Chapter : 7 : Second Elder Xiao Peng's Intervention :
Location : Xiao Clan Training Ground :
At this moment the tension between the two sides were reaching a boiling point .
With the arrival of the two main characters of the argument the things got even more complicated as now neither side was willing to back down .
Previously when Xiao Yun arrived Xiao Zhan's followers backed away instantly .
However when Xiao Zhan arrived they once again showed thair true colours and acted as if they had never backed away from any fight.
" Well ! well ! well ! what do we have here ! Miss clan prodigy herself . " - Xiao Zhan who now stood in front of his followers and just a few metres away from Xaio Yun said with a smirk .
However his words were not off honour but of plain mockery and sarcasm .
At this point whispers of conversation could be heard from the crowd watching the entire drama .
" This Xiao Zhan he is causing trouble again I can't bare with him anymore . "
" Yes ! It's quite clear that it was his followers most likely under his orders who started all this mess to began with and now look at him acting so tough and arrogant . "
" Yeah ! I just hope someone can beat some sense into him properly someday . "
" Be quiet you idiot . What if he hears you you are not Xiao Yun and moreover his grandfather is the fourth elder don't forget that . There is nothing we can do to him . "
" Yeah ! If we get on his bad side our life in the clan will become uncertain . "
" But still he needs to know some boundaries . Today it's Xiao Yun and her followers tomorrow it might be us . "
" Sigh ! You are right but what can we do . We are not strong enough to confront him or his grandfather . "
" I hope he loses today to Xiao Yun . At least by that I will feel some happiness . "
Most of the crowd did not like Xiao Zhan and it was quite evident from their conversations .
But there is nothing they can do except talking about it with each other .
And even then they do it quietly , too afraid that Xiao Zhan or his followers will hear it .
Xiao Zhan's arrogant behaviour and his nature of using his strength to dominate those weaker than him has always been an open secret within the younger generation of the clan .
And even the elders and the clan had were aware of this and have already given multiple warnings to him and asked the fourth elder to correct his behaviour .
But nothing changed so far and not only his behaviour never changed it became more and more arrogant and selfish .
This was also supported by his natural talent in cultivation which put him ahead of others .
However no matter what he never surpassed Xiao Yun which became a burning scar on his pride .
In order to showcase his superiority he challenged her multiple times but lost each time without exception .
Then one day before even the pain of being not able to surpass Xiao Yun decreased another person from the clan surpassed him instead .
Xiao Wuya the grandson of the first elder also left him behind in terms of cultivation and along with his great looks became much more popular .
By this point he had already become the third most talented person among the younger generation not even the second .
To him it felt like someone pouring salt over his wounds .
So when today he finally once again found the chance to go confront Xiao Yun he couldn't miss the opportunity .
Moreover Xiao Wuya was not present today so all his attention directly poured on Xiao Yun .
" Xiao Zhan this is an important day for everyone so stop causing trouble and embarrassing us infront of the distinguished elders . " - on the face of Xiao Zhan's mocking words Xiao Yun still maintained her cold attitude as she refused to be angered by his petty tactics.
Seeing that his words had no visible effect on her Xiao Zhan's arrogant smile fluttered a little as anger could be seen boiling in his eyes .
' This woman always acts as if I am inferior to her ... Just you wait I will show you I am far better than you ... ! - Xiao Zhan thought to himself .
" Is that all you can do ? You may think that you are cold attitude is enough to scare me but let me tell you Xiao Yun it is not . " - Xiao Zhan replied back .
At this point she look that him for some time and then opened her mouth .
" If you fear me or not , it has nothing to do with me . You can talk all you want but at the end of the day all of our matches so far have been the proof of my strength . " - Xiao Yun said as if stating a fact .
This statement struck a nerve with Xiao Zhan who was once again reminded of his continuous defeat .
" Why you ! No need to wait till the battle stars I will fight you right here and right now . " - Xiao Zhan shouted in anger and started forming Dou Qi in his palm ready to strike .
Seeing this everyone in the area including Xiao Zhan's followers stepped back .
Their faces were pale with fright because now even they understood that the things were getting out of control .
" This is too much . " - Xiao Ming sitting under the tree comfortably and watching the drama finally stood up his eyes showing a hint of tension .
" You want to fight me right now ? I'm afraid I can't do that . " - Xiao Yun said .
" The rules say we must wait till the second elder starts the competition and then whether we will fight or not will be decided by the second elder himself . " - with that Xiao Yun started walking away as if not interested in this meaningless conversation anymore .
This however instead of calming the situation down angered Xiao Zhan even more as her refusal to battle meant see didn't see him as an opponent .
" Don't you dare ! Don't you dare look down on me . " - Xiao Zhan shouted in anger as he moved to strike .
But just as this situation was about to get out of control .
" ENOUGH !!! " .
Suddenly a thunderous sound mixed with Dou Qi sounded through the training ground stunning every single young cultivator present .
