Month 6 Week 5 Traveling Around for Artifacts Part 7 Elemental Festival

Leroy was done with his thoughts and moved over to Tang Bo and Xiao Mei.

"Alright, what is the problem?" Leroy asked quickly as he came over. The expression clued him that something was wrong but so did their cultivation when he got close enough to feel the small bursts after probing. They were damaged by Qi he was familiar with and a set he did not think would make an appearance so soon again. "What the hell happened!?"

Leroy was upset and let it show immediately as a deeper feel and comparison revealed the QI was stronger than it was before. By leaps and bounds higher than his own growth period.

*Woosh!* A powerful Qi left his body that raged at the instinctual fear of death lingered. Powerful waves pushed a few festival goers from them that weren't prepared for such a thing. Leroy grabbed the arms of Tang Bo and Xiao Mei harder as he tried to do something about what was going on, channeling his Qi into the two to heal their cultivation base at the very least and stave off medical issues.

The physical wounds already hurt them some but could be fixed later.

"Settled down my friend!" Tang Bo was happy but didn't expect this after what he heard happened with Tang Xuan.

Leroy told them not to go there to that family but they did and it turned out very bad. Luckily he was fond of the two and trusted them both still. Not to mention the Connection in his screen was acting oddly. They didn't think this was going to happen in such a way.

Both actually thought he would send them away or even worse turned them in. That was how deep the fear that felt from what took place. If not because of pursuers, they would not have stopped in this area.

"I will explain! Just remember where we are!"

As Leroy helped them circulate his qi in the two, his anger continued to rise. What damaged their cultivation also ate at their life force. To think the Dark Tang Family would do that to them and thought they could get away with it was just absurd.

Even partnering with the Dark Tiger-fire Family pairing up with the two.

"Never thought I would want to wipe out a Family again!" His teeth gnashed as his eyes burned in anger and increasing hatred. 'Doing such a thing and already causing me trouble.. I will have to make sure they are taught a hard lesson!'

The Family of course did not attack him directly but since he developed a method to deal with the plants before this was something to worry about.

Leroy's lighting ate away the corrosion inside the cells. His fire scorched the Meridians of the of the Corpse Qi by absorbing them into himself. Inscribing healing properties a little to help long-term for such a situation did help him.

Tucking it away in his Internal Space for later to see if he can pinpoint who it came from, Leroy listened intently while treating them both with other forms of medical care. A Jin Family member that presided over the festival ordered them to see to the situation.

"Just remind them this is a joyous occasion, and to keep it quiet!"

"Of course!" The member was happy to do it but thought a little too much of himself.

'That show of force was very impressive from what I heard before but how will he handle situations beyond his handling ability.' The providing protective elder of the Clear Jing-fire Family thought to himself. He looked over at some of the other family heads that stared at Leroy with interest. Some had been at the akademy when he won before and had even wager bets in his favor. 'The Dark Tiger-fire family has quite an interest in him as well, I wonder how strong he will become in the future?'

Rumors were such a problem still.

"We were hassled as they tried to discover how we grew so strong in such a time." Tang Xuan said. Xiao Mei kept quiet and focused on the fighting and her surroundings. Eyes darted around as if she was waiting for an enemy to pop out from anywhere. "A few of the "Flame Glass" you gave us were taken. But they paid for that pretty quickly when catching them in the act of using it." An evil look flashed in his eyes. "The fire destroyed one of the seated Elder Caxio's cultivation completely. As well as creating a big fire that cut several parts of the compound on fire. We told them it was dangerous to mess with."

"Hmm." Leroy just nodded but made sure to create a stricter policy for any items he gives out in the future. 'Should not have given to them in the first place or made it possible for them to really know about it. Careless!'

"They tried to torture us for the method to handle it but we didn't talk. It was not until the Discipline Department came and freed us that things worked out."

Tang Xuan did not forgive the fact his own parents were of no help during this situation. Yet earlier that day, they were head over heels with the young couple and the great accomplishments gained. And happy they came to honor their ancestors of their Union as a total. The high cultivation of their son and wife was something to celebrate thrice over.

"My own father drugged me to get the method out with intense Bloodline Techniques. And tried it with little success. Both of his arms are useless now."

The venom in his voice was not missed. But Leroy was a little shocked they moved to the point of using Bloodline Techniques on them. Besides being mostly unheard of in use at this age but also really difficult to control as the methods required a large amount of blood consumption to fuel it.

"So they understand the method of the modified Fire Body?"Leroy gave him a hard look. The nod he received was all he needed to confirm he needed to implement the changes with the technique to his people to keep them with the advantage. "What is it?" Xiao Mei pointed behind Leroy. A Jing Family member stood behind him. "What do you want?"

"For you to settle down," the Lin member said simply. Thinking Leroy was just some nobody since he saw only the back of him. "if you can't, please leave."

"Duly noted." Xiao Mei frowned at the member. She gestured for him to go away as he was also blocking line of sight and taking up valuable treatment time. "Go guard some door somewhere. We are busy."

