"Mr. Ballard, have you discovered anything?" Gerard asked, striding into the abandoned building with a large group of officers from the state department. His hands were clasped behind his back.They had scoured the building countless times, searching every nook and cranny, yet they had found nothing.Sebastian ignored them and walked slowly to a door on the first floor. He tossed a paper charm onto the floor. After throwing six paper charms in a row, he looked up in the direction of the second floor."The crime didn't take place upstairs. This building only has two stories, and it's empty up there," Gerard said contemptuously.Sebastian didn't respond and threw the final paper charm up into the air.When the paper charm landed on the floor, Sebastian chanted in a low voice, "Heaven and earth subdue the curse, the land hides a true spirit, and the Northstar formation joins with the skies!"When his chant ended, the seven paper charms immediately began to glow with a silver-white l
"Mr. Ballard, did you just say the murderer isn't human?" Drew asked, frowning deeply."Mr. Houghton, don't listen to his nonsense! No matter how powerful that thing inside is, can it stand against our bullets? If he resists, we'll shoot him dead on the spot!" Gerard said urgently."Exactly," Brody chimed in. "How can you try and trick us with ghost stories in this modern era? You traditional medicine doctors can only fool ignorant women from the countryside!"Everyone there was part of the elite among the police, and they all believed firmly in science. They had all solved some unusual cases at some point, but in the end, they had all proved to be the work of a human.Ghosts didn't exist at all!Besides, some of those present felt that Sebastian was just lucky and had chanced upon the murderer. They didn't think that it was due to any ability or skill on his part."Mr. Ballard, shall we try to call for backup?" Drew was beginning to waver. Although he didn't want to offend Seb
Sebastian wasn't sure how powerful the cave sprite was. All he had were a few self-preservation strategies he had learned from the Sacred Medicine Secret Annals. He would have no problem saving himself, but that didn't mean he could defeat his opponent.Cave sprites were revenants that only appeared every couple of thousand years. If they were that easy to deal with, why would they be so rare?Sebastian had only promised Belinda and Rufus on the phone that he would find the murderer. As for capturing the murderer, he wasn't responsible for that.Besides, if they locked the cave sprite's area of movement or made him too afraid to go into city areas to eat people, what did it matter whether they caught him or not?After less than half an hour, over ten police cars from the state department arrived at the scene. Vince turned and sighed in resignation as he looked at them. He could only pray inwardly that there wouldn't be a huge scene of carnage and death. The sacrifice of these
The old man was clearly not very skilled in the mystic arts, as he had not been able to see Sebastian's formation.Those whose mystic arts had reached a certain level would be able to see that there was now a wall of light around Sebastian. Even the cave sprite wouldn't be able to pass through it."Young man, haven't you heard the saying that curiosity kills the cat?" The old man's gaze swept over Sebastian, and an impatient note crept into his voice. Although the old man was arrogant, he genuinely had good intentions, so Sebastian had a fairly good impression of him. Therefore, he didn't get angry and just chuckled as he nodded.When the old man realized that Sebastian wouldn't budge, he decided not to bother with him any longer. He strode into the building and said coldly, "You'll regret it soon. Don't think you're safe just because there are officers near you. When you lose your life, don't say that I didn't warn you!"As soon as the old man finished, a team of special forces
The creature suddenly lunged at one of the officers. It raised a hand and grabbed the officer's throat as it opened its crimson, gaping mouth and began sucking forcefully at his nose. Within seconds, the officer aged decades, and even his hair and teeth began falling out. As the others looked on, the officer became a dried corpse right in front of their eyes.With a sickening snap, the human-shaped creature broke the officer's neck. A shrunken, dried head rolled off his shoulders. It then casually tossed the dried corpse aside. Everyone was stunned with fear by what they had just witnessed.Gerard, Brody, and the others hadn't believed that ghosts existed. They hadn't believed that supernatural entities existed, either, but now the facts were right in front of them. They had no choice but to believe it. They had never seen anything like it. Overcome with fear, many of them had wet their pants.However, the cave sprite had no intention of stopping. It shot rapidly into the crow
Upon seeing what was happening, Drew turned pale with fear. At that moment, Gerard and Brody burst out of one of the exits, followed closely by over a dozen special forces officers.Drew did a rough count. Including Gerard, there were only 14 survivors in total. Everyone else had been turned into dried corpses!At that moment, a scarlet scene appeared in front of Sebastian. A scene of carnage came into his vision, filled with mountains of corpses and a sea of blood.Drew's expression was extremely grim as he looked at the dozen or so survivors who had managed to escape.Almost 40 people had died in a single operation! How was he going to explain this to his superiors? So many lives had disappeared in an instant!Gerard was as pale as a sheet, and his legs were trembling uncontrollably."Mr. Ballard, what should we do now? Should we escape or retreat?" Drew asked, his voice trembling.Escape or retreat? Wasn't that the same thing?Sebastian's gaze swept over Drew, who was beside
