Ignoring Myne's surprise, Zhen Shi continued to walk towards Lord Turnbull, his movements as calm as the sea.

Only now did Vivienne and Will notice the fact that Zhen Shi was walking forwards... as if he intended to challenge Lord Turnbull all by himself.

Realizing the obvious result of a battle between a single Soul Formation kid and a Law Holding Master plus his Sovereign tier formation, they were utterly horrified!

They were just about to go and bring him back... when Myne stopped them with a sharp glance.

Vivienne and Will were surprised, but believing in Myne they obediently held back.

A few moments later, they too noticed the fact that Zhen Shi's aura was mysteriously undetectable... In the end, they could only hope he knew what he was doing.

Ignoring the ongoings behind him, Zhen Shi continued on, his eyes blazing with a deadly calm.

He turned off allowing the bestial rage in his mind to recede and the azure scales under his clothing to disappear.

Whoosh!

With a single [Draconic Wind Step], his figure vanished in a gust of wind. With another step in the air, his lone figure reappeared right next to Lord Turnbull.

Lord Turnbull was still within the safety of the surge of defensive qi that was being empowered by the Island formation.

While he was mildly surprised by the fact that one of the disciples had taken the initiative to come to him, with his superior cultivation and sovereign formation backing him up, he was completely fearless.

He was impressed by Zhen Shi's extreme speed, but it was nothing much in the eyes of Law Holder.

So with a condescending laugh, he spoke out gleefully, "Have you come forward to plead for your safety? Have you decided to give up already?"

Zhen Shi ignored him and muttered under his breath, "Switch, Arcanum Card #1."

Ding!

[Arcanum Card #1: The Magician] set as current. (Related abilities unlocked)

Unseen by Zhen Shi, the 0 tattooed on his chest shifted into an enigmatic 1.

Despite this switch, it seemed as if nothing had changed. Zhen Shi's aura was still hidden, and he looked the same as he always did. But just when Lord Turnbull was prepared to spout out another overconfident comment...

Splash!

In one completely ordinary step, Zhen Shi walked right through the surge of defensive qi, as if it was nothing more than a layer of water. It was almost as if the defensive qi didn't dare to attack...

The only result was a few ripples spreading out through the surface as if it was simply the surface of a disturbed lake.

Lord Turnbull's mouth fell agape at this unbelievable sight, 'What the heck!? Is the defensive qi only there for show? Does it not actually work?'

While he was trying to make sense of what was going on...

Tap!

Zhen Shi calmly moved a hand forward and tapped the palm of Lord Turnbull's right hand.

Coincidentally, this was the same hand he had crushed the formation control talisman with...

Instantly, a burst of red light shaped like a rampaging bull appeared on his palm.

Ka-cha!

As Lord Turnbull stared in speechless horror, the rampaging bull was shattered into a myriad pieces.

The moment this happened, the surge of  'useless' pitch-black qi defending him began to disperse.

But the effects of destroying the rampaging bull were spread far wider...

The crackling lightning and the dark storm clouds in the sky began to recede, the formation dome slowly grew dormant and invisible, the fearsome storm retreated, and... the island slowly returned back to normal.

Just like that, the Island Formation was deactivated!

The afternoon sunlight fell upon the island, granting a comfortable warmth to all, almost as if it was the reward for surviving the storm.

But Lord Turnbull felt none of this comfortable warmth, as he was exploding in rage over the fact that his control talisman had been destroyed forcefully.

It was one of the Turnbull family's greatest hidden aces! Sure it would've dissipated once he stopped using it, but, he hadn't even been able to use it to finish the job at hand!

In a lash of explosive anger, he roared, "Edict: Rampage of the Bull!" and threw forward a terrifying projectile attack. Obeying his command, the aether formed into a fearsome bull that instantly dashed towards Zhen Shi.

This attack was nowhere close to as powerful or as realistic as the strange metallic bull before, but it was still the full-powered attack of an enraged Law Holder!

Not even the mysteriously powered up Zhen Shi Shi could survive such an attack if it struck his body directly, especially when he was no longer using ...

Poof!

But, just when this fearsome Bull touched the air a single centimeter around his body, it dissipated into a powerless cloud of aether!

An Edict was canceled just like that!

Lord Turnbull gawked in disbelief, unable to comprehend what the hell was going on.

