The slap resounded across the lobby, and the sound of it traveled far into the quiet night. Ethan stood in stunned silence. Even Raphael and Leah were startled."How dare you!" Trafford barked. "How can you defame someone of Mr. Ballard's character?" He then turned to look at Sebastian and said, "However, since the rightful owner is present, I hope you can return the object to him, Mr. Ballard." Sebastian looked curiously at Trafford before laughing sardonically. Shaking his head, he asked, "What if I tell you I don't want to?"Trafford gritted his teeth. "Fine! I see that there are still heroes among our youth. You remind me of myself at your age. However…"His tone changed, and he said coldly, "The Soulbell is still Demongate's sacred object, and they've come to Sword Towers to ask them to seek justice. If you refuse to return it…" Trafford's gaze turned to Ethan.Ethan looked at him in confusion. This wasn't what they had planned beforehand. However, he soon understood w
"You're very confident, I see," Sebastian remarked, looking coldly at Ethan.Ethan scoffed, his expression cold and menacing. "You'll soon find out why I'm so confident."Sebastian's gaze swept impassively over him before he glanced at the high-ranking members of the Steinberg Martial Arts Association. Turning to Liam and Gavin, he said, "Let's go."Both Liam and Gavin were utterly confused. They couldn't understand why Sebastian had shown up even though he hadn't had any intention of attending the banquet."Mr. Ballard, can you explain what you were doing?" Gavin couldn't help asking once they were in the car."Liam, you're not going to ask the same question, are you?" Sebastian pulled out a cigarette and placed it between his fingers. He didn't light it and just stared impassively out through the car window. Liam frowned and said thoughtfully, "Seb, I was looking closely at them. There didn't seem to be any sign of the Sword Zealot and the Sword Fiend in the crowd. "Not all
Sebastian heard Whitney crying out, and he hurriedly turned to help her up."Sebastian… I'm alright," Whitney said. "I just moved too quickly, and it tugged at the wound. I'm fine."Although Sebastian had dressed her wound, she had still been severely injured by Terence's attack. Full recovery would take time. "I'm going out to take care of some business, and I'll be back right away. Lyanna and Nina will take care of you. You mustn't pull at the wound again. If your natural energy is damaged, it won't be easy to deal with," Sebastian instructed gently as he helped Whitney to sit down.Whitney looked up at him and said, "But I have an interview this afternoon to hire someone to manage the pharmaceutical factory. I can't just skip it. "The pharmaceutical factory has stopped operations for quite a few days already, and the deadline for our new batch of products is approaching. We can't delay a single day more."Sebastian took a deep breath and said thoughtfully, "It's alright. You
Although Sebastian and Godfrey had had their differences, Godfrey was still a man of status. It would not befit his position to cause trouble for Sebastian or to pick on him.After a moment, Sebastian was led to the main doors of the hall. There was a massive statue erected in the small courtyard outside it.Sebastian looked up at it. The words "The Modern God of Medicine" were written in huge letters on the plaque in front of it.Sebastian almost laughed out loud when he saw it. The statue was of his mentor, the current sect leader of the Sacred Medicine Society. There were already more than ten Warriors gathered in the great hall. Almost all of them were looking at Sebastian, who was standing outside the doors. Sebastian had become the center of attention instantly. Several Warriors who had traveled from other states looked rather puzzled. Was the young man standing in front of them the one who was going to battle against Godfrey in pill refining that day?At that moment, G
"If I fail to keep my word, I will meet the same fate as that vessel!" Sebastian declared. His voice wasn't loud, but he had injected vital energy into it. Even the crowd on the plaza at the front of the mountain heard him clearly.Those who had witnessed the copper censer explode were completely dumbstruck with fear by what they had seen.Everything Sebastian had said and done seemed rather familiar to the crowd. It seemed to resemble someone they knew! However, no one wanted to mention the name of that person, and no one was brave enough to make wild guesses. That person was a legend among the mystic martial arts sects. He was also the only person who had the legacy of the Sacred Medicine Society, and no one from the Nine Sects could hold their heads up high in front of him!Godfrey, who was in the great hall, felt his pupils constrict. He was filled with fear when he saw the shattered copper censer, but he forced himself to maintain a calm expression. Any martial arts exper
Branson and Kody, like their nicknames, were crazy about swords. From a distance, they didn't resemble ordinary men but rather unsheathed swords. The murderous energy emanating from them filled the atmosphere, making one feel as if they were teetering on the edge of an abyss. At that moment, someone among those who were following Godfrey recognized Branson and Kody at once. "That's… that's Mr. Jagger from the Gladius Sect!""Isn't that Mr. Hartson beside him?" "They didn't come specially to be witnesses, did they?" Speculation rose all around them. "I heard that Mr. Hartson has been stuck at a bottleneck for over ten years and has been unable to break through. Is he going to use this opportunity to ask for a pill?" a young, thin man muttered quietly. However, no one felt that he was insulting Branson and Kody. After all, no matter how high the level one attained, there would always be bottlenecks in training. That was when refinists could really prove their value. If B
