SWNOVELS 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 wil 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.
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!☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