Chapter 142: You Dare Recruit Me? We Are Not On The Same Level!

Chapter 142: Chapter 142: You Dare Recruit Me? We Are Not On The Same Level!

There was no time to counterattack. Graham immediately raised the Dragon Slayer Sword to block.

The collision sent a thunderous shock wave through the surrounding area.

Graham was forced backward several steps, while chaotic energy flashed violently around his body.

The destructive force did not stop there. Far behind him, a vast stretch of land spanning hundreds of feet simply vanished.

It was as though an invisible hand had erased everything in its path, leaving a horrifying gap where the ground had once existed.

Graham glanced at the destruction and could not help but admire his opponent.

"As expected of someone who has reached the half step Divine Power Realm," he said. "Your strength is impressive!"

Despite his praise, he did not stop moving. Winston continued his assault, delivering one lightning fast punch after another.

Each strike carried enough power to threaten an ordinary Star Sea Realm expert, and the speed of his attacks left Graham little opportunity to retaliate.

For the moment, Graham could only focus on defending himself.

However, the situation was not as unfavorable as it appeared.

Although Winston’s attacks came relentlessly, none of them managed to inflict a real injury.

Graham’s chaotic energy formed a powerful defensive layer around him, absorbing the impact of each blow and protecting his body from harm.

Meanwhile, Graham was gradually becoming familiar with his opponent’s movements.

At first, Winston’s extraordinary speed had kept him on the defensive.

But with every exchange, Graham grew more accustomed to the rhythm of the battle.

What had initially seemed like overwhelming suppression was slowly becoming a pattern he could understand and anticipate.

The longer the fight continued, the more opportunities he would have to turn the tables.

From the sidelines, Reginald and the others watched anxiously.

They had seen enough of Graham’s abilities to know that underestimating him could prove fatal.

They immediately began warning Winston about the techniques he had used earlier.

"Father, be careful! He knows the Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger!" Reginald shouted.

"Don’t let him get a chance to use that terrifying palm technique either!" another added.

Their warnings came at the right moment. Graham had just found an opening to extend three fingers and activate the Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger when Winston abruptly withdrew from the area.

His speed was astonishing. The finger technique could establish its field across a radius of a hundred feet in the time it took to draw a single breath.

Even so, Winston managed to escape its effective range before the technique could fully take hold.

Graham could not help but marvel at his speed. It was no wonder Reginald and the others had regained their confidence the moment this man appeared.

A half step Divine Power Realm expert was indeed a formidable opponent.

"Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger?" Winston’s expression changed slightly as he studied Graham.

He recognized the technique.

As a 9th-Grade martial skill, the Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger was renowned for its extraordinary power.

He had never expected to encounter someone capable of using it so proficiently.

After considering the possibilities, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

"Could you be a successor of Venerable Blazing Sun?" he asked.

Graham smiled faintly.

"Why don’t you guess?" he said.

He had never heard of Venerable Blazing Sun, but there was no need to reveal that. If Winston wanted to speculate about his background, he was welcome to do so.

What happened next, however, surprised everyone watching. Instead of continuing the battle, Winston made an unexpected proposal.

"Why don’t you join the Lindsay family as a guest elder?" he said.

Reginald’s expression froze.

"Father, what are you saying?" he demanded.

"Big Brother, you can’t be serious!" Desmond protested.

"Grand Elder, this man has already killed members of our family, including one of our guest elders!" Harold added.

"He’s our sworn enemy. How can we possibly welcome him into the Lindsay family?"

The others could hardly believe what they had heard. Graham had killed several of their powerful fighters and attacked their compound without mercy.

Their hatred for him was already deep, and the casualties had only made it worse.

How could Winston suggest turning their enemy into one of their own?

"Enough! Stop talking!" Winston’s displeased rebuke silenced the protests.

He turned back toward Graham, who was equally surprised by the unexpected offer.

"Join the Lindsay family, and we’ll put all past grievances behind us," Winston said calmly.

