Training in paper charm spells was unusually difficult. It would take at least 20 to 30 years of hard work just to become a beginner.Sebastian didn't want to back Elton into a corner. After all, Elton hadn't hurt him, and there was no reason to make an enemy of Elton just for the sake of the Northmans."Mr. Ballard, I'm sorry, that was inconsiderate of me. Let me take you home. I hope you accept this token of my appreciation too." Zane took out a check from his pocket and gave it to Sebastian."Mr. Ballard, it's unfortunate that you had to witness the ridiculous affairs of our family. However, I hope that you will attend the auction with my son at the Skyline Hotel three days from now. What do you think, Mr. Ballard?" Theodore said very politely."An auction?" Sebastian asked, frowning."This is an auction restricted only to the elite upper class of Sunway. There will be many rare treasures there, and if any of them catch your eye, just tell Zane and let him bid for it for you. W
The next day, Zane went to Rosalie's office. With him was the contract with Arctic Snow Group, stating that they would collaborate to develop a new anti-cancer drug. Rosalie glanced at the contract. She frowned slightly as she said, "Mr. Northman, are you sure you have the right contract?"The contract clearly stated that Northstar Pharma would pay for all the expenses of research, development, and advertising. 70% of the profits would go to Arctic Snow Group, while Northstar Pharma would only receive 30%. It was such a good deal for Arctic Snow Group. It was basically giving them money.Zane smiled and said, "Ms. Griffin, the Northmans would have gotten into a disaster if Mr. Ballard hadn't been around. That's why my father decided to let him have 70% of the project's profits to thank him for saving his life."After all, Arctic Snow Group is the company with the most potential for development in Steinberg. In the future, our collaborations may not be confined to anti-cancer dru
Wyatt nodded and said, "Alright. After all, we're old men who have no idea about any of this. However, if you need any financial support, all you have to do is ask." As he spoke, Wyatt took a credit card from the guard next to him. He handed it to Sebastian and said, "There's no limit on this card. Just take it and use it as you wish.""The lives of my comrades will affect the safety of Dramon. I'll have to hand this matter over to you and ask for your help." Wyatt gave Sebastian a crisp, military salute."Mr. Holman Senior, please take this card back. I can afford a small sum like this," Sebastian said, giving the card back to Wyatt. Although Sebastian tried to refuse, Wyatt insisted. Sebastian had no choice but to take the card.After that, Wyatt ordered Liam to take Sebastian back to the convenience store.…Three days later, Zane arrived very early at Sebastian's shop. The moment he walked in, his face broke into a wide smile as he went up to Sebastian. "Mr. Ballard, I c
The old man, Joshua Sadler, nodded and said, "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Stallone, Mr. Wolsey."Although he was apologizing, he looked very arrogant. He didn't look sorry at all."Mr. Sadler? Are you Joshua Sadler, the King of Geodes?""Oh it really is Joshua! How did the Stallones manage to invite someone so important?""It seems that the Stallones will win again at today's auction."Several people fixed their gazes on the old man. Joshua smiled slightly at the attention.Joshua was a very famous person in the state's cultural relic circles. He was rumored to have very sharp eyes. Any geode, emerald article, or antique that he picked out would turn out to be priceless.The Stallones had put in a lot of effort to hire Joshua and had given him an exorbitant annual salary of 80 million dollars. With Joshua backing him up, Jayden was even more confident."I think you'd better stay outside, Zane. You can't keep giving money to the sellers. The Northmans may have many asse
"Let's bet 100 million on the person who will get the highest value in auction items today. Do you dare to take the bet?" Sebastian asked, smiling.When Zane heard the amount that Sebastian was betting, he broke out in a cold sweat.Theodore had only given him 500 million. Even if he didn't get anything at the auction, he'd already have to give away 100 million for nothing!"Mr. Ballard… it'll be difficult for me to explain the 100 million to my father," Zane whispered to Sebastian anxiously, trying to deter him.Theodore wouldn't mind if the money was spent on Sebastian.However, if Zane lost 100 million in a bet because he had listened to a layman like Sebastian, his father would be sure to break both his legs.Joshua tossed a coin onto the floor and smiled arrogantly. He said, "That's already a big sum of money to you."There was a roar of laughter from the onlookers around them. Sebastian glanced at the coin and smiled impassively as he said, "Cut the crap. Will you take
If Jayden was able to get all the shops that the Northmans owned in Sunway, he would have made a major contribution to the Stallone family."How about this? Let's bet on all the shops that the Northmans have in Sunway. If you lose, all the shops will be ours. If you win, we'll give you half of the shops that we have in Sunway's city center." Jayden's offer sounded generous, but all of the Stallones' shops added together wouldn't even be worth as much as half of the Northmans' shops.After all, Northstar Pharma was established more than 20 years ago. Although they had remained focused on the pharmaceutical industries, they also dabbled in several side industries. They even had assets in the jewelry industry. Therefore, the Northmans were very meticulous in choosing the location of their stores. After a few rounds of renovation and rebuilding, even the elite of Sunway often visited them.The rich and wealthy were the ones who really drove consumption."Alright, but I have one mor
