Chapter 644 Trouble In Yaleview
“What do you know? Our family has five Divine Realm cultivators! Four of them, including your grandfather, remain on ancestral grounds all year long to protect their cultivating ancestor. Your fifth granduncle, Pentonius, is the only one who is allowed outside!
Keep in mind that he is in the middle phase of God Realm! Garrison of the Osborne family went after Jonathan and died as a result. Do you want your fifth granduncle to end up like him?” Harvey yelled when he took in his son’s disdainful expression.
Zidane was a little shocked by Harvey’s sudden outburst, but he maintained a look of disdain on his face as he said, “Nobody knows how Garrison died. Jonathan probably used some special means to kill him!”
“Nonsense!” Harvey chided. Graeme, who had been silent the whole time, raised his hand and interrupted Harvey all of a sudden. “Father, Zidane’s arrogance and overconfidence will get him killed!” Harvey said anxiously.
Graeme simply ignored him and shifted his gaze to Zidane as he said, “There were fifteen respectable families in Chanaea about three hundred years ago, one of which being the Weingard family. Do you know about that?”
“Yes, I do. I read about the Weingard family in an ancient text. The Weingard family eventually became weak and got eliminated by the other respectable families,” Zidane replied with a nod.
“Do you know why they became weak?” Graeme asked. “Well…” Zidane shook his head. “It wasn’t stated in the text, so I have no idea.”
Graeme let out a chuckle. “That’s right. It was a God Realm rogue cultivator who caused the Weingard family’s downfall. However, the Weingard family refused to admit to their humiliating defeat.”
Zidane stared at Graeme with his eyes wide. “How is that possible?”
Colton, too, had confusion written all over his face.
“As weak as a respectable family may be, it should at least have plenty of God Realm cultivators! How is it possible for a single God Realm cultivator to destroy the entire family?”
Graeme let out a sigh. “Why not? Take our Blackwood family for example. Your fifth granduncle may strike fear into the hearts of those around him, but he can’t be everywhere at once. Jonathan, on the other hand, can. He could seek out and launch attacks on our properties, companies, and side businesses. If he does that, then no amount of God Realm cultivators will be able to save us.
We would be completely at his mercy. I’ll have you know that the Weingard family had a Divine Realm cultivator and eight God Realm cultivators. Even so, that rogue cultivator was able to attack all the family’s businesses. Ten years was all it took for the rogue cultivator to destroy the Weingard family. Do you still think Jonathan and those rogue cultivators are easy targets?”
“I…”
Zidane found himself at a loss for words. Having been born into a wealthy family, he grew up thinking that everyone had to submit to the respectable families.
That was indeed the case for the past twenty years, as Zidane had never heard of anyone who posed a threat to the respectable families.
Even when Jonathan had rapidly risen to power, Zidane refused to believe that an ordinary man like him would be capable of anything remarkable.
It wasn’t until he heard Graeme’s explanation that he realized how wrong he was.
Harvey knew he didn’t need to say anything further when he saw the look on Zidane’s face. He simply let out a snort before glancing at Colton.
“You’ve done well, Colton.”
Colton made a swiping motion on his belt to summon the Soul Suppressing Banner.
With his right hand, he then began performing the spell to disable the ownership recognition feature. However, Graeme pointed at the item and stopped Colton’s spell halfway through.
“Grandpa…”
Colton turned to look at Graeme.
The Soul Suppressing Banner is a magical item that all patriarchs carry with them, so one can only imagine the weight it carries. The Blackwood family may not have made any statements about it representing its patriarch, but that is what everyone else believes. Grandpa only lent it to me temporarily when I left the ancestral grounds, so this isn’t mine to hold on to. Why would he stop me from returning it now?
“I’ll leave the Soul Suppressing Banner in your hands for the time being,” Graeme said.
Zidane leaped to his feet the moment he heard that.
“Grandpa, if you’re going to pass the Soul Suppressing Banner down, then it should be me who receives—”
He was halfway through his sentence when Graeme shot him a cold glare, scaring him so much that he immediately held his tongue.
Graeme looked at Harvey and asked, “Harvey, did you tell Zidane that the position of the patriarch in our family is hereditary?”
Harvey stood up and replied, “No, Father. I have told Zidane no such thing.”
“That’s good to know.” Graeme glanced at Zidane and let out a disappointed sigh as he continued, “Zidane, it’s true that the Blackwood family had passed down the position of the patriarch to the first in line for the last four generations. However, there is no rule in this household that states it is hereditary. I passed it down to your father even though he ranks third among his siblings. Don’t think for a second that he’ll pass it down to you simply because you’re his only son. The patriarch of the Blackwood family has to be capable of leading everyone in it. If you don’t change your arrogant ways, your father will never pass our family businesses down to you. Zidane, you and Colton are both my grandsons. As of now, the two of you are the only ones capable of inheriting the position of the patriarch twenty years later. Who it will go to depends on how you two perform.”
“Grandpa, it was never my intention to compete for the position of the patriarch,” Colton said while attempting to disable the Soul Suppressing Banner’s ownership recognition feature again.
This time, it was Harvey who stopped him.
“Colton, the position of the patriarch is neither a competition nor a status symbol. The patriarch is responsible for the family’s survival. The elders will decide whether you or Zidane shall become the next patriarch. You two have no say in this decision.”
Zidane’s face was red with anger and frustration when he heard that, but he didn’t dare say a word about it.
Right then, their conversation was interrupted by an urgent knock on the door.
Since he couldn’t disable the Soul Suppressing Banner’s ownership recognition, Colton made his way over to the door and opened it.
“Calm down and tell us what happened,” Harvey said with a solemn look in his eyes.
My personal guards are always cautious about everything they do. Something big must’ve happened if the messenger is in such a state of panic.
“Mr. Blackwood, we’ve received word from Yaleview that the Salladay family has secretly teamed up with Wilbur to infiltrate Zedfield and assassinate Joshua! This led to the reveal of Joshua’s cultivation level, which turned out to be God Realm. He has gone missing, and his fate is currently unknown.”
