Protagonist?Antagonist? I Reject Both

Chapter 299: I Give Up

A deadly somber atmosphere prevailed in the huge room.

The room was adorned with intricate tapestries and antique furniture, and the subtle scent of incense lingered in the air.

Seated around an ornate table were the grey haired Elders of the house having their expressions a mix of concern and tension as they awaited the patriarch's arrival.

TAP! TAP!TAP!

The air started to heat up slowly and the temperature became fiery hot as the door opened revealing the presence of man.

Long red hair woven like a fiery mane cascaded down from his back. His eyes glistened like hot magma that threatened to boil everyone down.

As soon he entered the room, his presence commanded respect. His piercing gaze swept over the gathered members before settling on the empty seat at the head of the table.

No one spoke as he moved on and took his seat.

After a moment, his fiery gaze glanced around, and snorted.

"What is the reason for calling such an urgent meeting? Is something serious really happening or are all of you here to poke me with your agendas?"

"Patriarch...There is bad news from Earth.."

"Feng Yu, what is that?"

Feng Yu, getting the signal glanced around.

"I trust you all have been briefed on the situation," he began, his voice firm yet tinged with a hint of apprehension. "Our agents assigned to monitor Feng Ruoxi have failed to report back. Instead, we received news of their death. They were killed..No, let me rephrase…"

"They have been wiped out…"

A murmur of disbelief rippled through the room as the members exchanged worried glances.

One of the elders, his brow furrowed with concern, spoke up, "How could this happen? Those shadow keepers were highly skilled and only Martial Saint could notice them. With their ability to seek in the shadows, they can still escape."

Another member, a younger, more impulsive individual named Feng Jang slammed his fist on the table. "This is unacceptable! Just what is this going on?"

Patriarch Feng raised a hand to silence the outburst, his expression grave.

A sneer formed on his expressionless face, "I don't understand one thing. Why are you all panicking over such a minor thing or am I misunderstanding something?"

His lips curled up with a grin as he glanced around, "Did you send to monitor her or kill her Elder Chen!"

The atmosphere became deadly as a subtle killing intent radiated into the air however Elder Chen just kept on smiling.

"Patriarch, how can you misunderstand my kind intentions? I was just worried about your daughter?"

"My daughter...Did you forget she isn't a part of this clan secondly, you chose to ally with those measly Greymore and praise Seph but what happened to that boy? Even his ashes aren't left behind."

Elder Chen's face crumbled and his expression distorted on hearing this.

Everyone sucked in cold air and averted their gazes.

Everyone knew the secret battle going on underneath...

The Elders wanted to replace the main family but they never had a chance until this time cause the current Patriarch had two daughters and no sons.

The Patriarch, knowing the problem, had adopted a son who was engaged to Feng Ruoxi. The boy was a heaven-defying genius, from the side branch.

Everyone thought that the boy would lead them to glory but that crazy bastard broke the engagement and ran away after which Feng Ruoxi also left home and never came back.

Since then, contrast battles had already been going on between the Elders and the Patriarch.

The Elders want their children to become the next patriarch but to do that they need to remove all the obstacles they just can't kill the head cause they would bring severe problems.

Sophia was the link to distribute their materials on Earth but Elder broke the agreement and joined forces with other families in exchange for unbackable conditions so no one was able to disagree alas..

It hadn't been a month since the horse they bet was erased from existence.

And that's where another problem lies.

Everyone knew Sophia hated the clan. Despite being an illegitimate daughter, her potential was quite high and the elders group feared that the Patriarch might make her successor so everyone joined to corner her and throw her out.

And that same Sophia had been spotted with a man who erased so many families at once.

It was an alarming sign.

What if the man had evil intentions towards him? Even if had an army of Martial Saints he couldn't shake the Feng but the problem was his young age and the vast army he had.

He was just 20 and had so much potential.

Secondly, being cut off from the earth, they needed someone to monitor and gather wealth there and after Greymore death, none of the other families dared to take the distribution charge cause they feared that that boy might kill in fact.

In fact, that boy even blackmailed everyone in the recent Federation council that anyone who shook hands with them would bear his wrath.

That was a huge…very huge loss.

The Elders we're already going crazy.

A shrewd advisor, known for his strategic mind, interjected, "Perhaps, we should talk about Sophia. Why don't we invite her?"

The room fell silent as the gravity of their situation weighed heavily upon them. Each member understood the stakes of their mission and the danger that Sophia posed to their house's interests.

Patriarch Feng nodded solemnly, his steely resolve evident in his gaze. "Do what you want?"

His eyes became and snorted in frustration.

He got up, waved his sleeves, and walked away but before going out, he passed a bit.

"From now on I won't interfere, you all can do what you want but...."

"Be prepared to face the consequences of your actions."

With this, his future disappeared, making everyone gasp heavily.

........

After Arthur's breakthrough, the group returned to the woods by flying on their plane. The islands were their private property so there wasn't any external interference nor did it draw anyone's attention due to the thunder tribulation stopping in the middle.

Actually, they drew attention all over the world but not many were brave enough to confront them.

Few resolutions were passed but Arthur directly visited those families to have a friendly talk with them.

As per how friendly was this talk, one could see that from the sudden increase in wealth of Woods to the point that Leon found his family's net worth going over 500 billion.

Still, they didn't understand what made the difference, causing him to suddenly change into a cultivator from a Martial Artist all of a sudden.

And to this question, the only answer they got was. It was the effect of that small glowing pebble.

Back in the Woods mansion.....

Leon followed closely behind his uncle Stephen as they descended into the basement of the sleek, futuristic building. The air was cool and crisp, carrying high oxygen content.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the door to the training room slid open with a soft hiss, revealing a vast chamber filled with advanced equipment and glowing displays.

Stephen strode confidently into the room, his posture straight and purposeful. Leon couldn't help but feel a sense of awe as he took in the high-tech surroundings. The walls were lined with monitors displaying various simulations and training scenarios, while state-of-the-art exercise equipment filled the center of the room.

Leon watched as his uncle approached a control panel, his fingers flying over the holographic interface with practiced ease. With a few deft gestures, he activated a series of training programs, each one more challenging than the last.

Leon stepped in excitement but little did he know the hell that was waiting ahead of him.

"Come on, Leon," Uncle Stephen called over his shoulder, his voice echoing in the spacious chamber. "Time to get started."

"GAH!"

Leon almost stumbled feeling the gravity getting heavier.

"The entrance of the Dimensional Zone was almost 2 times gravity and some regions even had 10 times as much gravity. So I am sure you can handle 5 right?"

"How did you decide that?"Leon muttered with beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

With a mixture of excitement and nervousness, Leon stepped forward and saw Stephen taking out and putting a bracelet on Leon.

The moment he did this, Leon's body convulsed as a strong current passed through his body. His eyes became dizzy and his legs turned jelly.

The next second, he found himself on the floor.

"You piece of shit...What did you do?"

"My!My!It breaks my heart getting such a comment from My Nephew. "

"These bracelets locked your Qi in the blood. After wearing this, you can't use Qi. Now stop crying, get up.."

"Ahhh!"

Emitting a subtle groan, Leon stood up under the crushing pressure.

CRACKLE!CRACKLE!

A crackling sound echoed from his bones.

At first, it didn't feel much but the moment his Qi was blocked, an excruciating pressure bore down on him.

He had hardly got up on his feet when he noticed a sinister grin on his Uncle's face.

His body tingled and in the next instant, a prickling pain transversed through his body.