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Chapter 204 - 204: Two Hundred: Status

If there’s something most difficult to hold in this world, it would probably be the second place.

Because people always remember the story of the champion, and the runner-up, though excellent, is always forgotten.

What’s even more difficult than the second place is when there are two first place holders.

Difficult hardly describes this situation; it should be considered Herculean.

Whenever there are two powers clashing, they might end up shaking hands in the end, while the helpless runner-up simply disappears.

The Xiao Clan doesn’t want to be the disappearing runner-up, thus they strived harder. If compared to the other clans, the Tang-Mi duo was of no use to others in Xiling, but to the Xiao Clan, they were the ones who the Tang and the Mi Clans had been eyeing.

However, the cunning Xiao Clan always stayed neutral, rooted in the east of Xiling, with talents in every generation.

And the most prominent name in the previous Xiao Clan was the current clan leader – Xiao Jinlin.

The biggest difference between small and medium-sized families and rich families is that the upper echelons of these smaller-sized families are all warriors. They depend on battles to seize resources. To them, a strong martial artist is more important than power and strategy. In short, their clan leader can only be the strongest.

Even the overpowering Xiao Clan cannot escape this trend. Even though Xiao Jinlin is almost eighty years old, he still holds the position of Clan Leader, because so far, no one in the Xiao Clan is stronger than him.

With visitors coming from Chengzhou, the deaths of the four patriarchs of West City, and the Xu Clan challenging the competition platform of Longzhou, it seems that everything is exploding this year. The doorstep of the Xiao Clan has never been busier, continuously receiving various clan leaders. However, Xiao Jinlin hasn’t shown any stance thus far.

Despite the news about the two new cities, the battle of West City or the current competition platform, Xiao Jinlin has sent all the visiting patriarchs home without any comment.

Xiao Jinlin had two sons, his eldest son Xiao Zheng and his second son Xiao Qi, named after the meaning of combining regular and surprise tactics in military strategy.

As the clan leader of the prestigious Xiao Clan, who only has two sons, naturally put all his effort into these two. Perhaps due to his overbearing control, his older son Xiao Zheng became averse to martial arts and put all his effort into music, chess, calligraphy, painting and trivial pastime activities.

Fortunately, Xiao Qi devoted himself to martial arts which naturally made him the junior patriarch of Xiao Clan, well-regarded by the family.

And this time, the one receiving the four small families from West City was the junior patriarch of the Xiao Clan.

Inside the council hall, Xiao Qi sat in the head seat.

He had a pair of unfathomable phoenix eyes, a slender figure, dressed in a brown satin robe, with a white dragon soul belt around his waist, his long hair flowing like water tied up with a jade crown behind his head. Although he seemed like a cultured man, none of the patriarchs dared to underestimate him, for this seemingly polite middle-aged man had killed countless strong foes.

Feng Liang Gong hoped to see Xiao Jinlin but ended up meeting Xiao Qi. All he could do was discuss the matter of the Shura Martial Arena, “Little Patriarch, the Xu Clan is coming on strong, just in two days more than a hundred Mortal Realm warriors have been killed. Now, we only hope that the Xiao Clan could send a warrior into the fight to regain some face for our Xiling!”

“Clan Leader Feng is being too polite. Xiling has Tang and Mi Clans, why would they need the Xiao Clan? I heard this son of the Xu Clan is the nephew of the First Head of the Tang Martial Arts Hall. Though his words seemed a bit arrogant, I think he just wanted to see what our Xiling warriors are capable of. He will leave in a few days. All of you, please go back.” Xiao Qi gestured toward the door to see them out.

Feng Liang Gong and the other three patriarchs, hearing these clearly perfunctory words, could only leave by bidding farewell.

Just as the four patriarchs were leaving the Xiao’s ground, a robust old man appeared from behind the screen. It was Xiao Jinlin.

“Father.” Xiao Qi stood up, respectfully offering his seat and saluting the old man.

The old man nodded at Xiao Qi, sitting down where Xiao Qi had been, his face showing deep worry.

Xiao Qi was very concerned, asking, “Why did you avoid seeing the patriarchs of the four small houses in West City, and asked me to hasten their departure?”

The old man glanced at Xiao Qi, knowing that he was full of questions, and replied, “Their positions are sensitive; even the slightest mistake could result in the destruction of their clans. Please don’t get close to them.”

“The Tang Clan has acted so domineeringly, killing four Fierce Realm patriarchs and hundreds of Mortal Realm warriors. Are we from the Xiao Clan supposed to just sit back and do nothing?! If we continue to ignore the Tang family’s hegemony, when they point their butcher’s knife at us, who will speak for us?”

This was Xiao Qi’s greatest confusion. He believed his father would understand the concept of a single misfortune may disrupt a whole plan. However, this time not only did they not stand up for the four small families, but they also chose to withdraw, which was against the Xiao Clan’s previous position of neutrality and fairness.

The old man shook his head and sighed, “The Tang Clan is domineering? If we were to rank the warriors of Xiling by their domineering, Tang Sen would be outside the top 100.”

“Then why did he kill the patriarchs of the four families without even explaining?” Xiao Qi didn’t doubt his father’s judgement. He just wanted to know how the rumors around Xiling and this incident could be explained if Tang Sen, indeed, was not domineering as Xiao Jinlin said.

“Feng Liang Gong and the others think they’re the victims, and so do you. But can anyone tell me why, if Tang Sen wanted to take action against the four families, why would he act alone and then disregard the four families afterwards?” The old man’s eyes flashed with wisdom, and he asked in return.

He paid most attention to this matter and had collected a lot of information. Piecing together those fragmented information, he finally managed to see a more or less accurate truth – regarding the battle outside the Xiling City, Tang Sen was not at fault.

Before the First Head of the Martial Hall had shown up, the four small families were truly the dominant party.

He didn’t hide this information from Xiao Qi but his most cherished son failed to come to the same conclusion as he did. If it were his eldest son Xiao Zheng, with his meticulous mind, he would surely be able to see the truth.

Unfortunately, Xiao Zheng has weak martial prowess and cannot hold important positions. The old man sighed quietly in his heart.

Xiao Qi realized his father’s hint, and reacted late, “You mean, when Tang Sen acted, he was only representing himself and he wasn’t in the wrong?”

The old man nodded, then abruptly asked, “How do you see the son of the Xu Clan from the Shura Martial Hall?”

Xiao Qi was still not used to his father’s divergent thinking. Even now, after so many years, his father could be discussing one thing one moment and jump onto another in the next. This characteristic made it somewhat difficult for Xiao Qi, a focused individual, to handle. Luckily, the matter his father brought up this time was indeed what he was most concerned about recently.

Xiao Qi’s phoenix eyes widened, the divine light exploded, the war intention was majestic, and he murmured excitedly from his throat, “An unparalleled Mortal Realm cultivator, the reputation of the sage family is deservedly not in name only!”

If it were not for his breakthrough into Fierce Realm, Xiao Qi would certainly like to go to the arena to fight against Old Xu.

Because of the displayed martial arts level and martial arts techniques of his opponent, Xiao Qi, as a martial maniac, was excited by the hunt and eager to fight.

Unlike all the other family’s children, Xiao Qi only had one dream from a young age that never changed, which was to meet an extraordinary opponent, to defeat or, to die in battle!