Ch. 1326..1330: The Secretly Rich Man Chapter 1326-1330
Chapter 1326
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1326
“I…I’ll fight it out with all of you!” shouted the furious Fleur out of the blue.
Revealing a hidden dagger, she then rushed toward Bradley, intent on piercing it right into his chest! Since she had always liked martial arts and had been practicing several forms of them ever since she was a child, Fleur was rather confident that she could at least land a hit.
To her utter dismay, all it took was a single kick from Seamus for him to disarm her. She wasn’t even able to get anywhere close to Bradley!
As the dagger fell to the ground, Seamus grabbed Fleur by her wrist before pulling her into his arms.
Seeing that, the terrified Yenny then rushed forward, hoping to rescue her sister as she shouted, “I-I’ll fight you too!”
Screaming as she ran toward Seamus, another young master from Fairleigh Valley simply stepped in and grabbed her wrist before hugging her tightly in his arms, just like how Seamus was doing with Fleur.
Laughing sinisterly, Seamus then said, “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this moment, Fleur! I have a proposal for you! If you obey my every order tonight, then I’ll tell my father and second uncle to spare your life! Hell, I’ll even make you the young mistress of the two great valleys! Due to how generous I am, I’ll even allow you to keep half of King Valley! How about it?”
“Unhand me, you b*stard!” shouted Fleur, despair reflected in her eyes as she turned to face the hundred and fifty King Valley bodyguards who were still standing there.
“What are all of you even doing? Stop standing there in a daze and attack already!”
Upon hearing that order, all of them finally snapped out of it and took a step forward, intent on fighting till the very end! However, the second Bradley turned to look at them, all of them simply froze in place again!
After witnessing how strong the Fairleighs—who had been living in seclusion for so many years—were, everyone knew for a fact that they weren’t going to even come close to being their opponents.
“F-Fleur, just be a good girl and listen to Mr. Fairleigh! Please agree to whatever he wants and save your father…!” pleaded Rupert shamelessly.
“Hah! Save? You’re dying no matter what happens today, Rupert!” scoffed Bradley as he knocked Rupert to the ground.
“Quit dawdling with him, Bradley. It’s high time we got rid of him and all his people from King Valley! The sooner you do it, the quicker we’ll finally be able to take over this place!” said Hershel with a smirk.
“Loud and clear! Well then, Rupert! I’ll be handing you your one-way ticket to hell!” snorted Bradley as he slowly raised his arm, aiming for Rupert’s head.
Rupert himself was so frightened that he ended up closing his eyes.
Before Bradley could land the finishing blow, however, Myles—who had finally managed to struggle to his feet—suddenly shouted, “Stop!”
Now that everyone’s eyes were on him, Myles then knelt with a ‘thud’ before Gerald before begging, “Mr. Crawford! The master of the valley was wrong, so please accept my apology on his behalf! I, Myles Mateman, am willing to offer my life in exchange for another, so please, please save the master of the valley! I’ll repay his debt with my life…!”
As Myles continued kowtowing till his forehead was all bloodied, Hershel shouted, “What are you waiting for, Bradley? Do it!”
Hearing that, Bradley snapped out of it and raised his palm again, this time intent on finishing Rupert…
However, at the very last second, Bradley instinctively took a step back as something lightning-fast rushed past his eyes! Quickly looking in the direction the object had flown toward, Bradley was just in time to see it colliding against one of the courtyard’s many rock structures…
Before sending the rock exploding thunderously into a sea of debris!
Even as the dust finally settled, none of the people there were able to break free from their silent paralysis.
Chapter 1327
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1327
“…W-what…?!” shouted Bradly, an utterly horrified and incredulous expression on his face as he stared wide-eyed at Gerald.
Bradley was already someone who possessed immense strength. With that in mind, how could an ordinary person like Gerald—who looked no older than Seamus—actually cause him to flinch from attacking?
Had he not witnessed Gerald’s sudden attack just seconds ago, he wouldn’t have believed how capable the youth truly was! But this was illogical, wasn’t it?
As Bradley—in his shock and horror—continued trying to make sense of the situation, Hershel could simply frown as he turned to look at his younger brother.
Rupert, Fleur, and the others from King Valley, on the other end, were now feeling like they had finally been graced with hope after being pushed into such a desperate situation earlier.
To think that he had such ungodly strength… Thinking back, since none of them had been able to discern how powerful he truly was earlier, it was lucky that they didn’t offend him too badly…
Regardless, when Rupert saw that Gerald—who was arguably even stronger than Bradley—was now defending him, he immediately got to his feet.
