Supreme Devil Lord: I Can Refine All Energy-Chapter 54: Ruthless Joan

Liam’s father’s expression became grim when he heard this.

He looked at Joan for a moment, visibly wary. He knew he wasn’t going to be his match if they fought. So, he shifted his gaze over to Luke, and after hesitating for a bit, he gritted his teeth and said, "You are here to find out where Eric and his family is, right?"

Luke’s eyes lit up when he heard this. He could see he was scared, and this emboldened him. He coldly said, "Yes. So, obediently bring out your son and have him tell us where they are."

Liam’s father shook his head. "There is no need to call him. I also know it."

As he said this, he felt guilty inside and muttered in his mind, ’I’m sorry, Eric boy. But I need to care for my family.’

"Then be quick about it and tell us." Luke said, becoming impatient.

"My son told me they went to the middle city, to the old friend of their father." Liam’s father said before cupping his fists toward Joan, "That’s all my son knows because they didn’t tell him what his name is. So, please don’t cause any unnecessary trouble—"

Swoosh!

Before he finished speaking, Joan narrowed his eyes, took a quick step forward, and threw a punch at his gut.

Bang!

Liam’s father tried to dodge, but he was still hit on the ribs, which made him wince in pain, but gritting his teeth, he clenched his fists and got ready to fight if he tried to attack again.

Joan sneered seeing this. "You are no different than a commoner weakling to me. So, don’t even think you can put up a fight."

Liam’s father’s heart fell when he heard this. He then lowered his head and hands as he said, "Please, sir, I told you everything I know. Please don’t—"

"Watch what you say, bastard! What did you mean by not causing unnecessary trouble? Do you think I’m some thug?" Joan coldly asked.

Liam’s father understood why he was hit upon hearing this, but he didn’t know Joan would have found some other excuse to hit him. He was clearly a cowardly man, and Joan liked to dominate such people. It made him feel like a bigger person, something he couldn’t feel when he was in the noble family.

"Alright. Call out your son. We’ll confirm whether what you have said is true." Joan ordered, putting his hands behind his back and looking at him with a condescending look.

Liam’s father trembled hearing this. He knew Liam would never tell them anything that would anger him and... No, he couldn’t call him out.

So, he shook his head and placed his hand on his heart, "There is no need to call him, sir. I’ll take a heart oath to confirm that what I told you was—"

Bang!

Gah!

Thud!

Joan smirked, and this time, kicked him in the gut, making him groan in pain and clutch his abdomen as he fell to his knees.

"You dare to defy me." Joan coldly said before kicking him in the chest with force.

Bang!

Crack! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Immediately, the sound of ribs breaking sounded, and Liam’s father’s face became ghastly pale, blood trickling down from the corner of his lips.

Inside the house, Liam, Leah, and Elsa were in the living room, anxiously looking toward the door where they could see the back of Liam’s father.

They had heard Luke’s and the other man’s voice earlier and knew what was going on. Though Liam didn’t like it that his father had told them about Eric’s whereabouts and even regretted telling him about it, seeing the argument had started and the chance of a fight breaking out was high, he couldn’t help but worry.

He knew his father, despite being a warrior, was just slightly stronger than an ordinary, healthy person. So, if a fight broke out, his father might not be able to win if the other person was really a warrior. He wanted to rush out, but Elsa and Leah weren’t letting him go.

However, when...

Bang!

Gah!

Thud!

They heard the sound of someone being hit and saw his father fall to his knees; they all rushed toward him. When he was a meter away from the door, he saw the cold-looking middle-aged man kicking his father with a ruthless expression on his face.

He wanted to shout to stop, but the kick had already landed, and the crisp sound of bones breaking made his heart tremble.

Seeing the man was going to continue hitting him, Liam shouted, "Stop!" And rushed out, before standing in front of his father.

"My father didn’t lie. They had indeed gone to the middle city to their uncle. They didn’t mention his name, nor did I ask." Liam said, feeling a sinking feeling in his heart.

He felt disgusted with himself for betraying his best friend, but he couldn’t watch his father die. Only the fact that they weren’t going to easily find him without knowing his whereabouts made him feel a little better.

Joan stared down at him, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

Noticing his intentions, Liam said through gritted teeth, "My father works for a wealthy family in the middle city, and I have gotten a job with another family. We can be considered half the members of those families. If something happens to us, they will investigate it, and you will be in trouble."

"Hahahah!" Hearing this, Joan suddenly burst out in laughter and slapped Liam across his face, the force behind it dislocating his jaws and breaking several teeth.

Slap!

"Half a family member? Don’t tell me you are naive enough to really believe that."

Liam glared at him, his vision blurry from the pain and mist that had gathered in his eyes while his heart fell to the bottom of the abyss.

Then, to his surprise, Joan frowned, "But it’s true things could become a little troublesome if that happens, even though I’m pretty sure it won’t."

Saying this, he put his hands behind his back and glanced at Luke, "Do you want to ask them anything else?"

Luke shook his head. "No. That’s all. Though I’m not sure if they have told the truth."

"Hmm?" Joan narrowed his eyes at him, realizing he was trying to borrow his hands to torment them more. If he had requested, he wouldn’t have minded it since he also enjoyed beating the people who could do nothing to him, but he didn’t like how he was treating him like a kid.

"You think they are courageous enough to lie to me?" He coldly said.

Luke, realizing Joan didn’t like him slight manipulation, hurriedly shook his head, "Of course not."

"Hmm," Joan grunted before glancing at Elsa and Leah standing behind Liam, helping his father up, and a glint flashed in his eyes.

Liam’s heart skipped a beat when he noticed this.

Luke, seeing he was looking at the ladies, grinned, "You can—"

"Let’s go." Joan interrupted him, turned around, and started walking away, surprising Luke and causing Liam to sigh in relief.

He then noticed his neighbors had come out and were watching. Though he felt a little bitter that no one came to help him, he felt grateful too because he realized it was because of them, several witnesses, that Joan didn’t kill them or try doing anything untoward with Elsa and his mother.

He touched his broken and bloodied jaw before turning around to look at his father, who was clutching his chest, his face scrunched up in pain, and sighed, a few tears falling down his eyes, ’Eric, you should have killed that guy last night.’

Though he thought this, he didn’t blame Eric because he knew taking a human life, especially for the first time, wasn’t easy.

’I hope we can meet again, my brother.’ He thought before helping his mother take his father inside.

...

Unaware of what had transpired in Liam’s family, Eric entered his room and sat down cross-legged on the floor, on a cushion, that Vivian must have placed there when he left for the market.

He had thought Luke would return from the core city after two days; that was why he wasn’t in a hurry to bring Rosalie and Liam’s family to the middle city and instead wanted to increase his strength a little first. Initially, he only wanted to bring Rosalie and Elsa to the middle city, but after finding the easy way to get rich, he had decided to bring Liam’s whole family so they wouldn’t be harmed because of him.

Opening the <Hundred Tempering Body Refinement Art>’s scroll, he started reading it again. After half an hour, he had memorized it enough for him to start tempering his body.

"Let’s start." He took a deep breath and was about to close his eyes, but right then.

[Warning!...]