Chapter 489: Elder He
Xiao Yan’s face was cold and indifferent. The green-purple fire lotus in his hand ruthlessly smashed toward the shocked and horrified face belonging to Lei Na. From the looks of the ferocious force, it was evident that the former did not have any intention of showing mercy.
“Stop!”
However, just as the fire lotus was merely around two feet from Lei Na, an old low cry was suddenly transmitted from a distance. Since the strength of the Dou Qi contained in the cry was strong, it resulted in the eardrums of the students in this area to be shaken until they felt a pain.
Xiao Yan’s face changed slightly when he heard the cry. A thought swiftly flashed across his heart. Xiao Yan forcefully stilled his vicious smashing hand in mid-air. Even though this was the case, the high temperature on the fire lotus still incinerated Lei Na’s hair into a pile of ashes in an instant.
“Chi!”
The moment that Xiao Yan’s palm came to a stop, an extremely powerful force abruptly flashed over from the mid-air. However, it was not directed toward Xiao Yan. Instead, it heavily shot onto Lei Na’s body. Immediately, under this ferocious force, Lei Na’s body was like a kite with its string severed. He rolled a couple of times in mid-air before heavily smashing into the wall. Immediately, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, dying the dark-black floor a dark-red color.
With Lei Na, who was in front of him, sent flying with one blow, Xiao Yan had lost his target. He could only slowly straighten his body while his palm dragged a green-purple fire lotus the size of a palm. He followed the gazes of everyone present and turned toward the source of the cry.
At the end of the well lit passageway, a few human figures had come flashing over. The person in front was clearly an old man. His speed was swift. Everyone had merely seen his body performing a few leaps and flashes when he appeared at this place where the incident had occurred.
“Elder He! Why was he disturbed? He even came out?”
Seeing the appearance of this old man whose body was a little hunched, some of the expressions of the observing students involuntarily changed. They cried out involuntarily. These tower guardian Elders had an extremely high position within the Inner Academy. They would usually not show themselves in situations where a fight broke out between students. It was really unexpected that the highest person-in-charge of the third level would actually make an appearance today. This caused these students to involuntarily feel some surprise.
Not long after the old man flashed and appeared, four to five human figures quickly appeared after him. The few of them were the instructors within the tower. They had hurried over because they had similarly sensed the frightening energy fluctuation here.
“What are you doing?” The sharp gaze of that somewhat hunched old man looked all around him as he coldly cried out.
The surrounding students all had their mouths tightly shut when they heard the question of the old man. The prestige these Elders had within the Inner Academy was something that could not be infringed upon. One would be in for suffering if one offended them.
“Elder He, why would we disturb your elderly self? There is only ordinary sparring going on here.” A somewhat sweet lovely voice broke the silence. It was actually Lui Fei who had swiftly walked forward and spoke with smile toward Elder He.
“An ordinary sparring? If I had come a little later, I’m afraid that a life might be lost!” Elder He coldly chided. He turned his gaze and stopped it on Xiao Yan’s body. When his gaze swept toward the purple-green fire lotus on Xiao Yan’s hand, his eyes suddenly shrunk. He could sense the frightening energy contained within that fire lotus.
“Little fellow, can you resolve that fire lotus in your hand? I will uphold justice for the incident here.” Elder He took one step toward Xiao Yan before he stopped. Within this range, he would be able to instantly come to the rescue in the event of any unexpected situation.
“I will do as Elder orders.” Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment after hearing Elder He’s words. After which, he nodded. He clearly knew the strength the Elders possessed within the Inner Academy. Naturally, he was unwilling to easily offend them.
Xiao Yan’s right hand covered the green-purple fire lotus suspended in his palm. Spiritual Strength came surging out and invaded the flame, splitting the tight connection of the fire energy within. With the great increase of his current strength, Xiao Yan’s control over this ‘Angry Buddha Lotus Flame’ had also reached a higher degree of proficiency. In the past he could not even grasp the merging portion, but he was now in possession of the ability to withdraw and release it as he pleased.
The erosion generated by the Spiritual Strength caused the green-purple flame to form an intense undulation. Upon seeing the fluctuation of the flame, Elder He’s face immediately became much more worried. His shriveled hands were curled slightly like an eagle claw and a sharp Dou Qi was partially visible in his palm, ready to act any moment.
However, it was fortunate that the worst case scenario Elder He expected did not appear. After the green-purple flame fluctuated a little, they gradually became illusionary. A moment later, they disappeared into thin air on Xiao Yan’s palm.
Seeing that the frightening flame had finally disappeared, Elder He quietly sighed in relief. His tense body also slowly became more relaxed.
“Little fellow, you are Xiao Yan, right?” On top of sighing in relief, Elder He looked up and down and sized up Xiao Yan. He recalled the frightening fire lotus from earlier and surprise flashed across his eyes as he asked Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan was slightly startled. He did not expect that even this Elder He had heard of his name. Immediately, he hurriedly nodded. “This little one, Xiao Yan, greets Elder He.”
“Ke ke.” Elder He smiled and nodded. The cold, sharp expression of Elder He became much gentler when facing Xiao Yan. He asked, “What happened here?”
“Elder He, you know that this training room is a place that Fei-er frequently uses. Today, it was forcefully occupied by this person. Big Brother Lei Na is merely helping Fei-er seek justice. However, it was really unexpected that this person was so ruthless in his attack. If Elder He had not shouted earlier, I’m afraid that Big Brother Lei Na would have lost his life here.” Hearing Elder He inquire about the entire story, Liu Fei hurriedly took a step forward. Her pretty face had some grievances as she explained what happened.
