The news of Nero's proposed battle spread for miles upon miles. Within two days it became the topic that everyone was talking about. The Siel family was the only ruling power to attend the feast because they weren't so far from the Gandor kingdom. At first, the proposed battle was between them and Nero, but now the other ruling powers started to consider participating.
Today, a group of people came bearing many gifts to show their goodwill towards the Gandor kingdom because of the return of their Princess. This was one of the ruling powers of the Western Earth Kingdom, the Trenton family. The Trenton family lived farther from the Gandor kingdom so they came two days later.
Among the ruling powers of the Western Earth Kingdom, two of those powers are strong family clans, and out of those two family clans, the Trenton family was the strongest.
"Old Aito, congratulations on finding your student…"
The one who spoke was the Trenton family Grand Patriarch, Salazar.
"Haha! I was wondering when you would show your crooked face you old fox." Aito laughed.
Salazar wasn't as old as Aito was he was only a bit older than middle-aged. Some parts of his hair had started to turn white indicating he wasn't so young but his blood vitality was very vibrant. He was a martial artist at the first stage Grand cultivation Realm but his combat strength far surpassed Makenna.
Salazar laughed as he passed the gift to Aito. "I hear a stranger brought her back and proposed a challenge. I want to see this daring young fellow with my eyes!"
Aito shook his head, "Unfortunately, that fellow has closed up in seclusion…"
The Trenton family can be considered to be on good terms with the Gandor kingdom. The news of the battle had indeed spread to the territories of the five ruling powers, so it wasn't out of the ordinary that Salazar wanted to meet Nero the daring youth that challenged the other ruling powers in a battle of attrition.
"That is indeed unfortunate. But if the news is true, then-."
"You want to join?"
Aito's question caused Salazar to slightly tremble. He said, "For the times I've known you, your judgment has always been accurate. If you allowed this young fellow to challenge us then you must have confidence that it's possible. I'm only doing this for the well-being of my clan. The young ones need more experience to grow and widen their vision of the world. If this fellow dares to challenge us like so, then I too would want to see the depths of his ability."
Salazar wasn't scared of Aito's question but what it meant to him. When Aito revealed Nero as the one who rescued the Princess, many people had doubts about it. Some people thought that all of it was just an act to fool Aito and keep the rewards. Some people even thought that Nero was working for the Black Dragon squad and he was sent to get these rewards for them. With every passing day, a new story would arise. During that heated moment where everyone thought that the Gandor kingdom had been careless to give such a person that monstrous reward, Nero suddenly spoke up proposing this battle with every one of those promising young martial artists that were present.
The promising young martial artists present at the time were the ones from the Siel family so one would think that they were the only ones to participate in the battle. However, when carefully analyzing Nero's arrogant words, the battle didn't seem to be only for the Siel family but the other ruling powers were involved! This caused a big uproar to surge throughout the Western Earth Kingdom. Never has an event of one man facing the elites of five top ruling powers occurred in the history of the Western Earth Kingdom. Even those old Grand cultivation Realm experts like Aito and Makenna would choose their battles carefully and wisely.
On the outside, this battle might look like a battle between the young generation trying to gain more experience. But to those who knew the intricacies of this battle knew it was more than just a battle to gain experience. This was a battle that would decide just which ruling power was stronger than the other.
It is recorded in the history of the Western Earth Kingdom that the Gandor kingdom was the first to be established. Ages ago, the Gandor kingdom was the sole ruler overseeing the entire Western Earth Kingdom for many hundred years. But as they grew stronger, so did other forces like the Black Dragon squad.
The Black Dragon squad started to exist at nearly the same time as the Gandor kingdom, and both grew rapidly strong. It was recorded that many hundred years ago, the Gandor kingdom had gone to war with the Black Dragon squad and the results of the war was a total catastrophe. Back then, the two sides had Core formation Realm martial artists that led the war.
After the war, both sides suffered heavy losses that it was hard to determine the victor. Their forces were greatly depleted, their resources were either destroyed or consumed, and even the Core formation Realm masters had died. The outcome of the war greatly affected them that till this present time they still hadn't recovered from it and a Core formation Realm master has never again been born.
The Trenton family has always been on good terms with the Gandor kingdom, gaining astronomical benefits from them. If this was perceived as an opportunity to bring down the Gandor kingdom, then it would be a big problem that Salazar wouldn't be able to control. Although they were independent of each other, everyone knew that Aito and the Gandor kingdom State Master were the strongest in the entire Western Earth Kingdom… if excluding that old mad man.
Rumors say that this old mad man is the only martial arts master in the Western Earth Kingdom to be at the Late-stage Grand cultivation Realm! He was the only one to reach this realm after the war between the Gandor kingdom and the Black Dragon squad. Some say that he has gone into seclusion to break through to the Core formation Realm! I'd this happened, then he would be the only one to reach this realm after the war, and he didn't belong to any of the five ruling powers!