"You’re only at the second star level of the Star Sea Realm, yet you’ve demonstrated strength that far exceeds what someone at your level should possess." His eyes revealed a measure of appreciation.

"If you become a guest elder, the Lindsay family can provide you with cultivation resources to help you advance further. We would turn an enemy into an ally, and you would gain access to our resources and support. Both sides would benefit. Why reject such an arrangement?"

The moment Reginald and the others heard that Graham was only a second star Star Sea Realm martial artist, they were left speechless.

"A second star Star Sea Realm expert?" one of them breathed.

"How can that be possible?!" another demanded.

They had witnessed his terrifying strength firsthand.

He had killed Lincoln Hale with little effort, destroyed their supposedly inescapable formation, and forced the Lindsay family’s experts to retreat under his relentless attacks.

Now, Winston was telling them that Graham had accomplished all of that while being only a second star Star Sea Realm martial artist.

The revelation was almost impossible to accept.

Nevertheless, they trusted their Grand Elder’s judgment. If he had identified Graham’s cultivation level, then there was little reason to doubt him.

They could also understand why Winston wanted to recruit him. A genius capable of fighting opponents far above his cultivation level was extraordinarily rare.

Someone like Graham could become a tremendous asset to the Lindsay family if properly cultivated.

Of course, that was assuming he agreed to the offer. If he refused, Winston clearly had no intention of letting him leave alive.

Graham, however, did not need time to consider his answer.

"I refuse," he said.

He had no interest in becoming a guest elder of the Lindsay family.

The family was already facing an official crackdown, and its future was uncertain. Agreeing to tie himself to such a troubled organization would be foolish. More importantly, he had no desire to associate himself with people like them.

No amount of cultivation resources could persuade him to overlook the Lindsay family’s repeated attempts to harm Mira or the bloodshed they had caused.

Winston’s expression turned cold.

"Since you’ve made your choice, then you can die here," he said.

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised one hand and brought his fingers together.

Spiritual energy surged toward his fingertips, rapidly condensing into a dense, pitch black sphere.

The darkness within it seemed to swallow the surrounding light, and a terrifying pressure began spreading through the air.

Winston was ready to kill.

Although the Star Sea Realm and the Divine Power Realm were consecutive stages of cultivation, the gap between them was anything but small.

In fact, the difference between a martial artist in the two realms was comparable to the distance between heaven and earth.

The defining characteristic of the Divine Power Realm was one’s ability to perceive the laws governing the world and begin harnessing their power.

Once a martial artist reached this level, their attacks were no longer limited to ordinary spiritual energy or supernatural abilities.

By drawing upon the laws of nature, they could unleash destructive forces capable of changing the very landscape around them.

That was precisely why the realm was called the Divine Power Realm.

Winston Lindsay had not fully crossed that threshold, but he had already touched the edge of it.

He had begun to comprehend a law and had even gained preliminary control over a corresponding divine power.

This was why he described himself as a half step Divine Power Realm expert. Once a martial artist reached this stage, completing the breakthrough was only a matter of time, provided nothing went wrong.

The law Winston had comprehended was known as the Law of Annihilation. Its terrifying property was simple: it could cause matter to cease to exist.

During his earlier exchange with Graham Cole, Winston had demonstrated only a glimpse of its power, silently erasing a vast stretch of earth and rock as though they had never existed.

After testing Graham’s abilities, Winston had come to a decisive conclusion.

This man was too dangerous to leave alive.

Even though Graham was currently only a second star Star Sea Realm martial artist, his combat strength far exceeded what his cultivation level suggested.

If he continued growing, he might eventually become an opponent the Lindsay family could no longer hope to defeat.

Winston had offered him a place in the family because he recognized his extraordinary potential.

But since Graham had rejected the offer, there was no longer any reason to show mercy. He would eliminate the threat before it became impossible to control.

Winston extended his fingers, and a mass of pitch black energy began forming above his palm.

At first, it was enormous, roughly the size of a water tank. Yet, as the energy continued to gather and compress, the sphere rapidly shrank.

Within two seconds, it had become no larger than a ping pong ball.