"Kneel!" Joaquin yelled at Anton the moment he entered the room.Anton immediately dropped to his knees with a loud thud in front of Sebastian."My lord, my son is worthless. Everything that happened before was his doing. He has been a disgrace to our family. Please have mercy on his crimes," Joaquin said. He looked up at Sebastian and was puzzled to see how terrible his complexion was.Nina had been injured the day before, so why was it now the other way around? She had a rosy complexion, while Sebastian looked as white as a sheet."Alright. The important thing is to learn from one's mistakes and change. Don't forget the oath that you made. If you break it, I won't have to punish you. The law of heaven will act accordingly!" Sebastian said coldly."Yes, of course! I would never dare to break the oath! But…" Joaquin looked at Sebastian with a troubled expression.Sebastian frowned slightly and asked, "But what?""I can see that you don't look very well, my lord. Should I prepa
Sebastian laughed wryly and shook his head at Nina's words. "Nina, you're staying behind so everyone thinks I'm still here. Rowan and Arran will stay here with you so that no one will become suspicious!"Nina frowned. "But I'll be worried about you being with Unus. It's still just a beast whose rational capabilities aren't fully developed yet. What if it—"Sebastian smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry. Hugo has subdued them completely already, so nothing unexpected will happen. Honestly, there isn't much in Boren that worries me. However, if the Yome Sect enters Steinberg while its defenses are down, we'll be put in a difficult position."Though reluctant, Nina finally agreed.That night, Sebastian quietly brought Unus out with him. As soon as he walked out of the hotel doors, two thugs hiding at the side of the road who had been watching them stealthily immediately reported his movements to Anton."Are you sure it was Sebastian?" Anton demanded sharply."Positive! He looks e
"Watch him closely! If you lose him, I'll have your head!" Anton said before hanging up. A malicious grin spread across his face.As the son of the head director of Boren Martial Arts Court, many were eager to curry favor with him. If it came to dealing with Sebastian, there were plenty of people willing to do the dirty work for him. Acorn City was the second largest city in Boren after Klane City, and Anton knew just who to call. About two weeks ago, the Lynch family of Acorn City had sent gifts to him. However, as the Lynches were a third-rate elite martial arts family, Anton had dismissed them. That was why, despite searching frantically, he couldn't find Colton Lynch's name card."Damn it! Where did that asshole's name card get to?"It was the first time Anton had been so anxious about finding the name card of an heir from a third-rate family. After rummaging around for a while, Anton had a sudden flash of inspiration. It was in the trash can!He suddenly remembered that
However, the more famous something was, the more imitations there would be. Antiques were no exception. In Boren, streets filled with antique stores were abundant. From Klane City to the smallest town, they were omnipresent.There were stores and stalls of various kinds that had everything, but all of them had one thing in common. All the antiques and trinkets that they sold were a mixed bag of authentic and fake. Buyers had to rely on their own judgment. There was also an unspoken rule there. Once a deal was made, no returns were allowed. If a buyer had paid for an item before realizing that something was wrong or recognizing that it was a fake, they would have no choice but to accept it. There was a saying about how the golden age of antiques was during times of chaos. Although they were now in times of peace, many members of the upper class were still very interested in them. Both experts and laymen liked to have a few collector's items in their homes. There were plenty of we
Sebastian laughed at the reluctant expression on the stall owner's face. He weighed the emerald pendant in his hand and asked, "Mister, are you sure that this emerald pendant is worth 210 thousand?"With that, he tossed it onto the counter and turned to leave."Huh?"The stall owner immediately ran around to the front of the stall when he saw that Sebastian was about to leave. He grabbed him and said, "Don't be in such a rush to leave, my young friend. Let's negotiate. If you're sincere about buying it, I'll sell it to you at 150 thousand, and I'll be making a loss. Let this be the start of a friendship between us!"Sebastian smiled slightly and said, "Mister, even a layman can tell that this emerald pendant is a fake. I just like the patterns on it because it's quite trendy. That's why I asked about it on a whim."Describing the patterns on the antique as trendy only served to show how obvious it was that it was a fake.The stall owner turned beet red, then white. He cursed hi
Some people just didn't know what was good for them. Even if Cliff had wanted to laugh, he should have waited for Sebastian to leave before doing so. How could he call a buyer a fool while they were still there?"It may be a little crude, my young friend, but it doesn't change the fact that you were hoodwinked!" Cliff said, guffawing gleefully.Since Sebastian had already paid, he could no longer take it back. After all, it was a rule never to accept returns or refunds. When Cliff thought of how he had charged Sebastian more than ten thousand for something that had only cost him about 300 to 400 dollars, he became even more smug. "You'll just have to bear with it, my young friend. Not regretting your purchase is the rule of the antique industry. Even if you've now found out that you were deceived, you can't get your money back!""That's right. The work on the emerald pendant that you're holding is so shoddy that it was clearly just done last week. It's a new item!" "Watch out