Fleur herself had already wiggled free when everyone was still dumbfounded earlier, and she had just successfully freed her sister as well at the moment.
Running back to where most of the King Valley guards were, Yenny panted before saying, “S-sister! It’s him! I hadn’t noticed his presence earlier, but it turns out that he isn’t dead!”
“Hush! Don’t say anything first!” replied Fleur who was equally as surprised as Yenny was.
With the atmosphere now extremely cold and solemn, Bradley eventually frowned before asking, “… Who are you?”
Though he had already noticed Gerald’s presence long before Peter had even begun fighting Seamus, Bradley hadn’t really paid much attention to him, especially since he looked so young. Instead, his attention was fully preoccupied with the three masters, Rupert, and the two gunmen from earlier.
He now knew, however, that this kid possessed truly extraordinary strength. With that in mind, it was obvious that he had something to rely on.
Bradley was a person who had survived countless rains of bullets throughout the years, and aside from using brute force, the reason why he was still alive was because he had always been extremely careful. Even if he was facing a seemingly ordinary man, he knew better than to underestimate his opponent. After all, he was experienced enough to know that everything could go wrong because of a single wrong judgment.
Seeing that Gerald wasn’t replying, Rupert—who was now finally regaining a bit of confidence—cleared his throat as he said, “…Well then! I hadn’t expected our benefactor from back then to raise such an outstanding apprentice! I admit that I was a bit too rash and impetuous just now… If I remember correctly, Myles had said that you wished to collect three Cherish Herbs, correct? If you help us deal with the Fairleighs, forget three, I’ll give you ten of them! Hell, I’ll even throw in another seventy-five thousand dollars! How about it?”
Upon hearing that, Gerald simply turned to look at him before smiling coldly as he replied, “I hope you understand that I only saved you earlier due to how sincerely Myles was begging me to! Are you honestly attempting to use those simple terms, thinking you can just dismiss me after I deal with them? When you’re currently at such a critical moment that could easily spell your death?”
What Gerald had said was no exaggeration. Had he not felt Myles’s immense loyalty, Gerald wouldn’t even have considered saving Rupert’s life. After all, he could’ve just obtained the medicine on his own once Rupert was dead.
Hearing Gerald’s reply, Rupert instantly felt his heart clench.
Since Gerald looked like a country bumpkin who hadn’t seen much of the world, Rupert had assumed that Gerald would definitely be surprised by his sudden offer. In the end, however, Rupert was the one who was surprised since Gerald didn’t seem to care about the offer at all!
“…Do you not think that my offer is good enough, young lad? What do you wish for then? Just say the word and I’ll give it to you as long as you’re willing to help get rid of my enemies for me!” bargained Rupert.
“Oh, what I want is quite simple. I just wish to own a fifth of the King Valley!” replied Gerald with a laugh.
“…I… I beg your pardon…?” replied Rupert, his eyes widened in shock.
Even Fleur hadn’t expected Gerald to be this greedy!
“Oh? Hmm… Well, I said I just wish to own a fourth of the King Valley!” said Gerald with a smirk.
Now breathing frantically, Rupert finally realized how seriously he had underestimated the kid. To think that this young country bumpkin would even dare to ask for a fifth of the King Valley! As if that wasn’t already outrageous enough, he was now asking for a fourth!
“…I’m sure I heard you said a fifth earlier… Regardless, I won’t lie that it’s exceedingly difficult for me to just hand over a fifth of my valley to you! How about this? Should you be willing to help me deal with
them, I’ll give you a tenth of this place! It’ll certainly be more than sufficient for you to lead an easy and carefree life from the money generated from that area!”
Chapter 1328
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1328
Rupert found himself frowning as he said that. Naturally, he was going to be reluctant to part with his assents, and since he was still alive, he was definitely going to at least attempt to negotiate further.
Fixing his gaze on Rupert, Gerald simply replied, “A third!”
Hearing that, the elders found themselves exchanging glances with one another. It was already obvious that the knife was at Rupert’s throat, so there really was no reason for him to continue trying to bargain with Gerald. With how things were currently going, the elders knew for a fact that there was a very real possibility of Rupert losing the entire valley to Gerald by the time all this was over.
Taking in a deep breath, Rupert—who was still unwilling to just agree like that—then said, “Please don’t take advantage of us knowing that we’re already at our weakest, young lad! So be it! I’ll hand you a fifth of the valley, just as you’ve asked before! Is that agreeable?”
“Half of King Valley! Nothing less if you still want me to help you!” replied Gerald with a smile.
