271 Stepping

"Shut up…" William suddenly turned pale and quickly reached to block that mouth reeking of wine. "You are courting death…"

In William's eyes, he was indeed courting death.

'Jason, you bastard, do you even know what you are talking about? Even if you want to be annoying, how could you dare ask him to personally greet you? Can you even afford his greeting? Do you know who he is? He is the one at the top of Thousand Sails City!'

'Which of Thousand Sails City's powerhouses isn't someone formidable? Peak 9th Rank High Mage Solomon, Master Alchemist Lys, the millennial Monchi Family, Sauss with his strongest underground force… Yet what is their attitude in front of this person?'

William has been following Lin Yun for almost half a year.

He was very clear about his status.

Why were all the leaders of Thousand Sails City's major forces bending at the waist when entering the Gilded Rose? Wasn't it because the leader of the Gilded Rose was this person? He wasn't a kind-hearted fellow. When he was blocked at the entrance of the Poison Fog Canyon, he certainly didn't treat Sauss politely.

"Jason, shut up…" William turned even paler as he thought about this and dragged him back while covering his mouth.

William didn't have much choice.

He had seen Lin Yun frowning.

After following this younger cousin for half a year, how could William not know that something would definitely happen whenever he frowned?

It wasn't that William wanted to protect Jason...

It was just that William knew that his younger cousin was someone who hated trouble...

And it would be troublesome if Jason ran out of luck.

Following their history that had been buried in the dust, the Merlin Family rose in the Andlusa Kingdom and founded a country. Over a millennium had passed since then, and over time, it became a behemoth. The descendants of the Merlin Family covered almost every corner of the Andlusa Kingdom. But during that millennium, only the descendants of three main branches could control the Merlin Family.

Only these three branches' descendants could have a seat at the Elder Council and be qualified to obtain the position of Patriarch. They were the Okland Merlin, the Palatine Merlin, and the Lorraine Merlin branches. Not only where they the three strongest branches, but they also had the purest bloodline in the past millennium.

For the past thousand years, the three main branches took turns to wield the Merlin Family's authority, and the fate of countless descendants was in their hands.

The Okland Family had been in charge for the past three hundred years.

Although the highly respected Judd, Mafa Merlin's grandfather, had strangely left, Ofran, who replaced him, did a pretty good job. He cautiously and conscientiously worked hard for decades and raised the Merlin Family's prestige higher than ever. And although his three sons weren't outstanding geniuses, they inherited Ofran's diligence, allowing them to obtain shocking achievements in their respective fields.

Then there was William's generation...

Aube Merlin and Leon Merlin could be described as the twin stars of the Merlin Family. They were young, but one was already a High Mage while the other was a Master Alchemist. There were very few geniuses that could compare with them in Okland.

The Okland Merlins were the most impressive.

But the other two main branches weren't weak. The strength they gathered over time was something that other forces couldn't imagine. There might not have been a genius with earth-shattering talent in the past hundred years, and neither did any shocking major events happen, but if anyone approached these two low-key main branches, they would find that these two branches were only hibernating, and that sooner or later, they would return to the highest stage of the Andlusa Kingdom.

Jason Merlin came from the Lorraine Merlins.

It could be said that the beautiful and rich Lorraine City in the western part of the Andlusa Kingdom was the private property of the Lorraine Merlins. Over there, the name Merlin meant everything. Even if a king wanted to appoint a city lord, he would have to convene with the Lorraine Merlin Family.

Jason had an extremely pure bloodline. He was one of the three grandsons of the leader of the Lorraine Merlin Branch, Logan. Unfortunately, Jason didn't inherit Logan's wisdom and ability to scheme, and was a famous wastrel in Lorraine. He relied on his family's status there to do anything he wanted. Over the years, few people wouldn't become pale and scared when the name Jason was mentioned.

His bad habits didn't change when he was sent to Okland after he turned eighteen.

The only fortunate thing was that Jason was only a Great Mage. The people he came into contact with weren't very high ranked, so if he ran in trouble, the Merlin Family could always settle it.

This was how William became acquainted with him.

At that time, William had already revealed outstanding talent in the Merlin Family and would frequently be sent out to help resolve Jason's issues. After a few times, Jason could be considered an acquaintance.

But an acquaintance was only an acquaintance, as William was very disgusted by his antics.

In William's eyes, he was just a waste waiting to die. The only thing Jason could do was to leech off of the Merlin Family until his death.

But even if he was disgusted by him, William still had to deal with the situation.

His grandfather was Logan and the Lorraine Merlin Branch had five seats in the Elder Council. Five seats meant that as long as Logan could pull in two or three allies, he would be able to gain the right to oppose any decisions.

In other words, Logan might not be able to make decisions outright, but he could easily become an obstacle.

Thus, even if Ofran was the Patriarch, unless he needed to, he wouldn't offend Logan.

"Okay, okay, Cousin William, don't drag me. I know who he is, isn't that the kid from outside? The one from Thousand Sails City."

Jason had drunk too much. He pushed William to the side as he slurred, just like an ordinary drunkard. He was also staggering and seemed like he might fall to the ground anytime if he didn't pay attention.

"I heard that this kid asked for many conditions and requested to go to the Ancestral Land..."

"Jason! You are drunk!" William became mad and grabbed Jason with both hands. If this wasn't the place where the Merlin Family held official discussions, William would have already slapped him. 'Are you trying to die? Can't you see his expression? Do you think you'll be able to leave this place unharmed? Even Suyass would lower himself in front of him…'

'Do you know who Suyass is!?'

'One of the most outstanding disciples of the Mercury Tower, a Master Alchemist and an Archmage. Someone who led puppet legions to campaign through the Golden Forest Plane and killed more underground elves than you could ever imagine. Jason, since when are you courageous enough to be rude to a person that Suyass would humble himself before?'

Unfortunately...

Jason couldn't understand William's thoughts...

"Move, William, I need to have a discussion with that kid. He thinks that Okland is Thousand Sails City, and he doesn't put the Merlin Family in his eyes. To dare to request something like that from the Merlin Family, I have to teach him a lesson…" The drunk Jason staggered as he randomly waved his staff with both hands.

"You are crazy!"

William felt his blood run cold.

William no longer cared where they were and directly slapped him. He then blinded Jason with a Light spell while pointing his magic staff and also releasing a Vine spell. The tough vines flew out fast and coiled around Jason's magic staff.

Jason fell heavily to the ground.

The vines had powerful momentum and Jason was drunk, and thus, he ended up with two of his front teeth broken.

"William… You… You… You dare to attack me… Don't think I won't-," Jason wheezed from the ground.

"I believe you," William said as he stepped on Jason's head.

"Uuuh…" The pitiful Jason didn't even finish his words before his mouth reached the floor and issued some unintelligible sounds, as he could no longer speak.

"Okay let's go." Lin Yun shook his head. Someone like Jason simply didn't enter his eyes. He hadn't even paid attention to his words, just wondering what the lunatic was raving about.

At this moment, William was stepping on Jason and Lin Yun didn't even spare him a look as he walked over him before entering the stone tower.

"Haha, it looks like the Merlin Family is still curious regarding my arrival…" Lin Yun said with a smile after turning a corner.

"What do you mean?"

"There were two High Mages in the courtyard when you stepped on that guy, and first-rate High Mages too…"

At this point, Lin Yun took back the Mage Eye he had quietly released.

Because it was no longer needed.

Lin Yun already knew who these two High Mages were...

But Lin Yun felt a bit strange. 'Didn't William say that the competition between those two was very intense?'