Elder Gongxi leaped onto the stage where Qiu Ling stood and motioned at the other disciple to withdraw. He waited for the boy to jump down and pull away before he straightened up and leveled Qiu Ling with a dark stare. He had to pay the Grandmaster's disciple back for the way he had treated him before! "You better not regret this!"
Qiu Ling snorted. "I'd say the same to you but you won't have time to regret." He raised his hand, the wind around them picking up.
He could kill this guy in one move but people would believe it was a fluke. He couldn't let that happen. Since somebody had dared to threaten his beloved once, he should make it clear to these mortals that they'd be up against him if they dared to try that again. And he had to make sure that they understood that that wasn't a good idea for anyone. So this guy would have to be his example. He would make sure to edge his end into their minds.
The wind changed direction and charged toward Elder Gongxi without hurting him yet. It only pressed against his skin and made his robe flutter.
Elder Gongxi furrowed his brows. It didn't hurt but he felt that something wasn't right. Should this really happen? He had originally thought that this disciple was only a practitioner so the wind blades from before had already surprised him but this was different. To actually change the direction of the wind around them wasn't something a disciple should be able to do. How high was his level already? It couldn't be that in these few short years he had actually managed to reach a stage that would allow him to do something like this, could it?
Elder Gongxi couldn't help but become more careful. He raised his hands and flames flickered into life. Back in the day, he had also been one of the premier talents of the Yang Huo Sect. With his heavenly fire spirit veins, he had been the embodiment of what the sect stood for, making the Elders care a great deal about him. He had been undefeated for many years and he certainly wouldn't lose to a disciple now, regardless of what kind of constitution that person had.
He had to make sure that he showed the Yun Zou Sect their place before they grew cocky just because they had had one stroke of luck and took in one disciple with a good constitution. One man couldn't hold up an entire sect. If that was possible, Grandmaster Zhangsun would have been enough and the Yun Zou Sect's status wouldn't have fallen so low.
He'd really like to see how the Yun Zou Sect wanted to recover after their most prized disciple was hurt. Would they try to pour more energy into the Sect Master's disciple? But that would never show the same result. Especially since no one knew how that one was doing. Maybe he also hadn't been able to live through the time in the Leyuan region's secret realm unharmed and the Yun Zou Sect was trying to cover that up. In that case, he'd force them to reveal the truth!
The flames at his fingertips flared brighter and sparks flew into the air.
Qiu Ling looked at the flames coldly and smirked. Fire? How cute! If that Elder couldn't come up with a bigger one, he would be immune to any attacks thrown at him. Well, that wouldn't be too bad for his little demonstration.
Qiu Ling glanced up at the sky, not even bothering to move his hands again. The wind rolled over the sect's premises and clouds gathered above them, encompassing not only the training grounds but all peaks.
The Elders around them glanced up, while most disciples stayed focused on the fight. To them, this only seemed like the backdrop to an exciting showdown and they failed to realize that this phenomenon had been brought about by one of the competitors. The Elders shifted uneasily on their seats though.
Sect Master Yuchi glanced over at Grandmaster Zhangsun. "Your disciple …"
Zhangsun Xun Yi held back a sigh. This boy was really going overboard. Couldn't he just have taken out a sword and fought that way? Why was he insisting on making such a fuss? "A heavenly constitution will naturally be different and the dragon body was always associated with the water and air spiritual veins. He is gifted in that regard, maybe even more than he is as a practitioner."
Yuchi Bing Xia nodded and the Elders sitting around them slightly calmed down. Right. This disciple had a heavenly constitution. It wasn't too strange that he was able to conjure up such a storm.
Qiu Ling didn't care about them. He merely stared at Elder Gongxi while the winds continued to pick up. The trees swayed dangerously as if they would fall over any moment now and the disciples had to use their spiritual energy to defend against the onslaught. The ones on the stages jumped down and everyone withdrew to the outer ring of the training grounds.
The clouds above their heads rumbled and finally, the first raindrop fell. It sunk into the ground, the earth turning a darker shade. And second and third followed until a torrential rain poured down.
The fire at Elder Gongxi's fingers was extinguished despite being created by spiritual energy. He stared at his empty fingertips and looked up at Qiu Ling. He really had underestimated him. Even though this person was merely a disciple of the younger generation, his strength could rival that of an Elder. He couldn't be careless.
Among the audience, Liu Cheng furrowed his brows. This type of thing … It didn't seem humanly possible. He reached for the sword at his waist, his fingers curling around the hilt. If he remembered correctly, then this was one of the people that had gone to find Hong Bao in the Hei Dian Sect. He was grateful for that but he wouldn't spare any demon because of that. So if it turned out that his conjecture was right … But until then, he would first have to test things out.