As expected…Everything unfolded just as Josiah had predicted.The moment Quinton leaped to Fred's defense, a look of suspicion clouded the eyes of every family head in the room.In particular, the steadfast allies of the Walker family—the Parkers, the Scorese family, and the head of the Ponds—could not hide the flicker of doubt that crossed their faces."You... you..."Quinton's complexion turned from pale to ashen as he scanned the room, his frustration boiling into rage. He might not know who was behind Johannes's death, but he was intimately familiar with the truth behind the Ancient Warlord and the Capital City incident.He was certain of one thing—the Martial Arts Summit had been Gustavo's brainchild, not some diabolical scheme by Fred to purge the great families as Josiah had claimed.There lay the problem. Quinton, ever the martial arts zealot, could talk about combat techniques for days on end, but found himself at a loss for words when it came to these political machin
There was a deathly silence.Every martial artist present, particularly the family heads, though loath to admit it, found themselves forced to face the truth.Fred was the living legend, the Lord of the Warlord World, the Revered Great One.Just by letting his presence be felt, he had them all kneeling, powerless to offer even the slightest resistance!Just as Fred had claimed, he could have wiped them out in an instant if he wanted to, and they would be utterly defenseless!This revelation brought a new dilemma to light.Their prior vigilance, their audacity in demanding answers from Fred, stemmed from Josiah's claim that Fred was implicated in the death of his father, Johannes.This Martial Arts Summit was turning out to be nothing more than Fred's elaborate ruse to eradicate all their martial artist families in one fell swoop!The thing was, Fred had just shown them he could squash them like bugs if he wanted to—no muss, no fuss. If he decided to go all out, they would be to
Examine the body?Josiah's face drained of color the moment Gustavo proposed this.How had Johannes actually died?He had been poisoned, a vile act committed by his own son, not by the hand of another.If they were to scrutinize the body, the cause of death would likely be glaringly obvious to the assembled heads of the families. They might even piece together the final emotions that had crossed Johannes' face—shock and disbelief at the ultimate betrayal.At the crucial moment, the questions at hand would swiftly clear Fred of any suspicion. More critically, Josiah, Johannes' own kin, would be seen as the only person who could get close to his father without triggering an ounce of suspicion. This very closeness could cast immediate doubt upon him.Josiah understood the stakes. He had to intervene now or risk losing everything.As it turned out, Josiah had greatly overestimated his influence at the Martial Arts Summit, an elite gathering reserved for the heads of the Eight Great
Where was Josiah on the night of Johannes' demise? What was he doing?The room tensed up at Gustavo's probing question. The gathered family heads exchanged uneasy glances. Gustavo's insinuation was clear—was he casting doubt on Josiah? Josiah's face twisted into a snarl as he shot back, "What are you getting at? You suspect I had something to do with this?""I wouldn't call it suspicion," Gustavo said, his smile thinning. "It's just peculiar that, according to you, Johannes' death happened in the wee hours of today, yet everyone knows he was killed around eight last night. Care to explain?"The revelation hung heavy in the air. Elder Master Johannes was killed at eight? The confusion was palpable as everyone tried to piece together the truth. They had all rushed here after hearing Josiah's heart-wrenching cries at dawn. They had been in the main hall ever since, seeking answers.It made no sense. Gustavo, who had been in their company the whole time, could not possibly have known w
It was as if he had not heard a single word of Josiah's accusations against Gustavo. He sat there in silence, seemingly waiting for something."Out with it, you Hansen scoundrel! Did you kill my father?"Josiah's confidence soared as Gustavo remained silent in the face of his accusation.Gustavo's knowledge of his father's death at night remained a mystery, but that was beside the point. Right now, Josiah’s only desire was to point his finger at Gustavo, telling everyone that he was the one who had slain his father, Johannes. This would also spark the conflict he needed to fulfill his goal.At that moment, Gustavo spoke up, his voice carrying a detached coolness that seemed to be directed both at Josiah and the other family leaders. "It's common knowledge that the Martial Arts Summit is traditionally a gathering of the eight great families' heads, though it's not unusual for other warriors to attend upon hearing of it. This time, however, the situation is unique. Not only are all t
Surveilance?The initially confident Josiah was left stunned by Gustavo's words.The warlord world was never an isolated place.Just because it was located on Mount Everence—a place almost impossible for ordinary people to set foot here—the warlords had never rejected the convenience of earthly technology.For example, mobile phones and computers were used by warlords all the time.However, CCTVs were rarely used.Firstly, warlords had different senses than ordinary people. They did not need surveillance cameras to protect themselves.More importantly, all warlord gentries had inherited customs. Although these customs were not extreme to the point where it was solely passed down to their own men and never passed down to others, these families still had their best-kept secrets.Hence, after Johannes' death, a normal person would immediately check the surveillance records to see what happened, but none of the warlords present would think of that.Their initial plan was to rely o