"I don't think that you've seen the original form of this emerald pendant, either," Sebastian said, smiling coldly at Cliff. Cliff looked disdainfully at him. He felt that Sebastian was just unhappy about being tricked and was trying to provoke him. "Stop putting on that mysterious act. Why wouldn't I know about something that belongs to me?" Cliff demanded with a scoff. "You might really not know," Sebastian replied. He closed his palm slightly and exerted a slight force. The layer of stone on top of the emerald pendant peeled off. While everyone looked on, dumbstruck, Sebastian opened his palm once more. The crowd gasped.There were two clouds of energy on the emerald pendant, chasing each other like a pair of fish. One was black, while the other was red. The emerald pendant had been square-shaped originally, but it had now become a round emerald buckle. In the middle of it, a pale yellow energy was rising slowly. Everyone cried out in shock. It was clearly a rare trea
The old man nodded slightly and said, "That's right. My name is Solomon Jackman. If you think things through, you can come to Townsend Clinic. We can discuss the price!"Solomon bowed to Sebastian before squeezing out of the crowd. Cliff's eyes reddened as he watched Solomon leave. Solomon was a prominent figure in Acorn City. Not only did he have exceptional medical skills, he was also skilled in martial arts. However, neither of those were Solomon's true specialty. What he was most skilled at was antique appraisal! Any antique that Solomon appraised was sure to be a treasure among treasures.Noticing Sebastian and Unus turning to walk away, Cliff immediately became agitated. "Stop!" he shouted.Sebastian turned to glance at him and said, "A deal's a deal. No returns or refunds. You said that yourself. It's the rule of the antique industry!"Cliff ignored all of that. He came out from behind his stall and grabbed Sebastian's sleeve. "I'm not going to sell that emerald pendan
Even though Declan had already said that the old man was only in shock and didn't have a cerebral infarction, the middle-aged man still wanted to hear the opinion of a young traditional medicine doctor like Sebastian! He must be either crazy or an idiot!"If he applies that needle, your father's complexion will go from pale to dark at once. When that happens, it'll only be even more dangerous," Sebastian said impassively."Stop talking crap, Sebastian! My grandfather is the elder of the Healer Sect! Are you implying that he's not as good as you are?" Bryce yelled angrily, pointing at Sebastian.He was furious. "Sebastian, are you doubting my skills in medicine? You're a rookie in the medical field. I only complimented you at the dinner table out of politeness. Did it go to your head?" Declan demanded curtly, his expression changing."You're trying to prick the acupuncture points on the base of the patient's neck as well as in the center of his chest so that you can unblock his br
"Wow, it really is Mr. Byrne Senior! Hello, hello!" A slightly pudgy middle-aged man exclaimed. He hurried forward and shook Declan's hand heartily.Declan frowned and looked at him for a long time, but he couldn't remember where he had seen the pudgy man before.There were too many people who tried to flatter Declan every day, and he couldn't possibly remember every single one of them."Who are you?" Declan asked, his brow furrowed as he shook the man's hand. "Mr. Byrne Senior, you're so busy, so of course you won't remember me! I'm Fritz Thomson! I had the pleasure of meeting you two years ago while I was shooting a documentary about traditional medicine," Fritz said courteously.Declan finally nodded. Fritz was either a reporter or a director. It wasn't surprising that Declan had forgotten who he was.Although the Healer Sect was also among the mystic martial arts sects, it was very different from the Nine Sects. The Healer Sect had always had close connections with the sec
Sebastian waved a hand slightly at the middle-aged man and said, "I'm not a genius doctor. I'm just an ordinary traditional medicine doctor. However, that old man is in a very dangerous situation. You must not touch him!"He spoke urgently when he saw that the middle-aged woman was propping the old man up so that he was lying on her lap.The middle-aged woman looked up at the middle-aged man. She was clearly hesitant.They were on the top floor, and the tiled floor was so cold. She didn't think that it would be safe for her to let the old man just lie on the floor. "Listen to Dr. Ballard! You won't go wrong!" the middle-aged man said quickly to her."Dr. Ballard? He's nothing compared to my grandfather!" Bryce exclaimed. He was annoyed to hear the middle-aged man addressing Sebastian so respectfully.After all, Declan was the elder of the Healer Sect. There were even numerous sage doctors who had to treat Declan with respect as their senior in the industry!Who did Sebastian th
