14

My father and I quickly arrived at the largest estate in the clan, which was painted with blue and red colors, which emphasized the two spirits of the Lin family – ice and fire. It was also distinguished by its high roof, on which hung various ornaments. If my memory serves me correctly, inside the building is the largest arena of all built on the territory of the clan, where all the important battles among the younger generation are usually held. As soon as we opened the heavy doors, many eyes turned on us with a variety of intentions.

Few people looked at us with real respect, as they should look at the head and his son, but most simply did not care if we were just insignificant members of the family. After a quick glance at our figures, they immediately turned their gaze to the platform with a small dais, where Ling Ba Dao, Ling Zhen – the seventh Elder and a simple singer, Ling Hao Ran and Ling Qian sat like kings surrounded by pathos.

By the way, the last two looked at me with special hatred, apparently hoping to burn a hole in me with their eyes. But I steadfastly ignored their mental threats, for my uncle had already received his reward: his most talented son had died at my hands, and that meant he would never be Patriarch again. And my cousin will soon get a slap in the face for her pride, not for long.

As soon as we reached the platform, the seventh Elder stood up from his seat-he looked like an ordinary skinny middle-aged man - then crossed eyes with Lin Ba Dao and continued his speech, which was definitely prepared to humiliate my father.

– You've finally arrived. Let's start our annual meeting, which is why we are all here today! After Ling Zhen's words, the temperature within a radius of several tens of meters immediately dropped, and the man's body trembled from the pressure. Lin Hai was going to finally, once and for all, give up the post of head, which means that there is no point in suffering humiliation for the sake of family members anymore.

"Lin Ba Dao, my dear brother, answer the question: isn't it the duty of the Patriarch to start his speech first in meetings?" looking around the crowd with cold eyes that glowed with a terrible icy fire, my father was able to bring horror to all those present.

"Lin Hai, you are the head, so you are the one to start your speech first!" Lin Ba Dao said calmly, as if he wasn't involved at all, and this wasn't his plan at all.

"If this happens again, I will have to throw you out of today's meeting, Ling Zhen," his father said in a threatening tone, emitting a strong pressure. The elder could only lower his head in fear of the superior force.

Ling Zhen and Ling Ba Dao have been working together for a long time to remove Ling Hai from the position of Patriarch, but each of their attempts ended in complete failure. It is expected that after a bunch of countless losses, the two old fools will realize that they do not have a chance, but these geniuses of the cultivation world, on the contrary, are not going to give up, completely ignoring the kindness of their father, each time becoming bolder!

When it seemed that the conflict was finally settled, Lin Qian stood up from her seat, pointing her finger at my father.

"Uncle, you're late, so I don't see anything wrong with the seventh Elder starting in your place," the cousin said smugly, as usual, not at all worried that her father might well have beaten her for such impudence towards the elder.

Since Lin Qian has decided to enter into a confrontation, then I, as a representative of the same generation, need to urgently put the arrogant girl in her place!

"Don't meddle in the affairs of your elders, Lin Qian, you are only a disciple, even if you are an Elite one. I advise you not to embarrass yourself and just shut your mouth! - the girl's face twisted with anger, she clearly did not expect that I, who was standing quietly and silent, would suddenly get into the conversation, and I would also be so calmly rude to her.

Ling Qian was about to engage in a violent verbal exchange with me, but a young girl in the gorgeous robes of the Hayu Yue Sect, who had been standing behind my cousin all this time, decided to take the floor.

– You may be a young master in this worthless clan, but anyone, even the weakest Elite disciple, can easily destroy you in a second!" The student spoke with superiority in her voice. Honestly, from such a formulaic and typical statement, I just want to roll my eyes.

– My father didn't invite such shameless individuals. You'd better get out of here quickly, or your great sect won't count its Elite students, " I replied with a bloodthirsty smile.

– Lin Feng, everyone in the clan praises Lin Qian for her achievements, and how dare you insult her? But the most important question is: how can you insult the esteemed disciples of the Hao Yue sect!? " The seventh elder instantly started up, forgetting about his fear.

"Ling Zhen, you're trying my patience, right?" Remind me, are you a member of the Lin Clan or just a common slave?" The grave cold burst out of the father's body, freezing half of the man's body. Ling Zhen trembled even more than before, his eyes filled with real terror.

"Excuse me, Patriarch." C - The annual meeting is now of the utmost importance. So, p-please start it as the head of the L-ling clan, " Ling Zhen said, shivering from the cold, while trying to get rid of the ice.

– I'm glad everyone's finally calmed down. At the end of each year, we hold a battle competition to test the young members. All this is done to identify talents in which the clan will be happy to invest. Let the annual competition among the younger generation begin! Lin Hai announced solemnly and loudly as he surveyed the crowd of young boys and girls of various ages.