Josiah was silent for a while. All of a sudden, he turned around and ran away!"Catch him!"On the side, Nikolai, the head of the Parkers, was the first to react to Josiah’s escape and immediately let out an angry shout.Although Josiah's power was not the best among the heads of the Warlord Gentries present, he was still above the average warlord.Right after Nikolai barked out the order, the heads of the Warlord Gentries quickly stepped forward to stop him. However, Josiah was unleashing all his strength, which caught them all by surprise.Almost instantly, they were knocked aside by Josiah's punches and palm strikes. Nobody was able to stop him."Leaving?"Quinton immediately tried to chase him down, but a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks."What are you doing?" Quinton asked with a cold snort when he saw that the person holding him down was Gustavo."I’m telling you not to be so impatient. Think this through!"Gustavo and Quinton were not pa
"Mr. Jeremiah is indeed highly resourceful and intelligent!"At the same time, somewhere in the warlord world…The enchanting woman covered her face with her hands and giggled as she glanced at Jeremiah as they walked side by side.Marshal nodded with great satisfaction and said, "Let those nobodies be suspicious of each other and kill each other, haha! This is much more convenient than trying to imprison them! It's just...”As he spoke, Marshal took a deep look at Jeremiah and said, "The head of the Terras would even resort to getting rid of his own father in order to achieve great things. This was something I never expected!""Haha, to be honest, I didn't want to either!"Jeremiah was obviously caught off guard, but he quickly snorted coldly. "However, that old guy is incorrigible—everyone knows that! Rather than letting the Terras be destroyed under his stubbornness, it would be better to sacrifice my father's life and take a leap of faith! Mr. Fletcher, you won’t let me down,
Marciella walking away did not bode well with the giant snake. Marciella was its food! How could it accept that its food had escaped?Marciella had not moved far yet. She reluctantly looked back at Fred.She did not know how Fred would handle the River God. She could only hope Fred would be okay!When Fred saw that she had left, he geared up, rubbing his palms in glee. He had an eager look on his face, which confused the giant snake.It was the snake’s first time meeting a man like Fred!How strange indeed!At this time!Suddenly, Fred said with hostility etched on his face, "Hey, Big Snake, what are you going to do now?"The snake's attention was entirely focused on him, which seemed off to Fred."What I’m going to do?"The giant snake fixated its eyes on Fred. It felt that it could handle a human like Fred easily.“I’m going to kill you with one bite! How dare you look down on me like this!"The giant snake rushed toward Fred fiercely at a speed so fast that no one could
Fred was annoyed by the giant snake's arrogant tone. Fred squinted his eyes at the snake and asked in confusion, "Why are you making that face?"“Huh?"The giant snake was shocked. He thought that Fred would submit to him, but to his surprise, Fred was not shaken at all.The snake was about to lose his temper.“Dirty snake, haven't I made myself clear enough? I think you are probably sleep-talking if you want me to hand over my people to you..." Fred said impatiently.At this moment…Feeling that it was being ridiculed, the snake said suddenly, "You punk, this is the first time anyone spoke to me this way. What is your name?"“Me?"Fred was stunned subconsciously, not knowing what the snake wanted. Suddenly, he understood.“Did you want to know my name so you can remember me, bow down before me, and become my follower? Sure, I’ll give you that chance!"He was adding fuel to the fire. The giant snake almost spat out blood in anger!"What? You want me to follow an immature bei
Huh!?Putting aside Marciella, even Fred could not hide his shock as a giant snake appeared from under the water!A giant snake!How could it be!?Fred's eyes widened at the sheer size of the snake. "A Giant Snake… Is this the so-called River God?"Moreover, the size was humongous. The snake must be at least ten stories high!What a huge snake!Fred finally understood why he felt a powerful force under the water!There was a sharp glint in the giant snake’s eyes! That was the blinking light from time to time!"Who comes here? Are you from the village? Who do you plan to sacrifice to me this time?" As soon as the giant snake spoke, Fred realized that this was not the first time it had done this.The snake seemed familiar with the ritual process. Obviously, the villagers had witnessed this giant snake before. This was the meeting between the two sides! Fred felt uncomfortable at this. As for the giant snake, it felt bemused when it saw Fred. The snake had never seen Fred befo