Since Declan had coincidentally met Sebastian at the dinner table that day, he had thought of bringing the latter over to his side. That way, Sebastian could work for him. "Sebastian, I'm planning to make an exception and take you as my apprentice. What do you think?" Declan asked again when he saw that Sebastian was ignoring him.Sebastian continued to ignore him. Did he really thought he could be Sebastian's mentor? The old man must be crazy!"Sebastian, you should hurry and kneel to my grandfather! You're lucky to get him as a mentor! My grandfather hasn't accepted any apprentices for 20 years!"Bryce glared at Sebastian, whom he felt was being far too tactless. There were countless people fighting to have Declan as a mentor."Mr. Byrne Senior, I don't wish to have a mentor. Besides, no one is qualified to be one," Sebastian said impassively. "You little—"Declan was furious. Sebastian was far too arrogant! He was already humbling himself by deigning to take Sebastian as an
Bryce saw the anger in Declan's face, so he said reluctantly to Larys, "I'm sorry, Mr. Compton. I've acted impulsively."Acted impulsively? It would have been better if Bryce hadn't apologized at all. His apology had made Larys even angrier. He clearly had no respect for Larys at all if he could slap him just out of a moment's impulse. Larys was the mayor of Steinberg. How could he just let things go just because Bryce had said that he had been impulsive? "Mr. Compton, my grandson is young and ignorant. Please don't hold it against him." Declan had no choice but to speak up and apologize to Larys on Bryce's behalf. Larys could only nod. He smiled slightly and said, "Forget about it. Make sure that it doesn't happen again."Once everyone was seated once more, Bryce continued staring viciously at Sebastian. It was all Sebastian's fault that he had been slapped twice by Declan!He couldn't just let him go, but he didn't dare to cause any more trouble at the dinner table. Howeve
"People always say that you can see what a person is like from looking at their family. I can see that it's true," Sebastian said impassively.That was a harsh insult to Declan. It implied that Bryce's rude behavior was a reflection of Declan's lack of good character, and that their family didn't have good manners.Declan turned purple with rage. Ever since he had become one of the esteemed members of the Healer Sect, everyone in the martial arts community always spoke respectfully to him, especially those of the traditional medicine community. All of them were polite whenever they met him.However, Sebastian had insulted him thrice in a row, and each insult was worse than the last. Rosalie couldn't help but laugh. She leaned on Sebastian's shoulder and turned her head away, her slender figure trembling with the effort of not laughing out loud."You're terrible! You've insulted them so slyly!" Rosalie whispered in Sebastian's ear.Sebastian reached out to put an arm around her t
Sebastian's expression turned cold at once. What was so important about an elder of the Healer Sect? Was there any reason for him to make so many people wait?Besides, the banquet had been set at 9:00 pm, and both he and Rosalie had arrived on time. Why should Declan be treated differently?Sebastian had never had any patience with people who used their age as an excuse to do whatever they wanted to."Forget it. Calm down, both of you, and let's both refrain from saying anything else."Larys stood up quickly to smooth things over. Both Sebastian and Julian remained silent out of respect for him. However, they both exchanged icy looks.Now that the conflict had subsided, Larys leaned closer to Sebastian and whispered, "Mr. Ballard, I'll be honest with you. I can't afford to offend either you or Mr. Byrne. Please help me out and refrain from pursuing this matter further."Larys was being sincere. He was in awe of Sebastian's allies, but Declan had equally powerful allies supporting
Upon hearing Rosalie's words, Sebastian laughed wryly and shook his head.The Nine Sects wouldn't dare to say a thing to the Ballard Estate, who in turn thought nothing of the Healer Sect.Andreas snorted in laughter and said, "If you had said so 100 years ago, even I would have had to concede. However, times have changed now.""What do you mean?" Rosalie looked curiously at Andreas. It seemed that Sebastian's cousin was very familiar with the Healer Sect. "About 12 years ago, they went on the wrong path. If you check thoroughly, you'll probably find that the development of many new medicines was related to the Healer Sect. However, they are not the refiners!"Rosalie seemed to be deep in thoughts. Her brow darkened as she said thoughtfully, "Do you mean to say that the Healer Sect has abandoned the art of medicine and has decided to go in the direction of the art of pill refining instead?"This made Andreas see Rosalie in a different light.Medicine and pill refining were very
"Are you talking about your cousin? He doesn't look like a businessman at all, though. He looks more like…"Rosalie put her chin in her hands, her brow tightly furrowed. However, she couldn't find an appropriate way to describe Andreas.He felt very strange to Rosalie. There was a kind of energy he had that was difficult to express in words. "It doesn't matter whether he's a businessman or not. He just has to have money. Why don't we discuss it with him tomorrow? I think he'll probably support you unconditionally," Sebastian said confidently."Really? But if we develop a similar medicine, won't we be going against the Croydons? That doesn't seem right."Lorcan was a friend of Oliver's, after all. That meant that he was a friend of the Griffins. Rosalie didn't want to make such an important family their enemy in business. "With that contract, we have to show the Croydons that they shouldn't become ungrateful, nor should they use their force against us!" Sebastian exclaimed in a