Rupert instantly knelt on the ground upon hearing that. He truly was caught in a dilemma since it wouldn’t be right for him to simply accept Gerald’s condition like that.
Quite honestly, he was wondering if Gerald would truly end up being useful in the end. After all, not even the three masters and two gunmen he had hired were able to deal with the situation. In the end, however, he knew that Gerald was his final ray of hope, and he couldn’t just let him walk off now that he was already on the verge of death.
He now also knew better than to continue trying to trick Gerald, knowing full well that if he attempted it one more time, Gerald would most certainly end up getting the entire valley.
If only he had known that things were going to end up this way, then he would’ve definitely attempted to build a better relationship with Gerald earlier. To think that Gerald had simply started off asking for three Cherish herbs… There were at least a million of them stored within King Valley after collecting them for hundreds of years! Why hadn’t he just given three of them to him and be done with it?
Now extremely frantic, Rupert could almost feel himself losing his temper. However, he refrained, knowing that whether he got angry or not, there was still not going to be any other way out.
With that in mind, the master of the valley gritted his teeth and stomped his foot hard on the ground before saying, “…Very well! I’ll… I’ll give you half of King Valley! Now please, please, help me get rid of those enemies!”
“Now wouldn’t it have been better for you not to play any of your petty tricks in the first place…?” replied Gerald with a grin before turning to look at Bradley and the others.
From what he was able to tell, Bradley’s strength was close to the middle stage of the Spirit Earth Realm, the same stage that Gerald currently was on. While that would technically signify that he and Gerald were equally matched in terms of strength, Gerald was clearly superior when it came to the amount of training both of them had experienced.
“…Don’t get cocky too soon! From what I can sense, both of us are equally matched in terms of our inner strength! Furthermore, I have my brother and nephew here with me!” grunted Bradley. While it was true that he was a very cautious person, his anger had overtaken most of his rationality. He was so infuriated, in fact, that blood was already starting to seep from his old facial scar, making him look all the more ferocious!
Looking straight into Bradley’s eyes, Gerald then replied, “Oh? You don’t believe that I can take you down? Hmm… What to do… I guess I’ll just have to prove my point by having all three of you come at me at the same time! How about that?”
“…You…! You’re really asking for death, aren’t you?!” roared Bradley as his eyes instantly flared up with murderous intent.
In the end, Bradley was someone who placed his worth even higher than his life. With that in mind, despite Gerald clearly having an immense amount of strength, Bradley was more than determined to break him into pieces after being humiliated so much by him!
“Once I’ve torn off your head and limbs, I’ll be tossing all of them into the river for the fish to feed on!” growled the enraged Bradley who now looked so terrifying that everyone present instantly turned pale in fright.
‘You really are just a young kid who doesn’t know what’s good for you! Look at the situation you got yourself in! Couldn’t you sense how terrifying Bradley already was? Why did you have to provoke him even further? While it’s true that you’re talented, you should know that Bradley’s already a veteran!’ thought the three masters as they helplessly watched on.
Myles himself was completely dumbfounded by the turn of events. While he already knew that Gerald was arrogant, he hadn’t expected him to be this arrogant! Was he really going to attempt to fight all three of them at once…?
Before Myles could wonder any further, he saw Gerald straightening his body before casually replying, “Oh? Is that so?”
Following that, Gerald suddenly outstretched his right hand before clenching and turning it ever so slightly… It gave the impression as though he had caught the wind… As everyone wondered what he was trying to do, Gerald then retracted his hand toward his chest before seemingly tossing an invisible knife toward Bradley…
Only rather than just being mere mimicry of tossing a knife, everyone stared wide-eyed as a white light shot out from his palm! As if that wasn’t already shocking enough, the crowd watched in astonishment as the ground split slightly apart as the orb of light continued flying toward Bradley!
In the light’s path, however, was a rather large boulder. Everyone now curious to know what would happen to the light upon collision, their question was quickly answered when it simply shot through the boulder!
…But wait, it didn’t just shoot through… A split second later, the boulder split into two clean halves, with both sides cut so clean that they gleamed like the surface of a mirror! Expensive-looking tiles cracking apart as the light surged on, it finally stopped moving the second it arrived inches away from Bradley’s face.
As Bradley stood paralyzed in his utter shock, the others found themselves too dumbfounded to even make a sound as well.
Everyone now looking at the deep gash on the earth that Gerald had caused, the entirety of King Valley became momentarily enveloped in silence.
Chapter 1329
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1329
“…B-by god… Is he… Is he a human or a god…?”
