Inside the martial arts training hall of the Duke of Stadak's mansion, located in the western corner of Westfall, a figure stood alone. He pointed with his right hand at a stone wall in front of him, which was about two meters high and one meter thick, and said, "Little Star, fire the impact cannon."
As his words fell, a wolf head the size of a fist emerged on his right arm. The wolf head opened its mouth, and a small white ball of light, less than ten centimeters in size, shot out and hit the stone wall, creating a hole about five centimeters deep and ten centimeters in size. In addition, there were countless small and large wounds all over the stone wall, indicating that it had been used as a target for some time.
The man was not satisfied and said, "Little Star, you're not in good condition today!"
As if listening to something, the man paused before saying, "So you're hungry again. If you keep this up, you'll eat me out of house and home."
The man walked out of the training hall and looked at the sky. The bright moon hung in the sky, and today was a full moon day.
Under the moonlight, it could be clearly seen that the man was indeed Yawen.
It had been a month and a half since the Greedy Wolf Star entered its growth period.
During the previous month, the Greedy Wolf Star had been sleeping all the time, no matter how Yawen called, the sensation coming from his right arm was always that of being asleep.
It was not until ten days ago that the awakened Greedy Wolf Star finally woke up, immediately attracting the attention of Yawen in the middle of class. Excited, Yawen didn't care about the teacher or his classmates' gaze and immediately ran home. After all, basic education was almost over, whether he attended class or not made no difference. Besides, as a "useless" person, no one would care about what he did.
Upon waking up, Greedy Wolfstar appeared extremely hungry. In just a short ten minutes, it consumed all the energy stones and other energy-rich items in the house. It was then that Yawen realized that Greedy Wolfstar wanted to eat energy directly, not just energy stones.
Realizing this, Yawen immediately went out to buy a large amount of energy stones to feed Greedy Wolfstar until it was full.
After ten days of experimentation, Yawen finally discovered how closely connected he was with Greedy Wolfstar, to the point that they could communicate telepathically.
Yawen also found that, apart from not having any attributes, Greedy Wolfstar was similar to other mythical beasts in many ways. It had the first and second forms, and could concentrate energy within its body to release as energy blasts.
On this evening, just after Yawen finished training Greedy Wolfstar and walked out of the training hall, he noticed that his father's room was lit up.
Excited, he immediately ran over, as he hadn't seen his father in nearly three months and couldn't wait to introduce Greedy Wolfstar to him.
As he approached his father's study, before he could say anything, he heard a stern voice from inside the room, "Who's there?"
Yawen was still unsure of the situation when he suddenly felt a strong force push open the door. Before he could even see who it was, he felt a tight grip on his collar and was lifted off the ground, flying into the room. Startled, Yawen looked around the room and saw that it was filled with people.
At the head of the room sat two people. On the left was an old man who appeared to be around seventy, with white hair and a long snow-white beard. His face was covered in scars from years of frowning, but at this moment, upon seeing Yawen, he relaxed and revealed a faintly kind smile. He was the renowned veteran tactician known as the "Glorious Tiger King," Hanluo Stadak, Yawen's grandfather. On the right sat a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his forties, with a sturdy build, a head of black hair without a single wrinkle, and handsome and resolute features. He was Yawen's father, Yulei, known for his exceptional defense and hailed as the "Unbreakable Bear General."
On either side of the room, there were two seats each, and three people were already sitting there. In the front right was Yawen's eldest brother, Yahua, who resembled their father by ninety percent, but was even more burly. In fact, all three of Yawen's brothers looked very similar to their father, especially the eldest brother, who was thirty years old and renowned for his martial prowess on the battlefield, known as the "Thunderous Lion." Compared to his burly eldest brother, Yawen's second eldest brother, Yaxu, appeared refined and elegant. However, one should not underestimate Yaxu, who was known as the "Sly Fox Demon" on the battlefield for his elusive and unexpected sneak attacks, and was also the family's strategist at the age of twenty-eight. Sitting on the left side of Yaxu was their third eldest brother, Yaruo, who did not possess the bravery of the eldest brother or the cunningness of the second eldest brother, but was infamous among enemies for his terrifying reputation on the battlefield. "No need to surrender, you're already dead," was the common saying about him. He was known as the "Death God Reaper" and was currently twenty-seven years old.
