Although Bernadette had once said that if a "Fountain of Youth" truly existed, it would only be one of the main ingredients of an Unaging Demoness, or something born from their corpse. Therefore, any man who claimed to have drunk from the "Fountain of Youth" was lying.
However, that was ultimately just Bernadette's conjecture, and in truth, it was not entirely correct.
According to Ebner's research and understanding, an ordinary Unaging Demoness could indeed transform into a "Fountain of Youth" after death, and because it contained Demoness characteristics, the drinker would naturally turn into a "woman"… of course, with a much greater probability of immediately losing control and becoming a monster.
What Bernadette did not know was that once a Beyonder of the Demoness pathway advanced to Sequence 2, Catastrophe Demoness, the "Fountain of Youth" was no longer that rare.
A Demoness of this level could even, at the cost of damaging herself, "produce" some Fountain of Youth water. Moreover, because it contained no characteristics, it would not cause sex transformation.
However, this was in fact not some benevolent substance, but rather one of the means by which Demonesses spread "catastrophe".
Well, the side effects of the Fountain of Youth itself were actually fairly mild. It was just that once the accumulated "amount of fountain water" exceeded a thousand years of lifespan, the drinker would be completely petrified.
But Catastrophe Demonesses usually slipped all kinds of "private goods" into the fountain water they produced.
For example, Natalia, the "Yellow Saintess," had once added the "Poison of Desire" into the Fountain of Youth she produced, then disguised herself as the "Goddess of the Pool," Linn, causing the Highlander chieftain who believed in her, as well as all the upper echelon, to drink the "fountain water".
As a result, that chieftain, who had originally been fairly just, became lost in "desire." For money, for pleasure, he excessively exploited his territory in every possible way, and his officials did the same.
The common folk had originally hoped that once those "devils" died, they could elect a wise chieftain to take over, but those people simply went on living for one hundred years, two hundred years…
In the end, the Highlanders' once relatively fertile land turned barren, and large numbers of people died… The Church of Storms noticed something was wrong, and then natural disasters descended. More than ten volcanoes erupted in succession, finally ending that chieftain's rule and completely resolving the harm brought by the Yellow Saintess.
All in all, although the Yellow Saintess, now turned into a marionette, had already lost the ability to produce Fountain of Youth water herself, as a Cognizer skilled at prying power loose, after deeply studying the "structure" of a Catastrophe Demoness, Ebner was naturally able to design corresponding "mystic arts" to squeeze some out of her.
As for the "damage" to the body… would a marionette even care about that?
Moreover, as this mystic art continued to be refined, even from a living Unaging Demoness, Ebner was confident he could squeeze some out.
Of course, this matter would still require the cooperation of Margaret, the "Red Saintess." It could be considered the price she paid for her past deeds.
As for why Ebner wanted to sell Fountain of Youth water, firstly it was to make a quick profit and recharge his own "mobile palace," and secondly it was to prepare for the "miracle" of bringing Groselle, Siatas, Mobet, and the others out of Groselle's Travels.
After all, the lifespan-extending upper limit of Fountain of Youth water was 1,000 years. Any more than that and petrification would occur… among those people, aside from Frunziar who could drink it directly, even the youngest, Mobet, was already over two thousand years old.
That was why more people needed to wish to him to "increase lifespan," accumulating it, so that later he could use a "miracle" to achieve lifespans of several thousand years.
As his thoughts turned, Ebner heard Emlyn beside him ask in a suspicious tone, "Is that real? You actually have something like that?"
Although Emlyn acknowledged that the "Hero Detective" had a very special status, he did not know the other party's specific strength and did not really believe he could obtain such a precious item.
Ebner glanced at him, then casually took out a test tube sealed with spirituality, containing about two milliliters of a transparent liquid.
"This is a sample of Fountain of Youth water. This amount should be enough to keep Marquis Nibais from continuing to decay for two or three years. You can give it to him for verification first, then proceed with the follow-up transaction," Ebner said as he handed the test tube to Emlyn.
Emlyn took the tube, sniffed it, then frowned and said with disgust, "The stench of corruption."
How could something from an Unaging Demoness be clean? Ebner mocked inwardly, while saying aloud, "As long as it works."
Although Emlyn knew the detective was right, he still put away the tube with a look of distaste. After hesitating slightly, he asked for confirmation, "It doesn't have any other side effects, right?"
At the Tarot Club, he had heard the World say that people who drank the Fountain of Youth had a high chance of turning into women.
"You vampires start as 'apothecaries.' Every one of you is an 'expert' in this area. If there are side effects, could you really not identify them?" Ebner snorted. "Even if you can't, Marquis Nibais definitely can."
His own Fountain of Youth water was actually quite "clean," at least without any "private goods."
"That's true," Emlyn nodded in agreement, unexpectedly convinced, and raised no further questions.
"Once it's done, I can give you five hundred pounds as an 'introduction fee.' As for your vampire side, I believe that marquis will also reward you," Ebner said with a smile. Then his expression turned serious as he continued, "Additionally, there's something you need to know…"
"What is it?" Seeing his seriousness, Emlyn's tone also became solemn.
"The true initiator of this transaction is the newly advanced angel of the Abraham family, His Highness Alvin Abraham!
"I'm telling you this because I don't want the vampire side to do anything 'discourteous'."
Ebner spoke pointedly.
After all, in some novels from my previous life, there were always certain 'villains' who, seeing the protagonist alone and weak, would do something as crude as sending people to rob them outright… Although the vampires of the Mysteries world were fairly normal in intelligence, it was still hard to guarantee that no one would harbor crooked thoughts…
So when it was time to show muscle, one had to show muscle. Only then could some things that should never happen truly not happen.
Alvin Abraham?! If it were other low- or mid-sequence vampires, they would most likely not know this name, but Emlyn had heard it just yesterday at the Tarot Club…
…
At the same time, after following the core members of the Abraham family to the family treasury and fiddling for a while with the Staff of Stars and the Scroll of the God, Alvin swept his gaze over Dorian and the others before him and smiled as he asked,
"Do you want to become a few years younger, and make advancement easier?"
Dorian and the others looked at one another, but quickly nodded. "Of course we do… Ancestor, do you have a way?"
"Naturally," Ebner said, placing the Staff of Stars back in its original position, then speaking unhurriedly,
"The method is…
"Wish upon me!"
(End of chapter)