Chapter 11: Collusion

Seth Santee suddenly realized the people trying to assassinate him were not only from the Showyer family! Boom! A savage aura burst out of him. Seth threw both fists forward, his Fist Intent fierce and unyielding. The two thrusting blades shattered under the pressure of his punch, exploding into fragments. They could not block his path at all. The two attackers' faces blanched. Only someone at the Eighth Level of the Bitter Sea Realm could trade blows with Seth's fists! It was utterly unbelievable. A cultivator at the Fifth Level of the Bitter Sea Realm wielded combat power this terrifying? "And you thought you could kill me?" Seth clamped a hand around each of their throats. They thrashed like mad, but they could not pry him off. "We… we were just following orders…" Their faces turned purple as they fought for air. "Orders?" Seth's voice stayed flat. "If I were truly a cripple, I'd already be dead by your hands." Murderous intent flickered in his eyes. As he stared at their swords, the origin of their technique surfaced in his mind, piece by piece. Crack! With a crisp snap, he crushed both of their throat bones. They collapsed to the ground. Seth did not bother asking who stood behind them. He simply dragged their bodies out and dumped them at the entrance of the courtyard. "B-Brother…" Ember had been hiding. Only when she saw Seth step back into the room did she dare call out. "Don't be afraid." He patted her back gently, slow and steady, until her trembling eased. Even so, a cold glint flashed through Seth's gaze. He had been with Bianca Balam and the others the whole time. He had only just returned to the courtyard, and these people had appeared immediately after. The timing was far too perfect. "Seth!" Bianca happened to be coming to find him. The moment she saw the two corpses laid outside the door, her heart jolted. "Are you hurt?" She swept her eyes over him, anxious. Seth smiled faintly. "I'm fine. Taking my life won't be that easy." "It was the Grand Elder's men." Bianca exhaled in relief, then her gaze hardened. She recognized those two bodies. They were the Grand Elder's trusted aides. What shocked her even more was this: their strength was no weaker than hers, yet they had died by Seth's hand. Did that mean Seth also had the power to defeat her? Just how much had this man been hiding? "The other two were from the Showyer family," Seth said coolly. Bianca understood exactly who he meant. "I'll get to the bottom of this. Come with me." Her expression turned solemn, every line of her face set. As they left Seth's courtyard, Bianca instructed a servant, "Summon every elder of the Balam family to the Grand Elder's residence." In less than the time it took an incense stick to burn, all the elders gathered outside Grand Elder Jeremy Balam's courtyard. Bianca stood there with an icy expression. No one spoke. The Grand Elder did not come out to greet them, as if he truly were in secluded cultivation. "All elders are present. Good." Bianca's voice dropped, heavy as iron. "Bring them up." Servants quickly carried four corpses forward. Several elders' eyelids twitched. "These two…" An elder immediately recognized the Grand Elder's confidants. His mouth tightened as if he had understood something at once. "These four took advantage of the moment we repelled the City Lord's Manor, when our guard was down, and tried to assassinate Seth." Bianca enunciated every word. The elders' hearts lurched. Their suspicions had been right. "Seth is a friend of the Balam family. He has shown kindness to my father and to all of you. The Showyer family is our enemy." Bianca's gaze swept the group. "The Grand Elder colluded with outsiders to strike at the Balam family's benefactor. How should this be handled?" "If this is true," a highly respected elder said slowly, "the Grand Elder must resign his position, perhaps even be expelled from the Balam family. However, we cannot conclude it was his order without proof. We should first investigate and confirm the truth." "The truth?" Bianca's eyes flickered. She did not answer immediately. Instead, she looked to Seth. "The truth should be investigated," Seth said. "The question is, how?" The elders fell silent. By any reasonable logic, it had to be the Grand Elder. He had the motive and the means to send his trusted aides to kill Seth. But if they insisted on "investigating," what could they even find? The two men were dead. There was nothing left to question. "If none of you can think of a way to uncover the truth," Seth said, raising his voice deliberately, "then I propose we place the Grand Elder under house arrest. Confine him to this courtyard. No one enters, no one leaves." It sounded almost as if he meant for the person inside to hear every syllable. "The Grand Elder is the prime suspect. That is only proper," Bianca added, loudly declaring her support. "Insolence!" A furious roar rolled out from within. "Two juniors, daring to speak of putting me under house arrest?" Jeremy Balam strode out with the force of a charging beast, his face dark with rage as he fixed his glare on Seth and Bianca. So it was a provocation. The elders thought it at once. Seth's words had been meant to force the Grand Elder to show himself. "Grand Elder," Bianca demanded, "these two attempted to assassinate Seth. What explanation do you have?" "I have no explanation." Jeremy snorted. "I don't know what you're talking about. But I have a question for you, Bianca Balam. Without even distinguishing right from wrong, you want to confine me. Tell me, what is truly in your heart, the Balam family, or that boy with the surname Santee?" "Seth is the Balam family's benefactor," Bianca said, her voice steady. "Bullshit!" Jeremy grew agitated. "He is the Balam family's sinner! If not for him, why would the Showyer family and the Leemin family join hands to target us? Our disciples barely dare step outside our gates. And because of him, you rejected the City Lord's Manor's marriage proposal, offending them as well. The Balam family's century of foundation will be ruined by the two of you!" "So even in secluded cultivation, Grand Elder, you still knew everything happening outside." Seth's tone sharpened. "Let me ask you something. Are you truly protecting the Balam family's foundation, or are you protecting your own power?" "Nonsense!" Jeremy snapped. "When have I ever harbored even the slightest selfish intent?" "If you had no selfish intent," Seth pressed, voice rising, "why didn't you send your direct-line juniors to kill me? Why send these two to die? From this day forward, who would still dare risk their life for you?" "Who I send makes no difference!" Jeremy bellowed. "Stop trying to sow discord!" "So you admit you sent people to kill Seth?" Bianca seized the opening instantly, her timing perfectly in step with Seth's. "I… I didn't." Jeremy's expression shifted. "You dare do it, but you don't dare admit it?" Seth sneered. Jeremy looked as if he wanted to argue further. After a few breaths, he finally let out a long exhale. "You… you will only destroy the Balam family." "Destroy the Balam family?" Bianca lifted her chin. "Grand Elder, look at the Balam family as it stands today!" She flicked her hand. In an instant, seven elders stepped forward. A terrifying aura erupted as one, the might of the Ninth Level of the Bitter Sea Realm flooding the courtyard like a tidal wave. "Ninth Level of the Bitter Sea Realm…" Jeremy's pupils expanded violently. Seth had actually done it. He had brought the elders, all of them, into the Ninth Level of the Bitter Sea Realm. And Jeremy, because he had chosen to oppose Seth, had missed a once-in-a-thousand-years chance. "My father will recover soon as well," Bianca shouted. "When that happens, the Balam family will have eight Ninth Level of the Bitter Sea Realm experts. Why should we bow and scrape to anyone? If not for Seth, the Balam family would already be like the Leemin family, reduced to the Showyer family's dogs!" "The Showyer family won't let us go," an elder sighed, turning to Jeremy. "You understand that, don't you?" "I…" Jeremy lowered his head, as if reflecting on his mistakes. Then, in the next heartbeat, his palm blasted out. It was a strike as heavy as the earth itself, crashing straight down toward Seth. All seven elders surged forward, but they were still a step too slow. Bang! The Grand Elder's palm force slammed down. A figure fell to the ground, robes soaked red with blood. But it was not Seth. "Bianca!"