Aaron Rockwell was dead. A direct descendant of the Rockwell Family had been murdered at the Ice Sky Tavern.Although he had already been prepared for the worst when Elder Zak had contacted him to inform him of the situation, the Carlisle Family Patriarch couldn't help but age a few years when he heard those words.He couldn't remember how many years it had been since the last time a direct descendant of the great families was murdered within the walls of Ludwit City. No matter what, it was already bad enough.But Aaron's murder made it worse. The Rockwell Family was in the process of choosing a new patriarch, so this made the situation even worse. He really wanted to burn Aaron's body and make it disappear so he wouldn't have to deal with this mess, but that was nothing more than a dream. Even if he got rid of all the witnesses, they would still find a way to find out what had happened. Doing something like that would only make things worse.The facts were that he had been murdered
The Rockwell Family Manor buzzed with activity at Grand Elder Norman's command. All of the Elders present began giving orders to their subordinates while activating their communication talismans to call back those who were outside. The only one they did not disturb for the moment was the Patriarch. He was old and had asked not to be disturbed while preparations were made to choose his successor. Grand Elder Norman was in charge of family affairs, so they would wait for his return to inform the Patriarch.Nevertheless, the entire Rockwell Family was ready to go to war at any time. All they needed was an order and they would attack the Carlisle Family with all their might.Now they needed to control Melinda, the mother of the murdered Aaron, who at this moment was going through a fit of hysteria.Boom! Boom!In one of the larger courtyards inside the manor, they could hear the sound of explosions and things breaking."What are you telling me?! Don't you dare say my son is dead if you w
This was the most hectic night Ludwit City had seen in many years. At first, the ordinary citizens were terrified to see the Rockwell Family and Carlisle Family forces deployed throughout the city.The first thing they thought of was a magical beast attack, but they soon dismissed that theory. It didn't make sense that the forces of the City Lord and the other families wouldn't be present if that was the case.The next thing they thought of was that the Rockwell Family and the Carlisle Family had joined forces to rebel. This theory sent shivers down many people's spines. During the attacks of the magical beasts, all of Ludwit City would unite and send those who could not fight to safe areas away from the danger of the battlefield.However, if there was an internal conflict between the great families, the situation would be completely different. The entire Ludwit City would become a battlefield, and there would be nowhere safe for them. In that case, the only option would be to leave L
Ludwit City was under strict surveillance. Aaron's murder had put all the families on alert. Who knew if the killer was still inside the city and would choose their family as his next target?Still, Luke managed to slip away with his vast experience. Although there were many people on guard, it was impossible for them to cover every corner of Ludwit City. Even the forces under the command of The Circle couldn't monitor such a large area perfectly, so it was even less likely in such a remote place without great experts. Besides, the great families only cooperated on the surface. Any suggestion to coordinate their forces would be rejected by the Elders of each family. They were unwilling to give any information to their rivals, even if it was for a good cause. The only time the families of Ludwit City were willing to seriously cooperate was when there was an attack by magical beasts. The rest of the time they were enemies trying to get any kind of advantage over each other.Where mos
Luke smiled at Adam's reaction. He knew exactly what he was thinking, but he couldn't have been more wrong about his intentions. Luckily he couldn't see his face thanks to the mask, otherwise he would have thought he was crazy."Relax kid, I didn't come here to hurt you, why would I come to take away something I decided to give you myself? I'm not old enough to forget my own actions." Seeing the look of confusion on Adam's face, he continued. "Did you really think I would drop a spell book out of carelessness? You're still innocent, boy."Hearing these words, Adam backed away even further, his back, covered in cold sweat, colliding with the end of the alley. He was more afraid than he had been a while ago. He didn't understand why someone so mysterious was interested in him. "Why are you doing this? I'm just an illegitimate son at the bottom of the Rockwell Family pyramid, I'm worth nothing. If you're planning on using me in some demonic ceremony, don't even think about it, I'd rathe
This was the answer Luke wanted. A firm and unhesitating answer. Even though he was using him to accomplish his plans, the benefits he would give him would be immeasurable. Therefore, he felt no guilt. He would use the Rockwell Family under Adam's command to go to Duke Valkrys' inheritance grounds and in return he would give him things that even the best geniuses would be envious of. At the moment he was poor in money, but in knowledge he was one of the richest people on the entire Aurora Continent. The stereotype of assassins was that they were brutish people without much brains, but Luke was no different from a walking library.As long as he didn't make any mistakes, it wouldn't be long before he became the richest man in the Doira Kingdom. That's right, Ludwit City was such a small place that he didn't even consider it a goal. He was just using it as a temporary base of operations while he recovered some of his strength."Stand up. Since you made your decision, you don't need to
