Chapter 717: Chapter Eleven: The Cost of Rashness

“Young master, don’t hesitate any more. The sons of the Sun and Wei families are formidable. If they get through the Twelve Palaces, there will be no place left in Boma City.” The Xiao family’s housekeeper was anxious as he watched Xiao Ziyu still engaged in a battle of wills at this crucial moment.

From the start, he had not been in favor of the plan to counterbalance Tang Luo. Although he hadn’t seen him for many years, the young man who had dared to forcefully collect rents in Xiao Family territory after breaking through to the Mortal Realm, left a deep impression on him.

To make such a prideful figure bow down, Xiao Ziyu’s plan was perhaps not rigorous enough from the beginning. But under the influence of his dual fiery lineage, not only had he become hot-tempered, but he had also become extremely arrogant, not heeding anyone’s advice, and thus delaying until this point.

“Prepare the carriage!” Finally, after struggling, Xiao Ziyu coldly squeezed the words between his teeth.

Upon hearing Xiao Ziyu relent, the housekeeper was overjoyed and quickly said, “The carriage is already prepared, young master please follow me!”

The Xiao family’s carriage blazed through the roads of Boma City and soon arrived at the arena. As they were about to enter, they saw audiences gradually exiting from the martial hall. The housekeeper’s heart skipped a beat as he hurriedly hopped off the carriage to stop a warrior and ask him.

“May I ask, why are you leaving the venue? Is today’s challenge already over?”

“Today? The Star Palace has already been defeated. President Du Ling announced the closure of the Boma City arena, there are no more spots in Boma City!”

The scenario he feared the most had happened. The housekeeper’s expression changed greatly as he hastily asked, “Who managed to secure the spot for Boma City?”

The warrior’s face was filled with anger at the mention of this, “Hmph, it was taken by the Cui family of Lanshan City!”

“The Cui family of Lanshan City?” The housekeeper gasped, “You’re saying, Cui Haoran?”

“Exactly!” The warrior said indignantly, “He, a prideful figure of Lanshan City, didn’t even think about getting the spot from his own city, but came to our Boma City instead. It’s infuriating!”

“What about the sons of the Wei and Sun families? Did they just watch Cui Haoran take the spot?” The housekeeper was shocked. If the sons of the Wei and Sun families had gotten the spot, perhaps the Xiao family could negotiate a deal to reclaim it. But if the Cui family of Lanshan City has it, it’ll be difficult for him to handle.

“It’s infuriating even thinking about it!” The warrior became even more livid, “They claim to be prideful champions, but one only made it to the tenth palace and the other to the eleventh. Both were defeated before they even reached the main guardian. It serves Boma City right for having the spot snatched by Lanshan City! I heard that all these Star Generals were chosen from wandering fighters by Tang Tianjiao. But the prideful members of two clans couldn’t even beat these wandering fighters. It’s a disgrace!”

The warrior ranted, acting as if he could clear the Twelve Palaces single-handedly. The housekeeper made agreeable noises, bid goodbye to the warrior, and retreated to the distant carriage to report what he had overheard to Xiao Ziyu.

Within the carriage, Xiao Ziyu clenched his fists with a grim face, as if there was fire flowing in his eyes, and the air around him quickly heated up due to his rage.

“Young master, what should we do now?” With a worried expression, the housekeeper asked Xiao Ziyu.

“Let’s go to Qutang City immediately!” Xiao Ziyu commanded in a deep voice, and the warmth from his mouth almost turned into flames of rage.

The defeat of the Sun and Wei families and the sudden rise of Cui Haoran were things he did not anticipate. However, it also gave him some relief. It seemed that the Star Generals of the Twelve Palaces were not as unstoppable as he had thought.

Perhaps Tang Yao wouldn’t be able to clear the Twelve Palaces either, in which case he still could fight for the last spot.

But the carriage was too slow. With urgency burning his heart, Xiao Ziyu waved his hand and opened the carriage door. A red flame dragon coiled around his body, ascending into the sky, and streaked towards Qutang City like a red beam.

…

The arena of the Twelve Star Palaces in Qutang City

Tang Yao smoothly made it through the tenth palace, overturned the Star General of the Xuan Yun Palace, and arrived at the last palace, Star Calendar.

After two years of training, he had found his own style of martial arts. He was no ordinary fighter anymore, but even someone as prideful as him could see the strengths in each Star General.

In such a short period of time, to train a group of wandering warriors to such an extent, Du Sha was fearsome.

Never would he have imagined, the famous and great man of Xiling, not only had an amazing cultivation, but his understanding of martial arts was also so profound. It’s a pity for such a talented person to manage a group of wandering warriors under Tang Luo.

Having recovered his strength, Tang Yao stood up, ready to face the final test of the Twelve Palace Trial. However, before the guardian could make a move, a commotion arose at the entrance of the venue.

Tang Yao turned around to look, only to see the fiery red-haired Xiao Ziyu arrive at Qutang City’s platform.

A ring of blazing flames repelled all challengers, and Xiao Ziyu reached the edge of the platform. His face was dark as he uttered, “Tang Yao, do you dare to fight me, to decide the ownership of the last team member spot?”

Although he already knew that the awakening Fire Spirit had greatly changed Young Master Xiao’s temperament, this naive provocation still made Tang Yao somewhat exasperated.

With the Tang and Xiao families currently closely collaborating, he was reluctant to worsen things with the leader of Xiao family’s younger generation. He turned a blind eye to the provocation, turning back and kindly asked, “Why did Master Xiao not challenge at the Boma City arena, and instead come to Qutang City?”

The feverish Xiao Ziyu couldn’t admit that it was because of his delay that someone else had snatched away Boma City’s spot, so he stubbornly said, “I am more qualified to partake in the Longzhou Youth Martial Arts Tournament than you. Because of Tang Luo’s stubbornness, two places have already been claimed by Li Xuanba and Cui Haoran. Do you think your team of three, without any bloodline abilities, can compete with the warriors from all the families in Longzhou?”

It can’t be denied. Cui Haoran, Li Xuanba, and Tang Yao are all superb fighters. However, when competing against those who possess Earth Level bloodline abilities, they are nothing in comparison. If the tournament was about teamwork, Tang Luo would struggle on his own, and it would be the face of the entire new o Longxi Alliance that would be lost in the end.

Although all this was correct, it was almost insulting to say someone was not good enough in front of tens of thousands of spectators. This mode of communication made Tang Yao unwilling to respond. He coldly snorted and turned his head away.

Xiao Ziyu knew he had made a mistake and his expression softened.

Without giving the newcomer another glance, Tang Yao engaged in battle with the guardian of the Star Calender Palace.

After hundreds of confrontations, Tang Yao knocked the guardian off the platform with one stroke of the Hurricane Seal Technique, securing the last place in the Longzhou Youth Martial Arts Tournament.

As President Du Wei announced the closure of the Qutang City platform, Xiao Ziyu was stunned. He indeed had to pay for his recklessness.

A spot that was supposed to be his had slipped through his fingers because of his pride. Missing the Longzhou Martial Arts Youth Tournament this time meant that he would never have another chance to participate.