The room was filled with an air of tension, and everyone's
Yawen knew that his uncle, Leon, had always liked to make jokes since childhood. After many years of not seeing each other, he couldn't help but jokingly say, "Little nephew, you dare to say that! I don't know how many hundreds of letters I've written, but who knows which continent you've wandered off to now, and where to send them?"
Leon couldn't help but be speechless when he heard this. He was known for his free-spirited and wandering nature, and now being teased by his nephew, he was at a loss for words.
Seeing him eating turtle, everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter, the first happy laughter in days.
After exchanging greetings, Yawen saw her long-lost family gathered together and her heart moved slightly. She couldn't help but ask, "Dad, has something significant happened?"
All the people in the study were taken aback when they heard Yawen's question, looking at each other, and Yulai asked, "Yawen, why would you ask that? Can't we just come home to rest?"
Yawen shook his head and said, "It's impossible to just come back to rest."
With everyone looking like they wanted him to continue, Yawen said, "As far as I can remember, even on major holidays, either Dad or at least one of my three older brothers would always be stationed outside. This is the first time that Grandpa, Dad, and even little uncle have all gathered, and there are only two possibilities for this..."
At this point, Yawen's expression turned solemn. "Recently, I learned a phrase, '功高震主' (loosely translated as 'a high-ranking official who poses a threat to the ruler'), and King Deno seems to be almost 80 years old now."
Seeing the stunned looks on his father and brothers' faces, Yawen couldn't help but sigh, "I hope I'm wrong."
Second brother Yaxu asked, "Yawen, how do you know about these things?"
Yawen sighed, "Although I may not have achievements, I'm not an idiot, nor am I deaf. Some things can be heard and figured out, of course!"
Although he said so, being able to deduce conclusions close to the truth based on small clues was enough to surprise everyone.
Yulai was both gratified and ashamed. He now realized that he had cared too little for his youngest son, to the point of not even knowing about his outstanding intelligence.
Hanhui, who had never spoken, spoke up at this moment.
"Yaxu, you should tell Yawen about some of the things he should know. Maybe he can come up with some ideas."
Yaxu responded promptly.
With the explanation from his second brother, Yawen finally learned that the reality was not far from his inference, and the situation was even more critical.
It turned out that when the Emperor of the Duchy, King Deno, was young, he was ambitious and eager to establish great achievements. He promoted many talented military personnel, such as the Sutark family. However, as he grew older, his ambition turned into suspicion. Although he wanted to pass the throne to his eldest son, the Crown Prince, he was afraid that the generals he had promoted and who held significant military power would rebel against the young emperor. Therefore, after the Court Rebellion ten years ago, many generals intentionally or unintentionally died in battle or made mistakes and were beheaded. Now, the Sutark family is the only one left relatively intact.
But now, the situation is not good either. It seems that King Deno's suspicion has also turned towards our family. However, after all, every member of the Stadak family holds important positions and fought for King Deno ten years ago to secure the throne, so we are relatively safe.
However, a month ago, news came from the palace that King Deno decided to abdicate in favor of the crown prince on next year's National Foundation Day in February. In addition, our family has recently suffered defeats in battles, and the parliament is deeply dissatisfied with this. They have summoned us back to the capital and intend to hold a trial against us. The situation is dire.
Eldest brother Yahuang said with a bitter smile, "If it weren't for that useless military monitor appointed by the Emperor, who hindered my plans at every turn, and someone leaked military secrets, how could I have lost?"
Imperial Marshal furrowed his brows and said, "Yahuang, don't be so rude in your speech."
Yawen didn't care about what his eldest brother was saying and asked anxiously, "Second brother, are you saying that the Emperor will use this as an opportunity to target our family?"
Yaxu nodded solemnly.
Note 1: The political system of the empire is a constitutional monarchy, with an Emperor as the head of state, two Prime Ministers in charge of political and economic affairs respectively, and a Council of Elders composed of the imperial family and nobles. The Council of Elders and the Parliament representing the common people each have one vote, and the Emperor has one vote as well. Major decisions are made through voting by the Council of Elders, the Parliament, and the Emperor, with the Prime Ministers appointed by the Emperor subject to approval by the Council of Elders and the Parliament.