"You lowlifes, keep it down over here! This is a very important festival for the community! Don't you realize that the Clear Jing Family is.." The guard started throwing weight around but that was a bad call.

*Pow!* A fist imprinted directly appeared on the man's face and knocked him to the side. Leroy didn't even move as the blow formed completely from his built-up hostility itself.

"We will take care of the Tang Family soon.. In fact, the perfect chance is coming up that I have gotten wind of. Be prepared." Leroy did not like the idea of the Sucking Plant making a comeback or someone using Corpse QI like this either. He turned around to enter the ring area to finish this all up. "It seems I must do some things I don't want, but no matter the means, victory is what matters at this point. Plans can be changed and adjusted for morality. Just rest you two."

They nodded but one thing irked him in regards to the others.

"Where are Tang Xui, Tang Bo, and the others?" He stopped as this was a concern.

"I don't know. I know that at least Tang Xui got out. Her father left during the Family meeting in which he broke all ties. In fact.." Xiao Mei took out a letter to give him that was entrusted to her by Tang Xui. "I don't know what language this is maybe you do."

"Yeah.. it's code. I taught it to Tang Xui and Tang Xuan when they asked to make some languages for fun." Reading it over, Leroy went from a wave of simmering anger to burning anger that caused the area to heat up. "...the Dark Tang Family should be wiped off the face of the Planet!"

A few heard this and thought it was odd to hear. Especially a few people from other Prominent Families that had beef with them. The Civil War was not something everyone took lightly after all.

More than a handful of envoys were sent to investigate and a few elders left to head back to their individual homes to

Jing Van had just fried a random cultivator of the Chu Family. Showing off his fresh Foundation Establishment Cultivation earned from a flush of resources as far as Leroy could tell. The crowd was impressed with the young Flame Martial Artist having reached such a state all the same.

"Already there, and only at the age of 19." A cultivator said a little shamefully. He himself was 27 and just reached the Foundation Establishment Realm as well but the gap in age made him down. "He's definitely the most outstanding genius of the Festival!"

'I didn't think that Jing Van's strength would have already reached a level like this.' Jing Lin was somewhat disturbed as the resources pumped into him proved the family was being stingy with others. If not for her and Leroy coming to that agreement, she might have even regressed with her Cultivation of all things if not careful! 'But that level of strength would not help me with the family trouble.'

Her eyes looked to the Chu family and a few other promising cultivators in the area. In pity at none could help her at this time. She then looks towards Leroy in anticipation but the look of anger before did not bode well for their plan.

'I wonder if he will come out on top?' Asking herself this, Jing Lin focused on some quick plans to help if things go badly.

"It's your turn, Chu Xue, don't forget our bet!" Jing Van's voice was arrogant as he spoke to the crowd. His pride rose higher and higher from the stares of admiration from the crowd from the Cultivation he showed. "Or have you decided to hide away until my strength drops like a little coward?"

A few frowned as this was not the purpose of the Festival. Not to mention he was a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator talking to one in the Qi Refining Realm.

"I Chu Xue am no coward." The young Chu Family disciple stepped into the arena. Before he could start, another person stepped in. The crowd liked the developing situation as it was better than what was happening now. "Inspector Leroy, what is the meaning of this?"

As the situation there, someone was having a very bad time.

.

Dark Tang Family-

.

Tang Xui was running for her life as she had to take the long way around to escape with the help of her father. With her, a few of the servants who did not want to die trailed behind.

Of course, the entire party was exhausted but this would not get her to stop. More than once Tang Xui informed them they could rest when they were dead. She kept going and going despite her injuries earned from a Rebel ambush.

Stopping very briefly, Tang Xui stared out checking any resources she had left over. Unfortunately, nothing could help in this short of time and the flares were all gone.

"Damn it... I hope they got away!" Feeling the situation was only worse, her thoughts went to all the things she didn't accomplish. 'If I would not have gone with him, what would have happened? Would my father still be alive? Would teacher Jin not have taken that strike?'

The loss of her father was heavy but the fact her family was turning into such a problem caused Tang Xui to come to terms really quickly. Her father was strong but the could not stand against so many at once and the fact he got her so much time to escape it was a good memory to keep of how determined he was to make sure she lived.

"Lady Xui.. what do we do now?" Tang Kong, a very low member of the family asked scared. The boy was only 8 and had already seen his parents die with most of the family that had any cultivation. "Everyone is really scared."

Before Tang Xui could answer them, a young woman came out of the woods. Something about her was both dangerous but also comforting. With a toss of a stone tablet that exploded, the entire area was covered in a clear membrane.

Making the hand gesture to be quiet, they did so mostly from being dead tired. A few minutes later, a few pursuit squads from the Dark Tang Family flew overhead.

On their backs, they each had a strange vine-like growth that pumped into their spines. Minutes turned to hours as the strange woman still gestured for them to be quiet.

Another wave of cultivators flew by they were all members of the Dark Tiger-fire Family. Whether were on teams with those who passed before or there to take them out was still being figured out.