The foreign energy left behind by the grandmaster was still lingering. At first, because he didn’t understand the full situation, Hudson had genuinely been shocked. For a brief moment, he’d even panicked.But the moment he realized it was only a remnant strand of energy left by a first-rank grandmaster, the tension in his chest eased instantly.If he had been in peak condition, he could’ve erased that energy with a single thought.Unfortunately, his body wasn’t at full strength right now. That remnant energy was still capable of causing some damage, which made eliminating it more troublesome than it should’ve been.Still, what happened next made Hudson sigh inwardly. Sometimes, the biggest secrets revealed themselves purely by accident.Ever since he’d obtained the dragon-shaped jade pendant, and learned that many factions had been searching for it for over twenty years, he’d wanted to know what made it so special.He hadn’t expected that today’s incident would reveal part of its secr

“It’s me.”The man nodded with a smile, then added, “It’s been ten years since the last time we saw each other… hasn’t it?”Hudson did a quick mental calculation. Exactly ten years.He nodded, still visibly surprised. “Back then, I had a feeling you weren’t ordinary… but I didn’t expect you to be this far from ordinary.”He tilted his head slightly and smirked.“So what should I call you now? Sect Master… or Dog?”Before meeting him face to face, Hudson had been curious about the leader of the Shekat Sect. What he never expected was that the man would turn out to be someone he already knew, someone he’d met a decade ago.Ten years earlier, the man had suddenly shown up at the mountain retreat in Northern California where Hudson and the old man lived. He’d said he was traveling, trying to clear his head, and had come to catch up with the old man.The old man had always been quiet and reserved, never much for conversation. Strangely enough, though, Hudson and the visitor hit it off imme

When Hanes heard Hudson’s voice coming from the other end of the phone, he froze.He instinctively pulled the phone away from his ear and glanced at the screen, thinking he must have dialed the wrong number.But it was indeed the old man’s number.Hanes’ face darkened instantly.If the old man’s phone was now in Hudson’s hands, that meant one thing, the three grandmasters had been completely wiped out.He had believed that sending three grandmasters would be more than enough. Even if they couldn’t kill Hudson outright, crippling him would have been easy. After that, his grandson could step in and finish the job, erasing this threat once and for all.The plan had seemed flawless.Reality proved otherwise.Hanes finally understood, he had underestimated that young man.He let out a cold snort. “Kid, don’t get arrogant. That was just the appetizer.”Hudson chuckled softly. “Don’t worry. I’ll be giving you a bigger surprise soon.”Before Hanes could respond, Hudson ended the call.Then he

It didn’t matter if someone targeted Hudson himself.But if they touched the people around him, that was asking for death.Everyone had a bottom line.If revenge came at him directly, he could handle it however it needed to be handled. But dragging innocent people into it, that was something he would never tolerate.In a flash, Hudson appeared beside Nathan.“What happened?” he asked, his voice low and steady. “Who did it?”Nathan shook his head. “We don’t know yet. There’s word from the Romones Group, two masked fighters showed up out of nowhere, injured the security team, and took Miss Ivory.”Hudson’s expression hardened.This was clearly aimed at him. Whoever did this knew he wasn’t easy to deal with head-on, so they had gone after Ivory instead.The Lorel family? Or some other powerful family that sensed a threat and decided to strike first?As Hudson was silently analyzing the possibilities, his phone rang.He immediately pulled it out, thinking it was the kidnappers.But when h

A quiet killing intent filled the car, heavy and suffocating.Although the three fighters who had attacked them never revealed who hired them, Hudson was certain the mastermind was Hanes.One of Hanes’s men had already failed once. Hudson guessed that Hanes assumed the failure was because Taron had been by Hudson’s side. This time, they had kidnapped the two women to force Hudson to come alone, thinking they could finally eliminate him that way.Once was a warning. Twice was a declaration.Hudson had not originally planned to move against the Lorel family so soon.But now, it seemed the Lorel family was eager to court death.He would oblige them.One phone call later, a private jet was prepared. Within hours, Hudson was on his way to California’s capital.Four hours later, his plane landed quietly at Sacramento International Airport.At the headquarters of Shekat Sect in Sacramento, Hanes and his grandson Romos were still waiting for news.The men they had sent out had not reported ba