Zane's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't help staring fixedly at Jayden and Lucian."Don't look back," Sebastian reminded him.Zane inhaled sharply. They were over 30 feet away. How had Sebastian known what Jayden's reserve price was?Could he read minds?As for whether the bowl was a counterfeit product or not, Zane didn't care at all. After all, the organizer would reveal the truth after every item was auctioned off.That was the most exciting part of the auction.At other auctions, the organizer or seller wouldn't even admit the buyers had gotten a counterfeit product. This auction, on the other hand, had already made it clear from the start. The audience knew that there were both real and counterfeit items being auctioned off. The purpose of doing so was to test the participants' judgment. It was also a way for all the elite who were attending the auction to show off their skill in antique appraisal."Let's have our first item for the night! This is from the first batch o
Celeste smiled and approached Jayden. She said softly and gently, "Mr. Stallone, you don't have to be discouraged. Keep going!"However, Jayden couldn't help feeling like she was smiling scornfully at him."Mr. Sadler, you— What's going on?" Jayden asked grimly when he returned to his seat, red in the face."Uh… well, everyone makes mistakes. Don't take it to heart, Mr. Stallone. We'll win it back in a jiffy," Joshua said very awkwardly. He had turned red."The next auction item is a painting called 'The King's Son.'" Celeste smiled and gestured toward the stage. "The King's Son" was then pushed out from backstage."Mr. Sadler, what do you think of this painting?" Jayden asked, staring nervously at Joshua.Joshua had been rattled by his failure. If he failed again, he would lose this job, which had an annual salary of 80 million. Not only that, his reputation in the antiques industry would be ruined overnight."Do you even have to ask? 'The King's Son' is a national treasure. Ho
If Sebastian was too absolute, he would only attract the hatred and revenge of more people. That was why he had killed Titan, but not Tatum. He had to have a reason to kill every time he did so."The mystic sects?" Rose smiled and shook her head as she said, "With skills like yours, who among the mystic sects can do anything to you? There's probably barely anyone.""Do you want me to end up on the run? What will happen to Rosalie and Whitney? What about the Northmans? They will be sure to suffer a bloody revenge as well." Sebastian shook his head, smiling wryly.If he didn't have anything that he was concerned about, he would be fearless. However, the people around him were all ordinary people who barely had any strength. Sebastian could escape, but what about the others?…It was late at night when Tatum finally crawled back to the Caelbane Sect, covered in blood. The apprentice who was standing guard ran in to report to Anthony when he saw the wretched state that Tatum was i
Tatum had turned pale with fright. His shirt became drenched with cold sweat almost instantly."You… did you just kill one of the Caelbane Sect members?" Tatum still couldn't accept it.There was a snap as Sebastian broke both his legs with a single kick instead of wasting time talking to him.There was a thump as Tatum fell heavily to his knees. The impact crushed his kneecaps as well."Aargh!" Tatum screamed in pain like a dying pig."Shut up. If you scream again, I'll cut out your tongue," Sebastian said, looking down at him. Tatum stopped shouting at once and stared up at Sebastian in abject fear.Since he was a child, he had been the one bullying others. This was the first time he had been treated as if he were a lamb being led to the slaughter!"Apologize to the old lady!" Sebastian pointed to the old lady that Titan had slapped. "Sebastian, we're the apprentices of the sect leader of the Caelbane Sect. You want me to apologize to her? Aren't you afraid that the Caelba
Every Warrior treated the Martial Arts Association like a god. Therefore, that would make the Caelbane Sect even higher than a god!"Are you both not right in the head? I don't owe your sect leader money, yet he's trying to ask me for something? Even beggars aren't this desperate!" Sebastian looked at Titan and Tatum as if they were idiots. "We're not beggars, damn it! I'm telling you, cut both your hands off right now and let us take them. Otherwise, we'll take your life!" Tatum yelled, pointing at Sebastian."What the hell are you looking at? Are you sick of living?" Titan slapped a passing old lady.The old lady had been planning to buy some house protection charms from Sebastian, but Titan slapped her so hard that she fell to the ground, blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth.Titan didn't even look twice at the old lady. He felt that anyone who even glanced their way twice when the Caelbane Sect was conducting their business deserved to die!Slapping her was already