Though Myles’s mouth had been hanging open this entire time, he couldn’t care less about how he looked as he trembled while muttering that question.
Even the three masters were utterly stunned. After all, while Bradley was more powerful, faster, and more skillful compared to regular people, his capabilities were still—at the very least—predictable and understandable. Gerald, on the other hand, was a completely different story.
After all, he had just split the earth and even a large boulder clear in half just by waving his hand in the air! Nobody could’ve predicted that! Several others were having similar thoughts as well.
Regardless, following a long silence, one of the three masters—after staring at the marks left on the ground this entire time—murmured, “…That wasn’t a celestial technique… Instead, it was a strange martial art… It… It was the airbending skill…! Adding that to the fact that that boy has already conquered the Nebula Realm and owns the Power of the Hundred Divine Fists, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he would be able to easily kill a person standing ten meters away! I had always thought that all that was simply the stuff of legends… Now that I’ve witnessed it with my very own eyes, I can safely say that I can die without any regrets…”
Before anyone could even respond to that, the steps of feet pattering could be heard, prompting everyone to turn around… Only to realize that Bradley was retreating!
“Retreat! Hurry!” yelled Bradley.
“…What? He’s… he’s attempting to escape…?!”
Of course he was. After seeing how Gerald had launched such a powerful attack just by fiddling with his fingers, Bradley instantly realized that he had just dug his own grave.
To his utter shock, not only did Gerald exhibit signs of superb training, but he also possessed extremely powerful martial art skills! Understanding that, Bradley knew that he was no longer worthy of being Gerald’s opponent.
What an extraordinary being! Bradley knew for a fact that even if there were ten of himself, all of his copies wouldn’t even come close to defeating Gerald!
“To think that he’s already entered such a realm at his age! How utterly unbelievable! Even my genius of a master back then wasn’t able to enter that realm till he was around fifty, and he’s a top master as well as a hero! How could a martial artist with such an ordinary background even possess such godly skills?!” muttered Bradley under his breath as he continued dashing away, hoping that his head start would allow him to escape.
Just as the other Fairleighs—who were now starting to get increasingly worried—were about to turn around and book it, Gerald simply looked at the escaping man before sneering, “Finally planning on leaving? I’m afraid it’s much too late for that!”
Following that, Gerald took in a deep breath before activating his Thunder Eruption skill! His palms now reddened, Gerald then flicked his fingers, sending three, white, silk-like strands shooting out like bullets toward Bradley, Hershel, and Seamus’s backs!
Upon—flying over ten meters and—hitting their backs, Seamus was the first to scream as he instantly began spurting blood out of his mouth before falling to the ground shortly after.
Bradley himself found his eyes turning black as he felt the blunt force—that felt similar to being hit with a hammer—on his back. Being flung forward by how hard the force was, Bradley ended up smashing directly into a wall!
Witnessing all that, the three masters could only tremble in fear as one of them said, “…Both his inner and external strength are equally as extraordinary…! He really is capable of killing with just a snap of a finger! He’s a living god on earth…!”
While the young man only looked to be around the age of twenty-five, none of the masters had any further doubts that he was a true apex great master as well as someone extremely—and mysteriously —well-learned in the realm of martial arts
Regardless, the masters were glad that they had earlier held their tongues. After all, they would’ve definitely been slapped by Gerald had they said what was previously on their mind, that being, ‘How could there possibly be a great master under the age of thirty? They’re already extremely rare in the world, and they’re comparable only to living masterpieces! With that in mind, one can’t simply brag about being a great master!’
Whatever the case was, with all three of the commanding Fairleighs now completely defeated, it was now their family’s subordinates’ turn to not dare to make any further moves.
Seeing that the tables had now completely turned, Rupert finally fully recovered from his initial shock and ran over to Bradley before kicking him right in the stomach! Following that, he then laughed before saying, “I bet you never imagined that things would end up this way, did you, young lad? Remember that if I could humiliate and toss you out like the miserable outcast you were back then, then I can just as easily kill you today! Hahaha!”
The second his sentence ended, however, he suddenly heard a faint voice behind him saying, “I assure you that Bradley isn’t dead yet… He’s simply unconscious for now… You had best be careful that he doesn’t wake up from your kick…”
Hearing that, Rupert instantly stopped laughing before turning around to look at Gerald, a pleasant smile on his face.
“…Mr. Crawford- No, Master Crawford… What… did you mean by that…? Didn’t you kill this murderer…?”