Zhen Shi, on the other hand, was perfectly calm as he formed his right hand into the form of a knife strike.

An unbelievably sharp aura manifested around the space around his fingers, causing the surrounding air to thrum and shiver.

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Slash!

In a single knife strike, he directly slashed Lord Turnbull's throat as if he intended to end the battle in one blow.

Lord Turnbull was almost shocked to death by the sharp attack reaching towards his neck. It took every ounce of power he could use to pull his head back and cause the close-range attack to miss.

Even so, Zhen Shi's finger strike slashed his chest causing a gaping laceration to appear and dye his body red with blood.

Pop!

With a strange pop from under his feet, Zhen Shi propelled himself forwards and launched another attack.

Slash! Bang! Slash!

The duo dodged and exchanged multiple attacks within a few short seconds, but it was obvious that Zhen Shi had the upper hand. With continuous popping sounds from under his feet, Zhen Shi's speed was actually keeping up with Lord Turnbull!

While Lord Turnbull's Edict attacks were terrifying, they poofed the moment they came close to Zhen Shi, but every single hand attack of Zhen Shi's left Lord Turnbull with a gaping wound!

After all, {Procliamer} was a mage class and poor Lord Turnbull was next to useless when it came to close-range combat.

While this incredible battle continued, the surroundings were completely silent.

The audience had been taken aback by the sudden twist of events and the fact that some random Soul Formation youngster was overpowering a Law Tier Proclaimer! Even so, the entire audience had quickly lost themselves in the exciting nature of this battle. This included Laura and Hao Lei.

Will O'Dale had been utterly flabbergasted by Zhen Shi's prowess. But strangely enough, this event had only served to increase his respect for Zhen Shi to new heights.

When Will realized that 'his sworn brother' could wield such amazing power, but had still held back in the battle between the two of them, his imagination had acted up, leading him from one far-fetched thought to another...

'Could it be... that he had always acted with my safety in mind? Even when he could've been injured, he held back for my sake? Waah! What could I have done in my life to deserve a brother as selfless as him?'

The moment he arrived at this conclusion, Will was unable to stop tears from rising into his eyes.

He could only curse the earlier misjudgment of his selfless brother and continue to watch with unblinking eyes, swearing to burn this epic battle into his mind out of sheer gratitude.

Coincidentally, Zhen Shi had once more felt the sharp gaze of the 'ladies in the crowd' causing him to fight with even great intensity and ferocity.

However, Vivienne and Myne were the most flabbergasted.

In the end, Myne muttered with widened eyes, "I-Is this Absolute Control? The ability possessed by the most talented Mages that have reached True Divinity and transcended mortality? Even if you reach true divinity, not everyone can comprehend it! But this is slightly different, more versatile but also limited..."

Slash! Slash!

Zhen Shi launched a series of deadly slashes towards his opponent. By now, Lord Turnbull's entire body was riddled with bloody lacerations and he was having a very hard time keeping up.

Still confused as to what the hell was going on and unable to come to terms with his inevitable defeat, Lord Turnbull launched another edict... one of many that had ended up being completely useless.

Boom! Pu!

To his surprise, the attack was a success as it exploded and knocking Zhen Shi back by several dozen meters, leaving him coughing up a mouthful of blood.

Myne and Vivienne rushed forward to help him up, almost immediately followed by Will O'Dale.

Zhen Shi didn't decline their help but lightly pushed them aside once he got up.

Wiping aside some blood from his mouth, he stared warily at Lord Turnbull.

He could've been heavily injured had it not been for his quick activation of .

The reason he had been able to overpower Lord Turnbull for a while was obviously due to the Magician Arcanum Card. While this card was primarily a boost for studying magic, it also granted him access to a rather powerful special ability.

Ding!

[Arcanum Card #1: The Magician]

Special Ability- {Absolute Magician} (For ten minutes the user will gain +5 levels to Absolute Control over aether within a range 1 centimeter of his body, externally. Limited to one use per day.)

The slashing knife strike was formed when the nature of the aether was shifted towards extreme sharpness. His fast movement speed had been reached by exploding the aether underneath his feet.

Unfortunately, Zhen Shi had hit the ten minute time limit and had faced the price for not keeping careful notice.

Turning to Zhen Shi, Lord Turnbull, whose body was covered in terrifying lacerations, gasped under painful breaths and spat out, "Good! Very good! To go to such an extent after committing a crime, you sure have guts! Perhaps you can handle me, but can you face the threat of the entire Lyon and Turnbull market hall?"

