Chapter 1124

Quintus’ order was conveyed quickly, and it only took about half an hour for a God Realm cultivator to appear in his line of sight with a team of cultivators.

Once his spiritual sense had dispersed, Quintus gripped his billhook, his killing intent flaring up.

However, after more than ten seconds, he discovered that the person who came was none other than the current patriarch of the Leeson family and the eldest in his generation, Ashton Leeson.

“Uncle Quintus!” Ashton greeted with a slight nod as he landed beside Quintus.

The rules of such respectable families were very unusual. Once someone became the family patriarch, regardless of their level of cultivation or seniority, they would hold authority over the entire family, even their elders.

Hence, even an elder like Quintus had to treat the family patriarch with respect.

This was to ensure the absolute authority of the family patriarch. After all, every patriarch of those respectable families went through many tests before they were selected and could lead their families forward.

Additionally, the seniorities within those respectable families were a complicated mess due to their thousand-year-old lineage.

It would be a big problem if people could show no respect and interfere with family affairs just because of their seniority.

Quintus also gave Ashton a slight nod as a greeting to his family patriarch upon his arrival before asking curiously, “Ashton, I’m surprised that you guys got here so quickly. I just sent the message less than half an hour ago.”

The latter shook his head with a smile after hearing his words.

“Winston had already sent us a message before you did, Uncle Quintus. He deduced that Joshua might come back here, so he told us to dispatch our men to apprehend him. Because Joshua has many treasures in his hands, I personally led the team here to avoid any blunders. I didn’t expect to receive your message about the small world midway through the journey.”

Quintus’ eyes briefly lit up in surprise.

“Winston is… remarkable!”

He did not attempt to hide the admiration in his eyes.

“Ashton, if you can’t find a particularly suitable successor among the younger generations, Winston is a good choice. Although he won’t be able to lead our family for a long time, he can still play a key role in being the connecting link to the next patriarch.”

Quintus’ words resonated with Ashton.

Between him and Winston, one took charge of internal matters, while the other handled external matters. To refer to them as the twin pillars backing the Leeson family would not be an exaggeration.

Possibly as a result of the Leeson family flourishing too quickly under the duo’s leadership, the young people under the age of thirty in the family found themselves in an awkward situation where no one could assume the mantle.

Once each patriarch of the eight respectable families with their thousand-year-old lineages had a firm grasp on their position of leadership, they had to start looking for promising successors and train them from a young age.

For example, the Osborne family. Although Jay was caught up in a storm of public opinion due to his sexual orientation, his mistakes would undoubtedly be mitigated once Everett’s incident became public.

Judging from the current situation, Jay might as well rejoin the core of the family.

There was also Eva from the Salladay family, Stellario from the Mallory family, and Caleb from the Gray family…

These young and inexperienced people were all trained to be successors by the respectable families.

Even a family like the Zink family had a secret agent like Hayden whom the respectable family had invested everything to train.

Yet, the Leeson family simply could not find a suitable candidate to become their successor.

Even if they selected the best among the mediocre ones, they still could not find the right person.

At present, be it traveling outside or handling all the family affairs, the family members of Winston’s generation were at the forefront.

However, Winston, Ashton, and other members of their generation were already approaching their fifties.

The entire Leeson family needed new blood to adapt to the rapidly changing situation in Chanaea.

“I’m not greedy for power, Uncle Quintus. On the contrary, I think being the family patriarch has seriously affected my cultivation. If you have any suitable candidates in mind, or if Winston wants to be the family patriarch, I can step down at any time,” Ashton said to Quintus with a smile.

The latter quickly dismissed his words with a wave. “I know what’s going on inside your head, Ashton.

Just do your duty as the family patriarch properly. Trust me. Cultivation isn’t something you should think about. You’ll never be able to enter the Divine Realm in this lifetime. There’s too much unrest within you.”

For a cultivator who had reached the middle phase of the God Realm, Quintus’ words were like a sharp blade, piercing deeply into Ashton’s heart.

Those who had attained this level of cultivation had a Cor as firm as iron.

Everyone wished to seek the great freedom and carefreeness of reaching the Divine Realm, so how could Ashton accept Quintus’ dig at him?

“Uncle Quintus, if you can achieve Divine Realm, so can I. My vision shouldn’t only be as big as Doveston, but the entire world.”

Quintus looked at Ashton when he heard that. He wanted to say something but ultimately held back his words.

After a long time, he sighed heavily.

“Ashton, do you truly think you can attain true carefreeness upon achieving Divine Realm? Take my advice. If possible, end your cultivation journey once you’ve reached the advanced phase of God Realm. Don’t strive for the Divine Realm. The terror of the Divine Tribulation is unimaginable.”

“Uncle Quintus, do you think I’d be afraid of a heavenly trial?” Ashton asked Quintus lightly. “From the moment I began this cultivator journey, the Divine Realm has been my ultimate goal, and I’ve been working hard to achieve it. I can tell you very responsibly, Uncle Quintus, that even if I face the heavenly trial and am shattered into pieces by Lightning Tribulation, I will never back down in fear!”

When Ashton said that, the spiritual energy all over his body surged, and the air around him kept twisting and rising, giving the impression that he was a warrior with an endless fighting spirit. Just looking at him was suffocating.

Quintus felt the other man’s power with a helpless look in his eyes.

The obstacle to the Divine Realm isn’t just Divine Tribulation. Just like the annihilation of the Whitley family, it isn’t something that the eight respectable families can control.

However, he could not tell Ashton everything he knew.

This is not only for Ashton’s safety but also for the survival of the entire Leeson family.

The conversation between the uncle and his nephew had reached a stalemate at that point. Ashton could not understand the true meaning behind his uncle’s words. As for Quintus, he also had a reason for keeping silent.

The two core cultivators of the Leeson family stood silently on the ridge and looked down at the chaos portal that had appeared in the valley below, still like statues.

However, the rest of the Leeson family members did not dare to stop.

This time, Ashton brought a total of four God Realm cultivators and fifty Grandmaster Realm cultivators.

Along with the ten Leeson family members who were stationed there, a total of sixty-four cultivators were rapidly using their spiritual energies to drive spirit stones into the earth on the cliffs around the valley.

They were setting up a huge primary-level formation, the energy-locking formation!