Chapter 103: A New Order for the Salvatore Family
A New Order for the Salvatore Family
"Big Brother..."
"All the branch families have been successfully integrated into the Sovereign Blessed Land over this past year."
Victor slowly rose from the meditation platform.
"They’ve all been integrated, then."
His voice remained calm.
"How are the relationships between the branches and the main family?"
Max hesitated briefly before answering honestly.
"The branch families have gradually formed numerous alliances."
"The members of the main family..."
He sighed softly.
"...have also begun growing somewhat self-important."
Victor merely nodded.
"Just as I expected..."
His expression remained completely composed.
He had already anticipated this outcome long before the reunification began.
Fortunately...
He had also prepared a solution.
He looked toward the distant mountains before calmly issuing a single command.
"All clansmen..."
"...gather beneath Sovereign Peak."
"Convene a full-family assembly."
The instant those words left his lips—
His majestic voice transformed into a heavenly decree.
It echoed across every mountain...
Every valley...
Every cultivation ground...
Throughout the entire Sovereign Blessed Land.
Every Salvatore clansman heard it clearly.
Whether they were cultivating...
Forging weapons...
Refining pills...
Teaching disciples...
Or resting with their families...
Everyone stopped immediately.
"By order of the Patriarch!"
"The Patriarch commands—all clansmen gather beneath Sovereign Peak!"
"ASSEMBLE!"
"Black—"
The elder announcing the order paused for a heartbeat before correcting himself with a smile.
"Blackstone Branch! Move quickly!"
"Don’t fall behind the other branches!"
"Hurry!"
"The East Valley Branch is already moving!"
"We can’t embarrass ourselves before the Patriarch!"
Excitement swept through the entire blessed land.
Streams of cultivators rose from every direction.
Young disciples hurried excitedly.
Elders straightened their robes.
Children smiled brightly while following their parents.
No one dared delay.
Because the one summoning them...
Was Victor.
The man who had personally lifted the Salvatore Family from obscurity.
The man who had given them a future.
The man they revered more than anyone else.
To countless clansmen...
Victor was no longer merely their Patriarch.
He had become the unwavering pillar supporting the entire family.
Almost...
A living god.
Before long...
More than forty thousand Salvatore clansmen stood gathered beneath Sovereign Peak.
Silence filled the vast plaza.
Every pair of eyes looked upward with burning admiration.
High upon the summit...
Victor stood proudly.
His long shoulder-length black hair danced gently in the mountain wind.
The magnificent Black Dragon Mysterious Robe, embroidered with golden dragons, shimmered beneath the sunlight as though the dragons themselves wished to soar into the heavens.
At his waist rested the Sovereign Star Blade.
Even while still sheathed...
Its overwhelming authority quietly suppressed the surrounding space.
Then...
Victor took a single step forward.
Golden light blossomed beneath his feet.
A radiant stairway stretched through the sky.
Step by step...
He descended from the heavens.
Like a supreme deity walking among mortals.
No...
In the hearts of every member of the Salvatore Family...
Victor had long since become exactly that.
A god walking among his people.
-----------------------------
"Greetings, Patriarch!!"
"GREETINGS, PATRIARCH!!!"
The voices of more than forty thousand Salvatore clansmen merged into one thunderous roar.
It rolled across the Sovereign Blessed Land like mountains collapsing and oceans surging, shaking the clouds high above the towering peaks.
Every disciple...
Every elder...
Every steward...
Every branch patriarch...
Raised their heads toward the man descending the golden stairway.
Their eyes burned with absolute devotion.
To them, Victor was not merely their Patriarch.
He was the pillar that had carried the Salvatore Family from obscurity to greatness.
The architect of their prosperity.
The guardian of their future.
The man who had changed the destiny of every single person standing there.
As Victor descended one golden step after another, countless young women among the clansmen found themselves unable to look away.
His shoulder-length black hair swayed gently in the mountain breeze.
His golden eyes shone like twin suns.
The black robe embroidered with majestic golden dragons only magnified his divine bearing.
Many young women felt their hearts race uncontrollably.
Some lowered their heads with flushed cheeks.
Others secretly stole another glance before quickly looking away again.
"He..."
"He’s even more handsome than before..."
"So this is our Patriarch..."
"I only joined the main family six months ago..."
"I never imagined someone could possess such presence..."
Even several female elders smiled helplessly.
"Our Patriarch truly grows more extraordinary every year."
No one dared speak too loudly.
Yet admiration quietly spread through the crowd.
...
Nux tightened his grip around the hilt of his saber.
A cold killing aura naturally flowed around him like an endless crimson abyss.
After an entire year of tempering himself through countless life-and-death battles, his understanding of slaughter had deepened tremendously.
Yet...
The deeper he ventured down that path...
The stranger it became.
His Abyssal Bodhi Slaughter Physique constantly whispered something just beyond his understanding.
It felt...
Incomplete.
As though slaughter itself was merely one piece of a much greater truth.
Nux slowly closed his eyes.
The next step...
No one can take it for me.
Only I can cross that boundary.
He instinctively understood.
The moment he succeeded...
Everything about him would undergo a heaven-shaking transformation.
He looked back toward Victor.
His crimson eyes filled with determination.
"Uncle has become even stronger..."
A faint bitterness surfaced.
"I’m still too weak."
"Right now..."
"...I can’t help Uncle at all."
His thoughts gradually shifted toward someone he had not seen for many years.
His mother.
For most of his life...
He had believed she was dead.
Until one drunken night after the Salvatore Family settled within the Sovereign Blessed Land.
Max Salvatore had unknowingly revealed the truth.
That night...
His usually composed father had embraced him tightly while tears streamed down his face.
Again and again he had repeated only one sentence.
"Wait."
"Wait until the Salvatore Family becomes stronger."
Only then had Nux learned...
His mother was still alive.
He never questioned Max afterward.
He never spoke of it.
Instead...
He buried that secret deep within his heart.
His determination quietly solidified.
Become stronger.
Then become even stronger.
Only then can I bring Mother home.
Only then...