Mysterious old man

They were now two kilometers away from the Inflamed region but the heat from the flames could be felt. "Clan leader, how are we gonna resist the heat radiating from the flames?" Si Zhang was very worried. If he could feel such heat from this distance, then would he turn to ashes when they will be much closer?

"worry not Zhang, worry not. A couple of days after the messanger of the Wang clan had delivered the news of the duels, an eagle messenger brought a sort of talisman. I need to break it and a barrier will protect us from the great heat"

Si Zhang was not worried anymore and so were secretly the others too. Getting closer and closer, the view was unbelievable. rivers of flames, forest of flames, but no smoke. this was totally new for Si zhang, when he was on earth something like this didn't exist.

At a specific distance, the clan leader broke the talisman. An orange light submerged the flying lizard, protecting him and the passengers.

They traveled for six hours and finally, they saw a collosal stone wall from far away. They were a towering fifty meters high. We could feel the differance in might between the Si clan and the Wang clan. It's how every clan from the Evil faction would feel in front of the Wang clan, little.

The stone walls were also submerged by the flames, but the city within was not. "Clan leader, how come the city within is not under the flames?" Si Zixin asked out of curiosity.

The fifth elder answered instead. "The clan leader of the wang clan is controlling the flames in a way, that it would not engulf the citizens"

To control such a large radius of flames, this Wang clan leader must be powerful. Getting closer to the stone walls, two flying martial artists stopped the great lizard in the air.

"Si clan, our clan leader has awaited your arrival. Follow us we will guide you to the palace" Si Zhang was curious on how they could fly. Could he do it it too?

Following the two martial artists, they very soon arrived at a great palace. The palace was where the clan leader and the elders would live.

Landing, the lizard proceeded to lay down and sleep. It was tired from all this travel. "follow us" walking behind the two martial artists, the group arrived at the great hall of the palace, it was four times bigger than the hall of the Si clan.

At the end of the great hall, a man with long hair dancing like flames was sitting on a grand and majestic throne. Behind the throne was a great painting , we could see a middle aged man slaughtering a dragon.

"Si Biaobao, I welcome you and your dogs in my great Demon City" the Wang clan leader insulted them without shame.

"it is good to see you too old friend Wang Chao." the clan leader acted like he didn't hear the insult. In front of such a mighty man, he could do nothing.

One of the martial artist that had led them came forward to explain the rules.

"Tomorrow the duels will take place, so I will tell you what rules we our clan leader. And what will happen to the and the loser, I will tell you too"

Si Zhang and the others listened with attention. "the disciples of the elders will battle to the death. Let's say that following the duels there only remains one of your disciple alive. This disciple will have to duel all the living Wei clan members. The winning clan decides what happens with the other clan"

"Dueling to death will be tough if I have to fight someone stronger than me" Si Zhang was getting worried, what if he had to face a stronger opponent?

Having greeted the Wang clan leader and knowing the rules of the duels. The group was led to their respective rooms. Si Zhang had to share his room with Si Hu.

"brother Zhang, are you worried?"

Hearing Si Hu's question, Si Zhang hesitated in telling the truth because he was really worried.

"uumm, yes. I am a little bit worried, I have only fought against bandits and not real martial artists. It will be the first time I will face somebody with real skill"

Si Hu completely understood Si Zhang's worries. "brother Zhang, have confidence in yourself. Do never fear the enemy, even if he is stronger. Just give it your all!"

Placing his hand on Si Zhang's shoulder he comforted him, he needed it. "alright let us rest now, we need to be focused and wel rested"

*************

Master Si was in the great hall, thinking about Si Zhang. "Little Zhang, I hope to see you again. Do not die" but he was interrupted by a guard barging in. "great elder, the clan members that you have sent to scout the surroundings of the city have been found dead!"

"dead? How can this be!" standing from his chair Master Si walked rapidly outside and made his way to the main gate. He arrived at the scene not long after.

He saw ten clan members laying dead, cut in half on the ground. They were killed very smoothly from what Master Si could see. "one slash, the person who did this is not weak. But who could it be?"

Master Si had an idea, using his divine sense maybe he could spot the person who did this.

"there!" spotting the presence of someone near a river six hundred meters away from his position, Master Si runned as fast as possible.

Near the river was an old man, with a wooden fishing rod in his hands. Well obviously he was fishing. Coming closer to the old man, Master Si noticed his curved back. But he was no fool, he knew that this old man was the one described by Si Zhang.

"Stop acting, who are you!" Master Si wanted to know. "hahaha, I cannot fool you. You are a smart old man like me after all, let's not lose anymore time and get to bussines"

Throwing the fishing rod to the ground, this fragile looking old man let his concealed aura out, it was as if he was a monster awakening from its slumber.

"what does an expert like you want with my Si clan, are you perhaps a spy? It doesn't matter anyways, because you will die today"

"I will die today? I am not so sure of it, friend.

Hahaha, here I come!"

Lunging towards Master Si the old man was ready to tear him apart.