Now, everyone held their breath; the crystal box was yet to reveal its content. But this time, Aito didn't open the box but waved his sleeves and both the sword and the crystal box fell into a spatial ring which he offered to Nero. All this was done in front of everyone. At this time, Aito had sat back down on his seat, a wide smile crossing his face as he saw the confused expression on everyone's face. But just then, a sudden voice called out to him.
"Old Aito, it seems that your age is getting in your way of proper judgment." The one who owned this voice was an old man. He looked as old as Aito but Aito had more vitality. "How can a mere Late-stage Foundation Establishment Realm martial artist be able to rescue the Princess from the Black Dragon squad? It appears that this young man has deceived you to take the rewards of the Gandor kingdom. As an old friend of both you and the State Master I simply cannot allow him to rob you of your wealth!"
The old man that spoke was Makenna… the Grand Patriarch of the Siel family, one of the five ruling powers of the Western Earth Kingdom! He had a cultivation of the first stage Grand cultivation Realm. As Makenna spoke, he erupted with the power of a Grand cultivation Realm expert directly aiming it at Nero.
"Humph." Aito coldly snorted and released his power, dispelling Makenna's power. Aito was a martial arts expert at the Mid-stage Grand cultivation Realm so Makenna with his first stage Grand cultivation Realm couldn't compete with him. Makenna grit his teeth as he was subdued but he didn't just give so easily.
"My Siel family might be weaker than your Gandor kingdom but it's not as weak as you think. We have many promising young martial artists who are much stronger than a mere Late-stage Foundation Establishment Realm martial artist. I believe if we were given enough time, we could have been able to save the Princess too."
Makenna might have had the young martial artists of his Siel family in mind when he said this, but the rest of the ones here quickly agreed to it. They had been badly slapped in the face by this fellow from nowhere, how could they not revolt? When Amaya was abducted, the State Master had gone into seclusion before that so Aito had to take command. Back then, Aito had been secretly ordered by the State Master not to interfere until he was out of seclusion. Although given this order, Aito still couldn't sit on his hands and do nothing. He sent messages to the other ruling powers seeking their assistance, and although they didn't outrightly refuse to help, their response was sluggish showing how reluctant they were.
Now that Makenna said this, Aito was truly disgusted. These people had the guts to rear their heads now that the work had been done for them, and worst of all was that they wanted to lay claims to the treasures! These men all sought Amaya's hand in marriage, and rescuing her from the Black Dragon squad was the perfect opportunity to earn it. But the only problem was that it had to be the Black Dragon squad, a power that even all five ruling powers were wary of.
No one really understood the power behind the Black Dragon squad because Saburo was the only Grand cultivation Realm martial artist they had and the five ruling powers even had more than five. Only the Gandor kingdom knew some of the mysteries behind the Black Dragon squad, which was why the State Master had secretly order Aito not to interfere. As Makenna spoke, the young martial artists behind him grew increasingly daring. The murmur got more intense all to pressure Aito to concede to their demands; at least the treasures should be taken from Nero.
They were the young talents of their prestigious backgrounds, how could they let an outsider take so much from them, and worse of all was that there was a possibility that the Gandor kingdom might approve of the Princess marrying this outsider! Thinking this, the murmur became less of a murmur and more of a confrontation.
Seeing such disrespect, how could Aito sit back and do nothing? He slapped the arm of his chair and his power shot up, enveloping the bouquet hall.
"How dare you!? How dare you disrespect the esteemed guest of my Gandor kingdom!? Do you all want to die!?"
Facing Aito's power, the bouquet hall turned dead silent. No one said a word, if a pin dropped it would resonate loudly throughout the hall. Everyone here was well aware of how powerful this old man was, especially those old martial arts experts. This was a character that when compared to the Gandor State Master, no one knew who would emerge the winner. A character like this was not to be taken likely. Right when Aito was about to issue out another warning, Nero's voice called out from behind him.
"Great Elder, you shouldn't worry with such little matters," Nero said as he stood from his seat. "Words are useless in actual combat. If they have doubts about my abilities, then they can test it out themselves. If they can withstand my fist then they can be considered the winner. They can bring these measly martial artists and I'll fight them. As many of them as you bring, I'll send them back to you worse than they came!"
Nero's voice thundered through the hall, his words resonated in the ears of everyone present. How could he stand back and be slandered by these people who aren't worth anything?
All these people were weak compared to him, even those old martial artists weren't worth mentioning. Nero with his Late-stage Foundation Establishment Realm had defeated a Mid-stage Grand cultivation Realm. Much less these people, there was also a chance that Nero could fight toe to toe with Aito, although he still felt that Aito's strength was unpredictable.