Fred was going to risk it all to open this girl's eyes!The force from the punch was extraordinary! As soon as the tree was hit by the seismic fist, it fell immediately and the whole tree split neatly in two!Marciella was dumbfounded!Although she knew how powerful Fred was, to witness his power was a different thing entirely!"Master Fred, your power is insane!"Marciella could not help but applaud.Fred seemed indifferent, as though he had no feeling at all about this."Is it? Why do you think so?"He looked so indifferent.For Ancient Martial Arts, things did not get any simpler than this!"You’re so strong. Anyway, I don’t doubt you anymore..." Marciella sighed, suddenly feeling very sad. "This is the reward of being educated. If we were more knowledgeable, we wouldn’t be so clueless.”"Haha, if you can't solve your issues, your descendants can work harder," Fred said with a wink.Marciella said, "Mr. Fred, I needed to ask you something! What if our luck was changed ju
What Fred said aroused her curiosity."What does it look like when you offer a sacrifice?"Fred knew he could not speak of this matter. Sure enough, Marciella felt a little downcast after Fred said the words. She did not know why Fred would say such a thing. Suddenly, Fred felt bad about it.He coughed and said, "Don't think too much about it... I just want to find a clue. Maybe we could find a solution. Why does it never rain in your village?""Huh?"Marciella's eyes, which were still a little dejected, suddenly realized what was important and asked hurriedly, "Mr. Fred, are you saying that the reason why it never rains in our village is because someone is behind it?"Although Fred was unwilling to admit it, he could not help but nod. "Yes, this is exactly what you thought!""For real?!"Marciella felt hopeful again when she heard this. She said hastily, "The thing you asked about is pretty simple. You can just check out that place!""That place?"Fred turned around to see w
Marciella found herself nodding in agreement with Fred's harsh assessment. "You're spot on," she said. "That woman is nothing but vile!"Seeing Marciella's reaction, a rare smile crossed Fred's face as he nodded back. "Glad you see it my way," he said.What caught Fred off guard was the villagers' reaction. One by one, their faces turned ashen with despair.It seemed to them that nothing could be worse than the predicament they were facing. The absence of the witch spelled doom for the village—it was like their last shred of hope had vanished. They had all put their faith in her to charm the River God into blessing them with rain, which would have brought some peace to their troubled lives. However, now their chances seemed to have dried up just like their fields. Fred stood there, his face a mask of serenity amidst the chaos.In the moments that followed, the village chief was a picture of despair, his only option was to send everyone home while he racked his brain for a backup pl
"What?"Fred did not even have time to blink before the witch suddenly made a move.It was like a bomb went off.Kaboom!Then, she was dead!Fred dusted off his hands, even surprising himself with his lack of tolerance for the witch.Now, though, he had a real headache. He had planned to clear the air with the witch and lay out the past so everyone would know the full picture.He thought that might just turn things around.The situation changed when she vanished, and Fred's plans were completely derailed. Then again, changing the villagers' minds was not going to be a walk in the park anyway. They were pretty set in their ways, thanks to all the stuff they had been fed.As such, just talking it out might not cut it. Heck, it could even mess with history!With the witch out of the equation, Fred figured he might as well try a different tactic. Maybe if he took out the guy in the cloak and worked his own magic to bring some rain, it could save a lot of hassle. The more he thoug
"No way!"The witch bristled with defiance. She could not accept that she was no match for Fred.As she noticed Fred's focus was locked on her, a sly idea popped up in her mind.Before she could act on it, though, she found herself pinned against the wall by Fred in a flash...Her face contorted in disbelief. She was pinned so tightly that she could not even move!The witch was completely overpowered, her heart racing with panic.How could he be so much stronger than her?Fred, on the other hand, seemed unfazed."What's going through your head? You don't seriously think you can take me on, do you?" Fred asked, his voice laced with skepticism.The witch felt utterly trapped, as if at any second, Fred might just finish her off."Look, I messed up, okay? Can we not do this? I'm old, just a pile of brittle bones—I can't take this kind of rough treatment!" the witch pleaded with Fred, trying a new tactic to get through to him.Fred was not falling for it. He looked at her with a
"Heh, I caught on to you a while back, you know. You've been tailing me, and I'm pretty sure you're here for me. Plus, you don't have the look of someone from our village. That means you are an outsider, and I'm your target, right? Listen, man, we don't have any beef with each other, so why are you sticking your nose where it doesn't belong?"The witch had sensed the raw power rolling off Fred, and it was enough to send shivers down her spine!At that moment, she knew that challenging Fred was not going to be a walk in the park! If she had spotted him earlier in the forest, it would not have been good news for her. For starters, she had no clue how many tricks Fred had up his sleeve, and if he took her down, she and her buddy would be toast.However, the witch was not about to let Fred take her out without a fight! She racked her brain and finally settled on one strategy!She would try to sweet-talk him, hoping Fred would fall for her words just like everyone else, and fall into he