Unfortunately, many on this list would like to hurt me. The Lin Clan was not a single entity and had several factions. My father tried his best not to create chaos, stopping his brothers every time, but this time he does not intend to tolerate it.

After signalling to the sixth elder, who was neutral in the struggle for power, the father was able to sit down in his rightful place of head for the first time.

Sixth Elder Lin Tu nodded with a grateful smile and walked to the edge of the arena, making the announcement in his crystal clear voice.

– The first round of the annual meeting is open to everyone, everyone comes and fights on stage, and the last remaining 32 members will advance to the next round!

The young members of the clan began to enter the arena, there were 73 of them, including me, and only three, namely Lin Qian, her brother Lin Hong, and Lin Heng, the son of the sixth elder, were able to reach the Lin Qi stage. A lot of cold eyes fell on me, everyone saw me as just a mattress that would fly out before everyone else, and over which you can make fun of your ego because of this. Hah, they all have no idea what my true strength is. Everyone probably thinks that I have reached the maximum level 7, but only Lin Hao Ran should understand that I am clearly stronger than a level 8 Ki stage practitioner, since I killed his son.

The fighting began. A big guy with a spear on his shoulder ran at me, his level was 9, so he stood out well from the other weaklings. The other participants also did not stay away, starting to surround me menacingly.

– Get off this stage!" If you stay, you'll only disgrace yourself! Ling Wu said with disdain. He was the son of the seventh elder, that is, the same Ling Zhen.

Quickly crossing half of the arena, Lin Qian elegantly appeared surrounded by the students. Because of its occurrence, many began to immediately retreat. And yet it was not for nothing that the temperature began to drop at lightning speed, freezing the feet of some people and creating small crusts of ice.

"He's mine," her cousin said icily. The voice made the students ' skin crawl.

– I don't really need it!" Ling Wu got cold feet and gave way to Ling Qian. The girl slowly approached me completely relaxed, thus showing that no one is her opponent here.

– Don't worry, I won't let anyone touch you. You just have to get through to the next round. If you leave the arena so early, my revenge will be of no interest – " with a nasty smile, apparently taken from Chu Zhang Peng, she revealed her plan of action.

"Ha, ha, ha," I still couldn't help it, so my laughter quickly spread throughout the estate, and people started looking at me strangely when they heard it. - It's fun to watch fools share the skin of a bear that hasn't been killed yet.

After these words, I released the killing intent along with the Ling Qi stage energy into the space. A heavy pressure descended on all the students, as if someone had increased the gravity several times. A lot of Level 7 and level 8 Ki students immediately lost their minds, and a couple of level 9 students managed to hold on for a couple more seconds, but soon also lost consciousness. There were only the three I had thought of from the beginning left in the arena on two legs. With the help of the world of darkness, you can easily determine the level of the nearby practitioners, so I was quite sure that Ling Qian, Ling Hong, and Ling Heng would still be with me, just perfect for the semi-finals. Yet they had to use all their Ling Qi stage strength to stay on their feet. My Qi control is quite high, and I can use it to make the Ki stage cultivators fall to the ground without any problems.

Everyone watching was shocked. No one expected me to be able to do this. My breakthrough to the Ling Qi stage in such a short time in such a land was something of a miracle, but in the larger world, there are a bunch of young cultivators who have reached the Emperor stage, and it is to their level that I aspire. However, no matter what I say, seeing the round eyes of Lin Qian and her dad is priceless.

Initially, I did not plan to immediately get rid of all the weak students, but when I remembered the further plot, namely a bunch of dangerous enemies, I realized that I was now digging in the sandbox with the kids. The sooner this whole circus is over, the better off I'll be. In a way, it's wildly selfish to keep the others from revealing themselves, but they can still participate in the next competition, and I don't have much time.

…

"When the father is a dragon, the son cannot be a snake" - this was the thought that roamed in the minds of all the elders.

Lin Feng was not like any other Lin Clan disciple. He didn't inherit the spirit of fire or the spirit of ice, but instead he had the spirit of a snake. This spirit didn't look like a normal beast spirit. No one knew how it could be used or how powerful it was. Since they couldn't feel the power and didn't know how to use it, the snake spirit was called trash spirit. That was why Lin Feng was recognized as a scum.

"Lin Feng, what are you doing?!" With a furious and indignant cry, Ling Zhen stood up from his seat, intending to pounce on the guy, but he was stopped in time by Ling Hai, this time freezing more than half of his body. "My s-son!

"Calm down, Seventh Elder. Explain yourself, Xiao Feng, why did you do this? feeling a growing headache, the father asked his son.

