Chapter 69: The Old Dog from the South Riverside Province Who Wanted to Show Off in the North Riverside Province
Chapter 69: The Old Dog from the South Riverside Province Who Wanted to Show Off in the North Riverside Province
Cornell’s face blackened as soon as he had detected the oppressing and intense pressure on his body.
How on earth would the old man sitting beside him be a Virtuoso?
He knew that the old man hanging beside Bancroft was extraordinarily strong as he could perceive the
immense strength emanating from him, but he always thought that the elder would only be a Virtuoso-
to-be as a real Virtuoso was very hard to come by. Every Virtuoso in existence would either be a
magnate or titan in his respective area or come from a well-known family of pedigree with profound and
formidable standing. Bancroft would never be able to invite one over here based on his capability.
Hence, Cornell could not fathom what was going on right now as his face took on a ghastly expression.
In the end, his tense emotion was alleviated albeit slightly as he had discerned that the overwhelming
pressure had not live up to the extent of the power of a proper Virtuoso yet despite being brutally
intense.
His heart calmed down a little, but gloominess and apprehension still weighed on his heavy heart.
Even though that old man was not a proper Virtuoso, Cornell would never stand a chance against him.
Solemn looks manifested in Tom and Eugene’s eyes as well as they had realized the seriousness of
the matter at hand.
The few of them whom had reached the pinnacle of martial arts had originally planned to join hands to
hold a Virtuoso-to-be down with all their might. It would work for a moment to serve as the golden
opportunity for their father, Cornell, to take Bancroft out. The next step would be to encircle and
suppress the other mysterious Virtuoso-to-be without the need to annihilate him as they were confident
that if Bancroft was eradicated, this mysterious Virtuoso-to-be would back off as well.
However, the current situation had transpired in a way that had exceeded their expectations, and their
plans had derailed as a result of their faulty judgement.
The elder beyond the veil was outrageously powerful and out of their league.
Their father was likely not the elder’s match as well, which meant that the few of them would not even
have the chance to hold him down as they would be killed in an instant.
“May I ask for your name sir?” Cornell braced himself and asked.
The tables had turned completely, so any wrong move would land the Shaw family in hot water.
Since the passing of the first-generation Virtuoso in the Shaw family, none had emerged throughout all
these years. The most powerful in the family now would be himself who was only a mere Virtuoso-to-
be. This was one of the reasons behind the deterioration of the Shaws and why they were not on par
with the Derek family.
“Darnell Clifford from the South Riverside Province!” Darnell spoke in a slow manner.
Darnell Clifford?
Despite being a Virtuoso-to-be himself, Cornell was stupefied with pins and needles manifesting on his
scalp upon hearing his name.
Eugene, Tom and the others were swollen by despair and fear too after discovering who the elder was.
All of them had heard of Darnell’s fame back in the days. It was just ten years ago when he had
attained the Virtuoso Phase and it brought about a huge turmoil in the South Riverside Province.
However, the outsiders had claimed that he had fallen off from the Virtuoso Phase after a short five
years stint. All his nemesis had showed up to confront him after getting the news. It was said that his
capability was inferior to the other Virtuosos-to-be due to his injury from the fall. However, the truth was
none of his enemies were alive after all the confrontation, and two Virtuosos-to-be were included in the
death list.
It was his work that the two Virtuosos-to-be’s family legacy had collapsed during the massive
earthquake in the South Riverside Province five years ago as all the other families had extinguished
them after the loss of the core of their families.
As such, Darnell’s name still brought horror and shiver to people even though his story of falling from
the Phase had become a legendary joke.
He could certainly live up to the name of being the best and most powerful Virtuoso in the whole of
China. The fact that he used to be one was enough to give him the merit.
Even though he had fallen off from the Phase, he still stood at the culmination of all the Virtuoso-to-be
as all his attainment and means as a former Virtuoso could still be made use by him as he wished.
“Mr. Clifford, no matter what Bancroft had promised to you, we, the Shaw family, could offer conditions
that are twice, or even thrice better in exchange for you to stand by with indifference.” Cornell proposed
immediately.
As long as Darnell did not partake in the fight for the position, Bancroft would not be able to achieve his
goal.
Cornell’s attainment of the state of Virtuoso-to-be was twenty years earlier than Bancroft, thus he had
the confidence to suppress and even kill him.
“Oh, really?” Darnell’s pale face displayed a flash of interest which made Cornell’s heart trembled.
However, Darnell soon revealed a wicked smile as he said, “Bancroft could also give me whatever that
you will propose after he takes the spot of the head of the family. If you could give me triple the benefit,
he could also give me the same thing, isn’t that right?” He turned his head to Bancroft for his reply.
