Chapter 177 - William's Life Story Part 2
The way that the Epstein Family would test for the next family head was by testing one\'s bloodline, talent grading and elemental affinity all at once using a special crystal that the ancestor of the family had left behind. He also left behind all his research on runes, pill-making, arrays and weapons and was the one that gained the most from the destruction of Elizabeth\'s family.
With all of that research and knowledge that was left behind, the Epstein Family continued to develop as the most knowledgable family and was the family that Elizabeth hated the most because of it.
It wasn\'t a rule that only the descendants of the family head could use test themselves using the special crystal, but every time somebody tried, they would always be below that of the family head\'s descendants so it became an unwritten rule to do so.
The ancestor of the family had an E:1 graded talent and elemental affinity of the wind element, and all the other ancestors of the large cultivation families of New York had an E:1 graded talent.
William\'s love had an E:2 graded talent and wind elemental affinity, and because of it, she was treated exceptionally well and even her father stepped down to allow her to take the position of family head after she became 18.
All meanwhile her older brother, who was also talented and capable but just slightly less, watched from the side. He felt abandoned, mistreated and was full of envy and jealousy towards his sister.
He had already been planning to take down his sister while he still had an advantage over her in terms of cultivation since he was older than her and she began cultivating late, but their father was very protective over her and he never found the chance to get rid of her.
But now that a man was in the mix, if he was to have children with her, since he clearly was talented and capable in terms of cultivation, it was inevitable that they would become the family head and he would be left out once again.
He wanted to take the position of family head and make sure that only his children had the chance to gain the position so that he always retained ultimate power over the Epstein Family until he died.
His jealousy and envy lead him to have a twisted personality and he even desired to take over the entirety of New York using the Epstein Family\'s power, resources and knowledge. He didn\'t care about anybody else\'s life or safety and would only act to benefit himself.
Seeing the talented man that William was and how deeply in love his daughter was with him, the previous family head permitted their relationship while the great elder didn\'t have a say in the matter.
All the criminal organisations that William and taken over and grouped together were disbanded since the Epstein Family didn\'t like to get involved with them and would prefer to stay independent and grow the power of their own family\'s power, and everything was great once again for William and his partner.
Every time the great elder would see how happy they were, he would become even more jealous and furious to the point that he wanted to attack them and kill them to satisfy his jealousy, however they were both rapidly progressing.
At the rate they were improving along with the previous family head behind them and permitting their relationship, the great elder couldn\'t see any way to get rid of them.
With his mindset in the twisted way that it was and all the hate and jealousy that he held in his heart, his cultivation wasn\'t progressing and he couldn\'t find any way for him to be able to get rid of them.
When he thought that there was no way for him to become the family head, a mysterious organisation reached out to him and offered to give him a solution to getting rid of them, but he would have to serve them after becoming family head or one of his children became family head.
Blinded by hate and ambition, he agreed and they gave him the perfect solution that would solve his problem without risking his life in a direct fight or his reputation, as there would be no way for them to know that it was him.
They gave him an odourless poison that once fed to an individual would slowly damage them internally and eat away at their internal cultivation, but the effects of the poison wouldn\'t be obvious until after 10 years, but by then it would be too late to attempt to dispel it.
It was the perfect solution as with the knowledge of the Epstein Family they would probably be able to dispel it if it was a normal poison, but if it was a slow-acting one that was undetectable, by the time they realised they were poisoned, it would be too late.
Although he had to submit and lower his head for 10 years, the great elder always had an evil smile on his face and knew that it was only a matter of time before he could finally get everything that he wanted.
The great elder was patient and careful and didn\'t act until after 10 years, and after that time he had multiple children with multiple different women, while William and the family head had a 5-year-old son.
The family head who was dealing with both old age and the poison that his son had fed him a decade before was being hit the worse and was dying, while William and his partner\'s cultivation was beginning to regress and there had both realised that they were poisoned.
"William you need to get out of here and take Cole with you. It is only a matter of time before my brother comes to finish us off after poisoning us" said the family head who knew that it was too late to counter the poison.