Hiding the pain in his chest under a calm face, Zhen Shi stood up straight and replied with a clever grin, "Oh? We committed crimes, now did we? I wonder what my friend, Will, here has to say?"

As if on cue, Will O'Dale walked forwards and explained with a polite bow, "Lord Turnbull, these people are innocent! It was only a misunderstanding. I was the one that launched the first strike without any provocation from them! But I must admit, your response was rather over the top..." finishing in a rather sour tone as he was reminded of that terrifying bull chasing after him, which was 'completely' due to Lord Turnbull's fault...

Lord Turnbull was enraged, "Good! Very good! William, we'll handle this when we get back..." with an underlying menacing tone.

However, he was unable to bring himself to retreat with only an utter failure to show for his efforts.

Especially when this endeavor had cost him a Divine Curse totem and the Island Formation control talisman!

In a quick movement of his hand, Lord Turnbull threw out a single edict towards Zhen Shi.

Activating nearly up to 70% while keeping all the physical changes hidden under his clothing, Zhen Shi simply smiled at the oncoming attack and defended with crossed hands.

While Lord Turnbull was a Law Holding expert, he had already been severely injured. As such, Zhen Shi was confident that he could handle this attack.

Boom!

As the edict exploded upon his hands leaving several deep wounds, a mouthful of blood rose up to his throat, but Zhen Shi immediately swallowed it.

Even when the pain of the injuries wracked his body, he simply reminded himself of the torture in the divine church. A light smile crossed his lips as this attack was basically a life of comfort compared to that...

Lowering his injured hands, Zhen Shi cracked a bloodied grin and spat back, "Turnbull, you sure you want to do that again? We're both injured, sure, but who held the upper hand back then? And I've still got a few reinforcements..." pointing towards Myne and the rest.

With bestial rage in his eyes, he continued, "Besides... we have the moral upper ground here. We've done nothing wrong, and even after the misunderstanding was cleared up, you attacked us once more unprovoked..."

Lord Turnbull scowled in displeasure. All of this was true, and to make matters worse he was heavily injured as well. He had only launched that attack to test the water, and it seemed like the other party still had some fight in him.

In the end, Lord Turnbull opted for a tactical retreat and turned around while calling out, "O'Dale, come with me!"

Will heaved a heavy sigh and took a step forwards to follow after his employer... but, suddenly, a bloodied hand obstructed his path forward.

Zhen Shi glanced at Will and spoke with a smile, "We might've gotten off the wrong foot, but you helped us just now...  So let me help you back...

You don't need to follow a spineless man that doesn't give a fuck about anything besides his gains. You called me your brother, right? So... let me ask you back, Bro, would be interested in joining us?"

Will's eyes widened at this sudden offer. However, he was conflicted. While he was genuinely touched by this offer, at the same time, he had to look into the welfare of his family...

Noticing his hesitation, Myne who had been silent this entire time, spoke up with a mental transmission, "I'm sure you know that the Divine Organizations do not look kindly upon those who can tap into unnatural powers other than those of their own gods... for instance, your Law of Scarlet...

In the end, all of these people will bow to the divine organizations and offer you on a silver plate. What will happen to your family then?

We... can't offer much right now... but if you decide to join us, we will stand with you. And in less than a century, I'm confident that no one will dare to cross you.

You've seen Zhen Shi's capability, right? His potential is limitless... But, in the end, it's your choice. So, make it."

Lord Turnbull turned back and spat out impatiently, "O'Dale, hurry the fuck up! Or do you want even more trouble?"

Will O'Dale raised his head and took a step forward as if to follow him.

However, he walked no further as he spoke out in a respectful tone, "Forgive me, Lord Turnbull, but I must refuse your request. From today onwards, I, William O'Dale, the eldest of the O'Dale family, will humbly take leave from your employment. Please present my gratitude to Elder Shu Yi for all the help he has given me and my family," and bowed humbly.

Lord Turnbull was utterly enraged by this answer. He moved forward as if he would take Will O'Dale back even by force, but noticing the threatening stature of Zhen Shi, Myne, and Vivienne, he held himself back.

In the end, he growled out with fiery eyes, "Good! Very good! Let's see how your family survives without my support!"