Katie drew her bow, her gaze icy and determined. Ethan watched her with satisfaction, seeing in her the pride and fearlessness characteristic of the Blackwood lineage. "This girl is far stronger than Joseph, the lazy one..." he thought, his lips curling into a smile.
Just then, his smile froze.
"A genius? My father said that in their presence, no one dared to claim that title, and the same holds true in my generation among the Blackwood descendants."
The pink longbow in Katie's hands glowed brightly, its power forming a formidable pressure. She represented the new generation of Blackwood, shining brightly! Sёarᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Katie spoke coldly, "In front of my 'Sparkly Unicorn Bow,' your defeat is certain!"
Ethan: ...
Nate: ...
The Blackwood members, who were secretly monitoring the situation and ready to assist, were also speechless.
Julian, who was forging in the smithy, stopped his work abruptly.
It seemed like his mind exploded. All the Blackwoods were asking him if he was the one who named the bow.
His eyes lost their sparkle as he muttered, "No, I've never touched this thing. Yes, I don't forge longbows, never have, it wasn't me. Sister, you vouch for me."
"It was his craftsmanship, but the name probably wasn't his," Olivia's telepathic message was brutally honest.
Honest to the point where Julian collapsed on the floor, his dignity lost for the day.
Meanwhile, at Duke's Mansion, Michael had aged significantly, his hair streaked with silver.
"My lord Duke, we've investigated but found no trace of those ten martyrs; however, Kingdom County has grievances with us, perhaps it was them..."
Before he could finish, the guard, a novice in Developing Skill, was choked by Michael, who was in the Competent Force stage. Michael sneered, "Kingdom County? Over the years, the Dawn organization affiliated with Blackwood has planted many spies in my Duke's Mansion."
"You were present when my young relative broke through. Now you suggest it's Kingdom County, trying to divert the blame?"
"Foolish man, Blackwood is a notorious traitor of Cloudview County, how can you compare them to my Duke's Mansion? You've sided with the wrong team!"
The guard struggled in pain, his eyes bewildered, barely managing to say, "No... not... Lord Duke..."
He died before he could finish.
As a servant came to collect the guard's Developing Skill, Michael stared intensely at the servant until the skill was handed over, his face still full of caution.
He felt as if everyone in Duke's Mansion was a member of Dawn!
Just a few days had passed.
Michael's eyebrows twitched as he sensed with his Competent Force that the whole family was whispering about him being overly suspicious, seeing spies everywhere. The entire county was buzzing with rumors that Duke's Mansion was no longer what it used to be.
Michael, sitting in the Duke's seat, felt powerless to stop the tide. He couldn't even bring his daughter back. His most talented descendant had been killed right before his eyes...
Someone was determined to ruin his reputation and bring him down!
He slowly walked to the table, calmly picked up a teacup, and sipped his tea with a composed smile, "Thinking this will bring me down? Ridiculous, truly ridiculous."
He scoffed and left the hall.
"Boom!"
The building collapsed, dust billowing into the air.
"Whoosh!"
On this day, over the lands of Azure Cloud Blackwood, a pink arrow sliced through the sky. Katie, carrying her pink longbow, patrolled the Blackwood residence, her head held high with pride.
Walker Nate, coming from Starlight County, left Cloudview County in utter humiliation and pain. Beside him, his bodyguard, a peak Developing Skill expert, heard Nate muttering nonstop on the ability vessel, "It's over, my life is ruined. From now on, everyone will know I was defeated by an ability weapon named 'Sparkly Unicorn Bow.'"
Trying to hold back a laugh, the Walker family servant coughed lightly before speaking, "Master Nate, this is normal. Although Azure Cloud Blackwood might seem weak, they have stood at the pinnacle of Azure Cloud for generations. Katie is only 22 and already at the Emerging Ability stage with an unheard-of solid foundation and Psychic Constitution.
Her numerous hidden strengths make your defeat no disgrace."
