Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Psychic Breath Sword
"Your clan successfully stopped the refugees from invading."
"Scored a Spiritual Tribute +300!"
With the old Heath ancestor gone, the invasion was totally squashed.
Nope.
Or should I say, it's just kicking off!
In the Blackwood family hall, all the Blackwood descendants gathered, except for Lucas who was outside dealing with the surviving refugees. These folks hadn't joined the mob storming the Blackwood base, and it seemed like Nathan had some other plans for them.
At this moment.
A still-living Psychic was tied up tight, facing the Blackwood crowd and a massive Purple Thunder Serpent, shivering in fear!
"Useless descendants, making the Forebearer step in himself, please don't blame us, Forebearer!"
Nathan, with his family, knelt before the Forebearer's shrine.
Ethan, watching from his screen, why would he blame the Blackwoods?
Their performance this time really pleased Ethan, though he still frowned, "Better check on Heath first, they've been a nuisance twice now."
He clicked on the Purple Thunder Serpent's icon and typed—
"Check on Heath."
In a flash, the temple guardian beast received Ethan's message, human-like, it bowed towards Ethan's shrine before addressing the Blackwoods.
"Sss—hiss—"
Compared to its previous roars, the serpent now whispered in a low hiss.
"???"
Hearing the sound in the game, Ethan scratched his head, weirdly reminded of Voldemort talking to snakes in "Harry Potter," "Am I Voldemort myself?"
"Is the Forebearer delivering a warning?"
Nathan immediately understood that the temple guardian beast, the Purple Thunder Serpent, was conveying Ethan's instructions!
Luna, at least, was a beast tamer.
Just by closing her eyes and reflecting for a moment, she clearly understood the message from the serpent, "Forebearer says, let's handle the Heath trouble!"
"Rest assured, Forebearer, your children will handle it properly!"
Nathan got it right away.
Don't be fooled by Nathan's brawny appearance; he's actually sharp as a tack, quickly starting to interrogate the captured Psychic for precise information.
This Psychic was a pushover, spilling everything he knew without Nathan even having to press hard.
Listening to the Psychic's account.
Ethan began to ponder.
Turns out, during the decade-long drought, the Psychic of Forest Town had been helping with relief. But this time, old ancestor Heath deliberately withheld porridge from the starving refugees, luring them to test the Blackwoods, leading to this invasion.
And Heath, being one of the four major families of Forest, had four Forebearers, all reclusive masters of Emerging Ability, with deep roots.
"Sir, seeking revenge on Heath is impossible!"
The Psychic, pale-faced, "The four major families of Forest Town are the foundation of the town. Although they occasionally have minor disputes, they always cooperate to prevent outsiders from seizing their resources. Even the town mayor won't allow chaos in Forest Town. If you mess with Heath, the mayor will brand you as rebels!"
"Sss—hiss—"
The massive head of the Purple Thunder Serpent suddenly appeared in front of the Psychic, nearly scaring him out of his wits, "Don't... don't eat me, I've told you everything, I can even offer you advice. I..."
"I've turned over a new leaf!"
Luna knew that the temple guardian beast wasn't just intimidating the Psychic. She smiled and stepped forward, "Don't be scared, our Forebearer just wants to know if Forest Town will seek revenge for us killing old ancestor Heath."
"No, they won't!"
The Psychic quickly said, "With old ancestor Heath dead, they wouldn't dare send anyone. The other three families are probably gloating, they won't stir up trouble, but they won't let you into the city to kill either. Heath wouldn't dare, but be careful, they might not storm in, but without this great serpent's protection, they'll move against you!"
Hearing this, everyone looked solemn.
...
"Man, they totally blocked the door."
Ethan grumbled a bit after getting the lowdown on the Blackwood situation. He cranked up the game's time flow and told the Blackwood folks to be extra cautious, advising them to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary.
Right after that.
Ethan started checking out the loot from this round. They wiped out thirteen Psychics this time.
Usually, the Blackwood crew didn't have much in the way of high-level psychic gear, but this time, they hit the jackpot with gear scattered everywhere!
"Got loot, Heath's old man skin."
"Got loot, Psychic Breath Sword (psychic gear)"
"Got loot, Black Storage Ring (psychic gear)"
"Got loot..."
"Big thanks to Heath for the startup funds for the family business!"
Ethan was all smiles watching the game's progress.
The family had seriously upgraded their arsenal!
Before, Nathan was just swinging around a couple of big machetes, but now this dude was sporting a bizarre ancient weapon with spear heads on both ends, striding down the path to the Silver Iron Forest.
"Silver Ring Yin Hand Double-Headed Snake (mid-grade psychic gear)"
"Can split in two, connected by a chain. Extracted daily from the mouths of a hundred silver ring snakes, soaked in iron imbued with psychic powers for forty-nine days. From then on, the psychic gear can generate silver ring snake venom, stored on the double spears. Psychic power enters the spears, calling on the snake's psychic powers!"
Ethan was a bit jealous looking at Nathan's psychic gear.
This type of psychic gear was clearly made using ancient techniques, something pretty rare in Ethan's world nowadays, where most people used psychic handguns, psychic bombs, psychic mechs... Over the millennia, technology and cultivating psychic powers had slowly merged.
And Lucas was using the 'Psychic Breath Sword' he got from old man Heath.
"Psychic Breath Sword (high-grade psychic gear)"
"Forged from high-grade psychic breath stones, can harness the psychic powers of heaven and earth into the sword for personal use. This sword possesses psychic powers, forming its own sword-flying technique, usable even by those who haven't learned the technique, killing invisibly."