"It's been a month since we last met, Brother Xiao, why are you in such a state?"
In the Shuyang City, in front of an open space surrounded by people, Xiao Yan and his companions stood prominently. At this moment, beside Xiao Yan, a handsome young man dressed in white robes was smiling at the person in front of him, while Xiao Yan was staring at the smiling handsome young man in disbelief.
" Shui Miao!"
Staring at the person before him with astonishment, Xiao Yan couldn't help but gasp softly, his heart filled with surprise. After a month apart, he never expected to meet him again under the Xiao Clan's rule.
At the same time, Zhao Jin stared at the red-robed middle-aged man in front of him with an ugly expression. Even if he thought of everything, he could never have predicted that this person would come to Xiao Yan and the others' rescue.
" Fan Jian, this is a matter for my Xiao Clan, how dare you interfere?"
"Hmph, you dare to call yourself a Xiao Clan? It's utterly laughable!"
"You..."
Zhao Jin was about to get angry, but then his eyes flashed slightly and he saw the white-robed youth standing next to Xiao Yan. His heart immediately tightened and he thought to himself.
"The young master of the Ouyang Clan? What's he doing here, standing with that brat Xiao Yan...?"
Watching the two chatting and laughing, Zhao Jin's eyes flickered, and a sharp glint flashed deep within them.
" Shuyang City is under the jurisdiction of the Xiao Clan, how did you end up here?"
After a few words of conversation, Xiao Yan suddenly came to his senses. Normally, to avoid misunderstandings, the three clans would hardly have any contact. But today, Ouyang Miao actually appeared in the Xiao Clan territory, which was quite puzzling.
"Haha, of course I came for you."
Ouyang Miao looked at Xiao Yan with a slightly meaningful expression and chuckled.
"For me?"
Slightly taken aback, Xiao Yan was immediately taken aback. Before he could recover, the latter continued:
"We were supposed to head straight to Xiao City to meet you directly, but we heard halfway there that there was an auction of Intent Class Dou Technique in Shuyang City, so we decided to come and take a look on a whim. We didn't expect to find you here as well, which saves us a lot of trouble."
"The 'we' you're referring to are...?"
Sensing the unusual tone in his words, Xiao Yan immediately turned his gaze to the middle-aged man in red robes in the arena. Only then did he realize that this mysterious expert was actually with Ouyang Miao, which explained why he had made a move.
"This senior..."
"Haha, we can talk about other things later. Let's deal with this trouble first."
Before Xiao Yan could finish speaking, Ouyang Miao patted his shoulder lightly, then turned to look at the middle-aged man in red robes in the arena and smiled:
"Uncle Jian, thank you for your help."
"Hahaha, it's no big deal!"
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man known as Uncle Sword turned his head and laughed loudly. He rubbed his palms together, and the red longsword that had flashed before everyone's eyes earlier appeared in his hand. His sharp gaze then fell on Zhao Jin.
" Fan Jian, I only heard that you had joined the Ouyang Clan, but I never imagined it was true. You, who were always so proud with your sword, have actually groveled at someone else's feet. It seems you are nothing special after all!"
Zhao Jin looked coldly at Fan Jian in front of him and sneered in a deep voice.
"Hey, enough nonsense. I've heard that Patriarch Zhao Clan has mastered the Great Dao of Ice to a state of perfection. Now, let me have a good taste of it!"
As the last syllable fell, Fan Jian immediately threw out his crimson longsword, stomped his foot on the ground, and appeared directly in front of Zhao Jin with a warm smile on his face.
"Hmph, he brought this upon himself, so he has no one else to blame!"
Zhao Jin stared at the smiling Fan Jian with a gloomy gaze. A sinister look appeared in his eyes. With a flick of his wrist, an extremely cold ice cone materialized out of thin air, gathering in his palm and transforming into an ice-blue spear. It ripped through the void and hurtled towards Fan Jian like lightning.
Seeing this, Fan Jian chuckled, clenched his fist, and flames instantly condensed in his palm. The longsword flying from behind him passed through the flames, carrying raging fire, and collided head-on with the spear, completely blocking Zhao Jin's attack.