Branson and Kody would both eliminate Sebastian, and Godfrey wouldn't have to lift a finger.Refinists were valuable, but the fewer of them there were, the more valuable they would be. Godfrey had no wish to gain a strong competitor."Oh?" Branson and Kody both looked at Sebastian. However, a look of disappointment and disdain flashed in their eyes when they saw that Sebastian was just a young man."Mr. Callahan, you're not referring to him, are you?" Branson's brow was tightly furrowed. He clearly held Sebastian in contempt.Who would be brave enough to take a pill refined by such a young refinist? It wasn't even a question of whether or not he would be able to achieve a breakthrough. If the pill wasn't made properly, one could even die. Godfrey smiled slightly and pointed at the pill cauldron in the courtyard, under which a fire had been lit. "You may not know this, but Sebastian came specifically to have a battle in pill refining with me today. These medicine cauldrons were
After a few seconds of silence, Godfrey took a step forward and said harshly, "Alright. In order to be fair, you can use any of the medicinal herbs here. We'll decide the winner based on the grade of the pills that are refined."As soon as he finished, over a dozen Fate Sect apprentices carried hundreds of different medicinal herbs into the center of the venue. They placed them near the medicine cauldron before retreating."Hmph! You ignorant young man! Let me show you what the true art of pill refining is!" Godfrey strode forward and went up to one of the pill cauldrons. He pulled up his sleeves and struck the cauldron hard with the palm of his hand!There was a loud ringing sound. Just as everyone was confused, fire flared up under the pill cauldron all of a sudden.The white-hot flames danced in the wind, and even those in the crowd who were about 100 paces away felt as if they were being consumed by fire. It was too hot to bear!"Dragon Flames!' Godfrey yelled once more. The
Upon seeing what was happening, Drew turned pale with fear. At that moment, Gerard and Brody burst out of one of the exits, followed closely by over a dozen special forces officers.Drew did a rough count. Including Gerard, there were only 14 survivors in total. Everyone else had been turned into dried corpses!At that moment, a scarlet scene appeared in front of Sebastian. A scene of carnage came into his vision, filled with mountains of corpses and a sea of blood.Drew's expression was extremely grim as he looked at the dozen or so survivors who had managed to escape.Almost 40 people had died in a single operation! How was he going to explain this to his superiors? So many lives had disappeared in an instant!Gerard was as pale as a sheet, and his legs were trembling uncontrollably."Mr. Ballard, what should we do now? Should we escape or retreat?" Drew asked, his voice trembling.Escape or retreat? Wasn't that the same thing?Sebastian's gaze swept over Drew, who was beside
The creature suddenly lunged at one of the officers. It raised a hand and grabbed the officer's throat as it opened its crimson, gaping mouth and began sucking forcefully at his nose. Within seconds, the officer aged decades, and even his hair and teeth began falling out. As the others looked on, the officer became a dried corpse right in front of their eyes.With a sickening snap, the human-shaped creature broke the officer's neck. A shrunken, dried head rolled off his shoulders. It then casually tossed the dried corpse aside. Everyone was stunned with fear by what they had just witnessed.Gerard, Brody, and the others hadn't believed that ghosts existed. They hadn't believed that supernatural entities existed, either, but now the facts were right in front of them. They had no choice but to believe it. They had never seen anything like it. Overcome with fear, many of them had wet their pants.However, the cave sprite had no intention of stopping. It shot rapidly into the crow
The old man was clearly not very skilled in the mystic arts, as he had not been able to see Sebastian's formation.Those whose mystic arts had reached a certain level would be able to see that there was now a wall of light around Sebastian. Even the cave sprite wouldn't be able to pass through it."Young man, haven't you heard the saying that curiosity kills the cat?" The old man's gaze swept over Sebastian, and an impatient note crept into his voice. Although the old man was arrogant, he genuinely had good intentions, so Sebastian had a fairly good impression of him. Therefore, he didn't get angry and just chuckled as he nodded.When the old man realized that Sebastian wouldn't budge, he decided not to bother with him any longer. He strode into the building and said coldly, "You'll regret it soon. Don't think you're safe just because there are officers near you. When you lose your life, don't say that I didn't warn you!"As soon as the old man finished, a team of special forces