– I find it pointless to conduct the rest of the battles, except, of course, the battles of the Ling Qi cultivators. It is unlikely that the practitioners of the Ki stage will show us anything interesting today – " Lin Feng calmly expressed his opinion, flashing an impudent smile.

Lin Ba Dao was about to stand up and disrupt what he thought was a clowning match, but the Patriarch raised his hand, focusing all his attention on himself.

– Before you object, I have an important announcement to make. After today's meeting, I will renounce my position as the head of the Lin Clan! This post will pass into the hands of you, Lin Ba Dao, I hope that under your leadership the clan will not degrade completely, " at the end of the speech, many people rose from their seats in surprise.

"Heh, you finally gave up, Lin Hai! Ling Ba Dao said with a smug smile, secretly rejoicing at this unexpected outcome.

Nodding to the crowd with the elders, the Patriarch gave them a sign, and they did not hesitate, went into the arena, starting to take away the still unconscious carcasses. Lin Hong and Lin Heng looked pale and generally didn't feel very well after such a display of strength from Lin Feng, but after regaining their composure, they were able to calm down, giving our protagonist resolute and hostile looks. Lin Qian didn't lose her confidence at all and looked at Lin Feng with an arrogant look, still underestimating his power.

"There's been a sudden change. The semi-final will be held as follows: Lin Qian vs Lin Heng, Lin Feng vs Lin Hong. Lin Qian and Lin Heng, you start first.

All the viewers immediately began to share their comments among themselves, making various bets.

"Lin Heng and Lin Feng are real dark horses!" They both broke through to the Ling Qi layer! But Lin Qian and Lin Hong inspire a lot more confidence! Interesting couples, I think, in the final there will be a battle of two children of the future head of the clan! The sixth elder is quite a sly person to have made such pairs, " the senior members of the Ling whispered to each other.

Lin Feng and Lin Hong moved away from the arena, giving up the entire area to the other two participants.

– You should give up the battle. You can't beat me! Ling Qian still said arrogantly, casually brushing off her red robes.

– I don't care if I lose, I still want to fight to learn about my own strength!" Lin Heng spoke fervently, looking at his opponent with determined and fiery eyes. The guy released his fire spirit – the atmosphere instantly filled with heat.

– Your spirit is also awakened, not bad,not bad. What a pity that it's just an ordinary fire spirit. You still don't stand a chance against me, " the girl said in a cold tone as she released her two spirits at the same time. Those, having merged, gave out a transparent and amazing-looking ice that was enveloped in a hot flame.

On the path of perfection, one of the main stages was the stage of awakening the spirit. The spirit of some people is stronger, others are weaker-it all depends on the strength and talent of the cultivator.

"No wonder many of the elders support her. Paired spirits are a real rarity, and this is the first time in our clan that such an owner has ever been present, apart from Lin Feng, of course, but one of his spirits is completely useless. Lin Qian can practice both fire techniques and ice techniques. Surely, she will become incredibly strong in the future! the audience shouted, marveling at the girl's talent. Lin Ba Dao, hearing these cheers from the assembled crowd, began to smile broadly as he accepted the congratulations from the elders closest to him.

"Eternal Snow!" A white frost mist burst out from Lin Qian's spirit, covering the entire arena, including Lin Heng. Snowflakes began to fall into his lungs, controlled by the girl, the guy urgently needed to respond with his strongest attack, before he lost his lungs.

"Flaming Excitement!" Fire waves erupted from Lin Heng's body, freeing him from the shackles of the icy steam. Clearing his throat, the guy started to look around, but realized that he had lost sight of his opponent.

Cursing his inattention, Lin Heng began to release even more heat waves into the atmosphere, hoping to survive the next attack, but the tsunami of fire still couldn't save the guy from being attacked by Lin Qian in the back. The most dangerous crackling frost covered Lin Heng from head to toe, shackling him with a kind of ice chains. Right now, the guy's body was in incredible pain. He had no other options but to give up and finally fall at the cold hands of a beautiful girl.

"Lin Heng, are you okay?" The sixth elder asked his son excitedly.

"Y-everything is n-normal, Father!" Lin Heng replied in a trembling voice, biting his blue lips. His whole body was shaking, and his teeth were chattering from the cold. "L-Ling Qian, we will have an m-rematch in the future!"

After that, he turned around and limped out of the arena. Elder Lin Tu could only sigh at his son's stubbornness. Lin Heng was two years older than Lin Qian and Lin Feng, but still, even though he admitted that he wasn't particularly talented outside of the clan, he didn't give up on his dream of becoming a great man. And even though our main character believed that no one really deserves his attention in this kingdom, he willingly recognized people who try their best to get recognition and stand out in people!

...