ask about the Magical Beast's core, as they didn't see the need to. They've been looking for ways to restore their Family back to the top, becoming one of the prominent Families and forces in the Raging Flames Region, and now that the path has been opened to them again, they didn't care if Grey benefited from it.
After once again thanking Grey, they rushed out to cultivate. Of course, they didn't forget to calm the members of the McCall Manor who experienced that shocking pressure wash over them earlier. They didn't explain anything to them, only opting to tell the core members of the Family.