"Turn on the lights! Hurry!" Gerard shouted. He had actually soiled his pants in fear.To his horror, there was no signal on his phone. He couldn't even turn it on, either. Around him, clouds of black fog seemed to rush up from the ground, and it grew thicker and thicker. He felt as if he were being gnawed at by tens of thousands of bugs. It prickled and hurt.When the foglights on the police cars were turned on, everyone saw in the light that black blood was spurting from their bodies.Gerard watched the dark blood rush forth relentlessly from his body, and he fell to the ground in fright. "W-What's wrong with me?"All around him, the special forces officers were screaming at the top of their lungs. They didn't even have the strength to stand any longer.Drew was crawling on the ground with difficulty. He wanted to get to Sebastian because he had realized that only Sebastian and Vince were standing there, unaffected.Vince was sticking close to Sebastian, staring at the scene u
Leopold pulled out a mahogany sword. He murmured an incantation, and the mahogany sword suddenly emitted a faint red glow. It was a pity that it only flickered momentarily before going out. The runes all over Leopold were glowing with a golden light, but they were unable to suppress the relentless clouds of dark energy. The cave sprite really was as terrifying as it was described to be in the Sacred Medicine Secret Annals. It was a good thing that Sebastian had been prepared. Otherwise, even he would undoubtedly have died if he had faced the cave sprite. The power of a king of spirits shocked Sebastian. Leopold was sent flying with a single slap. He fell heavily to the ground and spat out a mouthful of tainted blood.He finally got angry and took out his last remaining paper charm. The paper charm looked ancient, and it was slightly torn in places.Leopold let his own blood drip onto the paper charm and chanted an incantation. He then flung the paper charm away, and it flew
Samson glanced at Sebastian. He took a deep breath and said to Arnaud, "Thank you for sparing me, Uncle Arnaud."He gave Sebastian a few final reminders before leaving the hall with Preston.Once they were gone, Arnaud pointed at Duo and said to Sebastian, "Tell him to leave too."Sebastian waved a hand at Duo."I'll wait for you at the entrance, my lord," Duo said. "If anything happens, I'll be here as soon as you call!"He gave Arnaud a cold look before striding out of the hall.Arnaud watched him leave and smiled approvingly. He beckoned to Sebastian. "Come, sit!"Sebastian didn't hesitate. He crossed the hall and sat in the chair opposite Arnaud."Do you know why I asked Andreas to bring you back here?" Arnaud asked impassively. Sebastian shook his head expressionlessly. He said in a cold voice, "It's probably because of the emerald token in my father's possession."Apart from using him and Whitney as leverage against Samson, he couldn't think of any other reason.Arnau
"The Blessed Child! The Blessed Child has finally come to our family!"The black-robed old man who had been sitting beside Arnaud stood up, looking pleased. He couldn't hide his excitement as he turned to Arnaud and said, "Arnaud, our family is going to prosper!"Only Rexton and Milton looked extremely displeased. Braxton and Roland looked pained, as if they had lost something of great value. They were practically thumping their chests in regret!The Blessed Child had been foretold by one of the heads of the family centuries ago. No matter how far the Ballards declined, the prophecy said that after a few hundred years, a Blessed Child would appear—someone who could lead the family's revival!The only proof of the Blessed Child was for him to enter a master-servant oath with a Devora."Prosper? What a joke!" Hugo scoffed, holding Virtus firmly. "Weren't you all just clamoring about killing the two of them?"At Hugo's words, Arnaud's expression changed slightly. "When did I say tha
"Hugo!"Arnaud, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them wide. He eyed Hugo with a conflicted expression as he asked, "Have you forgotten the agreement the Thornes made with us ten years ago?"Hugo smiled coldly and put one hand behind his back. "That was the agreement you made with the Thornes. I'm only following Ms. Thorne's orders to protect Samson and find the emerald token. If Samson dies in this battle, how am I supposed to explain that to her?"He pointed at Sebastian and added, "He's Ms. Thorne's flesh and blood. Your family has no right to punish him! If the Ballards insist on killing them today, don't blame me for going on a killing spree!"When Hugo had finished, Sebastian finally realized that Hugo was from Isabella's family and that he had stayed at the Ballard Estate to protect Samson.It was clear that Isabella hadn't held a grudge toward Samson. In fact, she had sent an expert to stay behind to protect him in case anything happened.Arnaud's