She had trained on the third level for a long period of time, therefore, Liu Fei and Elder He had met a couple of times before. Moreover, due to the beauty of the former, Elder He was extremely warm toward her when they spoke to each other occasionally. She naturally had some intentions of having Elder He punish Xiao Yan now that she had opened her mouth to speak first.
If this occurred during ordinary times and involved an ordinary student, Elder He might give the former a dressing down on account that a man should not argue with a woman. However, the offender today was Xiao Yan. The First Elder had mentioned this person by name and wanted all of them to take care of this student. Hence, Liu Fei’s hope clearly would result in her being disappointed.
Sure enough, after hearing Liu Fei’s narration, Elder He simply rolled his eyelids faintly and ignored her. He merely swept his gaze toward Xiao Yan and smiled as he said, “Xiao Yan, why don’t you describe what happened.”
Seeing that Elder He actually ignored her, that Liu Fei was involuntarily startled and immediately stepped back bitterly. She clearly knew the strength of these Elders. If it was her elder cousin here personally, the Elder might still give him some face. However, with her ability and training talent… she could only save the effort.
Xiao Yan glanced indifferently at Liu Fei, the wicked person who was the first to swing accusations. A cold smile that he did not hide drew passed his face. He cupped his hands toward Elder Liu and described all that had happened earlier in detail from the start to the end. Due to there being numerous spectators, Xiao Yan did not exaggerate anything, but merely told the truth of the story.
Elder He’s expression involuntarily became a little ugly as Xiao Yan told the story. He turned his head slightly, and coldly stared at Lei Na who was climbing to his feet at the corner of the wall. This stare of him caused the expression of the originally somewhat anxious Lei Na to become much paler.
Liu Fei by the side also heard Xiao Yan reveal her involvement. Her pretty face involuntarily became ugly once again.
“Lei Na, as a senior, you actually failed to follow the rules of the tower. You will be fined thirty days of ‘Fire Energy’ which you must pay up within three days. Otherwise, you will be punished by being prohibited from entering the ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower’ for one month.” After Xiao Yan had revealed the entire story, Elder He nodded. Under the observations of numerous gazes, he turned his gaze toward Lei Na and coldly spoke.
Upon hearing the punishment that came out of Elder He’s mouth, the surrounding students could not help but be startled. Immediately, they turned their pitiful gazes toward the pale-faced Lei Na. This fellow was going to bleed greatly this time around.
“Liu Fei, although you are not the primary offender, you have the fault of being an instigator and will be fined ten days of ‘Fire Energy.’ You must pay up within three days, or you will be punished as mentioned earlier.” The cold gaze once again turned toward Liu Fei. That cry, however, caused Liu Fei to become a little dull. She did not expect that Elder Liu would also punish her.
“Xiao Yan, although you had good reason, your attack was too vicious. You will be fined five days of ‘Fire Energy’ as a warning.” Elder He finally turned his gaze toward Xiao Yan and softly cried out.
Hearing that the punishment Elder He had given Xiao Yan was insignificant, the people around were once again shocked. They faced each other. Immediately, they appeared to have understood something and remained quiet. According to the rules, using a fatal attack during sparring would receive an extremely heavy punishment. Some of the unlucky ones would even be disallowed to enter the ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower’ to train for one to two months. Compared with Xiao Yan’s fine of five days of ‘Fire Energy,’ it was naturally the difference between the Heavens and the Earth…
No one expected Xiao Yan to possess such a backing. Liu Fei and Lei Na could be considered to have kicked a metal plate this time around.
“Elder He, isn’t your punishment for Xiao Yan a little too light? A person using a fatal move while sparing will be prohibited from entering the ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower!’” Liu Fei’s face was green and her voice had become much sharper.
“If you are not satisfied with my judgement, you can go and find the First Elder or the Headmaster…” Elder Liu glanced at Liu Fei before speaking indifferently.
Liu Fei was furious when she heard this. This First Elder seldom appeared, where would she go and look for him? As for the Headmaster, she had not even seen this mysterious Headmaster once since she had entered the Inner Academy, not to mention finding him to seek redress for the injustice.
“Alright, the matter today shall end here. If there is anyone who does not obey the rules of the tower in the future, do not blame me for giving a heavy punishment.” Elder He’s gaze glanced around him. Those people who came into contact with his gaze hurriedly lowered their heads.
Elder He glanced at Xiao Yan before turning around and walking back down the path which he had come from.
“Little fellow, the next time that you spar with someone, don’t go all out like this. It is good that you want to show your might, but one would not achieve what one desires if one overdoes things…” Xiao Yan eyed Elder He who was leaving. He was just about to bow and send the latter away respectfully when a low old voice reverberated softly by the side of his ears. Xiao Yan was startled when he heard this voice before he quietly nodded.
As Elder He left, this area once again descended into an embarrassed silence. There was additional respect and fear present in those gazes that looked at Xiao Yan. They were not formed from the Elder He covering up his actions, but were formed because of the terrifying fire lotus that Xiao Yan had displayed. A person with sharp eyes would be able to see that if Xiao Yan’s attack had not stopped and Elder He did not appear, the current Lei Na might well have become a corpse by now.
Xiao Yan was unconcerned about the gazes around him. He once again turned around and walked into that high grade training room. When he passed Liu Fei, he paused his footsteps and said faintly, “I didn’t hit you only because you are a woman. If you were a man, your ending would not have been much better than Lei Na’s…”
Once he said this, Xiao Yan brushed his sleeves and walked into the training room, leaving behind a green-faced Liu Fei who was clenching her silver teeth.