Romulus was the left sentinel of the Irongate Sect and was very influential. He was also the apprentice of Peak Three in Sapientia's Cesum Court. Many sect leaders in the martial arts community showed respect to Romulus, so it went without saying the same would happen in a small place like Steinberg. When the news of Romulus' death reached the Martial Arts Court, even the head director wet his pants in fear.Even though he hated Romulus, he should have died anywhere but in Steinberg! If Sapientia started asking questions, how was he going to answer?"Who killed Romulus?" A middle-aged, stern-looking man in a white robe slammed the table angrily in the Martial Arts Court as he spoke. He was the head director of the Steinberg Martial Arts Court, Phineas Tuxley. He was also a top expert at the ninth level of the Celestial realm.Although the Martial Arts Association had undergone a lot of changes recently, Phineas hadn't bothered to get involved in any of them.After all, the Ma
Phineas pushed the door open, looking sinister. The moment he walked in, he turned his head aside quickly.A well-built, middle-aged man was lying on a massage bed. He was naked and had four or five masseuses with him.Phineas was the head director. He couldn't just ignore such a crude scene. How did Alaric get all that energy? He was using up so much, but he didn't look tired at all."Well, if it isn't Mr. Tuxley! It seems you have the time to come and see me today. Are you here to have some fun as well?" Alaric asked. He sat up and wrapped a towel around his waist. Phineas covered half his face and turned his head to say, "Mr. Donnelly, Romulus was killed by Sebastian at Scentia an hour ago. Other victims include two of his apprentices and 18 other followers. None of them were spared.""What did you say?" Alaric shot up from his seat in shock when he heard the news.Romulus wasn't as agile as Alaric, but he was the true pillar of the Fury Scimitars. After all, he had the s
Alaric glared viciously at Phineas. How was he supposed to know?"Since Sebastian was the one who made this mess, then he should do something for the martial arts community to make up for his mistakes. It's his fault for killing Emil, after all!" Alaric said thoughtfully. If Sebastian hadn't defeated Sword Towers and hindered the overseas Dragon Sect's grand plan to return to Dramon, why would Jules have suddenly sent a warning to the Dramon martial arts community?He had even specifically mentioned Sebastian and challenged him. The best solution right now would be to persuade Sebastian to accept Jules' challenge.If Sebastian won, he would be helping the martial arts community to get rid of danger. If he lost, Jules wouldn't allow him to stay alive.If so, Alaric would just need to report the news to Sapientia. Sapientia wasn't going to hold a grudge against a dead person, after all. Alaric might even benefit from it. He thought for a long time and finally came up with a pla
"Mr. Tuxley, do as I told you to, and Sebastian is sure to agree," Alaric said, smiling sinisterly."I hope so." Phineas walked out of the room, looking extremely displeased. He had come all the way there and still ended up having to take care of the issue.Phineas became angrier the more he thought about it. He almost crashed into the glass doors at the entrance to the club because he was distracted."Be careful, Mr. Tuxley!" One of the deacons who had come with him hastily pushed the glass door open.Phineas glanced at the transparent glass door and said to the pretty young woman at the reception, "Tell your boss to change this door! Damn it, if that glass door is still here the next time I come, I'll wreck your club!"Phineas got into his car, looking extremely menacing.The two deacons followed him cautiously. Phineas was clearly in a terrible mood. Anyone who provoked his anger would be sure to get very unlucky."Mr. Tuxley, where should we drive to?" the driver asked tenta
"Thank you, Ms. Griffin. I apologize to both of you as a representative of the Martial Arts Court for what happened today. As for the death of Romulus, he deserved it! The Martial Arts Court will not pursue the matter with Mr. Ballard, and we'll even award him!" After that, Phineas hastily left the Moonlyte Club and rushed straight to Sebastian's convenience store.Half an hour later, he respectfully pushed open the door to the convenience store and stood there reverently. He spoke in a small voice to Rose, who was standing there. "Is Mr. Ballard here?""Who are you?" Rose asked, looking coldly at him.Phineas hastily plastered on a smile and said, "I'm the head director of the Steinberg Martial Arts Court, and my name is Phineas Tuxley. I came here especially to see Mr. Ballard.""Mr. Ballard is inside. Please wait a moment," Rose said. She turned and walked away from the counter before going into one of the rooms. She said softly, "Mr. Ballard, someone called Phineas Tuxley i
Phineas spoke with his brow furrowed, but Sebastian just looked coldly at him. Even if Jules wasn't coming, the martial arts community had never shown any kind of mercy to ordinary citizens."Mr. Ballard, I know that there are a lot of bad apples among the martial arts community, and there are many people who assault the citizens. However, we're still Dramonians. We wouldn't do it for no reason."They're from Southia. Do you think they'll show mercy to our fellow countrymen? Think about the humiliation Dramon has undergone in the past century." Phineas even squeezed out a few crocodile tears.He had been unable to move Sebastian with what he had said earlier, but the last part of his sentence touched Sebastian's heart. He couldn't allow the humiliation of Dramon to repeat itself today.Phineas wasn't completely unreasonable. Although some members of the martial arts community could be a little harsh, the majority of them were still good people.They were bossy and domineering, but
Phineas found the request rather difficult.It wasn't that he couldn't afford to offend those people. It was just that three days was much too short.In the past two weeks alone, the martial arts community had already committed numerous cases. He couldn't even count how many there had been."Mr. Ballard, I think that the time period given is a little short. There are over 1,000 cases within three days, and we don't have enough people at the Martial Arts Court," Phineas said, looking glum.Sebastian's brow wrinkled slightly. It was obvious how atrocious the behavior of the martial arts community was. Even their head director couldn't count how many crimes they had committed."That's your problem, Mr. Tuxley. I'll agree to fight against Jules when you've sorted out these cases," Sebastian said firmly.Phineas sighed inwardly. Wasn't this setting him a challenge? However, he had to solve it no matter what."Mr. Ballard, I'll take my leave. I'll give you a satisfactory answer within
When Whitney saw the files on the table, she picked up a few and flipped through them. She asked, "Why are all these cases related to martial arts practitioners? There's even a case of assault by the Skywest Martial Arts Gym. What's going on with that?" She looked at Sebastian in confusion. Shouldn't the files be stored at Police Headquarters?Sebastian pulled her down next to him and smiled. "These cases need to be resolved."Whitney curled her lip and said, "Ha! You want to resolve these cases? They're from the martial arts community. How are you going to do that? You can't even arrest these people, let alone interrogate them. You want to resolve the cases? Forget it."Zane poured tea for Rosalie and Whitney while smiling. He said, "Whitney, the head director of Steinberg Martial Arts Court said that all of these cases will be accounted for within three days. That's why Chief Weist sent the files over.""Oh." Whitney nodded. Rosalie's brow furrowed in slight surprise. "Is tha
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