Adam's issue was settled and now it was time to deal with the seal on his body that was about to disappear. Would something good or bad happen when it did? He had no idea, but he couldn't wait for it to disappear. He had to use a lot of World Energy to test Adam because he wasn't in the First Rank, but now that wasn't going to be a problem anymore as the first seal was about to disappear. He would finally make a breakthrough.He told Adam that they would meet in two days, not only for Adam to practice Thunder Rupture more, but also to consolidate his cultivation at the First Rank. Now that he was playing the role of an expert, he couldn't leave in the middle of training to recover his World Energy.Besides, something inside of him told him that when he reached the First Rank, there would be a quantitative change compared to the past. He would go crazy if that didn't happen after years of trying to reach it again. Luke decided not to sleep that night. While he waited for Adam in the
Luke didn't understand what was happening. Why was the seal floating in front of his eyes instead of disappearing?For some strange reason, he knew that he was unconscious and that what he was seeing was not the real world. His surroundings were shrouded in darkness, and there were only nine altars engulfed in flames.These altars were stone structures with an arched design and a fire pit in the center of each that fed the flames that embraced them. The stones were uneven and white, with inscriptions on them that he could not understand. Luke tried to approach the altars to examine them more closely, but he couldn't move. He felt as if he were being held in place by some strange force. He had seldom felt so uncomfortable as he did now, having no way to control his actions.Suddenly, the first altar on the left began to tremble. It was hard for him to tell exactly what was happening, but he could see cracks beginning to spread all over it. The stones that made it up looked like they
All of Ludwit City was on high alert after Luke's actions. It was impossible for such an explosion to go unnoticed, so all families took extra precautions.This was especially true for the City Lord, who sent personnel both to the Rockwell Family Manor and to control the situation in Ludwit City. The ordinary citizens were particularly frightened by the explosion, so it was his duty to reassure them that they were safe.While he sent ordinary subordinates to control the situation in Ludwit City, he sent a heavyweight to the Rockwell Family Manor. Edison Merrick, the City Lord's cousin and Ludwit City's second-in-command, arrived at the courtyard where the explosion had occurred.His expression was grim. The situation in the Rockwell Family was spiraling out of control and was beginning to affect all of Ludwit City."Greetings Patriarch Colin, I am sorry for your loss. Please know that we are here to help the Rockwell Family with any problems they may have." The commotion was such that
"What have you heard is going to happen in the Rockwell Family?" Although she held a high position, Elder Mylah had not heard any rumors of a possible attack. Still, it didn't seem strange to her that Luke had information since he was more powerful than she was.He probably had access to channels of information that belonged to the other families in Ludwit City. That was information she had no access to."Not much. I just know that something big is about to happen. I'm not sure if it's a robbery, a murder, or something else. Just make sure you keep an eye on Adam." Luke wouldn't be stupid enough to tell her that he was the source.Although Elder Mylah didn't think much of the rest of the family, she had already made it clear that she wouldn't do anything to endanger the lives of other family members. Luke didn't want to put a stone on her conscience, so he didn't tell her that he was going to kill Tilly. "I understand, I'll keep an eye out to make sure nothing happens to Adam. Some o
One month later. Myriad Vault's first month had been a success. Although a repeat of the opening day's profits was nearly impossible, Luke's spatial ring was receiving close to a million spiritual stones per day. Luke estimated that this number could be 50% higher without the City Lord's intervention, but there was nothing he could do. Right now, their positions were simply too far apart. Right now, he had no bargaining power to prevent him from interfering in his affairs. However, what bothered him the most about the City Lord's intervention was not that. It seemed that the other families were afraid of angering him if they interacted too much with Myriad Vault, so the third floor was currently empty due to a lack of interested customers.The business with which he had hoped to earn a huge amount of spiritual stones and favors from was a complete failure at the moment. Although he felt frustrated, he did not lose his cool. He knew that eventually someone would decide to take the b
