Ashlyn Winters was pacing in frantic circles, her anxiety mounting with every passing second. She looked at Nick Crane sitting there with that impossibly calm expression, and it made her feel even more helpless. She had no idea what to do.Graham Preston was coughing violently, blood still flecking his lips, but he had already sent word to the Sunblade Warlord. He refused to believe the Sunblade Warlord couldn't handle this man. Nick's background was far too strange. The martial techniques he wielded were mysterious and devastatingly powerful, nothing like an ordinary person's. Perhaps only the Sunblade Warlord himself could deal with someone like that.Everything that had happened tonight left everyone in the hall still reeling. Even Ezra Kingsley sat trembling with his wine glass in hand, not daring to move a muscle. This was Graham, a man whose name alone commanded fear, and even he hadn't been able to kill or capture Nick. What chance did ordinary people stand? If Nick

Every guest in the hall stood with their mouths hanging open, unable to believe what they were witnessing.The Sunblade Warlord had knelt of his own accord and begged Nick Crane's forgiveness.What kind of honor was this? What kind of absurdity?The Stormwell family's people were trembling from head to toe, not daring to utter a single word. Ezra Kingsley rose from his seat, wanting to greet the Sunblade Warlord properly, but his legs refused to move. Today, they had offended Nick beyond measure. If Nick decided to hold them accountable, what could they possibly do?Damien Ravencroft was drenched in cold fear. He thanked every star in the sky that he hadn't continued fighting Nick. Otherwise, he would have ended up exactly like his brother-in-law.The other guests at the gala were caught between shock and terror. They had assumed that when the Sunblade Warlord arrived, he would personally take Nick down. The Stormwell family was on good terms with the Warlor

Nick Crane waved them off. This was something he didn't want them involved in.He was about to refuse when it happened.From the VIP lounge beside the airport terminal, a refined-looking man approached with measured steps. His features were scholarly, his manner impeccably polite."Mr. Crane, my family's elder patriarch requests the honor of your presence at the estate for a conversation." He inclined his head slightly. "A car is already waiting. Please, come with me."Nick studied him for a moment. The man's aura was tightly restrained, his energy coiled inward. This was no ordinary person.Warren Gallagher went on immediate alert. "Which family do you belong to?""The Southeastern Walton family."The words struck like a thunderclap. Every face in the group changed.Serena and Helena's instincts screamed danger. This man's strength was far from negligible. Their fingers quietly closed around the short blades concealed in their sleeves. The in

Nick Crane could hardly believe what he was hearing.This mysterious mother of his had a way of doing things that left him completely unable to predict her next move. After all these twists and turns, all this searching, this was the answer waiting for him at the end. Anyone in his position would refuse to simply let it go, and Nick carried a blood debt that demanded repayment.Nick pressed him, his voice tight. "Why would my birth mother have any connection to the Walton family? If I'm not one of them, then who is my real father?"The Walton patriarch exhaled a long, heavy sigh. He rose to his feet and spoke in a tone laden with meaning. "That is a very long story."Under the old man's slow, measured narration, a secret the Walton family had guarded for more than twenty years finally came to light.Over two decades ago, the Walton family had been nothing more than a nameless minor clan in the Southeastern Territories. The region was crowded with powerful fa

"Who lives and who dies is mine to decide."Nick Crane's brow furrowed slightly. He hadn't expected the truth behind the Crane Gate Massacre from five years ago to be this. The revelation caught him completely off guard.If he fought the Waltons now, the real enemy would be the only winner.. The Waltons had accumulated deep reserves over many years, and all of it would end up serving someone else's ambitions. There was no way Elder Walton hadn't considered this. The old man had specifically sought him out today, sharing all these secrets, precisely to protect the Walton family.Nick had been investigating for a long time now. Every guilty party he'd uncovered along the way was already dead by his hand, sent straight to hell. As for the Waltons, the family that had originally issued the order to have him killed, who was to say that some of the other clans, ones that bore grudges against the Cranes, hadn't secretly tampered with that directive? Pursuing that line of inq