The Strange Flame Rekindles in Battle Through the Heavens

Chapter 9 The Duel

Countless family members around the training ground were watching the battle closely, mainly to see Xiao Yan make a fool of himself.

"This piece of trash, who only has the third level of Dou Qi, actually dares to duel with Cousin Xiao Ning? How dare he?" someone in the arena said in confusion.

"Who knows? They're probably just giving up!"

"I heard that Xiao Yan angered Xiao Ning by touching something he shouldn't have, which is why they came here to duel."

"Things you shouldn't have touched, you mean... Miss Xun'er?"

"Yeah, that good-for-nothing's always trying to get his hands on a swan. Does he even deserve it? He'd better be beaten to death by Xiao Ning!"

In the family meeting hall, Xiao Zhan was discussing matters with three elders. Suddenly, a servant ran in and told Xiao Zhan about the duel between Xiao Yan and Xiao Ning.

"What? You said Yan'er and Xiao Ning are dueling in the training ground?" Xiao Zhan, who was discussing matters with the three elders, suddenly stood up from his chair.

"Yes, the young master and young master Xiao Ning are currently at the training ground," the servant said respectfully.

Upon hearing this news, Xiao Zhan's face darkened, and he murmured, "Yan'er! What harm is there in enduring it for a while!" As Xiao Yan's father, how could he not know that Xiao Yan must have been insulted and ridiculed, and couldn't bear it any longer, which was why he did this?

He sighed deeply and strode quickly towards the training ground. The three elders behind him, seeing Xiao Zhan leave, wore smug smiles. They already knew about the duel between Xiao Ning and Xiao Yan, and to severely damage Xiao Zhan's prestige, they spread the news throughout the clan, making everyone watch this unfair duel.

"Elder, aren't we going too far by doing this?" the Second Elder said, frowning.

"Hehe, what's so bad about this? It's a good opportunity to kick Xiao Yan out. For the past three years, Xiao Zhan has been wasting resources on that good-for-nothing. And Xiao Yan still has two years before his coming-of-age ceremony. How many of the family's resources will that good-for-nothing waste in those two years? Wouldn't it be better to distribute the resources to those talented younger generations? I'm doing this for the sake of the family," the First Elder said calmly.

"Yes! The First Elder is only thinking of the family. Second Elder, don't worry about it. Let's go to the training ground now. If Xiao Yan loses, where will he put his face as the clan leader?" the Third Elder chimed in.

The three quickly caught up with Xiao Zhan and followed him toward the family training ground.

The four arrived at the high platform on the left side of the training ground and saw a dense crowd of people inside. Xiao Zhan's face instantly darkened. He turned to look at the three elders behind him and said with narrowed eyes, "Why are there so many people here? Don't they need to cultivate?"

"Hehe, I'm not too sure about that either." The First Elder said with a smile in response to Xiao Zhan's somewhat questioning tone.

"Wow! Look, even the clan chief and the three elders have been alerted by this duel!" The crowd stirred instantly upon seeing the clan chief and the three elders arrive.

Hearing the sudden commotion in the crowd, Xiao Yan, who had been keeping his eyes slightly closed, slowly opened them and looked up at the high platform to his left. He discovered that it was his father and the three elders who had arrived. Seeing his father, Xiao Zhan, standing on the platform looking at him with concern, Xiao Yan slowly raised the corners of his mouth into a confident smile, indicating to his father that he could rest assured.

Looking at Xiao Yan's confident smile, Xiao Zhanxin suddenly felt relieved. Regardless of what Xiao Yan had to rely on, at this moment he chose to believe in his son. He slowly walked to his seat, smiling at the three elders. Amidst their questioning gazes, he sat down and quietly awaited the start of the duel.

"Can we begin?" Xiao Yan asked casually, seeing that almost everyone had arrived, even his father and the three elders. He glanced at Xiao Ning, whose face was beaming with joy. Having just arrived at the training ground, Xiao Yan wanted to start immediately, eager to end this tedious battle as quickly as possible. However, Xiao Ning kept delaying the duel with various excuses. Knowing his ulterior motives, Xiao Yan ignored him. Since he wanted to embarrass himself in front of more people, Xiao Yan didn't care.

Seeing Xiao Yan's calm and composed expression, Xiao Ning was quite disdainful.

"I'll ruin your reputation and kick you out of the family right now, instead of pretending to be profound with me."

However, Xiao Ning still smiled and said, "Is there still one person who hasn't arrived?"

