Hearing this, Linhua felt relieved.
She did not think it was strange.
It was common for cultivators to pass on all their cultivation methods to their heirs, but place seals on them.
Those seals only broke when the inheritor reached a certain level.
This was done so the heir would not be overwhelmed with too much information at once.
More importantly, it protected them from being targeted and killed while they were still growing.
While Mingyue focused on her revenge, Alex was busy trying to convince his mother.
Luca had not objected when Alex said he wanted to create a research facility for new products.
But when he mentioned starting his own guild, she refused without hesitation.
"I said no, Alex.
You would be better off staying at home doing nothing than creating your own guild," Luca said, her eyes stern.
"Mom, I am just opening a guild. I am not going into any dungeons," Alex replied.
Luca raised her voice again. "And so?
You say that now. But what about later?
Look, Alex, even if things are stable now, how long do you think that will last?"
Worry filled her eyes as she continued. "You have abilities too, Alex.
If something happens, as the guild owner, you will be required to participate.
Have you forgotten what happened to your father?"
When she mentioned that, tears started to shine in Luca's eyes.
Alex fell silent. He also missed his father.
His father's abilities were similar to Alex's.
He had focused on enhancing his brain, which allowed him to think about many things at the same time.
With that ability, Alex's father, Edward, had been able to rise quickly and build a large business empire in his lifetime.
He had then married Luca and lived his dream, until that tragic day.
On January 28, 2189, a Category Five dungeon had suddenly appeared.
It broke all the known rules and understanding of dungeons.
The dungeon broke in only one hour, and terrifying monsters poured out. Each one could easily kill a normal hunter.
Panic spread at once and the town fell into chaos.
At that time, Edward owned his own guild. At first, he had wanted to name it Full Metal.
The copyright committee rejected that name.
So he chose the name Suzaku instead, inspired by the mythological phoenix.
He hoped the guild would become a symbol of a new and better life for every member.
As a guild owner and an awakened hunter, he was forced to stay in the city and use his abilities to coordinate the guild members.
Alex, Luca, and his younger sister Emily were evacuated from the city.
At first, Luca had wanted to stay with Edward.
But Edward insisted that someone had to be there for their children, even if both of them were already teenagers, with Alex at 18 and Emily at 16.
Luca knew how stubborn her husband could be, so she left with their children.
A few hours later, they saw the news. The city had been wiped out.
There were no survivors.
The entire area around it was sealed off and marked as forbidden.
Five years passed after that incident, and they had never held a funeral for Edward.
Luca kept posting missions to rescue her husband.
In her mind, he was not dead until she saw his body.
Emily had been crushed by the incident. She had a big fight with Luca because she wanted to become a hunter.
"I will look for my father with my own hands," Emily had declared.
In the end, Emily left home to become a hunter.
She had not spoken to Luca since then, but she still sent updates about her life to Alex every week.
Alex knew his mother would not change her mind unless he also chose to leave home.
So he gave up.
"Alright, I will not make a guild. Happy now, Mom?" he said.
Seeing her son abandon the idea made Luca feel relieved.
She took out her phone.
"So, what do you need to start? I will ask our lawyer to handle all the legal work.
Is 1 billion dollars enough?"
She continued, "We also have some space you can use. Your father built it before for Suzaku's expansion.
Now it is used as housing for survivors and their families. Give them jobs, Alex.
They already have experience working with a guild. I tried to offer them other jobs before, but they refused.
They want work related to dungeons."
"If the place can be used as a research facility, that should be more than enough, Mom," Alex said.
"I have already found a professor to be the lead scientist. Send me the address, then I will check the place."
"Alright. I will not tell you how to run it, since I have no experience in that area either," Luca said.
"Just make sure you do everything properly and do not get scammed." She let out a small chuckle.
"Well, with your ability, no ordinary person should be able to scam you."
She looked at him and asked, "Now tell me, why did you suddenly want to start a business like this?
I know you, my dear son. Something must have happened.
You would never move unless there was something interesting to you."
Luca was not worried even if the business failed badly and Alex lost all the money.
As long as he had something to do, it was better than him staying at home and wasting his time.
She was more curious about what had pushed him to start this venture.
"Yes, I found something interesting that I am sure can lift our family to a new level," Alex said with an excited tone.
Luca did not believe him.
They were already in the top 10 percent of the richest people on the planet.
To rise higher meant entering the top 1 percent, the most elite.
Those people had held their positions for generations, with global power and influence.
The only way to reach their level was to take one of their places.
For newcomers like them, reaching the top 10 percent was already a big achievement.
If not for the chances created by the dungeons that had thrown the world into chaos, their family would never have risen this far.