Chapter 731 - 725: Peril in Celebration City

Despite Celebration City being just a Level II city with an unspectacular reputation in Sunbeam Province, it boasts a population of tens of millions.

David Jones had made a point of learning on the train that in Celebration City, the Zeng, Long, and Keynes trainer families were particularly formidable and well-known.

Among them, the Keynes of Celebration City had the most ancient history, their ancestors once included a legendary Dragoon, which fueled the Keynes descendants’ fanatical pursuit of True Dragons.

Beyond studying Dragon Pets, the Keynes’ industries were diverse, including education, healthcare, pet supplies, dungeon explorations, and more—a very typical powerful trainer family.

However, as time passed, the Keynes’ successors grew incompetent, and now the strongest among them was merely a senior epic combatant on the brink of death.

All the trainer families in Celebration City had been waiting for the day the Keynes Ancestor would pass away so they could jointly carve up the leaderless Keynes family and share the new pie of benefits.

“A starved camel is still larger than a horse. Even if the strong members of the Keynes family die, such a mighty trainer family needs only to sacrifice the chariot to save the marshal, giving up monopolistic business practices while respectfully retaining some of their interests. No trainer family would dare to annihilate the Keynes out of fear of the Trainer Guild’s punishment,” David Jones remarked wistfully.

Unlike David Jones’ thoughts, Grau blinked its eyes, kept silent, but inside it quite agreed with the Keynes’ actions.

A step back, a continued retreat, in its view the Keynes might as well have a proper fight with the competing families rather than slicing off their own flesh to survive.

But of all the missteps, the Keynes should not have gone astray and attempted to assassinate their own compatriot David Jones.

“David Jones, rest assured, with Grau here, no matter how many powerful trainers the Keynes send out, Grau can spit them to death in one breath.”

David Jones looked up at Grau, and the slight frown on his face eased a bit.

“I just find it strange, why would the Keynes dare to make a move against an epic combatant with their strength!”

Grau scratched its head, not knowing how to answer this question.

After a long while, it naively responded, “Could it be that the Keynes have a legendary combatant?”

“Meow!” (This city has a large amount of activity and scents from Mysterious Beasts!)

Daphne suddenly opened her eyes.

Hearing this, a trace of surprise flickered in David Jones’ eyes.

He then realized, his gaze slowly turning towards the Keynes’ direction, his expression growing colder.

“So that’s how it is, there’s indeed something wrong with the Keynes!”

…

As the Inspector of the Trainer Guild in Celebration City, Fresno Joel’s job was straightforward: checking whether the trainer families within the city were involved in any major legal issues.

Undoubtedly, this was a coveted position within the Trainer Guild, and Fresno Joel was thus a highly regarded guest among the city’s great trainer families.

But unknown to anyone in the Celebration City Trainer Guild, his decision to not hold a post in Suntomb City after graduating with distinction from Rosewood College, was due to a secret mission he had undertaken.

“Gleaning intelligence on Sir David Jones to curry favor? How laughable!”

Fresno Joel wasn’t foolish. If the Keynes wanted to show goodwill, they could simply send an invitation and gifts to Sir David Jones, with no need to covertly acquire something as deadly as the Phantom Luminous Scorpion, capable of poisoning an epic Body Cultivator to death, while also trying to track Sir David Jones’ movements.

“Buzz!” The mobile phone screen lit up.

The moment Fresno Joel saw the message from David Jones, he felt a chill through his body.

“How is that possible!” he exclaimed incredulously.

…

In the Keynes family’s council hall.

The flawless and precious high-grade Arcane Crystals were laid on the floor, forming an extravagant and luxurious Circle.

Through the circle, energy converged, and the arcane force of heaven and earth within the room surged tumultuously, potent enough to render any ordinary person within unconscious immediately.

Deirdre Jordan said, “Has the target appeared?”

“The target has appeared on Beyond Avenue and is expected to arrive at the ambush site within five minutes,” replied the butler in a low voice.

Deirdre Jordan nodded slightly, her eyes fixed on the corpse before her. It was the body of Cronin Keynes, the current head of the Keynes family and the vice-chairman of the Celebration City Trainer Guild.

“Are you feeling pity?” asked an old man of withered complexion, seated in the principal seat, his face ghastly like a vengeful ghost.

“He was just trash. If he’s dead, he’s dead,” Deirdre Jordan said with a hint of coldness in her voice.

“To become fodder for the Ancestor’s advancement is an honor for such trash!”

“Lettene Keynes, it’s time for you to make a move!” said the Earth Puppet calmly. “The blood of kin alone is far from enough for you to break through to Class VIII.”

“I understand. After today, Celebration City will cease to exist,” Lettene Keynes said with a sinister smile, tilting his head oddly as he looked at the Earth Puppet.

With a population exceeding tens of millions in Celebration City, if he could devour half of their lives, he could easily become a Calamity Mysterious Beast with eternal years, immortal and indestructible.

Unfortunately, he was still no match for the Sacred Soul Sect expert before him; otherwise, Lettene Keynes truly wanted to taste the flavor of a legend.

“Puchi!” Crimson blood suddenly burst forth from in front of Lettene Keynes.

“How could you possibly!”

Lettene Keynes looked down, stunned at the blood-stained hand protruding from his own chest.

“In this world, there’s no such thing as impossible,” Deirdre Jordan said coldly.

“Why? My power is clearly superior to hers, and I even offered you the reins to control me!” Lettene Keynes’s face revealed an expression of disbelief.

“You’re too naive. The Sacred Soul Sect doesn’t need a decaying partner,” the Earth Puppet said, his face devoid of surprise as a dark and twisted aura emanated from the shadow behind him.

With that, he turned to Deirdre Jordan, “Come on, let me witness the so-called ‘Demon Encounter’ body for myself!”

“As you wish!” Deirdre Jordan said icily, “I shall become the Beast of the End.”

“Creak, creak!”

As the peculiar ritual progressed, Deirdre Jordan’s still-charming face began to crack and shatter, revealing a massive, tightly coiled hand covered in dense, squirming spirals.

Soon, each bloodied hand gave birth to a single grotesque, deformed eye in its palm, each one emitting piercing shrieks non-stop.

“Can you maintain your consciousness?”

As the Earth Puppet’s voice fell, the myriad solitary eyes turned towards him immediately, and a web of thoughts capable of eroding and controlling life descended abruptly.

“Has it failed? That’s to be expected! Even with Deirdre Jordan’s ‘Demon Encounter’ body, her power is still too weak to fully inherit Lettene Keynes’s strength,” the Earth Puppet mused, his eyes drooping slightly.

“It seems I must take action myself!” he concluded.

With that, a glimmer of light from the Star Ring on his finger, and a grey flame capable of freezing space appeared in his palm, causing the surrounding deformed eyes to falter slightly before temporarily ignoring him.

“One last use for this trash—hopefully you can stir up some trouble!”

With a squeeze of his hand, the grey flame immediately disintegrated, releasing a strange fluctuation that could freeze space.

As the strange fluctuation spread slowly, the ancient Portal in the middle of the Celebration City Beast Master Base square suddenly dimmed, and the light of the runes dissipated completely.

“This is bad!”

Seeing this, the Trainer stationed at the Portal changed color at once.