"Don''t call me your inw!"


    Nathan''s gaze was icy cold. "Betty married into my ckwood family. By marrying into the ckwoods, she is one of us. But we ckwoods do not acknowledge your Duke''s Mansion. It''s beyond our reach, and frankly, it''s bad luck."


    Such harsh words did not anger Keh; instead, his eyes filled with even more guilt.


    "Then I''ll just say it."


    He sighed, "I''m here because my father has asked the ckwoods to let Betty return home with the children."


    Suddenly, the hall fell silent.


    All eyes turned to Betty.


    At that moment, Betty suddenly looked up, her fists clenched tighter, her eyes red as she growled, "Brother, go back and tell Michael that I was happy for those twenty-some years, with a father who loved and cherished me."


    "Butter, I realized my happy life was a lie. I was always just an object to be used. I can''t imagine what kind of father would drug his own daughter for his purposes. I''ve paid my dues."


    "From now on, I want nothing to do with him or the Duke''s Mansion. He better noty a finger on my son or daughter!"


    Hearing this, Keh did not persist. He just sighed, and as he walked to the door, he turned back and gave Betty a gentle smile, "Little sister, you''re gentle by nature. Take good care of yourself here in ckwood. If anyone bullies you, don''t tell dad, just tell me."


    "And you, Joseph, stop wasting your time. You''re not getting any younger; you should find a wife."


    "The rest..."


    "I''ll handle it."


    Keh left with his entourage, his figure tinged with weariness.


    "Brother!"


    Betty watched her brother''s retreating figure, finding sce in the thought of her uncle Martin.


    Joseph touched his nose andy back under the Primordial Blood Tree, looking up at the sky, "Always rushing me..."


    He sighed long.


    "The only good person in my family is my uncle."


    Half a monthter.


    At the Duke''s Mansion.


    Keh had returned home alone.


    Michael stood where he had yed chess with Olivia, watching the flowers bloom and wither on the trees, not turning around, "She refused toe back?"


    "Yes."


    Keh ryed everything about the ckwoods, listening to Michael scoff, "That old thief from the mountains, he doesn''t acknowledge us as inws? He''s not worthy of being my inw. That''s for the best."


    Keh frowned, "Father, I''ve seen it. Betty and the others are doing well in ckwood. We don''t need to..."


    "Hmph! What do you know?"


    Michael''s cold snort made Keh bow his head. He said solemnly, "My granddaughter is no less talented than Changsheng. Bringing her back serves a greater purpose. Chunlin, you must understand, everything I do is for our family."


    "Here''s what we''ll do. Send someone to keep an eye on ckwood. If there''s a chance, bring Katie back."


    This time, Keh did not argue. He nodded calmly, "Yes, father, I''ll see to it."


    With that, Keh walked out, looking at the bustling servants and the sprawling architecture of Martin, his sighs growing deeper.


    He had once thought his father would do anything for Cloudview County, raised with that belief. His father had told him that thend of Cloudview County belonged to Martin, and Martin would do anything for it.


    Now, it seemed he had misunderstood his father''s intentions all along. The father he imagined lived in another world. The real father lived in a world of lies.


    He suddenly envied the ckwoods.


    Generation after generation, they were free from such scheming. In Nathan''s eyes, he saw only concern for his descendants.


    Continuing forward, Keh''s gaze grew colder as he entered a dark room filled with Martin''s retainers.


    "Young master!"


    The retainers bowed.


    He continued forward, approaching a stone chair where one of the Martin forebearers sat.


    Keh bowed respectfully, his expression firm, his tone resolute.


    "Forebearer, father is..."


    "Getting old."


    ...


    It was a drizzly day in Cloudview County.


    In the county town, countless people lined up, eating the thin porridge bestowed by the eldest son of the Duke''s Mansion, all looking towards the outskirts where the Duke''s Mansion stood.


    A red pir of light descended from the sky, and a huge magical circle enveloped the Duke''s Mansion. Four figures, radiating powerful auras, floated above.