The power was so much that some of these inexperienced cultivators couldn't properly stand up and knelt to the ground or caught anything nearby for support .
Even Xiao Yun and Xiao Zhan were left trembling at this power with their eyes wide opened .
As for Xiao Ming he wasn't doing anything better either as from the sudden shock even he almost knelt to the ground for support .
' Such strength of Dou Qi ! So this is the power of a Dou Emperor . ' - Xiao Ming thought to himself as he tried to stabilize his footing and stood straight .
At this moment the second elder who had just used his voice with Dou Qi moved from the VIP seat .
But instead of walking down the stair to come down he kept walking and jumped and directly using Dou Qi he flew over the crowd of young cultivators most of whom were already kneiling on the ground .
Some of them were trembling some even covered their ears in discomfort from the previous sound wave .
The second elder calmly looked around the crowd .
Seeing that Xiao Yun and Xiao Zhan both still standing properly the second elder gave small almost faint nod of aproval .
While heated use his powers just now to interfere and stop the matter from escalating he deliberately used a very small amount of Dou Qi to measure everyone .
To be more precise he did so to measure the power and the capabilities of Xiao Yun and Xiao Zhan .
Obviously he did not use his true power no not even a portion of it .
But still he used enough strength so that he can put pressure on someone who just entered the mid core formation stage .
And while most of the young cultivators had predictively been affected with some even almost fainting on the spot Xiao Yun and Xiao Zhan stood there ground .
Although they too were stunted and somewhat trembling they did not bow to the pressure and Xiao Yun particular even tried to fight back against the pressure .
This just goes to show that these two especially Xiao Yun are truly talented .
" What's this ? "
Just as the second elder was about to speak and address the crowd below his eyes surprisingly found another person standing just like Xiao Yun and Xiao Zhan .
This person was off course non other than Xiao Ming who had just stabilized his footing .
' He seems to be around the same age as both of them and while his posture is far less composed then the other two the very fact that he is still standing straight straight despite the pressure is astonishing . ' - the second elder Xiao Peng thought to himself .
To be honest he never expected anyone but Xiao Yun and Xiao Zhan to have the strength to stand after he used his Dou Qi infused voice .
But apparently he was wrong and another person in this group managed to do it .
By now even Xiao Yun and Xiao Zhan who were looking around also noticed Xiao Ming after all seeing someone standing in a area where everyone was either kneeling or flat on the ground was not difficult .
' Huh ! Wait did I just unintentionally came to the spot light again . ' - at this moment Xiao Ming who finally got his footing understood that all the attention was on him right now .
He felt both a little awkward and troubled at the same time .
To be honest this happened so fast that he did not have the time to think about his actions .
When this sudden pressure from the second elder's Dou Qi pressed on everyone including him by instinct he used all his power and will strength to fight against it .
It's not like that he wanted to stand up to the pressure and stand beside someone like Xiao Yun to get attention.
It was purely an instinctual response on his part .
But now it seemed to have caused him some trouble .
Fortunately for Xiao Ming this awkward situation did not last for very long as the second elder spoke up .
" All of you today we are here for a friendly competition to test each of your skills in cultivation and martial arts . " - Xiao Peng said .
" But remember that all of you are the members of the Xiao clan . So all of you are her family so what happened just now should not happen again . Do you understand what I said Xiao Yun and Xiao Zhan . " - Xiao Peng asked .
" Yes second elder . " - both Xiao Yun and Xiao Zhan said in almost unison .
" Good ! Now coming back to the topic from here onwards within 19 minutes the competition will begin and the rules will be announced then so all of you go back to your seats and patiently wait for the announcement to happen . " - Xiao Peng said and moved back to the VIP stage .
However before going to his seat he gave one last look at Xiao Ming and then sat on his seat discussing the rules of the competition with the fourth and fifth elders .
After the second elder left the crowd of young cultivators who by now had started to regain their footing and stopped trembling quickly got up and left to their original seats just like instructed .
Xiao Yun after briefly glancing at Xiao Ming also left followed by several other young cultivators .
" Tch ! I will see you at the arena . " - Xiao Zhan said before turning around and leaving with his followers as well .
But before leaving he too gave a solitary glance at Xiao Ming and expression was anything but friendly .
" Phew ! What a day and the competition hasn't even started yet . " - after seeing everyone leaving Xiao Ming secretly released a breath of air he was holding since the second elder looked at him .
" Let's hope this does not cause too much trouble for me . " - he thought to himself .
But deep inside even he understood that it might not be possible anymore , especially since his opponent Xiao Zhan would now pay him more attention and him paying him more attention in directly meant the 4th elder giving him attention .
To be honest a part of him was telling him to just abstain from the compitition and lay low .
But since the second elder had already noticed himit wouldn't be possible anymore .
" Whatever happens today I won't give up so easily . No matter if it's Xiao Zhan or Xiao Yun herself that I have to face . " - now with that a determined expression appeared on his face as he looked at the arena waiting for the start of the compitition to start .
" Let's give it my all . "
To Be Continued .