After cursing this old bastard’s whole family pedigree and every single generation secretly in his heart,
Bancroft put on a smile on his face and responded cheerfully, “You’re right, Mr. Clifford. I will surpass
whatever propositions that they will offer with much better terms, so don’t you worry about it!”
“So tell me now, why I should go back on my promise and stand by to watch?” Darnell stared at Cornell
with another one of his horrendous smile on his face.
To tell the truth, he had always had a pallid complexion that was corpse-like after his injury and fall from
the Phase which resulted in his hideous and ghastly smile.
Bancroft’s heart settled down with the affirmation from Darnell. If he had Darnell on his side, he would
be able to secure the position of the head of the Shaw family today. The Shaw family would be his
world and under his tyrannical control from today onwards.
The faces of Cornell and the remaining members of the Shaw family turned pale after listening to
Darnell’s cruel decision.
“However...” Darnell opened his mouth suddenly and this had made both Cornell and Bancroft’s hearts
leapt into their throats.
“If you could hand over all the available Reinforcing Panacea in your residence to me and divulge the
sources of these panaceas, I would consider your proposal. Ordinarily it should be impossible for a
small family like yours to possess the Reinforcing Panacea.” He stared at Cornell with his typical grim
smile again as he commented.
Bancroft’s expression clouded over when he heard Darnell’s words as he knew this was the only thing
that he could not accomplish.
He was uncertain of why the Shaw family would have the Reinforcing Panacea in their possession.
Cornell’s and the other elderly’s face lit up right this instant after hearing the counterproposal, “To be
frank, the Shaw family has two more Reinforcing Panaceas in our hold and it is our honour to present
them to you right away, Mr. Clifford.”
“The current Shaw family is definitely unentitled to possess these Reinforcing Panaceas. However, they
were passed down through the generations by our deceased ancestors, and only the current head of
the family is permitted to possess the knowledge of their existence. He is strictly prohibited to reveal
the Panacea’s existence to avoid bringing upon ourselves any calamity, and only the gifted and the
most talented ones in the family could take them,” Cornell said hurriedly.
He had concealed the truth that the Reinforcing Panaceas were actually derived from Jacob. Jacob
was already a Virtuoso-to-be at such a young age, and it was apparent that his future achievement
would be extremely promising. He would certainly attain the status of a Virtuoso before the age of forty,
or it might even be possible for him to achieve that goal by thirty. Cornell naturally wanted to maintain a
good relationship with Jacob seeing that he was full of potential. The concealment was also partly due
to the Shaws’ resolute disposition to not betray others who had helped them.
Bancroft’s face blackened even more when he discovered that only the head of the Shaw family was
allowed to know the existence of such a rare gem.
It seemed that their deceased Virtuoso had left them quite a few valuables and it might not just be the
Reinforcing Panacea. There could be more prized possessions in their hands.
This notion had made his determination to seize the position of the head of the Shaw family even
stronger.
“It is with regret that I have to reject your proposition if that is the case. All the Reinforcing Panaceas
held by the Shaw family would be mine too if Bancroft is the head of the family!” Darnell looked at
Cornell with his usual atrocious smile hanging on his white face.
Bancroft blatantly nodded his head to accede to all his demands. In truth, his heart was bleeding in
resentment as he could not afford to refuse the old bastard’s selfish requests. He had to smiled
subserviently even though hatred had manifested in his heart, his Virtuoso-to-be manner was nowhere
to be seen.
It was no wonder why so many of Darnell’s nemesis had confronted and attacked him when they got
word of his news that he had fallen from the Phase. Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.
Despite his hatred for Darnell, Bancroft felt exhilarated upon hearing his name as the head of the family
as it was his obsession long in the making.
He would not have to let the position of the head of the family slip through his hand and fell into
Cornell’s lap if not for his lust back in the days. He had committed the sin of peeping in while his aunt
whom was only a few years older was having a bath, and the transgression of morality for wanting to
molest her. The whole incident soon came to light which had led him to be ousted from the Shaw
family.
Darnell’s decline of their offer had led everyone in the Shaw family to slump into a state of despair. The
exertion of the force on their body had intensified further. Even Cornell and Tom had extremely
hopeless looks in their eyes as they had fallen into a state of despondency.
“It’s been a long time since I have killed a Virtuoso-to-be, so today’s the perfect day to revise that!” An
appalling smile appeared on Darnell’s face again, but this time there were hints of malevolence and
inhumane cruelty in it.
An acute sense of nearing the crisis of death had swiftly engulfed Cornell and made his hair stand on
end, his expression swiftly darkened with tension as he found himself in a real predicament.
“Who the hell do you think you are? An old dog from the South Riverside Province wants to show off
here in the North Riverside Province?” A voice erupted from above the stage at that moment.
The formidable pressure weighing on everyone’s body had dissipated in a wink.
A young man cladded in a modern black outfit had materialized in the sky and was treading on air with
ease as if he was on the ground!