"With the auction about to begin, I'm not going to beat around the bush with you anymore. Let's get down to business and have a real showdown!"
Sheathing his longsword, Fan Jian flicked the blade with a finger, and the flames attached to it immediately spread out, swirling around him. With a series of roars, it transformed into a fire dragon, charging towards Zhao Jin with a deep roar.
Faced with such a fierce attack from the Fan Jian, even Zhao Jin, with his strength, had to be cautious. He immediately crossed his hands and slammed them together, shattering the icy spear in his hands into countless fragments. These fragments, carrying surging Origin Qi, spun wildly and charged fiercely towards the oncoming fire dragon.
"Bang bang bang bang..."
The surrounding crowd scattered, revealing a large area. The collision between the two became increasingly intense, causing the energy in this area to churn violently, almost boiling over. Exclamations of surprise frequently erupted from the crowd, and many people had already gathered their own Origin Qi to resist the terrifying energy ripples that burst forth from the point of their collision.
Looking at the scene unfolding in mid-air, Xiao Yan was somewhat shocked. Having experienced the battle at the Heavenly Cloud Manor, seeing this scene today made him feel anxious, and his hands under his sleeves clenched tightly.
As his horizons broadened, and considering everything that had happened since joining the Xiao Clan, he became increasingly aware that with his current strength, he would have to exert all his strength just to deal with a Yuan Zong level expert. Making the stubborn and foolish Xiao Clan take him seriously would be even more difficult. Therefore, he needed to improve his strength as quickly as possible...
For Xiao Yan, the increase in strength meant that he had to obtain a new Heavenly Flames!
" Pill Tower Ancestor... where can one find such a figure...?"
Thinking of Huo Zhu's words, Xiao Yan couldn't help but sigh helplessly. What kind of person was the Pill Tower Ancestor? For him to meet the latter in his current state was nothing short of a pipe dream. It seemed that he would have to find another way out.
"Bang!"
In mid-air, Fan Jian and Zhao Jin exchanged another palm strike. Fan Jian thrust out his long sword and Zhao Jin thrust out his ice spear. The two of them were forced to retreat one after another.
"Hahaha, that's great! Try taking my Fiery Flame Luo Seal!"
Fan Jian laughed loudly, sheathed his longsword, formed a hand seal, and raging flames rapidly condensed between his hands before being unleashed.
"Hmph, Heaven-Freezing Palm!"
Seeing this, Zhao Jin was not afraid at all. His chilling Origin Qi rapidly gathered in his palm. He stomped his foot on the void and his figure flashed out. In the next instant, he appeared in front of the huge fire seal. His face was solemn, and then he slammed out a palm!
With a single palm strike, an unparalleled surge of chilling energy erupted, bursting forth from the palm like a raging torrent, crashing down upon the fiery seal with overwhelming force.
"Bang!"
Under the watchful eyes of countless people below, the two powerful figures clashed brilliantly like two shooting stars streaking across the sky in that instant, followed by a deafening sound that resounded throughout the heavens and earth!
A terrifying energy storm swept across the sky. Where the two collided, a huge, dark spatial rift stretched out, like a chasm embedded in the void, making anyone who looked at it feel a chill.
The spread of the energy storm also brought with it a hurricane that swept across the sky and earth. The city below was in turmoil, with cries of alarm filling the air. Columns of energy light rose up, working together to resist the energy hurricane that descended from the sky.
"Haha, your Great Dao of Ice is nothing special after all. Let's try again!"
"How dare you boast! Today, I will make you submit completely!"
As the hurricane subsided, Fan Jian's arrogant laughter resounded once more, and crimson flames suddenly rose within the void. On the other side, Zhao Jin was also completely unafraid, and with a tremor, he burst forth once more.
"Enough! Haven't you made a big enough scene already?"
At that very moment, a voice filled with ancient reproach suddenly rang out between heaven and earth, and almost simultaneously, an unparalleled and terrifying pressure immediately enveloped the sky above this area.
As the voice faded, the two people in the sky who were about to make another move suddenly stopped. Their originally cold gazes froze for a moment, and then they snapped back to their senses. Their eyes turned to the imposing stone tower on one side, and a look of fear flickered deep within them.