The next day, a large crowd gathered at the entrance to the Demonic Forest, which had been designated as the location for the test. Among them were many elders from all the major families in the Falcon Kingdom.
All the youth from the Falcon Kingdom gathered in front of the Demonic Forest, but the moment Raed arrived, all eyes turned to him. He was accompanied by Sarah, Yamir, and Roma, while Meng Meng remained in his shadow.
"Boss, you're late! Almost everyone is already here."
Hassan approached Raed with his typical eager face and quickly asked. Raed casually replied,
"Learn from your brother, kid. The main character always arrives late."
"As expected from the boss... Move aside, make way, make way! Your master has arrived, move you fools!"
Hassan rushed ahead of Raed, pushing people out of the way, then pulled out a red carpet from who knows where and laid it in front of him.
Raed was speechless but didn't mind showing off for a bit. He took Sarah and Roma by the hand and walked slowly and regally down the red carpet, with Yamir following behind.
This attracted the attention of everyone present, both elders and youth alike.
"Isn't that the trash from the Najjar family? Why is he showing off?"
"No, I heard he's gotten strong. He even defeated Saad, who was at the fifth level of Blood Coagulation."
"Attention... Everyone, the Queen has arrived!"
The voices grew louder until someone announced the arrival of the Queen, causing the place to fall into silence once more. A somewhat beautiful woman in her mid-thirties entered, surrounded by guards.
The moment she appeared, everyone knelt on one knee in respect for the Queen.
"Why aren't you kneeling before the Queen? Do you wish to die?"
Hearing the guard's voice, everyone looked and saw that Raed, Sarah, and Roma had not knelt, not to mention Yamir, who was casually eating without a care for his surroundings.
"I haven't even knelt for my father. No one under the heavens deserves my kneeling."
Raed said coldly, leaving the crowd in shock. The guards, unable to bear this insult, attacked Raed quickly, but as they approached, Yamir extended his hand, grabbed one of them, and squeezed, causing the guard to scream in pain.
"Let him go now, boy," the commander ordered with a stern tone, but Raed didn't even glance at him. Yamir continued to squeeze, and the guard's screams intensified, terrifying the commander.
"Stop..."
Finally, Raed signaled for Yamir to stop, but instead, Yamir threw the guard at the other soldiers, killing him on impact.
"Damn it... You're courting death!"
The commander cursed angrily, about to attack Raed again, but the Queen raised her hand, stopping him. She then looked at Raed and smiled.
"You're quite impressive, just like your mother. She was very talented. I hope you manage to stay alive."
Everyone could understand the hidden meaning behind her words, but Raed smiled and responded.
"Your Majesty, don't worry. I'll live longer than you wish."
"I hope so."
The Queen replied with a smile. Raed then looked at Sarah, who nodded at him.
"So, that old man was right."
Raed recalled the unexpected visitor from the previous night.
---
The night before:
Raed opened the door, sat in a chair, and waited for his guest to arrive. When the guest entered and removed the hood from his face, Raed was shocked.
"A truly unexpected guest, isn't that right, head of the Hijazi family?"
The head of the Hijazi family looked at Raed calmly and said,
"Although you killed my son, I know that if he hadn't died, he would have lived a fate worse than death because of that pill. You saved him from that tragedy."
"Oh... You're surprisingly clever. Sit down."
Raed was surprised for a moment, then smiled and invited the head of the Hijazi family to sit.
"I came this time to talk about the conspiracy against the Najjar family. I know you may not believe me, but I've decided to tell you because that kid from the sect is using everyone, and he will definitely kill us all in the end."
"Oh, the kid from the sect?"
Raed pretended to be surprised, but the old man didn't care and continued.
"Just listen... Five years ago, a young man in his twenties came to the royal family. He's from a large family called the Yun family."
"This boy claimed to be a disciple of the Taoist sect and said there was something in the Najjar family that he needed to find. But your grandfather would be an obstacle because of his strength, and a battle would attract the sect's attention, which could cause trouble."
"So, he suggested to the King to lure your grandfather and then suddenly attack and assassinate him. But the King was your grandfather's friend and always called him brother, so we were always jealous."
As the old man spoke, Roma brought a drink for him. When she heard about the Yun family, she was about to ask a question, but Raed signaled her to remain silent, and she left with tears in her eyes.
"The King pretended to agree and sent a message to your grandfather inviting him to come, but in that message, there was a secret code between him and your grandfather, warning him about the conspiracy and telling him not to come, no matter what."
"After a year passed without your grandfather showing up, the boy realized the King might have betrayed him. So, he killed the King and controlled the Queen through a secret technique, announcing through her that the King had entered seclusion."
Raed interrupted the head of the Hijazi family with a question.
"Where was the Hijazi family in all this?"
"I told you at the start, we were jealous of your grandfather. We knew about all of this, but didn't participate at first. But after the boy controlled the King, he came to the Hijazi family and said he would kill your grandfather and make us the rulers of the Falcon Kingdom."
"But no matter how many summonses were sent, your grandfather never came. So, the boy turned to another plan—to either capture or kill your mother to lure your grandfather, as your mother was your grandfather's favorite."
The old man fell silent as he felt an overwhelming killing intent. It scared him and pressed on him, growing stronger with every passing moment.
"Calm down..."
A voice from inside, Sarah's voice, dispersed the killing intent, but Raed was still furious. In a strange, hoarse voice, he said,
"Continue..."
Terrified, the head of the Hijazi family quickly continued.
"In reality, we initially opposed attacking your mother because she was loved by everyone in the Falcon Kingdom and also very mysterious. But the boy insisted and attacked her one day."
"However, he returned that day severely injured, with no part of his body unscathed. He was so frightened that he locked himself up for an entire month. When he finally emerged, we were horrified to see that the right half of his body was completely deformed."
"We learned then that it was because of your mother, but after she left, his hatred turned toward you. However, he didn't dare attack you directly, fearing your mother may have left something to protect you."
"So, he ordered us to have the children of the Hijazi family bully and seriously injure you from time to time, hoping to lure your grandfather since he loved you dearly as well."
"But now that he sees you've started training, he's become even greedier for the secret that allowed someone without a spiritual root to become a practitioner. Yet, he hasn't given up on what he wants from the Najjar family while also fearing attracting the sects' attention."
"He learned that what he seeks is in the Najjar family's rear mountain. So, he plans to either threaten or kill your grandfather to get what he wants without drawing any attention."
"He ordered us to kill all the members of the Najjar family during this competition. I came to tell you because I know you have the ability to kill them all, so I hope you won't kill my family members."
Raed thought for a while, then saw the sincerity in the old man's eyes and believed him. He then asked,
"Why doesn't he attack my grandfather directly at the Barbarian border? Aren't the two at the same level, with the kid from the sect being stronger?"
"You underestimate your grandfather. He's much stronger than you think. If not for him, the barbarians would have invaded our homeland long ago. They are incredibly powerful."
Raed was surprised and recalled the days when his grandfather taught him archery and combat.
"Alright old man i promise not to lil anyone from youer family"