"Verus! Who did this to you?!"
Tears started to well up in Arthur's eyes. He had already figured out a few answers but still wanted to confirm.
"It was Matthew and Baron Spencer. They've been looking for you ever since you escaped that day."
Just like Arthur in the past, Matthew was an energy level one user in this town.
"No one in the village knows where you went, and Matthew has become more and more reckless because Baron Spencer is backing him."
"The day after you left, he took over the village's handicraft workshop. Additionally, he took everyone's fields and livestock. We went to ask for it to be returned, but we were beaten up."
"I'm only slightly injured, but my father's leg was broken by them. At the moment, he needs food more than I do."
"In this whole town, no one is willing to take the risk of offending Matthew and Baron Spencer by helping us."
"So now, I can only come out and beg." Verus's expression was very gloomy.
"Where's the mayor and the others?"
In the past, things were still quite fair when the mayor was there. They would definitely come out to uphold justice when faced with such matters.
Verus shook his head.
"Nobody dares to offend the Spencer family. Many of the houses in this town have been occupied by the local ruffians. Even if they raise cows and pigs in those houses, they won't allow anyone to live in them."
"Nobody dares to go back now. Some people have left, but the elderly, children, and the injured can't leave. We can only build some shacks and live with the livestock we have."
"Furthermore, after the mayor couldn't uphold justice, we went to look for the security officers. Unfortunately, I heard that the daughter of Baron Spencer is going to marry Count Magnus's son."
"Count Magnus's power is unfathomable."
"We found an officer and hoped for justice to be served. Alas, not only did he not help us, but he also leaked everything to Matthew and Baron Spencer."
"Now, the Security Bureau in town will beat us up when they see us. They said that if I don't tell them your location, they'll kill us sooner or later."
"I haven't been able to beg for anything these three days. If this continues, I might be able to hold on. But my father hasn't had any medicine, food, or water. He's on the verge of death."
"Arthur, you shouldn't have come back. Anyone in this town might leak your whereabouts to them. You must hurry up and run."
Arthur looked at Verus, who was on the verge of a breakdown. He patted Verus's shoulder and gave him 600 gold coins. These were all the coins he had left.
Verus had lived in this town for many years, so he should know where to spend money. With these coins, he and his family could at least survive.
As for the gold notes, he needed to find a special place to exchange them. With the current situation, these exchange places were not places Verus could go to.
"I'll look for you again tomorrow, Verus. Believe me, I'll help you solve all this."
Arthur then left the alley. Too many things had happened in the town while he was away, and he hadn't fully understood everything yet.
Arthur found a hidden location and lowered his head in deep thought.
The marriage between Baron Spencer's daughter and Count Magnus's son had interrupted his plan.
In the Canglan Empire, every conferred Count had the strength of energy level four or above.
An energy level three transcendent could destroy an entire village at great speed. They were mighty as they had mastered several skills and magic that could destroy an entire village at great speed.
At the same time, they had amazing senses and could spy on enemies from a hundred meters away in the dark. They were experts on the battlefield who could fight against a hundred enemies, and breaking a mountain was a piece of cake.
Furthermore, they had strong physical strength and spirituality. Their spiritual energy was sufficient enough to launch energy attacks against conventional firearms.
At this energy level, the most common jobs were bronze knights and bronze mages.
At energy level four, rumors stated they could easily transport a town. They had mastered several kinds of intermediate magic, and a casual attack could destroy everything within a hundred meters.
With increased magic power, their perception was better than ordinary people's. Even while surrounded by fog, they could sense the wind and grass thousands of meters away.
Additionally, their heightened spirituality helps improve their fighting skills by many levels. On a battlefield full of transcendents, energy level four users could fight a thousand enemies alone.
The legendary silver-tier knights and silver-tier mages were at this level.
But this wasn't the main point.
Some Counts with real power were above energy level five.
Count Magnus's family was complicated, and their background was deep.
For such a force to appear in opposition to his revenge, there was no doubt it would bring a strong resistance to his plan.
Arthur's power had only just entered energy level two. His current strength was no match for these behemoths.
He looked at Lu Yu. Alas, this divine weapon was the only trump card he had.
The night wind blew.
Arthur tried his best to calm down. It was useless to ponder about this now. The most important thing was to focus on improving his strength.
After a while, he entered a state of meditation. Lu Yu used [Dream] on Arthur again.
Shortly after, Lu Yu appeared in Arthur's consciousness.
"Do you know what I can do now?" Arthur looked at Lu Yu, not knowing what to do.
"The reason for your confusion is that you are too weak. You have two choices now."
"The first is to temporarily forget about your hatred and work hard to improve your strength. It would be best if you could join a transcendent academy, preferably one that has produced paladins before."
"When you have the strength and power, no matter if it's Matthew, Baron Spencer, or the powerful Count Magnus; they'll all be ants under your feet."
"As long as you're willing, you'll get many people to help you trample them to death. But it will take a long time, which means your enemies will live for a long time."
"The second option is for you to seek revenge now, no matter what kind of power the other party has. As long as you kill Baron Spencer and his family, your revenge will be complete."
"If you choose this path, your life will be filled with endless pursuers after finishing your revenge. I'm afraid that you'll never be able to live a peaceful life anymore. Moreover, you'll never be able to enter a transcendent academy and become a big shot."