Outside the Long Family residence.
Robert's face was ghastly pale, and his blood boiled with fury. He stood there like a savage beast, red-eyed and trembling with rage.
He had originally planned to keep a low profile, having just taken office as a guardian.
Anything could happen in times like these.
But now—that damned John had killed his son!
How the hell was he supposed to keep a low profile now?
He was a beast, a dangerous one. Though he'd intended to hide his ambitions for a while, John had provoked him—forced his hand.
Today, no matter what it cost, he would make that bastard pay!
The fury radiating from Robert made Arno's spine go cold.
"Guardian Tennat, what happened? What's made you so angry?" he asked cautiously, trembling as he spoke.
"What made me angry?"
Robert's face contorted in fury. He ground his teeth and roared, "John killed my son! What do you think I'm angry about?!"
Boom!
His words landed like a thunderclap, stunning everyone around him.
They shivered instinctively.
John killed Guardian Tennat's son?
Was he out of his mind?!
Brooke's eyes bulged wide. At first, he didn't want to believe it, but with Robert's own confirmation, denial was no longer an option.
John really killed Hardy!
Was he insane?!
Brooke was on the verge of collapse.
So were Arno and Buck.
Everyone in Houston knew that the Long Family had close ties with John. And now that he had killed Robert's son—how could they possibly separate themselves from him?
They would be implicated.
This was no ordinary offense—this was a catastrophe in the making.
A heavy silence fell over the scene.
"Where is John? Tell him to come out right now!" Robert roared again.
His voice was like rolling thunder, making everyone's heads buzz, their breathing stifled under its oppressive weight.
"Robert Tennat."
Suddenly, John's calm voice rang out.
He stepped out of the Long Family residence, Sophia walking beside him, equally composed.
Everyone's fists clenched.
How dare he address Robert by his full name?! Was he trying to drag the entire Long Family down with him?
He was out of his mind!
When Robert saw John appear, his aura exploded. It was as if a towering, invisible force had surged into the sky, then descended as a suffocating weight upon them all.
The very air seemed thinner.
They could barely breathe.
It felt as if the claws of a devil had wrapped around their hearts—one small squeeze and their hearts would burst.
John remained calm, unmoved by Robert's murderous gaze. Instead, he turned his eyes to one man standing behind Robert—
Brian.
He was there too.
"Brian," John said flatly, "why don't you retell Hardy's plan and what happened yesterday?"
Brian nodded and stepped forward.
All eyes immediately turned to him.
Even Robert's gaze locked on him—dark, menacing, unreadable.
Brooke, however, was confused. Why was Brian behaving like John's subordinate? Didn't he know this would offend Robert?
Brian didn't flinch under Robert's glare.
He recounted everything: Hardy's plan to frame John, how they manipulated Sophia, and how they tried to force John into killing.
He had already told Robert all of this when he brought Hardy's body back to the Tennat residence. But in front of everyone, he repeated the whole account.
Except one detail.
He left out John's identity as a cultivator.
When Robert saw his son's body, he'd been consumed by rage. One sentence had burned into his mind:
John killed my son.
How it happened didn't matter.
All that mattered was vengeance.
Without thinking it through, he had immediately rushed to the Long Family with law enforcers in tow.
Whether Hardy was right or wrong didn't concern him.
All that mattered was justice—his version of it.
Brian finished speaking.
No one said a word.
The silence was suffocating.
Then John spoke again.
"Your son tried to frame me. So I killed him. What's wrong with that?"
Robert's face darkened as he shouted, "Even if my son did something wrong, he didn't deserve to die!"
"Didn't deserve to die?" John sneered.
"If Hardy's plan had worked, what would've happened to me? I would've been crippled. And Sophia? Would she have been humiliated by your son?"
"You say he didn't deserve to die. But in my eyes, he was begging for death. I did nothing wrong."
"Hmph! So eloquent!" Robert snapped. "Even if Hardy had such a plan, it never succeeded. Everything you said is hypothetical. The power to execute someone belongs to the Martial Arts League, not to you! Who do you think you are?!"
"Who do you think you are?"
John almost laughed.
Who was he?
He was the King of Horizon, yet here he was being scolded by a mere guardian as if he had no authority to pass judgment.
How absurd.
But John didn't feel the need to expose his identity just yet.
So instead, he asked, "Since only the Martial Arts League has the right to judge, yet you came here intending to kill me—on what authority? You're just a guardian. Do you represent the entire Martial Arts League?"
The members of the Long Family broke out in cold sweat.
"Just a guardian?"
Was he trying to die?
How foolish could he be to utter such words?
Robert Tennat was the guardian of the Central Martial Arts League. In Houston, his status was second only to the league's leader, Bertha Carter. If he didn't represent the Martial Arts League, who did?
John was too young—too ignorant.
He didn't understand that the Martial Arts League was driven by interests, not justice.
The Long Family members shook their heads.
"Since you don't think I'm qualified," Robert growled, "then come back with me to the Martial Arts League. Let the law enforcement department decide whether you deserve to die or not."
"Sorry," John said, shrugging casually, "I'm not interested."