Chapter 122: Chapter 122: Blackwood's Dilemma
Over the years, Blackwood had made countless friends. Among them were folks like the Moore family, who had been dirtying their hands with Blackwood in plundering two powerful factions to strengthen their own family.
Then there were allies like the Cloudrise Oceanview Pavilion, who slowly discovered the immense benefits of Blackwood's unique Beast Blood Fruit and five kinds of talent-enhancing potions for their descendants. And like the Silver Iron Woods, some had faced disasters but received Blackwood's grace.
They all went out of their way to gather intelligence for Blackwood.
Floating in the hall were a dozen Energy Stones carrying intelligence information, including news about the assassination of the Boar Monarch Pete, catching the eyes of Nathan and his wife, Dennis, and Drunken Fool.
As the whole picture became clear, Nathan tried to remain calm, but the throbbing veins on his forehead betrayed the turmoil inside him.
At that moment, Ethan, who was drinking water in front of the screen, bit his glass into pieces.
[Your family has obtained intelligence, triggering a special event: Elder Felix's Revenge.]
[Twenty years ago, Marcus, along with Elder Dylan, annihilated the Rodriguez family, causing Elder Felix to lose his minions, and his other powers were divided up while he was imprisoned for twenty years.]
[Over these twenty years, he has been investigating the incident, and despite Blackwood's flawless handling, there are no secrets that time doesn't reveal. From Moore, who had a share in dividing the Rodriguez family's power, he found out that Blackwood was the mastermind behind the annihilation of the Rodriguez family.]
[Elder Felix, instead of striking out, went to the Azure Cloud Pavilion to seek his century-old companion, Elizabeth, to plot his revenge. He traveled to a secret realm, met with Elizabeth from the Azure Cloud Pavilion, and revealed everything, but was spotted by the Boar Monarch Pete who was gathering materials in the secret realm.]
The intelligence wasn't just in text.
In a piece of intelligence sent by a major sect, there was also a video clip.
In the clouds, Elder Felix and a stunningly beautiful woman were chasing an Boar Monarch Pete!
Despite having the peak power of Developing Skill, Elder Felix did not use his full strength, merely toying with the chase.
Elizabeth, in the intermediate stage of Developing Skill, dressed in a red palace gown, her face exquisitely beautiful, struck fiercely, her phoenix embodiment swinging a hundred-meter blade shadow, slashing repeatedly.
The Boar Monarch Pete didn't fight back at all; everyone could see his stubbornness as he desperately fled towards Blackwood.
They also realized that the Boar Monarch Pete knew he couldn't escape; he had put all his psychic power into flying speed. If he had chosen to defend, he might have had more chances to survive, but he was still fleeing. He was trying to bring the message back to Blackwood!
It was a brutal long-distance chase, and no one knew how many cuts the Boar Monarch Pete had endured, nor did they know under Elizabeth's slashing, what kind of belief the Boar Monarch Pete held to reach Tranquil County.
In the end, it was Elder Felix who stopped Elizabeth, allowing the crazily burning soul of the dying Boar Monarch Pete, with only a half-life left and certain death, to fall in the forests of Forest Town.
"So the Boar Monarch Pete's death, the game's alert of a special event indicated it was a sacrifice, not a disaster."
Ethan wiped the glass shards from his mouth, the room's contents swirling around due to his unconscious psychic power.
So, when the Boar Monarch Pete met George, he was actually already dead, it was his last willpower that let him utter the words 'take him home.'
He wasn't trying to get one last look at the kids; he was trying to tell the people of Blackwood that their enemy was coming!
Disaster was imminent!
"Elizabeth... no matter who you are from the Azure Cloud Pavilion, I will take Blackwood's children to find you."
...
"Felix, Elizabeth, Azure Cloud Pavilion!" Nathan squinted his eyes, muttering these words like a beast growling through clenched teeth. Then, he destroyed those Energy Stones. Dennis, standing nearby, no longer wanted to mess around with Drunken Fool; he was on high alert. "Azure Cloud Cloud Pavilion. Mr. Nathan, Luna, this is...
well."
With just a sigh, he knew that more words were useless; Blackwood wasn't going to let this slide.
Drunken Fool seemed to sober up instantly, "Do you guys know what's most important about an era?" As everyone looked at him, Drunken Fool murmured, "Memories."
"Azure Cloud Pavilion represents the memories of Cloudview County. Before it was called Cloudview County, this place was known as the Azure Cloud Mountains during a previous era."
"In those war-torn years, Azure Cloud Pavilion was established, even becoming the last remaining force. The survivors from the Azure Cloud Mountains all gathered at Azure Cloud Pavilion."
"After the wars, those survivors from Azure Cloud Pavilion stepped out of the mountains, proliferated, and thus Cloudview County was born, along with its 24 major counties today."
"The original heritage of this era began with Azure Cloud Pavilion and was born because of it."
"Generation after generation, the masters of Azure Cloud Pavilion fell one by one, and the strongest among them were only at level D. But let me tell you a fact, it's easy to kill someone in the Developing Skill stage, but fighting against an era... that's tough."
Drunken Fool bowed slightly, "I'll take my leave now. How Blackwood chooses to act is up to them."
After saying this, he vanished into the clouds.
"Mr. Nathan, Elizabeth... she's off-limits."
Dennis sat back down, fumbling with his cup, "That Felix, he planned this all along. He intentionally let the Demon King return. He wanted to provoke Blackwood into making a move on Elizabeth. If you strike at Elizabeth, then you're striking at Cloudview County."
"For years, the ancient powers of Cloudview County have had an agreement. No matter how Azure Cloud Pavilion changes, as long as it doesn't violate basic human decency, anyone who opposes Azure Cloud Pavilion is opposing the entire Cloudview County."
"And your family's Demon King..."
Dennis didn't want to say more.
But both Ethan and the Nathans understood that in the eyes of the world, demons could be killed or enslaved; this wasn't against human decency, even if the Boar Monarch Pete was a relative of Blackwood!
Even if someone from Azure Cloud Pavilion 'accidentally' killed someone, as long as it didn't cause public outrage, they could minimize the incident!
No matter how desolate, Azure Cloud Pavilion still represented memory and heritage, and countless powers and families would serve Azure Cloud Pavilion for the sake of reputation.
They all remained silent, even knowing that using assassination tactics on Elizabeth would be futile.
In fact, all of this was no longer a conspiracy, but a blatant scheme by Elder Felix, the old fox!
He must have already calculated that Blackwood, in a fit of rage, would make a foolish move, and he had all the countermeasures ready.
24 counties, no need for a Competent to take action, Blackwood would become a thing of the past.
"Ha ha ha, what a concept of human decency, what an Azure Cloud Pavilion, what a cunning Elder Felix!" Nathan suddenly laughed, for the first time in over a hundred years, he laughed so wildly.
Seeing Nathan's unusual behavior, Dennis's color changed.
"Mr. Nathan..."
He seemed to have a premonition of what Nathan was about to do.
From the moment he knew Blackwood, he had witnessed the growth of this family step by step, and watched them face their enemies fearlessly.