Sebastian threw his head back in laughter. He strode forward, standing in the center of the hall, and said coldly. "Ungrateful? How could you have the audacity to say such a thing?"Even if I'm surrounded by enemies, you Ballards can forget about making me submit! It's just death, after all. If I even blink, then I won't call myself a man!"Everyone there stared at Sebastian."How dare that brat be so cocky? If he's not punished, it'll be a disgrace to our family rules!""He should be given the death penalty!""It'll be a disaster if we just let him be, and it'll only bring trouble for our family. Please give the order, and we'll kill him at once!"The entire hall was in an uproar. Even Preston, who had been speaking up for Sebastian and Samson, sighed in resignation.Since Sebastian had already made his stance clear, Preston couldn't help even if he wanted to.Sebastian had roused the anger of everyone there, and Arnaud had closed his eyes and wasn't saying anything. He was cl
Sebastian was just about to step forward when Samson hastily waved a hand at him and said, "Sebastian, the grudges of the Ballard family from over ten years ago have nothing to do with you. Don't get involved!""But—"Sebastian's gaze sharpened as he turned to look at Milton. There was an icy glint in his eyes. Samson shook his head slightly at Sebastian. The Ballard Estate had at least ten experts at the eighth level of the Eldoria realm. At Sebastian's current level, trying to fight them would only bring him big trouble."Sebastian, one must learn how to adapt to the situation," Samson whispered into his ear using voice projection. "Today, I will exchange my legs for your and Whitney's freedom. Think of it as a payment for what I owe you and your mother."Sebastian clenched his fists tightly. He hated himself for being too weak. He couldn't even protect his own family in a place like the Ballard Estate, where many experts were gathered.However, he would never allow anyone to
"Do you accept it, Samson?" Arnaud asked harshly when he saw that Preston hadn't said anything else. He turned to look directly at Samson.Samson smiled bitterly and turned to look at Sebastian before raising his head to look at Arnaud, who was sitting high above them. He said, "Uncle Arnaud, I was the reason for everything that happened. I wish to ask you not to trouble Sebastian.""What are you talking about?" Preston was agitated. He stood up again and yelled, "There must still be an investigation about who was right and who was wrong. Why should they break your legs?"As he spoke, his eyes blazed with fury. He looked at the thin old man and said furiously, "Milton, you old bastard! How can you be so shameless at your age? Tell me! Did you embellish the story to Arnaud?""Uncle Preston!" Samson stopped him quickly and sighed slightly. "Forget it. It's my fault for bringing such huge trouble upon our family back then."I admit that I have let our family down. Since imprisoning m
As the man in the black robe yelled, the entire hall fell silent at once. The thin old man threw the black-robed old man a disgruntled look, but he returned obediently to his seat.Once the noise had died down, Preston stepped forward and swept an icy gaze over the crowd who were present. "You call yourself the elders of the family?"The monument of our ancestral dragon is right in front of you. How could you bully two young members of the family in front of it? Don't you feel any shame?"Besides, how dare you speak before Arnaud does?"After the harsh scolding they received from Preston, no one in the crowd dared to protest. Sebastian nodded involuntarily. It appeared that Preston did have influence in the Ballard family. At least no one had interrupted his scolding, including Arnaud and the man in the black robe.Preston huffed angrily and bowed to Arnaud, who sat in the middle. "Arnaud, I've brought Samson and Sebastian!"Preston went over to the chair next to the black-robe
"Sebastian, I won't be going in. Remember, don't say anything without being spoken to, and don't be impulsive!" Andreas said softly in Sebastian's ear when they reached the door to the hall. He then walked over to the crowd, which was packed on both sides of the hall.Samson and Preston walked into the hall without any change in expression. Sebastian hesitated for a moment before hurrying to catch up.When they reached the entrance, the two old men reached out to stop them and said to Preston, who was in the lead, "Preston, I'm afraid that it wouldn't be a good idea for you to go in. Everyone knows that you're biased toward Samson's family. If you get into an argument with Arnaud, then—""Nonsense!" Preston yelled furiously. He spoke in a menacing tone to the two old men. "Don't try those tricks with me. Today, I'm going to be the voice of reason. Who among you can do anything to me?"With that, he pushed them aside and strode into the hall.The two old men gazed after his ret
The Ballard Estate's resources were unfathomable as it was. Could Isabella's family be even more powerful than theirs?Sebastian clearly remembered that both he and Samson were under the Sacred Medicine Society. They even had the same mentor.The Sacred Medicine Society was above all the other mystic martial arts sects. Even the sect leaders of the Nine Sects were very respectful toward his mentor.If Samson really was from the same sect as Sebastian, then his mentor had clearly been unable to save him. Wouldn't that mean that the Sacred Medicine Society was no match for the Ballards?Wouldn't that mean that Isabella's family was an even greater entity?"If my mother's family is really that powerful, why couldn't they rescue my father? There would also be no reason to let me join the Sacred Medicine Society either, right?" Sebastian asked probingly. It seemed as if Andreas had never even thought about such questions. He smiled and shook his head. "You probably don't know about a