The biennial Joint Tournament of Disciples south of the Huai River was an extremely grand event.
The Xie Family, as the organizer, arrived at the venue early in the morning and was meticulously setting things up. Different from previous years, this time, the Xie Family had specially added a seat.
That seat was located in the elegant pavilion right opposite the center of the arena.
According to past practice, on this day every time, all the elegant pavilions in this building would surely be filled to capacity. However, this time, the Xie Family actually passed up this great opportunity to make money.
Externally, the elegant pavilion was not open.
No one even saw anyone enter the elegant pavilion.
The grand battle was about to begin. Xie Yu led the guards of the Xie Family to surround the elegant pavilion tightly.
People passing by all cast sidelong glances.
"Is the Xie Family getting things backwards this year? Clearly, the arena should be the main focus. Why are they putting so much effort into an elegant pavilion?"
"Yeah, in previous years at this time, the elegant pavilion was the best place to watch the tournament and would always be auctioned off at a new high price. But this time, the Xie Family would rather leave the elegant pavilion empty than auction off its spot today."
"Strange!"
"Really strange!"
In front of the elegant pavilion, people kept walking by, stopping, and then chatting.
"Just wait. The Xie Family is not afraid of offending people by doing this."
"Maybe there's a big shot in the elegant pavilion that the Xie Family can't afford to offend."
"Who knows."
The relationships and interests among the great families were beyond anyone's full understanding.
"Could it be the young Lord Nan Feng of the Mysterious Light Mansion? I heard that he's also come south of the Huai River this time."
"What's he doing here? He can't participate in this competition, and there's no need for him to. Lord Nan Feng is already an inner - sect disciple of the Wang Family."
"I don't know. Maybe this elegant pavilion was reserved for Lord Nan Feng."
A group of people not far away clearly heard this discussion.
Walking at the front of this group was a young man in blue. His appearance was only passably good - looking, not truly handsome.
He had a pair of fox - like eyes and an eagle - like nose. Every time he squinted his eyes, it always made people feel a sense of danger.
As soon as this young man appeared, he attracted a large number of onlookers.
"Look, it's really the Lord of the Mysterious Light Mansion."
"The beast beside him looks so imposing."
"Yeah, the beast beside the Lord is much more ferocious than the spiritual beast of the head of the Xie Family."
The young man in blue was Nan Feng, the Lord of the Mysterious Light Mansion and one of the four favored disciples of the Wang Family.
Nan Feng had come this time to take revenge on Xie An. Every student who participated in the trial at the Misty Rain Tower came for the purpose of being promoted to the fourth level and getting tasks from the four great families.
As one of the favored disciples of the four great families, he personally gave an order to that "Viper" (Xie An). Not only did he refuse to accept it, but he even dared to mock him.
Didn't Viper know that if he offended Nan Feng, he would never be able to make a living south of the Huai River in the future?
"Lord, look. The head of the Xie Family really knows how to behave. Our family's beast injured their family - protecting beast, yet they still reserved a prime seat for us."
"I think so too. You don't even think about who our Lord is. Even if we were to raid the Xie Family, they would only be worthy of kneeling in front of our Lord, wagging their tails and begging for mercy, fawning on us humbly."
"The head of the Xie Family is really 'generous'!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone burst into laughter.
Even the leading young man in blue had a faint smile on his lips.
This smile was full of mockery.
The group swaggered and slowly walked to the bottom of the elegant pavilion. When Xie Yu saw them coming, he was very unhappy in his heart, but on the surface, he still had to flatter them.
His father had said that it was extremely unwise to conflict with this young man Nan Feng on the surface.
"Greetings to the Lord of the Mysterious Light Mansion."
"Easy."
The young man in blue waved his hand and was about to step into the elegant pavilion.
Seeing this, Xie Yu quickly blocked Nan Feng's way.
Nan Feng frowned and said unhappily, "Young Master Xie, what are you doing?"
"Lord, I'm really sorry. My father said that this elegant pavilion is reserved for a noble guest, and no one else can enter."
Noble guest? No one else?
"What? This elegant pavilion wasn't prepared for our Lord?"
As soon as the thug beside the young man in blue heard this, he was about to rush forward. But the guards of the Xie Family were no pushovers. They immediately formed a human barrier in front of the elegant pavilion.
"Sorry, Lord. This elegant pavilion really wasn't prepared for you."
Xie Yu tightly held the sword in his hand.
This Nan Feng regarded their Xie Family as nothing. Because of his personal grudge with Xie An, he took it out on the Xie Family and even indulged his Four - Symbol Stone White Tiger to seriously injure their spiritual beast.
As a favored disciple of the Wang Family, Nan Feng couldn't not know the significance of a beast to a family.
But look at the wounds on the spiritual beast. Every strike was aimed at a vital part.
He clearly wanted to kill the spiritual beast. They didn't put the Xie Family in their eyes at all and still wanted to lord it over them on the Xie Family's territory. Did they really think that the Xie Family was weak and could be bullied at will?
"Is Young Master Xie serious?"
The young man in blue spoke softly, and his tone was full of threats.
Xie Yu was smart and good at handling things. Hearing this, he quickly bowed and clasped his fists and said, "Look, this is really unfortunate. Lord, you know that our Xie Family is extremely loyal to the Wang Family. We offer a large number of tributes every year. If we had known that the Mysterious Light Mansion was coming to watch the tournament this year, no matter how difficult it was, we would have reserved the room for you. But this time, the elegant pavilion has already been reserved by a big shot. Our Xie Family can't afford to offend this person. What do you think?"
"Who can't you afford to offend? Does your Xie Family want to be an enemy of my Mysterious Light Mansion?"
"What are you saying, Lord? How could that be? The Wang Family has been very kind to our Xie Family. But Lord, you may not know that a few days ago, our family - protecting beast came back, seriously injured by an unknown brute. We were still hoping that the Wang Family would stand up for us and find the mastermind behind this. Look, now that the Lord is here, I can just report this matter to you. As long as the Lord can catch the culprit who injured our family's beast, not to mention the elegant pavilion, even all the rare treasures of the Xie Family, we are willing to offer them all."
The expressions of the group changed slightly.
Judging from the vision of the head of the Xie Family, it shouldn't be difficult to tell that the spiritual beast's wounds were caused by their Lord's Four - Symbol Stone White Tiger.
But this young man named Xie Yu actually pretended not to know at all and even said these flattering words in public. Wasn't this clearly not giving Nan Feng and his group a way out?
"Your name is Xie Yu?"
"Yes."
"I'll remember you."
"Thank you for your attention, Lord."
Xie Yu showed no fear on his face. Nan Feng flicked his sleeves and left.
Everyone gasped.
Was the young master of the Xie Family crazy?