Chapter 144: Chapter 144: Blackwood's Rising
On this day, 90 years after Blackwood was founded, for the entire Cloudview County, it was truly like a harsh winter storm.
At the foot of Azure Cloud Mountain, the town of Azure Cloud, a land of prosperity where the people were skilled in martial arts, countless young talents from across Cloudview County hoped to catch the eye of the legendary Azure Cloud Pavilion and become its disciples.
[Azure Cloud Martial Hall]
Amidst the heavy snowfall, young talents from twenty-four counties of Cloudview County, none older than 50, gathered here at the prime of their youth for a martial contest.
The victor would be personally mentored by an elder of the Azure Cloud Pavilion. Even those within the top ten could leap directly into becoming inner disciples of the Azure Cloud Pavilion.
After several rounds, it was time for the final showdown on the platform. It was a thrilling moment indeed.
Suddenly—
"Boom!"
George, still scruffy even after shaving his beard, dropped from the sky, stirring up dust and drawing the attention of the thousands gathered.
Scanning the crowd, George, who had been digging graves for the past seven years, was somewhat unaccustomed to seeing so many people. "Ten breaths, those unrelated to Azure Cloud Martial Hall leave immediately. You won't find a future at Azure Cloud Pavilion, because Azure Cloud Pavilion has no future itself."
His words were like hot oil, setting off a frenzy within the Azure Cloud Martial Hall.
There were curses, some who sensed something amiss and left, and others who immediately surrounded George.
Unmoved, George silently took out his Cloud Tide Zither, with the image of the Great River Dragon appearing behind him.
More people fled the hall.
He quietly watched the crowd around him, the noise no longer reaching his ears as he solemnly set up an altar and lit incense.
When the people of Azure Cloud Martial Hall saw the character "B" and the name of the Pig Demon King on the cards, their faces turned pale!
George remained respectful and bowed solemnly.
Years ago, when he was still a child, his grandfather had told him that one day, with his talents, he would stand proud among his peers, and his grandfather would watch him become the greatest genius of Tranquil County.
At that time, he didn't take these words to heart. More than being a genius, he was concerned about whether his younger siblings would survive the play of the psychic beasts in the Silver Iron Forest.
Being a genius didn't really matter to him; the safety of his siblings was paramount.
And now...
"Ten breaths have passed."
In an instant, there were cries of agony!
From the Great River Dragon image, the techniques once used by the Rodriguez family's ancestors emerged, with dragons and shrimp soldiers and crab generals wreaking havoc!
Twenty-three elders appeared behind George, entering the bodies of the dragons, shrimp soldiers, and crab generals to help George fight. Even as mere spirits, these elders had once been above the Competent level. The Azure Cloud Martial Hall, merely a local site revered as a sacred place for cultivating psychic powers, had no experts at the Transcendent Seed stage who could match them. ҽχ!¢ʟυѕі√@е!-соո!τ&ҽпτ-?
George played his zither.
The music sounded, and the zither strings slashed across the necks of the so-called prodigies!
Clouds fell from the sky, trapping the entire Azure Cloud Martial Hall.
This was the Earth-level technique "Azure Cloud Unfallen," trapping enemies with the power of Azure Cloud!
For half an hour, except for George, there were no survivors in the Azure Cloud Martial Hall. The zither strings returned to the Cloud Tide Zither, and George played the final note.
Then he packed up the Great River Dragon image, held his ancient zither, and set up the altar again on the martial platform amidst the corpses, lighting incense and kneeling once more.
"Grandfather, do you see?"
"Your grandson is truly a prodigy, not just in Tranquil County, but also the greatest in the whole Cloudview County!"
"From today onwards, everyone will know your grandson, and know that he is your great-grandson."
George bowed deeply, his forehead hitting the platform.
It seemed he wanted to knock all regrets back into the world of the living.
Meanwhile, around the Azure Cloud Pavilion, many descendants of the Blackwood family, like George, were also completing their missions. Many had started to loot the spoils of war, sorting through useless pills and precious materials, placing them in front of the altar. Ethan was also receiving various updates.
[Your descendant Julian, leading a group of mutants and zombies, attacked the Hernandez family and discovered that the strongest members of the Hernandez family were only at the Transcendent Seed stage. Olivia's claim that the Hernandez family might have a Developing Skill expert was completely false.
He deeply suspects that his younger sister spread this false information out of spite, and while besieging the Hernandez family, he was hopping mad and requested to be sent to a more dangerous location.]
Julian, the fierce man, was seen kneeling and lamenting, "Forebearer, this is too much, how can a sister bully her brother like this? I..."
[Proceed to the Valley of Healers for support.]
Ethan immediately blocked the screen, not because he had no other tasks for him, but because he was too far away.
[Luna, Mary, and the fourth-generation descendant Larry, together attacked the Hundred Tools Sect. Countless beasts from the Silver Iron Forest and the Swamp Jungle emerged, completely surrounding the Hundred Tools Sect.
The elder of the Hundred Tools Sect, Scott, activated the sect's protective array, swearing to defend the Hundred Tools Sect to the death, and furiously hurled the secret 'Hundred Tools Manual' at Luna.]
[Under Luna's demand, Scott, along with the sect's disciples, took a blood oath never to oppose the Blackwood family, sent two eighth-grade mutant equipment masters to Gratitude Village as technical advisors, and handed over a medium-grade mutant device, after which Luna ceased her assault.]
[Following Scott's suggestion, Luna learned that the neighboring Mystic Guild, which had long oppressed the Hundred Tools Sect, was closely linked with the Azure Cloud Pavilion. The Blackwood folks asked you whether they should immediately join forces secretly with Scott and three Transcendent Seed stage members of the Hundred Tools Sect to attack the Mystic Guild...]
Scott, a fierce man with bulging muscles and fiery red hair, looked puzzled as he watched the three fierce women of Blackwood still kneeling before the previously arranged Cards, but he refrained from commenting further.
Only urging, "What do you say? I'm truly scared of you Blackwoods now. Besides, the reason we posted your wanted posters was because we couldn't defy the Azure Cloud Pavilion. We never ordered anyone to hunt down the Blackwoods."
"Now, if we take down the Mystic Guild together, you'll have leverage over my Hundred Tools Sect, and I can rest easy."
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