"Who else?" Xiao Yan asked, somewhat puzzled. But then he saw the dense crowd suddenly part, and a young woman in a light purple dress, exuding an air of nobility, slowly walked towards them with graceful steps.

"Heh, you're something else! You want to defeat me in front of Xun'er, make her think you're better than me, and then Xun'er will fall for you?" Xiao Yan shook his head speechlessly.

"Hmph! I just want Xun'er to know that you are a complete waste. You are not worthy of her at all!" Xiao Ning snorted coldly and said indifferently.

"Hey! Can we start now?" Xiao Yan stretched his aching body and asked Xiao Ning.

"Hmph!" Xiao Ning snorted coldly, clenching his fists and rapidly circulating his Dou Qi. After a brief pause, he stomped his feet on the ground and charged straight at Xiao Yan, who was right in front of him. As he rushed forward, Dou Qi quickly condensed on his fists.

"Iron Mountain Fist!"

With a loud shout, Xiao Ning raised his fist, which carried a gust of wind-breaking energy, and struck Xiao Yan's shoulder fiercely.

Iron Mountain Fist, a high-level Yellow Rank combat skill, can only be learned by those who have reached the seventh level of Battle Qi. This is the combat skill that Xiao Ning has mastered recently, and it is also his most powerful combat skill to date. He intends to decide the outcome with a single strike.

Facing the fist that came hurtling towards him with a strong gust of wind, Xiao Yan neither dodged nor avoided it, but simply stood there.

As soon as the duel began, the crowd immediately fell silent, all looking at the two people fighting in the arena.

"Has he given up the struggle?" The people below the stage saw Xiao Yan standing motionless on the stage, neither defending nor retaliating.

Xiao Zhan, standing on the high platform to the left, felt his heart leap into his throat when he saw that his son hadn't resisted. He rose to try and stop the fight, but was stopped by the three elders.

Xiao Zhan clenched his fists, closed his eyes slightly, and sighed in his heart: "After this matter is over, I will send Yan'er away! Send him to his eldest and second eldest brothers. Although it is dangerous there, no one will bully him."

Just then, the arena suddenly fell silent. Even the three elders behind him stood up abruptly, their eyes wide with disbelief.

In the arena, Xiao Yan was hit by Iron Mountain Fist, but his body only tilted slightly. On the contrary, Xiao Ning was knocked back several steps.

"Impossible! Xiao Yan must have cheated!" the Grand Elder shouted angrily, pointing at Xiao Yan.

Hearing the elder's angry shout, scornful murmurs filled the arena. After all, losing a normal duel wasn't a big deal. But cheating would be deeply despised by everyone.

Xiao Ning heard his grandfather's reminder and then realized that his punch had felt like hitting a piece of iron, leaving his right hand aching. So that's cheating! He stared at Xiao Yan with disdain and said mockingly, "I didn't expect you to be capable of cheating. You've really disgraced the Xiao family."

"You say I cheated, so you cheated! Do you have any proof?" Xiao Yan picked his nose, flicked a booger at Xiao Ning, and said casually.

Xiao Ning quickly dodged the disgusting thing, took a step forward to Xiao Yan, grabbed Xiao Yan's clothes with both hands and tore them in two instantly.

Xiao Yan's physique was incredibly well-proportioned, with a red fist mark on his left shoulder, clearly from being punched by Xiao Ning. Whether Xiao Yan was a waste or not is another matter, but his physique was undeniably impressive.

Xiao Xun'er hurriedly covered her eyes, her face flushed red, peeking at Xiao Yan through her fingers. Looking around, she discovered that many girls in the audience shared the same idea. Some even skipped covering their eyes, staring directly at her with wide eyes. With a quick smirk and a flick of her hand, a piece of clothing appeared in her grasp. She ran onto the stage, handed the clothing to Xiao Yan, and exclaimed, "Brother Xiao Yan, put this on quickly! Don't you have any shame!"

Xiao Yan smiled and took the clothes, ignoring where Xun'er had gotten them for him, and put them on directly.

Seeing that Xiao Yan was already dressed, Xun'er blushed and hurriedly ran back to the stage.

Seeing this, Xiao Ning's anger flared up again. Xun'er not only cooked for Xiao Yan but also made clothes for him, treating him practically like a maid. Meanwhile, he had been relentlessly pursuing her, yet Xun'er remained indifferent to him. When he greeted her, she would only offer a brief response; a deeper conversation was virtually impossible.

(End of this chapter)