Sebastian wasn't sure how powerful the cave sprite was. All he had were a few self-preservation strategies he had learned from the Sacred Medicine Secret Annals. He would have no problem saving himself, but that didn't mean he could defeat his opponent.Cave sprites were revenants that only appeared every couple of thousand years. If they were that easy to deal with, why would they be so rare?Sebastian had only promised Belinda and Rufus on the phone that he would find the murderer. As for capturing the murderer, he wasn't responsible for that.Besides, if they locked the cave sprite's area of movement or made him too afraid to go into city areas to eat people, what did it matter whether they caught him or not?After less than half an hour, over ten police cars from the state department arrived at the scene. Vince turned and sighed in resignation as he looked at them. He could only pray inwardly that there wouldn't be a huge scene of carnage and death. The sacrifice of these
"Mr. Ballard, did you just say the murderer isn't human?" Drew asked, frowning deeply."Mr. Houghton, don't listen to his nonsense! No matter how powerful that thing inside is, can it stand against our bullets? If he resists, we'll shoot him dead on the spot!" Gerard said urgently."Exactly," Brody chimed in. "How can you try and trick us with ghost stories in this modern era? You traditional medicine doctors can only fool ignorant women from the countryside!"Everyone there was part of the elite among the police, and they all believed firmly in science. They had all solved some unusual cases at some point, but in the end, they had all proved to be the work of a human.Ghosts didn't exist at all!Besides, some of those present felt that Sebastian was just lucky and had chanced upon the murderer. They didn't think that it was due to any ability or skill on his part."Mr. Ballard, shall we try to call for backup?" Drew was beginning to waver. Although he didn't want to offend Seb
"Mr. Ballard, have you discovered anything?" Gerard asked, striding into the abandoned building with a large group of officers from the state department. His hands were clasped behind his back.They had scoured the building countless times, searching every nook and cranny, yet they had found nothing.Sebastian ignored them and walked slowly to a door on the first floor. He tossed a paper charm onto the floor. After throwing six paper charms in a row, he looked up in the direction of the second floor."The crime didn't take place upstairs. This building only has two stories, and it's empty up there," Gerard said contemptuously.Sebastian didn't respond and threw the final paper charm up into the air.When the paper charm landed on the floor, Sebastian chanted in a low voice, "Heaven and earth subdue the curse, the land hides a true spirit, and the Northstar formation joins with the skies!"When his chant ended, the seven paper charms immediately began to glow with a silver-white l
The photo was of a long-abandoned construction site that had two unfinished buildings on it. It was surrounded by barren mountains, which were covered in dense woods. Ordinarily, very few people went there.Gerard glanced at the photo and sneered. It was a photo of the site where a young woman had died tragically just four days ago.From a criminal investigation perspective, crime scenes like that were not worth investigating at all. It wasn't the place where the first crime had been committed, nor was it the place where the last crime had been committed.They would be able to glean the murderer's modus operandi at the first crime scene and compare it to subsequent cases. However, that was clearly not required for this particular case, as there would be no other way in which someone could turn people into dried corpses.As for the last crime scene, Gerard and the others had already scrutinized it at least 80 times. There were no leads at all, which was why they were all at a loss.
Sebastian didn't spare Gerard another glance. Turning to Whitney, he said gently, "Let's sit."Whitney's mind had gone blank. She could never have imagined that Sebastian would interact with the men from the state department in this manner.As Brody watched Sebastian lead Whitney by the hand to sit at the head of the table, he clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his palm. He said through gritted teeth, "Mr. Ballard, you've never even attended a criminal investigation class. What makes you think you can solve this case?""What makes me think so? It's because I'm Sebastian Ballard! I don't care how amazing you are or how many cases you've solved in the past. Right now, I'm in charge!" Sebastian said impassively.He turned to look at Gerard and asked, "Do you disagree? If so, tell me what leads you've found. Any lead at all would suffice."The room fell silent; the officers were dumbstruck. Any leads? They didn't even have the faintest inkling. They had no idea what
Shouldn't Sebastian have tried to assure them and establish a good working relationship with them?None of the officers had expected him to be so aggressive as soon as he appeared. He had even told them all to leave!"Sebastian, we should probably tone it down," Whitney whispered. "After all, we'll need their help to find Shannon."Sebastian chuckled and said, "You want to rely on them? They won't find her even if they have ten years to do so!"The officers looked even more grim, especially Brody. He had never imagined that Sebastian would be so hostile to them when they were the experts in criminal investigation! He found himself at a loss for words."Hmph! Fine, I'll go! I'd like to see how you're going to solve this case!" Brody snapped, turning bright red with anger. He spun on his heel, ready to leave."Sit down!" Drew roared, slamming his hand on the table. "Which one among you is going to be bold enough to leave?"Brody jumped in fright, startled by Drew's outburst. The o