Luke had never expected such a dirty trick to be played on him. The City Lord had prevented a shift in the balance of power in Ludwit City, while making sure that the owner of Myriad Vault did not make as much profit as possible.This was nothing more than a strategy to keep control of Ludwit City. Luke had finally found someone fairly smart in this place. Despite being driven out of the capital of the Doira Kingdom, the Merrick Family could not be taken lightly.This event, in turn, made Luke rethink his assessment of the distribution of power in Ludwit City. How the City Lord could force the other three families to limit their spending with such a simple action was astounding.Just how powerful was he? Luke knew that he was the only person in the Fourth Rank, but that shouldn't be enough to make the other families so obedient. It didn't make sense for them to be so afraid of him when they had cultivators at the peak of the Third Rank, so there must be another reason. He had such a
No matter who it was, absolutely everyone who entered Myriad Vault to inspect the situation had the same reaction. Everyone could see what a huge opportunity this new shop that had appeared out of nowhere in Ludwit City represented.Every servant who entered Myriad Vault immediately went to report the situation to their families after seeing the items being sold here. If they did not take advantage of this opportunity, the other families would definitely do so and a rift that could jeopardize their position of power would appear.After receiving the news from the servants, the main discussion among the families was not whether to buy the treasures of Myriad Vault, but how much money they could raise to buy as much as possible.Even though they had received the news that they had a huge inventory, this did not appease them at all. It was impossible for them to have enough to satisfy the demand of the entire Ludwit City, so it was only a matter of time before there would be nothing left
Two days later.The deadline Elder Mylah had given him had finally arrived. Luke had spent the previous day organizing all the elixirs and treasures, as well as making sure his arrangements for Myriad Vault were in place.It had to be said that Elder Mylah understood his intentions perfectly. The shop was not the most majestic in the Ludwit City business district, but it was up to his standards.The employees had been recruited from other shops and offered better wages. That way, they would not have to spend time training them and making sure they met the standards, so they could shorten the time to open. In addition, customers would see familiar faces, giving them a sense of trust.For his part, the manager of Myriad Vault was Elder Mylah's trusted servant. He had been at her side for dozens of years, so his loyalty had been proven countless times.Myriad Vault had three levels on which different types of business were conducted. The higher the floor, the fewer things there were.The
Elder Mylah nodded when she heard that the shop would be called Myriad Vault. It was impressive enough, just that there should only be treasures valuable enough that the name would not become an object of ridicule. At this point, she had no choice but to take Luke's word for it."All right, you better deliver, or I'll be the laughing stock of Ludwit City. It will take me a few weeks to get the shop ready, so you need to be ready when the time comes." Luke was satisfied with the timeline Elder Mylah gave him. He knew it would take time and a lot of work to get a shop with the characteristics he wanted, so this timeline was more than reasonable."I will continue to train this child every day so that his cultivation does not stagnate, and I will meet with you here once a week to discuss the progress of our plan. I hope we will have pleasant cooperation." While Elder Mylah surely knew of places where they could meet in secret, this alley was still more comfortable for Luke.Everyone agre
"Let's say I accept your proposal and support this kid in the competition, how do you plan to accomplish it? I have to admit that his cultivation level is admirable considering the limited resources he has access to, but there are several in his same generation who are better than him. This was Elder Mylah's greatest concern.The day when the new Patriarch of the Rockwell Family would be chosen was just around the corner. She didn't understand how he could have him ready in such a short time. "Leave it to me. We've only been training for a short time, but this kid has shown a talent that is unmatched in all of Ludwit City. His cultivation level may fell short, but I'll make sure to give him the tools to ignore this gap. Show Elder Mylah what you have learned this week."Elder Mylah's eyes lit up after Adam followed the masked man's instructions. He had made great progress with Thunder Rupture these days, and now he was moving as fast as thunder.It was like a small thunderstorm in a
Those words in the note sent Elder Mylah over the edge. Adam felt like his organs were about to explode from the pressure of Elder Mylah's World Energy.Boom!Finally unable to contain her fury, she sent Adam flying into the wall of her courtyard. No one in the entire Rockwell Family dared to talk about this subject in front of her, but now this boy, who was nothing more than a bastard son, was doing it."Who sent you here? Do you think you can play games with me?! Tell me your true intentions or say goodbye to your meaningless life!" Elder Mylah had Adam by the throat as she said these words in a threatening tone.The anger in her eyes and her killer instinct were palpable, it was clear that if he said one wrong word she would snap his neck like that of a chicken."My master sent me here. If Elder wants to know more, she will have to meet with him. I am only the messenger." Adam felt hurt inside. Ever since he had met Luke, he had been attacked again and again. He was no different th