"Hello, father-in-law. I'm here to see Meredith" Bruce bowed in front of the middle-aged man.
"You what?" The middle-aged wickedly stared at Bruce.
Bruce looked at the middle-aged man in confusion.
"My name is Bruce. I'm your son-in-law."
"Brat, I dare you to say that again!"
The middle-aged man released his Divine Emperor aura trying to suffocate Bruce. Unfortunately for him, Bruce's soul is much more powerful than he had thought which made his Divine Emperor aura useless.
"My name is Bruce. I'm your son-in-law." Bruce repeated the same sentence and smiled at the middle-aged man.
"Brat, today's your death anniversary next year!" The middle-aged man raised up his hand and summoned the surrounding energy for an attack.
"DAD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Meredith jumped between Bruce and Emperor Lockwood.
"Get out of the way Meredith, I'm going to kill this bastard!" Emperor Lockwood exclaimed.
"Meredith, this guy is an imposter. Let me shoot him!" Bruce shouted. Bruce got out Light Piercer and began charging it up. It didn't matter to him that his opponent is a Divine Emperor.
Bruce was angry at Emperor Lockwood because he had been reasonable the entire time. If someone else had send a soul shackle to bind him, he would have shot that person already.
"What did you say you brat?" Emperor Lockwood turned even more enraged after being accused as an imposter.
"Only someone beautiful and intelligent could have a daughter like Meredith. You clearly don't have any of those attributes."
"Am I correct, Mr. Imposter?" Bruce raised up his middle finger at Emperor Lockwood.
"You fucker, I'll kill you!" Emperor Lockwood screamed.
The house began to distort as both Bruce and Emperor Lockwood were ready to attack each other. Meredith didn't know what to do when two important people in her lives were about to kill each other.
She turned to the old man sitting on the sofa and cried.
"Grandpa, please do something"
The old man smiled at her and nodded. He released the energy from both sides to prevent any attack happening within the house.
"Both of you need to calm down" Ancestor Lockwood said.
Bruce and Emperor stared at each other and looked away. Clearly, they wanted to fight to the death.
Unlike, Emperor Lockwood, Ancestor Lockwood has a good impression of Bruce. Bruce was able to break the soul shackle which greatly surprised him. Also, Bruce was not afraid to fight a Divine Emperor with his meager Soul Manifestation cultivation. Such bravery is rare in the young generation.
"Bruce, why don't you sit down on the sofa" Ancestor Lockwood said.
"Thank you, grandpa-in-law." Bruce smiled at Ancestor Lockwood and sat down on the sofa.
Meredith heard how Bruce called her grandpa and blushed. Emperor Lockwood saw the entire thing and yelled.
"Meredith, I forbid you to have any relationship with this boy!"
"Old man, you better watch your tone, or I'll beat you up in 2 years" Bruce threatened Emperor Lockwood.
"An ugly commoner like you cannot be together with my princess" Emperor Lockwood disregarded Bruce's threat.
"Ugly? Have you seen yourself in the mirror?" Bruce got angry when Emperor Lockwood called him ugly.
"Meredith's mother must be extremely beautiful for her to turn out like this. You should feel lucky that she didn't inherit your ugly genes" Bruce's attack hit a sore spot in Emperor Lockwood.
"Hmph. I'm not going to argue with a brat like you. A hooligan such as yourself cannot be matched with my daughter!" Emperor Lockwood folded his arms and sent murderous glares at Bruce.
"Commoner? Bloodlines don't matter in this world as strength is everything"
"Regarding background, my teacher can definitely defeat you in one move!" Bruce boasted.
"Who is your teacher?" Emperor Lockwood got curious. Truth be told, Bruce greatly exceeded his expectations as Bruce was able to withstand his aura. However, Bruce's terrible attitude and lack of respect made him greatly unfavorable to Emperor Lockwood.
"My teacher is John the Butcher!" Bruce proudly proclaimed.
"Who the hell is John the Butcher? Why would I lose to a butcher?" Emperor Lockwood started laughing madly.
"Sure kid, bring your teacher over here and if he defeats me in one move, you can continue seeing Meredith" Emperor Lockwood said with a smirk.
Emperor Lockwood thought Bruce would break down because he wasn't afraid of his teacher. Contrary to his expectation, Bruce actually smiled.
Ancestor Lockwood saw the entire conversation and chuckled.
"Kid, you actually managed to trick him" Ancestor Lockwood said to Bruce.
"Grandpa-in-law, you know my teacher?" Bruce asked curiously. He thought that his teacher was also low key like him.
"Why wouldn't I know him? He's my senior after all" Ancestor Lockwood smiled.
"Father, what are you talking about?" Emperor Lockwood felt something was wrong when his father mentioned knowing Bruce's teacher.
"Son, you got fooled" Ancestor Lockwood shook his head at his son.
"John the Butcher is the alias of Great Emperor Cortez" Ancestor Lockwood continued to explain.
"Back when Great Emperor Cortez was young, he started out as a butcher to make ends meet. People started calling him that title because he often used a knife as a weapon and as a chef."
"When he reached the Great Emperor stage, he stopped using that name and started to use his real name instead"
After hearing Ancestor Lockwood's explanation, both Meredith and Emperor Lockwood were greatly shocked. They had never imagined that Bruce's teacher is the legendary Great Emperor Cortez.
Seeing Bruce's devilish grin, Emperor Lockwood knew he had screwed up big time.
"Emperor Lockwood, I will make sure to tell my teacher about your statements today about him"
"I'm sure no mere butcher can defeat you, the all-powerful Emperor Lockwood" Bruce said in a bitter tone.
"Why did you stop referring to me as your father-in-law?" Emperor Lockwood asked nervously.
"I have a feeling that after what you've said today, you won't be around much longer in the future" Bruce smirked evilly at Emperor Lockwood.
"No wait please don't tell him!" Emperor Lockwood had heard stories about Great Emperor Cortez. The stories depicted a mad man who's capable of destroying kingdoms if they piss him off.
If Bruce told Great Emperor Cortez what he just said, his life would surely be over.
"Oh? Then am I allowed to see Meredith?" Bruce finally got Emperor Lockwood in a corner.
"Hmph! What kind of a man are you? Relying on your background to coerce an innocent maiden's father!" Emperor Lockwood shamelessly retorted.
"Didn't you just look down on my background earlier to prevent me from seeing your daughter?" Bruce threw back Emperor Lockwood's words to him.
"You!" Emperor Lockwood had no answer to the question.
"Father, can you defeat Great Emperor Cortez?" Emperor Lockwood turned to Ancestor Lockwood for help.
"Ahem, you shouldn't bring me into this problem of yours." Ancestor Lockwood looked away from his son's gaze.
"Father, you…." Emperor Lockwood wanted to cry at that moment.
He then turned to his precious daughter asking her for help. Seeing the state of her father, Meredith couldn't help but felt pity for him. He got struck by the Bandit of Solitude.
"Bruce, stop making things difficult for my father" Meredith finally jumped in to rescue her dad.
"Meredith, it's not my fault!"
"Your father was being very unreasonable since the beginning" Bruce started to complain.
"Let it go, he is my father!" Meredith said in an angry tone.
"Okay…" Bruce not wanting to upset his girlfriend waved the white flag.
Seeing Emperor Lockwood grinned at him, Bruce thought to himself.
'Just you wait old man. If I don't teach you a lesson myself, my name isn't Bruce Stellae'
"So, what brings you guys to my house?" Meredith turned to her father and grandfather.
Emperor Lockwood got serious and looked at his daughter.
"Meredith, it's best if you decline the upcoming mission and drop out of the Imperial Academy."