*****Unlike Roland, Darius had known Xavier more.He had spoken with him, observed him, and watched him fight.However, despite considering himself intelligent… despite his sharp mind, analytical nature, and self-proclaimed high IQ, not once had he even suspected that Xavier was the Erudite Grandmaster in Riverton city.Not even once.In fact, Darius had gone out of his way to gather information about the mysterious Grandmaster. He had analyzed rumors, traced movements, and compared timelines.And yet… he had never connected the dots.Yes, he knew Xavier wasn’t ordinary. He had sensed it early on. The man’s composure, his knowledge, his strength, and terrifying calm… none of it belonged to a normal person.But an Erudite Grandmaster?No.Even now, Darius struggled to accept it fully.Those beings were borderline mythical… entities spoken of in hushed tones and whose names carried weight across nations.They weren’t just powerful cultivators; they were walking laws of natu

*****Because of Roland’s earlier audacious questions, everyone’s initial certainty… everyone except the Blackwood patriarch, had begun to crack, and doubt had seeped in slowly.Aldric’s clenched jaw had slightly loosened, Darius’s tightly wound thoughts had started to spiral in alternate directions, and even Cassandra, who had been drowning in her own haze, had blinked, appearing as though a possibility she hadn’t dared entertain had suddenly surfaced.All four of them had thought maybe… just maybe their old man had been wrong.They had begun to reason, quietly at first, then with more urgency… all four wondering how the patriarch had confirmed Xavier’s identity, if he had truly verified it, or had merely leapt to the terrifying conclusion fueled by fear and coincidence.And more importantly…How could someone as young as Xavier possibly be an Erudite Grandmaster?That title wasn’t something you picked up on a whim like a street trophy. It was forged through decades of blood,

*****Finally, there was the Blackwood patriarch.If anyone amongst the Blackwoods shouldn’t have been shaken, it should have been him.He had never doubted his conclusion of Xavier’s identity from the start… not even for a second.From the moment the realization had struck him, he had accepted it with grim certainty, and Xavier’s identity had etched itself into his bones with an immovable, terrifying force.So what froze him now wasn’t disbelief.It was something far worse.He had never expected Xavier to be here… not even once.When he had watched Xavier leave earlier with the Prime Minister, it hadn’t crossed his mind that they were heading to the Harrison estate.And that assumption… that single, foolish assumption was the reason he had brought his entire family here in the first place.He had always suspected the Harrisons shared some kind of connection with Xavier. Otherwise, how could they have handed over something as massive and sensitive as Projects Echelon so easi

*****As soon as the Blackwoods saw Xavier departing, their brain nearly exploded from sheer panic.They wanted to move, speak, shout, kneel, beg… and anything.But it was as though an invisible hand had suddenly pressed down on their shoulders, pinning them in place. As if some higher force… cold, merciless, and absolute had stripped them of even the right to react.Their throats were tight, their limbs refusing to obey.All the Blackwood Patriarch, his three sons, and his precious granddaughter could do at that moment was stand frozen and watch helplessly as Xavier stepped into the Prime Minister’s car.Right before their frantic eyes, the door closed with a soft, decisive click, the engine humming to life.And just like that, the Prime Minister drove away… taking Xavier with him, leaving behind nothing but silence and a suffocating sense of loss that felt far heavier than grief.And just then…Just after the car vanished from sight…“What’s really the problem?”The Harri

*****At this moment, the Blackwood Patriarch’s eyes were bloodshot and clouded, crimson veins crawling along the whites. Tears stubbornly rimmed them, refusing to fall, as if even they were unsure whether they were allowed to exist.And lastly, the old man’s body trembled continuously, stripped of the majestic presence that once defined him.This was not the man Riverton city feared and respected. No… he appeared like a man drowning.And his family…They were no better.His sons and granddaughter remained slumped behind him. Darius’s face was pale, his lips pressed into a thin line as though he were biting back a scream. Roland… usually loud, arrogant, and painfully confident, looked hollowed out, his eyes unfocused, his posture slumped.Cassandra… was the worst.Her face was drained of color, her fingers clenched so tightly that her nails bit into her palms. She looked like someone who had reached heaven, touched its gates… and then been dragged screaming straight into hell.