Wensleydale had been overly enthusiastic with them. Not only had he been extremely hospitable, he had even arranged for several young and beautiful women to cater to them.When one went overboard, it would make everything seem insincere.Titan couldn't for the life of him think of any benefit that he could offer Wensleydale. The old man already had one foot in the grave, and the Caelbane Sect would never accept someone of his age. The more he thought about it, the more Titan felt that what Tatum had said made sense."Forget about him. Let's go to Steinberg ourselves tomorrow morning," he said, his eyes narrowing.Even if Wensleydale had tipped Sebastian off, where could the latter escape to in just a single day?He could run, but he couldn't hide. Sebastian also owned the Arctic Snow Group in Steinberg, which was a massive corporation.Besides, according to reliable news from Ethan, Sebastian's ex-wife was also the CEO of Frostwave Corporation. He couldn't possibly pack up all
Sebastian laughed and said nothing. He rubbed the brand new copper coin in his pocket with one hand.Only Lyanna would be capable of doing something like that. The illusion had been cast by her.Without her help, Sebastian would probably be in huge trouble. No matter whether or not he was in the right, there should have been severe consequences for slaughtering more than 100 elite members of the Martial Arts Association.Lyanna had even made the souls of those people her food. It was terrifyingly cruel. "Everything's alright now, everyone. It seems that Mr. Flumen repented after realizing how terrible his crimes were and killed himself," Sebastian said politely, smiling as if nothing had happened."Maybe your character and charisma convinced them, Mr. Ballard." Hans didn't know what to say.Zane swallowed and laughed as he said to Sebastian, "Mr. Ballard, you really… you really are… amazing.""Since you're all here, don't be in such a rush to leave. I'll treat you all to a meal
However, Wensleydale didn't care. He would have killed his own son if it meant that he could live!Without another word, he hacked off Humphrey's arm. Before Humphrey could scream, Wensleydale stabbed him in the heart. He gripped the handle of the knife and twisted it grimly. Humphrey stared at Wensleydale, his eyes bulging, right until the moment he died. He had died a violent death. Wensleydale looked at the corpses scattered all over the ground. Like the man with the dragon-topped cane, they all decayed rapidly and were blown off into the air by a slight breeze, leaving no trace behind. Wensleydale turned slowly and gazed mournfully at Sebastian. He looked into Sebastian's ice-cold gaze and finally realized that the latter wasn't going to forgive him, even though he had hacked off his own arm and killed his apprentice. Instead of dying in great pain like the others, he might as well give himself a quick end! Tears streamed down Wensleydale's face as he held the knife to
"Mr. Ballard! I was wrong! Please, have mercy on me…""Mr. Ballard, we'll never do it again. I don't want to die.""Mr. Ballard, I have an 80-year-old mother at home. Please have mercy!" There was a series of thumps as more than 100 people fell to their knees. They were genuinely afraid. What Lyanna had said had made their last defenses crumble completely. The moment they knelt, the corpse of the man with the dragon-topped cane began to decay rapidly right in front of their eyes. In the end, only pale white bones remained. A slight breeze swept over them from out of nowhere. With a gentle gust, the skeleton disappeared. It was as if the man with the dragon-topped cane had never existed."Mr. Ballard, you mustn't show any compassion at all to these hypocrites," Rose said. She slowly pulled out her short sword and tossed her sheath away. Sebastian closed his eyes and nodded slightly. There was a series of squelching noises as over a dozen heads fell to the ground. More dark
Wensleydale's expression changed at once. He had made the call to the police because he had been planning on maiming or even killing Sebastian in front of everyone in the Martial Arts Association.However, things had turned out very differently from what he had expected. He had dug a huge hole for himself and had jumped in without a thought. "Mr. Ballard, you and I are both martial arts practitioners, and we prize the idea of righteousness," he began. "Why don't you kill me and let them go?"Wensleydale wasn't really that generous. He was a shrewd man who always did what benefited him more. Even his apprentice, Humphrey, was shocked to hear him say something so selfless. Had he really chosen to do good in the face of imminent death? However, Sebastian saw through his little trick immediately. Wensleydale hadn't escaped because he was too afraid to do so. Whoever ran out of the black fog would become a bloody puddle of water. If Sebastian agreed to let them go, he would remo
Sebastian pointed at the hundreds of Martial Arts Association members gathered at the door and said, "Since you all dared to come here and accuse me, then you must be prepared to die here! I am pleased to inform all of you that you have succeeded in provoking me to anger!" The crowd was immediately incensed. "You wouldn't dare!""There are so many of us! Even Larys wouldn't dare to do anything to us, let alone you!" "Sebastian, who do you think you are? We've got more than 100 people here today. Would you dare to kill us all?" Accusatory and defiant questions piped up all around Sebastian, but he only smiled faintly. "Why wouldn't I dare to do so?" he said and shot Lyanna a pointed look. Lyanna chuckled and invited Hans and the rest back into the convenience store. "Please come and sit inside. What's about to happen next may be too gory."Zane quickly turned to walk inside. Sebastian always did what he said he would do. Without a doubt, what was about to happen would be a b