Note 2: King Deno is the only son of the royal family for three generations. His only son died during the palace uprising ten years ago, and now the Crown Prince is the Emperor's grandson, Li An Aicese, who is twenty-two years old this year.
The facts stated by the second brother deeply shocked Yawen. He had never thought that behind the glory of the family, there would be such a great crisis.
The price of high positions and noble titles is the constant possibility of family ruin and personal destruction. In an instant, the once vibrant faces of his family appeared so haggard in Yawen's eyes.
Seeing Yawen's incredulous expression, Imperial Marshal sighed inwardly. Although he had discovered that Yawen's intelligence was beyond ordinary, he was still a fifteen or sixteen-year-old child. Was it too early for him to know about these things?
He hoped that Yawen could grow up like an ordinary child, so when Imperial Marshal said he could use his connections to help him enter the advanced class at Yunyang Academy, he insisted that Yawen should make his own choice. He really didn't want Yawen to follow the same path as his elder brother and father and become a military man.
To divert Yawen's attention, Imperial Marshal smiled and said, "Yawen, don't think too much like a child. As long as Grandfather is here to protect us, I don't believe that those ministers and parliamentarians who only dare to make noise from the safety of the rear can do anything to our Stadak family."
"Oh, by the way, if I remember correctly, your birthday is in half a month, right?"
Yawen, who heard Imperial Marshal's words, didn't take it to heart, but he also knew that the old man didn't want him to worry, so he nodded with a smile in
Yawen and Liang exclaimed in unison, "The egg of the Light Illusion Beast."
Yawen was uneasy and said, "Grandfather, this is too precious, I...I...I...I can't accept it..."
Hanlu pretended to be angry and said, "What nonsense! Are you saying that you don't like the gift your grandfather gave you, or do you look down on this gift?"
Yawen hurriedly said, "No, no, Grandfather, it's just that the egg of the Light Illusion Beast belongs to a superior illusion beast of eighth rank or above. I'm afraid I can't afford it, and besides, my brothers must need it more and have more use for it. If Grandfather gives it to me, won't it be against the laws of the kingdom? Why not give this illusion beast egg to my brothers? Moreover, I already have..."
Before Yawen could finish his sentence, Hanlu interrupted him, saying, "A real man, whether it's good or not, why say so much? Do you think the elders will allocate another illusion beast to you? It should have been given three years ago, why wait until now?"
Yawen anxiously said, "Grandfather, that's not what I meant, I..."
Yawen was interrupted again by Hanlu, who said, "Stop being wishy-washy, your brothers all have illusion beasts, and you're the only one left without one. Do you want others to say in the future that 'Yawen of the Stadak family is so useless that he doesn't even have an illusion beast', and make fun of me, your old grandfather, after so many years?"
Second brother Yaxu also said, "Yawen, don't disappoint grandfather's kindness anymore."
Eldest brother Yahua said, "To be honest, even the eldest brother really wants it, but do you think the eldest brother is so powerful that he can support two superior illusion beasts to absorb energy?"
Third brother said straightforwardly, "If you don't accept it now, grandfather might really get angry and think that you really look down on him."
Hearing what his brothers said, Yawen had no choice but to kneel down and bow to Hanlu, accepting the superior eighth-ranked Light Illusion Beast egg.
Hanlu was satisfied and said, "Listen carefully, Yawen. This Light Illusion Beast was bestowed upon me by the Elder Council ten years ago due to my original illusion beast dying in the chaos of the palace, and my great achievements. That's why I got the nickname 'Glorious Tiger King'. You must make good use of it and not tarnish my reputation."
Yawen respectfully responded, "Yes."
Hanlu was obviously very happy and laughed loudly, saying, "I want everyone in the kingdom to know that the Stadak family is getting stronger and stronger."
In Hanlu's current state of joy, he obviously didn't pay attention to the difficulties in front of him.
Yawen saw how happy his grandfather was and also seemed very happy.
Suddenly, Yawen noticed that the expressions of his father and brothers were strange, and he thought they were unhappy, so he asked anxiously, "Dad, what's wrong?"
Hanlu also noticed and, based on the same mindset as Yawen, stared and asked, "What? Yulei, do you think I shouldn't give this to Yawen?"
Yulei smiled bitterly and said, "Dad, why would you think that? Giving it to Yawen is the same as giving it to me. It's just that the birthday gift I prepared for Yawen is useless now