Eric Newman looked up, his gaze sinister as he stared at the bewildered William Newman, who was still sensing that unknown power, and said, “You bastard! The clan does not forbid fighting, but who allowed you to use such vicious means?”

Before William Newman could react, he shot a venomous look at the embarrassed Samuel Woods and shouted, “And you? As a guest elder in the arena, what exactly have you been doing here?! You clearly saw William Newman strike to kill—why didn’t you stop him immediately? Did our聂 family recruit you just to feed you for nothing?”

“This…” Samuel Woods could only force a bitter smile.

“Second Granduncle, it was Charles Newman who tried to hurt someone first. This has nothing to do with Mr. Woods.” Benjamin Newman couldn’t stand it anymore and tried to defend Samuel Woods.

He had seen the whole sequence of events clearly. When Charles Newman was about to strike William Newman’s heart, he knew that Samuel Woods had looked to Eric Newman for guidance, but Eric Newman had remained silent, obviously not intending to intervene.

Later, when William Newman suddenly erupted, seemingly regaining divine power, everything happened so fast that Samuel Woods simply had no time to stop it.

Benjamin Newman was still young at heart. Even though he knew it wasn’t wise to speak up for Samuel Woods, he just couldn’t go against his conscience.

“When did it become your turn to speak?” Eric Newman snorted coldly, casting a sidelong glance at Benjamin Newman. “Who do you think you are? You’re just a collateral member of the聂 family. If you want a say in family matters, wait until you truly break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining and enter Lingyun Sect—then come talk to me!”

At these words, anger flashed across Benjamin Newman’s youthful face.

But after thinking it over, he forced himself to hold back, knowing that, just as Samuel Woods had said, until he became a disciple of Lingyun Sect, he really didn’t have enough standing in the聂 family.

Especially since Eric Newman was very likely to truly replace David Newman as the head of the聂 family within a year or two.

Many of the聂 family’s young members, still innocent and with a sense of justice, had originally planned to speak up like Benjamin Newman and tell the truth about what they had seen. But seeing that even Benjamin Newman, the strongest and most promising among them, was cowed by Eric Newman’s presence and dared not say more, they all fell silent, aggrieved.

“Second Granduncle, um… it was Charles Newman who challenged me first, and he was the one who broke the clan rules and struck at my vital points.” Snapping out of his confusion, William Newman seemed to instantly understand his situation. He straightened his back and declared righteously.

“Grandpa, I just wanted to scare him—I never meant to seriously hurt him!” Charles Newman gritted his teeth, glaring fiercely at William Newman, and argued, “I held back before my power hit his chest and was going to stop. I never expected that, just as I let up, he would suddenly take advantage and strike me with such malice!”

“Shameless!”

Most of the聂 family children watching were inwardly shouting, secretly despising Charles Newman for twisting the truth.

They had all seen clearly that, in that final blow, the excitement and glee in Charles Newman’s eyes showed no intention of holding back.

Charles Newman had wanted to seriously injure William Newman to wash away the shame of being repeatedly defeated by him over the years. He had clearly gone all out—how could he have given up halfway?

“You know best what you were trying to do just now!” William Newman shouted.

“Silence!” Eric Newman barked, cutting off William Newman’s next words. He then looked coldly at Samuel Woods and said, “The process doesn’t matter. The result is that William Newman ignored the clan rules and used vicious means to harm Charles Newman. Mr. Woods, as a guest elder of the聂 family, according to the clan rules, how should William Newman be punished?”

“Exile to the Lingyun Mountain mines for three years.” Samuel Woods answered softly, his heart full of bitterness and helplessness, his eyes filled with apology.

“William Newman is only ten years old!”

“To be exiled to the Lingyun Sect’s mines at ten, he’ll be ruined after three years. His cultivation was already slow—if he wastes another three years in the mines, he’ll probably never have a chance to earn the Lingyun Sect’s favor.”

“Ten years old, exiled to the mines for three years—William Newman is finished.”

“Yeah, there’s no way he’ll reach the ninth level of Artifact Refining before fifteen and be accepted as a disciple of Lingyun Sect.”

“It’s not that simple. People die in the mines all the time. William Newman is only ten—if he spends three years there, I doubt he’ll even make it out alive!”

“That’s way too harsh!”

“……”

The聂 family youths, who had been too afraid to speak, now couldn’t help but protest when they heard the punishment—even many who had never liked William Newman.

“Getting worked up, are you? What, do you all want to spend three years in the mines like William Newman?” Eric Newman said calmly.

The indignant聂 family youths fell silent at his words, their faces showing anger they dared not voice.

“Fine, I’ll go! Three years is three years—what’s the big deal!” William Newman shouted recklessly.

“Mr. Woods, handle it according to the clan rules.” Eric Newman said indifferently.

“Second brother, William Newman is still a child—must you be so harsh?” At that moment, David Newman hurried down from the stone hall’s high platform, finally arriving.

If it had been before, upon hearing Eric Newman’s punishment, he would have leapt down at once, landing instantly in the square.