    No one knew what was happening at the Duke''s Mansion.


    Keh floated above the Duke''s Mansion, his wrinkles fading, his silver hair rejuvenating, tears glistening in his eyes.


    Thunder roared.


    He had been a dutiful son all his life, never daring to look his father in the eye, nor defy him in the slightest.


    Today.


    Below him, in the great hall of the Duke''s Mansion, sat his father, still calm and unchanged in appearance, yet unrecognizable to him. Behind himy the whole of Cloudview County, a county suffering great cmity!


    No one in Cloudview County dared to challenge the Duke''s Mansion; doing so would be akin to betraying the empire. Only he could stop this.


    "Father, please forgive your unfilial son!"


    ...


    [Your descendant Jeffrey, along with his partner, has made progress in cultivating psychic powers using the ''Dual Cultivation Techniques'' and is expecting a child with his partner Victoria...]


    The affairs of the Duke''s Mansion were so secretive that the people of Cloudview County could only glimpse a fraction of what was happening, and ckwood waspletely in the dark.


    At this moment, Ethan''s gaze was fixed on the children heading to Crestwood Hills.


    He was also keeping an eye on family messages.


    "Finally expecting, huh?"


    Ethan adjusted the view slightly and saw a handsome man in ckwood joyfully embracing his wife, with about thirty girls chattering happily in the courtyard, a smile appearing on his face.


    "Charge ahead, Jeffrey, the great responsibility of family continuation rests on you!"


    It was no wonder Ethan entrusted this great task to Jeffrey.


    This young man had two traits: [Attracting Attention] and [Romantic]. Ethan thought ''Romantic'' was a more polite term for what was essentially promiscuity. Compared to Jeffrey, the other children seemed almost indifferent.


    The fourth generation had experienced too much; they preferred cultivating psychic powers, their behavior erratic, so it was best not to pin too many hopes on them.


    As for the fifth generation... it was just Nichs and Edward now. Matthew had be a son-inw, contributing to the Moore family.


    Donna? She was currently in a gravity field in ckwood, frantically cultivating psychic powers to break through to the next level of skill.


    Not to mention those two monks, neither believing in Buddha nor demons, yet possessing the temperament of Buddha and the principles of demons...


    And Joseph... Just the other day, he saw Jeffrey''s close female friends getting jealous of each other, and Jeffrey spending all dayforting one after another. He hadn''t yet recovered from the psychological impact.


    [Your descendant Amelia has returned to the Thunderfire Demon Cave, met with the demon lord, and is now using her medical skills to treat him.]


    [Your descendant Lucas has consumed various elixirs in an attempt to break through.]


    [Marcus has returned to the Sky Sect...]


    Ethan was about to turn his attention back to protecting the descendants heading to Crestwood Hills when he paused, looking at the buildings of ckwood.


    It was now the year 128 in ckwood.


    ckwood had brought back a wealth of resources and had begun to massively build up the family estate. Thendscape had changed.


    Fields of special abilities and medicinal gardens were everywhere. Psychics, for some reason, were all busy crafting talismans and magical formations, or constructing buildings.


    The entire poption of Gratitude Vige was trying to cultivate psychic powers, able to ess the special medicinal herbs plundered by ckwood, the price beingbor for ckwood.


    Production had be ckwood''s primary driving force.


    On the chaotic streets, Nichs walked with Helen.


    "Family head, I... I just injured my leg, there''s no need for such precious medicine."


    At that moment, Nichs took out an eighth-grade healing pill and fed it to a citizen with foundational energy, seeing the citizen''s gratitude and shame, he stared.


    "What do you mean precious? No medicine is more precious than your leg. What if the injury bes chronic? Besides, you have children to take care of. Go on, go rest for a few days, and we''ll talk when you''re fully healed."


    Walking with Helen to another street, they saw a towering building draped in white silk.


    Upon inquiry, Nichs learned that it was the ck Blood Society''s team that had gone out.


    They had gone to the family''s mining area to retrieve materials for building the city walls, and several had died at the hands of roaming druids.