"What do you mean no disgrace? The disgrace is that I was defeated by that bow!"
Nate clenched his teeth for a long time, then suddenly sighed facing the wind, "It's a pity that Blackwood has sided with the Druids, becoming traitors to the Emerald Empire. I couldn't take Katie with me. I just hope I don't encounter her on the battlefield in the future."
The servant shook his head, "Master, I disagree with you. Cloudview County is different from us. Duke's Mansion avoids confrontation and refuses to fight, just watching the Druid invasion. If they had all resisted, perhaps all the major powers in Cloudview County would have been wiped out by now."
"But now, Blackwood's leader Nicholas is moving around, and Cloudview County is actually quite peaceful. Even our presence in Azure Cloud doesn't attract Druid pursuers. Maybe one day we'll be fighting alongside Blackwood."
Nate gave a slight smile, "I hope that day comes."
Suddenly remembering something, the servant pulled out a letter from his pocket, "Oh, Master Nate, when you were pursuing Katie, the former head of the Blackwood family, Daniel, asked me to give this to you. Please review it and then present it to our leader."
"Oh?"
...
Cultivating psychic powers, cultivating psychic powers!
In Cloudview County, the once blood-stained Blackwood, those ancestors who had made a name for themselves, seemed to have completely vanished, their glory being forgotten.
Family head Nathan no longer led the enchantress Luna in declaring war against the major powers.
Sword King, the Saint of Flora, the Ancestor of Psychic Puppets, the Lord of Dawn... these mighty Blackwood warriors had completely fallen silent, like night-blooming flowers that had once shone brightly.
[Blackwood 150 years, the grand ceremony held every decade begins, your descendants offer you a Tribute Offering...]
Unknown to many, the people of Blackwood now had only one goal: to become stronger as quickly as possible!
In the ancestral hall.
Ethan, just like before, sat at the Psychic Position table, legs crossed, watching his devout descendants.
"May the Forebearer bless our family with smooth sailing, our children grow quickly, and may we descendants breakthrough safely without harm..." Nathan recited the ceremonial words, "Our people have not let down the Forebearer's hopes."
"Luna has already advanced to the Competent Force stage, our family has truly become a house of Competent Force. Please rest easy, Forebearer, I will reclaim the honor our family lost, and one day, no one will dare look down on us Blackwoods."
All the children of Blackwood lifted their heads, their eyes filled with fighting spirit and anticipation.
Ethan nodded slightly, "As long as you all are well, everything is fine."
Though the children couldn't hear him, this was Ethan's greatest prayer.
As the ceremony concluded, the people of Blackwood gathered to discuss the results of their years spent cultivating psychic powers. Nathan listened quietly, caressing the Storage Ring in his hand, his gaze intense.
"We still have plenty of resources in our family, even if we have to pile up resources, we must develop more Competent Force warriors. I want each of you to breakthrough in the shortest time possible."
Nathan's words calmed the family members, "Over the years, everyone has stored up quite a bit of resources, and I've almost spent all of mine. Let's take out what we have and share it, so we can all get what we need."
Leaning against a pillar, Joseph suddenly opened his eyes wide, his teeth clenched as he remembered the fear of being deceived by the elders at Duke's Mansion, "A bunch of old thieves, they must be rich, maybe even rivaling Duke's Mansion."
Katie, with her innocent wide eyes, looked up at her brother, "Brother, how can you say that about them? The elders always say they are poor, that all their resources go into building our power."
"Every time they give me resources for cultivation, I can see their hardship, scraping together what they can find. Father said, even if our family is poor, he wants me to have better natural treasures than other families' children."
Katie was on the verge of tears, "The elders have really sacrificed a lot for us, I won't let you call them old thieves."
In her mind, she even pictured the elders eating poor meals but still smiling as they saved the best for her.
"Ah."
Joseph glanced at his naive sister and shook his head, "You're still young."