Rolling his eyes, Gerald simply replied, “No matter what the case is, he’s still a learned great master, and his inner strength is almost as good as mine. I only had the upper hand since my martial arts skills are a little better than his. With that in mind, why would I kill him? He’s only unconscious now!”
Chapter 1330
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1330
The second he was finished speaking, Gerald walked over to Bradley before patting his body a few times.
“…Alright, I’ve severed all of his vital energy points. Even if he has any inner strength left, he won’t be able to use it for the time being. I’ll be leaving him to you then,” said Gerald.
“T-Thank you, Master Crawford! I truly am in awe of your extraordinary strength, greatness, and techniques!” flattered Rupert as he stood beside Gerald.
Watching as the man nearing his fifties tried his best to flatter a much younger person would make anyone watching the scene tempted to laugh out loud. It certainly didn’t help that his attitude before and after he found out how strong Gerald was had taken a complete one-eighty!
Upon hearing that, Gerald himself could only shake his head with a wry smile on his face.
What Gerald didn’t know was that after experiencing a roller coaster of emotions today, Rupert had long given up on maintaining his dignity and image anymore. All he wanted to do now was to get into Gerald’s good books, and what better way to do that than to keep flattering him!
Rupert’s thought process was that if he had such a learned great master backing him up, then he surely wouldn’t have to worry about any other champions, legends, or even masters in the future!
‘No matter how strong my future enemies are, they’d never come close to even being as powerful as Master Crawford, the youth who can kill with just air!’ Rupert thought to himself.
At that moment, the three masters walked over to Gerald—disregarding the injuries on their bodies— before asking, “Master Crawford, will he truly be unable to use his strength after you severed his vital energy points?”
A warrior’s inner strength stemmed from their elixir-of-life field. With that in mind, if Gerald truly had interrupted his main acupuncture points, then Bradley would no longer be able to access his inner strength for real!
“I simply used a unique method of interrupting his body’s meridians at several points. Due to that, his inner strength will constantly be scattered all over the place. If he can’t collect his inner strength, then he’s pretty much rendered powerless,” explained Gerald casually.
The three masters were dumbfounded once again. How utterly amazing! This youth truly was a god on earth!
Even Fleur and Yenny were now blushing. No wonder he hadn’t been afraid when they first caught him. Even when he was sent to such a dangerous place, both of them had found it slightly odd that there wasn’t a trace of fear on his face! Now that they knew how powerful he was, it made sense why he hadn’t been frightened in the least!
“Regardless, now that I’ve solved your issue, I think it’s high time you fulfilled your promise to me, master of the valley,” said Gerald as he clapped his hands.
“…Promise?” replied Rupert as he placed his hand over his head as though he had just regained his senses.
Now that his enemies had been taken care of and there was no more danger, Rupert was starting to feel slightly unwilling to part with half of his assets…
“…Hmm? Could you perhaps be planning on going back on your word…?” asked Gerald with a frown as he glared at Rupert.
The moment Gerald’s eyes met his, Rupert felt as though he had just been electrocuted. Trembling as he gritted his teeth in panic, Rupert then replied, “N-no! Of course, not! Worry not, Master Crawford, for
I’ll definitely fulfill my promise!”
Knowing that Gerald was even more ferocious than Bradley, Rupert was afraid that his life would be on the line if he didn’t keep his word.
Even so, that didn’t stop him from trying to think up countermeasures. As his mind continued racing, he suddenly heard Gerald say, “As long as you don’t go back on your word, you’ll be fine. Speaking of which, I’ll soon be taking my leave first, but before that, I need you to get me the herbs that I asked for as well as a few oxyblood pellets. I’ll be using them soon!”
“R-right away, Master Crawford…!” replied Rupert in a clearly depressed voice.
‘What on earth should I even do here…? I can’t just hand over half of my assets to this young kid! He’s not worthy of all that power! I’ll have to find a way to get rid of him… But until then, I guess I can only continue delaying the process of handing the valley over… I’ll never hand half of King Valley to him…!’
Just as he was deep in thought, Rupert suddenly felt his brows going cold. It felt as if something had… just entered his brain?
Turning around quickly, he was just in time to see Gerald moving his hand away.
Touching his forehead, Rupert then asked, “…Master Crawford…? What were you doing…?”
“Oh, nothing much. I simply inserted poison into your brain! After all, with half of the King Valley being put on the line, I have a feeling that you may try to delay things till you find a way to get rid of me! Of course, if that’s not the case, all the better for you!” replied Gerald with a smile.
“…T-that… I… I would never…” stuttered Rupert, now completely dumbfounded.